The Expert Mathematician shows a positive but not statistically significant effect on middle school math achievement (effect size 0.35, improvement index +14 percentile points)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2006 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 In a randomized controlled trial, eighth graders taught with The Expert Mathematician did not score statistically significantly higher than a comparison group on math achievement after adjusting for pretest differences, but the difference was substantively important (effect size 0.35). → What Works Clearinghouse 2006

Evidence¶

What Works Clearinghouse 2006¶

What Works Clearinghouse. (2006). WWC Intervention Report: The Expert Mathematician, Middle School Mathematics, Revised October 14, 2006. U.S. Department of Education, What Works Clearinghouse. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/InterventionReport/513

q3 · i1 · causal · r2

Randomized controlled trial of 90 eighth-grade students (70 completing pre- and posttests) in four classrooms in a suburban St. Louis middle school, comparing The Expert Mathematician (n = 45) with Transition Math (n = 45). Appendix A3 reports means of 45.10 (SD 12.03) versus 40.80 (SD 12.41), "Mean difference" 4.30, "Effect size" 0.35, "ns", improvement index +14.

"Baker (1997) found The Expert Mathematician group did not score statistically significantly higher than the comparison group on the posttest measure of achievement after adjusting for group pretest differences."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Random assignment in the Baker (1997) trial produced pretest differences favoring the comparison curriculum, controlled by using the pretest as a covariate — related
• The WWC rates The Expert Mathematician as having potentially positive effects on middle school mathematics achievement — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Targeted Skills Instruction virtual small-group tutoring significantly improves ELA achievement (+0.48) for below-25th-percentile students in grades 3, 4 and 6 — related
• Classroom testing of cognitively revised middle school math units shows trends in the expected direction favoring the redesigned curriculum, though analysis is still underway — related
• Objective learning gains did not differ significantly by condition in the primary ANCOVA, but KBD showed a significant positive effect on learning gains in exploratory regressions accounting for learner covariates — related
• Adaptive task difficulty in an ITS did not improve second-graders' mathematics posttest performance compared with an identical non-adaptive ITS — related