The Impact of an Online Remediation Site on Performance Related to High School Mathematics Proficiency

摘要

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) effectively shifted the K-12 educational paradigm to a system that places a high premium on performance and accountability. The impact of the NCLB legislation and the adoption of the Nevada High School Proficiency Examination in Mathematics (NHSPEM) have created the need for instructional materials that directly target areas of deficiency. This article presents an analysis of two studies conducted on a web-based supplemental instructional tool designed to assist students in preparing for the NHSPEM. In the first of two studies, the performance of 64 students from 10 high schools who completed the tutorial was compared with 3,502 students who had no exposure to the program. A repeated measures ANOVA comparing pre and post NHSPEM scores was found to approach statistical significance (p=.051). In a follow up implementation study, students who had used the online tutorial and taken the NHSPEM for the first time significantly outperformed those who did not use the program (p=.024). Further, a higher percentage of students using the program passed the NHSPEM than those in the comparison group. Performance gaps for minority students were virtually eliminated for those completing the tutorial in the first study, although these results were not replicated in the follow-up implementation study. Recommendations for possible additions to the software and methods for enhancing the internal validity of future studies are discussed.