Research Analysis Summary: Richardson Independent School District and Texas Instruments Mathematics Systemic Intervention
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The Richardson Independent School District (RISD) and Texas Instruments (TI) partnered to develop a researched-based, systemic intervention that would improve mathematics achievement. Utilizing a block schedule class design, additional instruction time, more collaboration between teachers throughout the year, focused professional development sessions, and the employment of the TI-Navigator TM Classroom Learning System and graphing calculators, the school sought to increase the passing rate of at-risk students enrolled in RISD.
This analysis provides the key findings from two independent research reports. The reports are available in PDF format:
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 "Year 1 Assessment of the RISD-TI Intervention Model," August 2006, Winick & Lewis Research, LLC
"Texas Instruments Project: Regular Math Class Students' Math TAKS Results," August 2006, Celeste Alexander and Walter Stroup, University of Texas at Austin
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Research Design
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The mathematics intervention program was piloted with grades 7-8 at Lake Highlands Junior High School (LHJH) in RISD. The pilot intervention included 125 students. Pilot data was obtained for 79 students who had failing math scores on the 2005 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS™). The remaining students, whose scores were not reflected in the pilot data, were those who had either barely passed or not taken the TAKS in 2005, including Hurricane Katrina-related transfers.
Most of the pilot students were African-American or Hispanic, and many were from economically-disadvantaged circumstances. Ethnic composition of LHJH is 42 percent African-American, 19 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Asian, and 37 percent White. 42 percent are economically disadvantaged.
The program compared increases from 2005 to 2006 on the TAKS exam among students participating in the intervention to a control group of 102 students in the same school but not selected to participate because all had passed the TAKS; a comparison group of 234 students at another demographically-similar school; and 2119 other students district-wide. The TAKS scores were converted to Normal Curve Equivalents (NCE) to allow comparison of the two years' tests. Use of NCE is a more conservative method of analysis than simple comparison of test scores.
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Eight Coordinated Interventions
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| The intervention addressed eight key factors that research shows impact math performance and achievement, including: |
| • | Increasing classroom instruction time to 100-minute “power block” classes instead of 50 |
| • | Integration of TI-Navigator Classroom Learning System and TI-73 ExplorerTM graphing calculators to enrich classroom instruction and assessment |
| • | Use of common aligned assessment |
| • | Use of an accelerated curriculum |
| • | Setting high expectations for all students |
| • | Increasing teacher content knowledge through additional professional development and training |
| • | Increasing administrative support |
| • | Increasing parents’ support of mathematics teaching and learning |
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Goals of Study
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| • | Demonstrate how the systemic intervention affects math achievement in LHJH |
| • | Evaluate the success of each of the eight coordinated interventions |
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Professional Development
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| Eight educators participated in the intervention: four teachers with an average of three years' experience and four new teachers trained through alternative certification programs. These teachers received professional development during Saturday trainings and common planning time during the instructional work week. A mathematician worked with the teachers bi-monthly to build their content knowledge, and a mathematics consultant visited educators two times a week. |
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Quantitative Results
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Student Achievement
One-third (33 percent) of students who participated in the intervention and had failed the 2005 TAKS mathematics exam successfully passed the 2006 TAKS exam, having a significantly higher growth in percent items correct than comparison students. The results held when controlled for ethnically disadvantaged and minority status of the students. The comparison is shown in the graph below:
Graph 1: Percentage of Students Not Passing in ’05 Now Passing in ‘06
Because each year’s TAKS is a different test, it is necessary to convert scores to the NCE index to make year-to-year comparisons. On the NCE scale, students in the program on average increased from six points, while all other students in the district declined by almost one point.
These comparisons are shown in the graph below:
Graph 2: One-Year Change in NCE TAKS Scores
Researchers generally interpret an effect size of this magnitude to be quite strong. Effect size is an index of how much improvement is observed, and generally ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being the strongest. Effect size for the TI-RISD intervention was -0.93. This is considered to be very large.
Teacher Content Knowledge
Most measures of the program showed positive effects and improvement from mid-year to end-of-year. For example, teachers’ knowledge of math numbers and operations measured by the Learning Mathematics for Teaching project assessment (LMT) showed a growth of .86 standard deviation (1 s.d. = 33 percent). Knowledge of patterns, functions and algebra showed a growth of .69 s.d. In general, teachers’ self-reports of their teaching effectiveness and techniques improved from mid- to year-end. |
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Qualitative Results
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| Almost all intermediate measures of the goals of the intervention showed positive impact. Findings include:
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| • | Teachers reported increased expectations for student performance and felt their teaching had improved after receiving content training. |
| • | Teacher feedback indicated that the TI-Navigator system increased student participation and engagement, reduced many behavioral problems in class, shifted responsibility for learning to the students, and increased group work. Teachers commented that students spent more time working through problems, were able to realize corrections more quickly and retain information. |
| • | Teachers also reported the calculator experience increased students’ algebra readiness. |
| • | Parents noted a positive difference in children’s math performance and attitudes. |
| • | Teachers reported that the power block changed problem solving effort and approach and increased student expectations and performance. |
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| For more information on the TI MathForward Program, please send an email to mathforward@ti.com. |
