Under the study's costing assumptions, the PM workbook materials are more expensive per learner per year than the CM textbook and teacher guide¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2011 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Total annual unit costs were R58.96 for PM versus R46.90 for CM, making the workbook more expensive under the stated assumptions. → Brahm Fleisch 2011

Evidence¶

Brahm Fleisch 2011¶

Brahm Fleisch, Nick Taylor, Roelien Herholdt and Ingrid Sapire. (2011). Evaluation of Back to Basics mathematics workbooks: a randomised control trial of the Primary Mathematics Research Project. South African Journal of Education, Vol 31:488-504. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1136612

q2 · i? · causal · r2

Cost comparison of publisher prices paid in January 2010 (Table 8), assuming CM multi-year use with replacement every two years and PM use over three years covering half the year's work, doubled for a full year.

"Within the constraints of our assumptions, which we consider to be realistic, the PM materials are more expensive than the CM textbook and accompanying teacher guide."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Control schools faced severe textbook shortages: only two of 22 audited schools had sufficient Grade 6 mathematics textbooks and around half had no copies — related
• Both workbook and textbook groups made statistically significant pre-to-post gains larger than most South African interventions typically achieve — related
• Grade 6 learners show no significant difference in mathematics gains whether using a customised workbook or a conventional textbook — related
• A larger share of the textbook (CM) group achieved 79% or more curriculum coverage than the workbook (PM) group — related
• Gain scores by curriculum coverage diverge by material: CM learners covering 79% or more gained more, while below 79% PM learners gained more, though the latter difference is not significant — related