Math Data Collaborative Study

Challenge

While math achievement gaps among the nation’s fourth-graders have narrowed in recent years, achievement gaps evident in eighth grade have not changed. There is a clear need for interventions that can help middle-grades students develop critical pre-algebra concepts—rational number, ratio, and proportion concepts—to close the achievement gap in middle school.

To address this need, EDC conducted a pilot study of the Middle Grades Math Data Collaborative funded by Schmidt Futures. The Collaborative analyzed student interim assessment data to understand growth patterns in the mathematics skills of a national cohort of struggling middle-grade students. Researchers developed metrics and models of math learning to identify strategies to improve students’ mathematics achievement.

Key Activities

The project team:

• Identified key mathematics skills and concepts that that enable students to successfully transition from arithmetic to pre-algebra, as well as concepts that are typical stumbling blocks
• Developed profiles of the mathematics achievement of students in geographically and demographically varied school and districts
• Identified classrooms that were particularly successful in supporting mathematics learning for students in poverty or with low prior achievement

Our Impact

• By leveraging longitudinal data from over 10.2 million students across the United States, our team provided new insights into how to meet the needs of struggling mathematics learners