Does Progress Monitoring Increase Student Achievement? Curriculum-Based Measurement in Mathematics
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1
Emirates College for Advanced Education, Counseling, Health and Special Education, United Arab Emirates
In today’s educational climate, priority must be given to teaching students how to learn, more so than what to learn, especially with the increasing number of students with special needs. Self-regulation and metacognitive strategies, such as goal setting, monitoring progress, and adapting, are vital to teaching students how to learn and become lifelong learners. A meta-analytic study was conducted addressing Curriculum-Based Measurement, a form of progress monitoring, in mathematics (CBM-M) as an intervention. For purposes of the meta-analysis, an intervention was defined as using CBM-M at least bi-weekly for a minimum of 12 weeks and data were used to inform instructional decisions. Studies included in the meta-analysis had to be quantitative, conducted in the United States, included only grades K-12, focused on mathematics, utilized CBM for at least 12 weeks, applied CBM at least bi-weekly, included pre-post data, and contained control, contrast, and/or comparison groups.
The three research questions discussed include: (a) What are the effects of implementing CBM-M as an intervention when digits correct are assessed for computation and concepts and applications? (b) What are the effects of CBM-M as an intervention when problems correct are assessed for computation and concepts and applications? and (c) What are the effects on overall mathematics achievement when CBM-M as an intervention is implemented? Detailed feedback incorporated information beyond the score, such as concepts mastered and instructional recommendations. Digits correct refer to grading an answer to a mathematical problem based on the accuracy of numerical place value. For example, if a student’s response was “1684”, but the correct answer was “1774”, the student would get a score of 2/4 correct for this particular problem because the “1” and “4” are correct and in the right place values. Problems correct assess the answer as a whole. Using the example above, the student would receive a score of 0/1 for the response since the number, as a whole, was incorrect. Specific outcomes for students in grades K-12, including those in general education and special education, when detailed feedback was utilized, and when detailed feedback was not incorporated were also examined.
Upon completion of the meta-analysis, results indicated that when digits correct were assessed for computation, all students had a higher statistically significant effect when detailed feedback was utilized. More specifically, students in general education experienced higher effects when detailed feedback was used, while students in special education benefited from CBM with or without detailed feedback. No studies were found for addressing concepts and applications with digits correct. When addressing problems correct for computation, all students had the most statistically significant benefit when detailed feedback was incorporated, yet students in general education had the most benefit. Much more data are needed in the area of problems correct for concepts and applications. From the data gathered, small non-statistically significant effects were found for all students without the inclusion of detailed feedback, yet a negative non-statistically significant effect was found for students in special education. Not enough data were found to assess the use of detailed feedback. In terms of overall mathematical achievement, data were only found for the inclusion of detailed feedback. Results indicated that students in general education achieve small statistically significant effects, while students in special education did not show an effect at all.
Overall, using detailed feedback produced higher statistically significant effects for students in both general and special education, however the effects were higher for students in general education. Perhaps a lack of metacognitive and self-regulatory strategies are at the root of why students in special education did not benefit as greatly as students in general education from detailed feedback. Most research has been conducted in the area of computation for grades 3-6. Much more research is needed in the areas of concepts and applications, overall mathematical achievement, and at the secondary grade levels. Furthermore, a deeper look into why detailed feedback was not as effective for students with special needs, as for those in general education, needs to be examined, and could point to differences in information processing between the two groups.
Keywords:
Special Education,
General education,
Mathematics,
metacognition,
Self-regulation,
Curriculum-based measurement,
Progress monitoring
Conference:
International Conference - Educational Neuroscience, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 28 Feb - 29 Feb, 2016.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Educational Neuroscience
Citation:
Williams
CD
(2016). Does Progress Monitoring Increase Student Achievement? Curriculum-Based Measurement in Mathematics.
Front. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
International Conference - Educational Neuroscience.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2016.92.00027
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Received:
25 Feb 2016;
Published Online:
23 Mar 2016.
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Correspondence:
Dr. Cara D Williams, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Counseling, Health and Special Education, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, cara.williams@ecae.ac.ae