frit 8435 - final project successmaker

7/22/2019 FRIT 8435 - Final Project SuccessMaker

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Final Evaluation Project

Meghan Roberts, Daryl Allison, Ryan Durham

Fall 2012


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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


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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.


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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


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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.


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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.


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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


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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.


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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


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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 Corley Elementary

3rd Grade Reading 81

4th Grade Reading 87


Corley Elementary School CRCT Score Results 2008 - 2009

Percentage of Students Who Passed Math CRCT Subtests Required for

Promotion


3rd Grade Math 68

4th Grade Math 69

5th Grade Math 69

Corley Elementary School CRCT Results 2010 - 2011

Percentage of Students who Passed Reading CRCT Subtests Required for

Promotion


3rd Grade Reading 86


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Corley Elementary School CRCT Score Results 2010 - 2011

Percentage of Students Who Passed Math CRCT Subtests Required for

Promotion


3rd Grade Math 83

4th Grade Math 82

5th Grade Math 87

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