| dc.description.abstract |
Existing research supporting subject-area frameworks and curricular content in public education systems confirms that complex mathematics skills introduced in middle school are essential for success in high school and beyond; however, oftentimes these critical skills are not taught effectively. Teacher and curricular quality are key leverage areas for promoting student achievement and are essential to building a solid mathematical foundation for middle school students. SimCalc, a new curriculum focused on the mathematics of change and variation, combines technology and student-centered instructional processes. Using data from year one of the Scaling Up SimCalc Project, regression analysis is applied to assess the effects of teacher background on SimCalc's impact on student achievement. The conclusions reached in this analysis show that select teacher background characteristics have no statistically significant effect on SimCalc's impact on student achievement. These findings confirm SimCalc's potential to be used effectively by teachers, particularly those with experience teaching math, to promote student achievement in middle school math classrooms, which should prove useful in justifying widespread use of the SimCalc curriculum. |
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