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Virtual Algebra Study: Study Results

Fri, April 13, 12:00 to 1:30pm, Marriott Pinnacle, Floor: Third Level, Pinnacle III

Abstract

This paper describes results concerning the impact of the online Algebra I course on student outcomes, primarily the end-of-grade 8 algebra achievement and subsequent coursetaking patterns, for the algebra-ready (AR) students.

The impact analyses for the primary research questions compare AR students in treatment schools (who were offered the online Algebra I course) with their counterparts in control schools (who were not offered the online Algebra I course and presumably took a general mathematics course). The impact analyses for research questions involving N-AR students compare N-AR students in treatment schools (where AR students were removed from the general class to take the online course) with their counterparts in control schools (where presumably both AR and N-AR students take a general mathematics course). All analyses of outcomes at the end of grade 8 were conducted separately for the AR and N–AR student samples; AR students were never compared with N–AR students.

Analyses of the algebra and general mathematics posttests used hierarchical linear modeling (Raudenbush and Bryk 2002), accounting for the nesting of students within schools and controlling for student- and school-level covariates. Results will be reported both in their original metric and as effect sizes. The analyses of coursetaking sequences used hierarchical generalized linear models that assume a Bernoulli sampling distribution and logit link function (Raudenbush and Bryk 2002; McCullagh and Nelder 1998). These models, appropriate for use with binary outcomes, accounted for nesting of students within schools and included the same student- and school-level covariates as the models used for the achievement outcome measures.

In addition to the main impact results, this paper will also describe the results of implementation analyses, including the extent to which participating students completed the course, the amount and type of interaction between online course participants and their teachers and proctors, and a contrasting of the course content with that of the mathematics courses offered in control schools.

All analyses are completed. However, the results cannot be shared at this time because the report is currently under peer review in the Institute of Education Sciences. The final report is expected to be released fall of 2011, well before AERA. (REL-NEI is under contractual obligation to the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to publish the final report prior to December 31, 2011.)

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