Final Evaluation Project Meghan Roberts, Daryl Allison, Ryan Durham Fall 2012

Table of Contents

Executive Summary .. 3

Introduction to the Report . 4

Focus of the Evaluation 6

Brief Overview of Evaluation Plan and Procedures . 7

Presentation of Evaluation Results . 9

Conclusions and Recommendations . 11

Appendices . 12

Executive Summary

The purpose of the program evaluation is to analyze SuccessMakers impact on CRCT scores for the students using the program at Corley Elementary School. SuccessMaker is a computer-based instructional tool designed to both engage and educate students in critical content areas of the CRCT. Although effective teaching has the most influence on student achievement in the classroom, programs like SuccessMaker are essential support tools in facilitating remediation, acceleration, filling achievement gaps, and encouraging students to practice and refine their critical thinking skills.

In order to prove SuccessMaker to be a worthwhile investment, the evaluation team posed the following questions:

What impact does Successmaker have on CRCT scores in math? What impact does Successmaker have on CRCT scores in reading?

Scores from previous CRCT administrations were researched and investigated in order to assess overall program effectiveness. Test scores from before SuccessMaker was implemented (2008-2009 school year) were compared to scores after the implementation of the program (the 2010-2011 school year). The research proves that SuccessMaker has helped improve CRCT scores for students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade in reading and math at Corley Elementary School.

Introduction to the Report

The purpose of the evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of SuccessMaker in increasing math and reading CRCT scores for students in grades 3, 4, and 5 at Corley Elementary School. Results from the study will prove that student use of SuccessMaker is beneficial and worthwhile, and that mastery of standards is occurring through relevant and engaging practice opportunities. Data demonstrating student gains in reading and math on the CRCT will be used to deem the program adequate for recommendation for continuation in the elementary school.

The audiences of the evaluation report we conducted include but are not limited to the Principal at Corley Elementary School, administrators at Corley Elementary School, as well as teachers and staff at Corley Elementary School. The information found will help guide decisions made about the use and effectiveness of the Successmaker Program in aiding student success.

While solid research methodology and valid data are implemented in this evaluation, there are a few limits to consider when reading the final evaluation. One limitation of the evaluation is the time frame in which the evaluation was conducted. SuccessMaker has program has only been used for a short time at Corley Elementary School, so it may be beneficial to revisit the evaluation after a few years of implementation of the program. Since it is a new program, many teachers may be hesitant to use the program or may not use it consistently throughout the year. If teachers are not using the program

according to school policy, student results may be skewed. Also, the evaluation report does not consider the most important factor in student learning, effective classroom teaching methods. Please take these limitations into consideration when evaluating the results of this report.

The following report is separated into several sections. First, the evaluation object is described in detail. After the object is explained, the evaluation questions used in the program evaluation are presented along with information needed to complete the evaluation. Following the essential questions, a brief overview of the evaluation plan and procedures are outlined and supported with the presentation of evaluation results and interpretations of the evaluation findings. Finally, the report provides recommendations and conclusions with relevant appendices.

Focus of the Evaluation

SuccessMaker is a program created by Pearson Education used in both public and private schools to increase test scores. The program is computer based and can be accessed online. Students can establish, develop, and refine their reading and math skills while using the program. SuccessMaker is standards based, so students are learning essential information to ensure their mastery of core content. What sets SuccessMaker apart from other programs is the fact that its software is tailored to modify based individual needs of the student utilizing the program. The complexity of questions changes based on student response, and students are challenged according to their ability level. As students progress, the questions get progressively more difficult. Teachers and parents can access reports of student progress in order to monitor progress and areas of concern.

Question 1: What impact does Successmaker have on CRCT scores in math? Question 2: What impact does Successmaker have on CRCT scores in reading?

Current data from recent CRCT score reports were necessary to answer the aforementioned evaluative questions.

Brief Overview of Evaluation Plan and Procedures

The evaluation will also be used to prove that frequent and appropriate use of SuccessMaker will lead to an increase in math and reading scores to assess the impact that the SuccessMaker program has on helping students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade to maintain passing scores on the CRCT math & reading test and that students gain confidence in taking the CRCT at the end of the year. Since the program has been used at Corley Elementary school it has not been evaluated to see if the program has helped students to maintain passing scores or if their confidence levels in using the program have helped them to gain confidence in taking the math and reading sections of the CRCT portion of test. With this evaluation we have to decide to include what gains have been made by students when using the SuccessMaker program for preparation for taking the CRCT test.

When conducting this evaluation we will look at the school records of past CRCT scores of the 2008-2009 school year before the program was used and compare them to CRCT scores of the 2010-2011 school year.

The evaluation will also be used to see if students spent the right amount of time on the SuccessMaker program, and to see if the program if used correctly by the students will improve CRCT math and reading scores by 5%. If the right amount of time is being used by the students on the program and students are using the 7

program correctly there should be a significant change in scores on the CRCT math section and reading section on the test. The improvements in students scores based off students using the SuccessMaker Program throughout the 2008-2009 and the 2010-2011 school years can be viewed in Appendix __. In this Appendix ___ you can view that scores have improved over the school years that students have actually used the SuccessMaker program. With the SuccessMaker program in place for two school years, the principal, teachers, parents, and all stakeholders can access the program evaluation and see that with the program, students have improved their overall math and reading scores on the CRCT.

Presentation of Evaluation Results

Data was collected for the years of 2010 and 2011 for grades third through fifth in the subject of reading and math on the CRCT. The students were not using the program in the school year of 2008 - 2009, and the students were using the program in 2009 - 2010, 2010 - 2011. The program was implemented twice a week for thirty minutes for each student. This evaluation study then took the results of the CRCT from 2008 - 2009 and compared them to the 2010 - 2011 scores for the subjects of math and reading.

In reading for third grade, in 2009, the students began with a baseline of 81 percent and by 2011 the scores were 86 percent. In reading for 4th grade the students had a baseline of 87 percent in 2009. The scores increased to 88 percent in 2011. In 5th grade reading the students had baseline scores of 83 percent in 2009. The scores increased to 91 percent in 2011.

In math for third grade, in 2009, the students began with a baseline of 68 percent and by 2011 the scores were 83 percent. In math for 4th grade the students had a baseline of 69 percent in 2009. The scores increased to 82 percent in 2011. In math for 5th grade the students had baseline scores of 69 percent in 2009. The scores increased to 87 percent in 2011. A complete summary of scores is found in the Appendices section.

Based upon the results in the previous section, it is obvious that students have seen an increase in scores on the CRCT in the math and reading sections. The students scores 9

improved over the two years that the program SuccessMaker was implemented. All grade levels saw an increase of scores in the areas of reading and math on the CRCT with the use of the SuccessMaker program.

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Conclusions and Recommendations

The criteria used to judge the program included teachers allowing their students to use the program twice a week for 30 minutes and teachers regularly pulling student reports to monitor student achievement. The standard we set to evaluate regarding the SuccessMaker program was based off of the school year 2008-2009, in which the students did not use the program, would improve their math and reading scores by at least 5% in the 2010-2011 school year in which the program was implemented.

We found an overall gain in knowledge and understanding was achieved by the students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade reading and math. The students gained a better understanding of the content areas of reading and math by using the program for the evaluation period which in turn helped the students obtain higher scores on the Math CRCT and Reading CRCT assessments. We were fortunate to see a gain in all three grade levels for reading and math.

After reviewing the results of the evaluation, we found that the program SuccessMaker increases knowledge and understanding. If the program is used properly, it has the potential to improve student achievement. Thus, we feel the program should continue to be implemented in order to increase CRCT scores in the area of reading and math for third, fourth, and fifth grade. We do want to note that this evaluation does not take away

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from the fact that teachers have a huge impact on student success on CRCT scores in conjunction with the SuccessMaker program.
Appendices

Corley Elementary School CRCT Results 2008 - 2009 Percentage of Students who Passed Reading CRCT Subtests Required for Promotion Grade Level 3rd Grade Reading 4th Grade Reading 5th Grade Reading Corley Elementary 81 87 83

Corley Elementary School CRCT Score Results 2008 - 2009 Percentage of Students Who Passed Math CRCT Subtests Required for Promotion Grade Level 3rd Grade Math 4th Grade Math 5th Grade Math Corley Elementary 68 69 69

Corley Elementary School CRCT Results 2010 - 2011 Percentage of Students who Passed Reading CRCT Subtests Required for Promotion Grade Level 3rd Grade Reading Corley Elementary 86

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4th Grade Reading 5th Grade Reading

88 91

Corley Elementary School CRCT Score Results 2010 - 2011 Percentage of Students Who Passed Math CRCT Subtests Required for Promotion Grade Level 3rd Grade Math 4th Grade Math 5th Grade Math Corley Elementary 83 82 87

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