Running head: THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

The Effect of Differing Math Success Instruction by Grade Level

on Performance Series Test Growth
Susan Pizzolato
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2/15/16

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

Abstract
Smith Middle School offers an additional math intervention class called Math Success to
students who have the potential to be successful in their regular math classes but who lack some
of the fundamental math skills needed to do so. The class is offered to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade
students, but the Math Success teachers do not coordinate or plan how to deliver this math
intervention or discuss which methods are most effective. Thus, this study aims to determine
which math success class, 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, is using the most effective math intervention
techniques by examining which group of students experiences the most mathematical growth by
the end of the school year. The participants for this study include all 39 students enrolled in the
Math Success intervention course at Smith, and mathematical growth will be measured by the
students performance on the mathematics Performance Series Test (PST), which is given three
times per school year. Results from this study will inform teachers about which math
intervention techniques are proven most effective and will help them determine how to teach the
course in the future.
Keywords: Math Success, Intervention, Middle School

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

The Effect of Differing Math Success Instruction by Grade Level

on Performance Series Test Growth
For the past several years, Smith Middle School has offered a supplementary math
intervention course called Math Success for students who have the potential to succeed in math
but are currently struggling and performing below grade level. Students take Math Success in
addition to their regular math class, and it replaces one of their elective classes. The goal of the
Math Success course is to give students the opportunity to practice math concepts prior to their
regular math class, which will raise students mathematics self-esteem and confidence. A teacher
at Smith developed the Math Success program after realizing that many students needed
additional help in order to comprehend math concepts that the other students in the same classes
were able to master. Previously, Math Success was only offered to sixth and seventh grade
students, but since the program has been effective, Math Success was offered to eighth grade
students this school year. Currently, 13 sixth grade students, 10 seventh grade students, and 16
eighth grade students are enrolled in a Math Success class. Although the Math Success course
would benefit many students at Smith, classes are designed to be small so that teachers can give
students individual attention.
While the Math Success courses have helped many students at Smith grow in their
mathematical ability, the teachers of the class report that they do not plan the lessons together or
follow the same style of math intervention, so the Math Success course curriculum differs based
on who teaches the course and what grade a student is in that year. Furthermore, several of the
teachers report that they do not know what techniques the teachers for other grades are utilizing
in the classroom. For example, one math teacher focuses on pre-teaching, drilling, and review,
while another teacher focuses on helping students solve word problems. As a result, the Math

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

Success teachers would like to investigate which class (6th, 7th, or 8th grade) is the most effective
at increasing the students math ability. Specifically, the teachers at Smith would like to know
what types of interventions are most effective and what principles a math intervention should
include so they can plan their classes accordingly.
In order to accomplish this goal, this study will investigate what types of math
interventions and techniques the teachers at each grade level are employing and seek to
determine which style of intervention is most effective. The level of effectiveness of the math
intervention will be assessed based on the students performance and growth on the mathematics
Performance Series Test (PST), which is taken by students three times throughout the year. From
a school counseling and advocacy perspective, students who are struggling with mathematics
deserve to receive the most effective type of intervention that can be offered. Thus, an
investigation that determines which class and coordinating intervention style is the most effective
and leads to the most student growth is warranted.
A students ability to achieve mathematically has always been a major concern for
educators, especially since the United States is falling behind other developed countries in terms
of math performance (need citation). In accordance, a significant amount of educational research
focuses on how teachers can better support their students mathematically and what types of
interventions can be implemented in schools to help students achieve in math. For example,
Gersten et al. (2009) gave eight recommendations for how to identity and help students who are
struggling in mathematics through math interventions. The various recommendations included
the following: use a screening test to find at risk students, focus on rational numbers from 4th
8th grade, use explicit and systematic instruction, teach how to solve word problems, allow
students to work with visuals, focus on math fact fluency and retrieval, monitor student progress,

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

and include motivators for each student (Gersten et al., 2009). In addition, a review of the
research by Baker, Gersten, and Less (2002) showed that students experienced the greatest
increase in math achievement when their math intervention allowed both the student and teacher
to receive very specific feedback about how the student was performing mathematically. While
the Math Success teachers at Smith employ a variety of the effective math intervention
techniques examined in these studies, the intervention style and techniques are inconsistent
between grade levels and the effectiveness of these interventions has yet to be studied.
6th Grade Math Success
Based on reports from the 6th grade Math Success teachers, the main goal of this course is
to increase a students mathematical confidence, fluency, problem-solving skills, and
communication skills (Personal communication, 2/21/16). In order to accomplish this goal, the
teachers focus on allowing students to work on tasks that they may encounter during their regular
math class, using a method referred to as pre-teaching, which helps students become experts in
their regular math class (Personal communication, 2/21/16). A study by Lalley and Miller (2006)
found that pre-teaching is a significantly effective way increase math achievement as well as
increase a students academic self-concept. In addition, the teachers place an large emphasis on
helping students learn new and different methods of solving math problems, which has also been
suggested to be an effective math intervention strategy in the research (Montague, Krawec,
Enders, & Dietz, 2014; Pool, Carter, Johnson, & Carter, 2012; Gersten et al., 2009). Lastly,
while the 6th grade teachers indicated that they believe their math intervention strategies are
similar to those used in the 7th grade class, they are unaware of what techniques are utilized in the
8th grade classroom (Personal communication, 2/21/16).
7th Grade Math Success

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

During an interview with the 7th grade Math Success teachers, they reported that the main
objectives of their course are to equip all students to be successful in a regular math class,
increase mathematical self-esteem, bring mathematical fluency up to grade level, and have peers
in regular math classes view Math Success students as leaders (Personal communication,
2/16/16). In order to attain these objectives, teachers give students the opportunity to build
mathematical fluency and, like in the 6th grade class, practice the material they will learn later
that day during their regular math class (Personal communication, 2/16/16). However, instead of
giving students the exact same problems in Math Success that they will see later, the teachers
provide examples and give tasks that parallel the problems and tasks in the regular math class as
a way to scaffold their learning (Personal communication, 2/16/16). Again, pre-teaching and
allowing the student to complete practice math problems and drills has been found to be an
effective math intervention strategy to increase math achievement and self-concept (Fuchs et al.,
2008; Lalley & Miller, 2006).
In terms of mathematical fluency, or the ability of a student to compute basic math
problems automatically, students in the 7th grade class build fluency by completing mathematical
games on their I-pads during class. For example, one game shows students a variety of times
table flash cards and tracks their proficiency over time. Research indicates that using computer
programs to increase math fluency is an effective math intervention strategy, especially when
teaching number combination fluency (Fuchs et al., 2008). Since fluency builds the foundation
for learning other more advanced math concepts, it is important to build up low-achieving
students' math fluency (Rave & Golightly, 2014). In addition, these students are enrolled in two
math classes, and they have the opportunity to practice their math fluency skills multiple times
per day. One study conducted by Schutte et al. (2015) found that being able to practice math fact

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

fluency multiple times per day is more effective at improving a students overall math fluency
than only practicing it once per day.
Overall, the 7th grade Math Success class is devoted to increasing math fluency and preteaching material; however, the 7th grade Math Success teachers reported that were frustrated that
they did not know if their types of math intervention was effective, and they would like to plan
with the other Math Success teachers (Personal communication, 2/16/16).
8th Grade Math Success
During an interview with the 8th grade Math Success teachers, they stated that that their
main goals were to increase students confidence in their math ability, help students feel like
leaders in the classroom, and give students time to practice (Personal communication, 2/18/16).
The 8th grade class is very structured and includes 10 minutes of fluency practice, time to preteach the regular math class material, time for students to practice on their own, and time to play
games and complete a hands on activity (Personal communication, 2/18/16). Again, research has
found that practicing math fluency and pre-teaching material can be effective ways of raising
math achievement, especially when students have the opportunity to practice their basic math
skills several times per day (Schutte et al., 2015; Rave & Golightly, 2014; Fuchs et al., 2008;
Lalley & Miller, 2006).
Even though the 8th grade math class may seem similar to the 7th grade Math Success
course, there are several key differences between them. First, the 8th grade Math Success class is
the only class at Smith that has an Exceptional Children (EC) teacher and a regular math teacher
instructing the course. All of the other Math Success classes are taught by two regular math
teachers. According to the 8th grade Math Success teachers, having an EC teacher in the
classroom is an advantage because she is able to help students break down problems in different

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

ways and often say things in a different way that more students can understand (Personal
communication, 2/18/16). In addition, the EC teacher has the knowledge to modify assignments
and use techniques like graphic organizers and color coding to help everyone in the classroom
learn the material (Personal communication, 2/18/16). Furthermore, the 8th grade Math Success
class is the only class that gives students one day per week to work on math homework in class,
so that students can ask questions and complete the homework with a teacher, which increases
accuracy and understanding (Personal communication, 2/18/16). Lastly, 8th grade Math Success
has the highest number of students, and the teachers feel that students do not gain as much oneon-one teaching time as the other classes (Personal communication, 2/18/16).
Overall, while all three of the Math Success classes employ the use of pre-teaching and
practicing fluency as math intervention techniques, the classes differ in several key ways. The 6th
grade Math Success class places the most emphasis on learning how to problem-solve and
breaking down math problems, but the 7th grade Math Success class does the most instruction
regarding math fluency and scaffolds the work for the students instead of merely pre-teaching the
material. The 7th grade class also has the smallest number of students. Lastly, the 8th grade class
is taught by both an EC teacher and a regular math teacher, and they give their students time to
work on homework in class. In accordance with previous research, the hypothesis for this study
is that there will be a difference in mathematics Performance Series test score growth between
the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Math Success classes due to the varying math intervention strategies
used by the teachers.
Method
Participants
Participants for this study include students who have been enrolled in a Math Success

THE EFFECT OF DIFFERING INSTRUCTION ON PST

class at Smith Middle School for the 2015-2016 school year. A list of enrolled students was
obtained from the PowerSchool database. A total of 39 students (27 males, 12 females) are
enrolled in the Math Success class at Smith, consisting of 13 sixth grade students (7 males, 6
females), 10 seventh grade students (7 males, 3 females), and 16 eigth grade students (13 males,
3 females). The racial and ethnic demographic information of the participants was also obtained
from the PowerSchool database. Parents of students could choose from a variety of the
racial/ethnic categories, including Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian,
Black or African American, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, or White. In terms of the
racial and ethnic makeup of the participants, 13 of the students in Math Success identify as
Black, eight as White, four as Asian, 11 as both Hispanic/Latino and American Indian, one as
Hispanic/Latino and Black, one as Hispanic/Latino and White, and one as Hispanic/Latino,
White, and American Indian. Nine of the participants receive a reading intervention in addition
to their Math Success intervention. Students in the 6th grade Math Success class have not been
previously enrolled in this course, but seven of the 7th grade students were enrolled in the course
in 6th grade. In the 8th grade class, seven students have not taken the course before, five students
have taken the class for one year before the current year, and four students have taken two years
of the course before the current year.
Instrumentation
The Performance Series Test (PST) is a web-based standardized exam developed by
Scantron. The test is designed to determine whether students are above grade level, at grade
level, or below grade level in mathematics, English language arts, and science. The tests can be
given to grades kindergarten through the 12th grade, and the test provides teachers and school
staff with personalized test results for each student immediately after a student takes the test.

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The PST is used to ensure that students are placed in the correct course levels. Furthermore, if
students take PST multiple times over a long period of time, such as a year, the test can track a
students growth in the various subject areas. The PST also provides personalized testing such
that the test will automatically adjust the difficulty level of a question to match a students
proficiency level. For instance, if a student receives a mathematics question and does not answer
the question correctly, the student will receive an easier question next as a way to target exactly
what the student knows. The PST results give teachers and school staff a wide variety of data for
each student, including individualized learning plans that align with the Common Core
standards, scaled scores, national percentile ranks, measures of growth, performance bands,
Lexile measures, etc.
For the PST, scaled scores range from 1300 to 3700, which can indicate a students level
of improvement over time. The scaled score also indicates what skills the student has mastered
and which learning objectives the student still needs to attain. The PST results provide a gains
report, as well, in which a student can see how many scaled score points they have gained or lost
between two testing periods. In accordance, each student is assigned to a specific growth
category that shows how much a student has grown since the beginning of the year when
compared to a similar norm group of students. Growth categories are determined based on the
statistical difference between a students actual growth and their target growth. The categories
are Far Below (bottom 15%), Below (16-50%), Above (51-85%), and Far Above (top
15%). Students who are placed into the Above or Far Above categories have met or
exceeded their growth target for the year.
Although the PST score report provides a myriad of other scores, this study will use a
students scaled score, gain report, and growth category to determine their overall growth on the

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PST from the beginning to the end of the year.

Procedure
This study will be quasi-experimental with a modified non-equivalent groups, pretestposttest design. Participants will be assigned to groups based on their grade level. Students
enrolled in the 6th grade Math Success class will serve as one group, whereas students in 7th grade
class and the 8th grade class will serve as the other two groups. Each student will be assigned a
number so that his or her identity will remain anonymous. In order to determine the instructional
methods used in each of the Math Success classes, each of the teachers were interviewed using a
standard questionnaire regarding what they hope students will gain from the class and how they
teach students the material (see Appendix A). The differences in the instructional methods
between the three Math Success classes were noted to aid in the interpretation of the results.
Participants will complete this study by taking the mathematics PST at three different
times throughout the 2015-2016 school year and participating in their Math Success class. The
PST will be given in September, January, and April. The mathematics PST is administered in a
specified class over the course of several days, and students who do not finish the test or are
absent during the initial testing sessions are given an opportunity to complete the test during a
designated make-up period shortly after the initial testing sessions. The school testing
coordinator uses the PST Scantron website as way to ensure that every student in the school has
taken and completed the test during each testing period. After the students have taken their last
PST in April, the researcher will analyze the mathematics PST scores for each of the students
enrolled in a Math Success class to determine their individual scaled scores, gains, and growth
category as well as whether or not one grade level experienced more growth than the others.
Data Analysis

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In order to present the data for this study, three tables will display various types of
information about the students enrolled in a Math Success class based on their grade level. First,
each table will provide the students basic demographic information, including their gender,
ethnicity, race, and grade level. Second, each table will indicate whether or not students are
receiving a reading intervention in addition to the math intervention course, and it will specify
whether or not a student has been enrolled in a Math Success class in a previous school year. All
of the participants background information will be obtained from the PowerSchool system.
Next, each table will list each students scaled score on the PST from the September, January,
and April testing periods. Each table will also display an average scaled score for each of the
testing administrations. For example, one averaged scaled score in the 6th grade data table will
be calculated by averaging all of the 6th grade students scaled scores for the September
administration of the PST. This process will be completed for each test administration for each
grade. The September PST score will serve as the baseline score, or pretest score, for each
student, since students had only taken the Math Success class for a few weeks before the test was
administered, and the April PST score will serve as the posttest. A line graph will show the
comparison between the average scaled scores at each test administration for each grade level.
Lastly, each table will indicate which growth category each student qualifies for after the April
PST administration. A pie chart will also display the students growth categories for each grade
in order to compare students across grade levels.

References

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Baker, S., Gersten, R., & Less, D. (2002). A sysnthesis of empirical research on teaching
mathematics to low-achieving students. The Elementary School Journal, 103(1), 51-73.
Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Powell, S. R., Seethaler, P. M., Cirino, P. T., & Fletcher, J. M. (2008).
Intensive intervention for students with mathematics disabilities: Seven principles of
effective practice. Learning Disability Quarterly, 31(2), 79-92.
Gersten, R., Beckmann, S., Clarke, B., Foegen, A., Marsh, L., Star, J. R., & Witzel, B. (2009).
Assisting students struggling with mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for
elementary and middle schools (NCEE 2009-4060). Washington, DC: National Center
for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.
Department of Education. Retrieved from
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/.
Lalley, J. P., & Miller, R. H. (2006). Effects of pre-teaching and re-teaching on math
achievement and academic self-concept of students with low achievement in math.
Education, 126(4), 747 755.
Montague, M., Krawec, J., Enders, C., & Dietz, S. (2014). The effects of cognitive strategy
instruction on math problem solving of middle-school students of varying ability.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(2), 469-481.
Pool, J. L., Carter, G. M., Johnson, E. S., & Carter, D. R. (2012). The use and effectiveness of a
targeted math intervention for third graders. Intervention in School and Clinic, 48(4),
210-217.
Rave, K., & Golightly, A. F. (2014). The effectiveness of the rocket math program for
improving basic multiplication fact fluency in fifth grade students: A case study.
Education, 134(4), 537-547.

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Schutte, G. M., Duhon, G. J., Solomon, B. G., Poncy, B. C., Moore, K., Story, B. (2015). A
comparative analysis of massed vs. distributed practice on basic math fact fluency
growth rates. Journal of School Psychology, 53, 149-159.
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/.

Appendix A

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Math Success Teacher Interview Questions

How did math success start?
What are the main objectives/purpose of math success?
How does a student qualify for math success?
How do you determine if a student should be moved into or out of math success?
Why did you decide to add a class for 8th graders?
What do you hope the students will gain from the Math Success class?
In general, what is your teaching style or philosophy?
How do you teach your math success class?
-Do you focus on repetition, pre-teaching, problem solving, comprehension. . .?
Why do you feel that your teaching methods are effective for this type of math intervention?
Do you feel like there is a need to plan a cohesive program with the other math success teachers?