Content and Rigor of Algebra Credit-Recovery Courses

• In Event: Getting At-Risk Students Back on Track: Results From a Randomized Trial of Algebra Credit Recovery

Abstract

Purpose
This paper describes the content, organization and rigor of the f2f and online summer algebra courses that were delivered in summers 2011 and 2012. Examining the content of both types of courses is important because research suggests that algebra courses with certain features may be better than others in promoting success for struggling students. Examining course rigor is important because it further describes the context through which students recovered course credit, the study’s primary short-term outcome.

Theoretical Framework
The study’s theory of action assumes that students who fail traditional f2f algebra may benefit from taking an online course because it is a different mode of delivery that is potentially more individualized, interactive and personalized. Analyzing the nature of the content further describes how these features played out in both types of courses.

Methods and Data Sources
Math experts systematically analyzed the content of the online course and the f2f courses (the f2f teachers determined the content of their courses, per district and school policy). The content analyses examined (1) coherence: the extent to which topics were logically sequenced within and across units; (2) difficulty: the extent to which topics were pre-algebra, first semester algebra or second semester algebra; and (3) knowledge emphasis: the extent to which lessons and exercises emphasized procedural fluency, conceptual understanding and applied problem solving. The experts used established frameworks and existing curricular materials to guide both sets of analyses.

Data sources include archival data generated from the online course, course materials (syllabi, annotated tables of contents) from the f2f course, and teacher surveys on which teachers indicated the criteria they used to determine grades in their credit recovery courses.

Results
Results suggest that the online course (in both summers), in comparison to the f2f courses, was more coherently sequenced but more difficult in terms of topics covered and more demanding in terms of grading criteria. The online course content was considered typical of second semester algebra and included a fixed set of topics that were organized sequentially. Conversely, the topics and sequencing of the f2f courses varied widely among the f2f teachers. The topics included not only second semester algebra content, but also first-semester algebra and pre-algebra content, and topics did not typically follow the sequential structure of the online course. Neither the online or f2f lesson materials focused strongly on developing conceptual understanding or applied problem solving, but emphasized procedures and skills instead.

Scholarly Significance
Information from this paper will be used to help frame the short- and long-term study results and to contribute to the relatively thin research base on what it means for students to be proficient in algebra. Although the content of first and second semester algebra is fairly uniform and well specified, the proportion of topics that students should master is not. This issue is increasingly salient in light of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, which place a stronger emphasis on conceptual understanding and problem solving than more traditional algebra courses.

Authors

• Kirk Walters, American Institutes for Research

• Nicholas Andrew Sorensen, American Institutes for Research