The US National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) is funded as part of the Institute of Education Sciences by the US Department of Education. One of its roles is the evaluation of federal programmes. Last month NCEE published the first of two reports on the effectiveness of reading and mathematics software products in schools. Over 100 schools and over 400 teachers were involved, with the focus of the evaluation on learners in the first and sixth grades. The study's 2 main findings are summarised as follows.
- Test Scores Were Not Significantly Higher in Classrooms Using Selected Reading and Mathematics Software Products. Test scores in treatment classrooms that were randomly assigned to use products did not differ from test scores in control classrooms by statistically significant margins.
- Effects Were Correlated With Some Classroom and School Characteristics. For reading products, effects on overall test scores were correlated with the student-teacher ratio in first grade classrooms and with the amount of time that products were used in fourth grade classrooms. For math products, effects were uncorrelated with classroom and school characteristics.
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