FOCUS Intervention students were significantly less likely to withdraw from College Algebra than a baseline comparison group (OR = 0.22, a large effect)¶
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Evidence · 1 study · causalr1·q2·i3large
Currency · newest study 2014 · checked against its sources 2026-11-02 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
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q2 i3 In a quasi-experimental comparison, FOCUS Intervention students withdrew from College Algebra at lower rates than baseline comparison students, with a large odds-ratio effect (0.22). → Mireles 2014
Evidence¶
Mireles 2014¶
Mireles, S. V., Acee, T. W., & Gerber, L. N. (2014). FOCUS: Sustainable Mathematics Successes. Journal of Developmental Education, 38(1). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1071436
q2 · i3 · causal · r1
Between-subjects quasi-experimental design comparing FOCUS students (N = 127) with a baseline comparison group (N = 1994) of prior-year developmental-placed students. Binary logistic regression with bootstrapping (2,000 samples) controlling for age, gender, and ethnicity found 6.3% versus 16.4% withdrawal and an intervention odds ratio of 0.22, which the authors call large.
"Because the intervention group was less likely to withdraw from the course, the odds ratio for the intervention effect (0.22) is less than 1. This odds ratio is also large; a rule of thumb for interpreting the size of odds ratios is: when less than one (small = .67, medium = .40, large = .23)"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- FOCUS Intervention students earned significantly more College Algebra grade points than the baseline comparison group, but the effect was small (η²p = .01) — related
- Beginning Algebra students who completed the month-long ITS program passed at 65.6% versus 22.2% for the non-ITS control group — related
- The role model letter lowered the DEW (fail/withdraw) rate for women in introductory psychology (OR = .38) — related
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