Study: Math Augmentation Program Can Help Improve MAPs Scores
- By Julie B. Garcia
- 01/14/15
As a teacher, I am always searching for an effective means to help close or eliminate gaps in my students’ learning. In recent years, my Algebra Readiness students have not reached optimal growth on Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs), which directly correlate to students’ math knowledge and ability — and indicate how a student will do in a specific math class.
In my search for a solution, I wrote an action research paper studying the effectiveness of using Learning Upgrade as an augmentation program.
In the study, I compared the MAPs results of 63 eighth-grade Algebra Readiness students who used Learning Upgrade in the 2013-2014 school year with the scores of students from a 2012-2013 Algebra Readiness class that had not used Learning Upgrade.
The study showed that students who were able to complete — or mostly complete — the program demonstrated significant improvement on MAPs compared with those who did not complete the program. The 63 students also showed significant MAPs growth over the school year when compared with the students who had not used it.
In conclusion, this research showed that adding Learning Upgrade as an intervention program provided a means to close or eliminate knowledge gaps in a fun and personalized way, while preparing students for algebra in high school.
About the Author
Julie B. Garcia is a middle school math and science teacher at Black Mountain Middle School, part of the Poway Unified School District in San Diego, CA.