Charles Hart Jr.

April 25, 2021

Assessment Tech Project

Effectiveness of Additional Academic Time in I-Ready Mathematics

Introduction:

Second grade can really be a make or break year when it comes to students learning

mathematics and its various strategies. In this grade they truly receive the foundations they need

to learn higher level arithmetic such as division, multiplication, geometry, and data analysis. In

order to combat the many difficulties students face when learning mathematics and to increase

students’ mathematical literacy, my school district has implemented a personalized learning

program called I-Ready. This led me to the research question: Does providing extra academic

time during I-Ready Mathematics lead to increased mathematical competency?

My classroom consists of 17 students in total, 9 male students, and 8 female students.

81% of my classroom students are African-American, 29% of my classroom students are

Caucasian, and 0% are considered other. All of my students are considered as being of low-socio

economic status. In fact, my school is considered to be a Title 1 school meaning that students

receive supplemental funds to assist in meeting their educational goals.

I’ve always given various informal and formal assessments to gauge students’

mathematical fluency and comprehension. In an attempt to determine if providing extra

academic time in I-Ready Mathematics versus the standard given time helps students overall

mathematical competency, I randomly divided my class into two groups. Group 1 received extra

time while working in the program, while Group 2 only received the standard time of 10 to 15
minutes. All students received a pre-assessment prior to the start of the research, treatments, and

a post-assessment.

Review of Literature:

Before beginning my research, I conducted a review of scholarly articles and literature

related to my research topic. This review informed the methodology for my research. My

research question is very unique and specific to my grade level. I was able to develop different

modalities and methods that I could use for both qualitative and quantitative data in my research

project.

After reviewing “Accelerating Adolescent Vocabulary Growth: Development of an

Individualized, Web-Based, Vocabulary Instruction Program”, I saw it was about accelerating

adolescent vocabulary through the use of an individualized web-based vocabulary instructional

program. The instructional program used for this research was called DictionarySquared, and

their target age group were High School Students. Their goal was to examine if effective

implementation of the program would increase vocabulary scores amongst high school students.

The method used here was done through a 5-phase process where the program was implemented

for multiple periods of time and then examined for potential effectiveness. Research found that

implementation of this program caused positive, but no significant gains in student post

assessment scores. Overall, the more students were actively engaged in the program, the more it

was able to direct treatment options for student development.

The next article “The Effects of a Web-Based Instructional Program: Promoting Student

Growth in Reading and Mathematics Achievement” informed me on the effects of implementing

web-based instructional programs to promote student growth in reading and mathematics. The
instructional web-based program “I-Ready” was implemented during the 2017-2018 academic

school year in grades 4-5 increase student achievement and investigate if there were any

differences in student growth and achievement from pretest to post-test. Results found that

student achievement was positively impacted amongst all students in both reading and math, and

there were no significant changes in the performance of selected level groups.

The article “Effects of Practice in a Linear and Non-linear Web-based Learning

Environment” explored the effects of practice in linear and non-linear web-based learning

environment. The purpose of this research was to investigate if linear and non-linear navigation

through web-based programs had any effects on student practice with feedback and times

students used web-based instructional programs. Students participated in four web-based

learning platforms over a period of time. Results found that there was no interaction between

practice and choice of navigation. Practice, however, should be enforced as much as possible

because practice develops students’ pathways in web-based instructional platforms.

The next article “Developing Ambitious Mathematics Instruction Through Web-Based

Coaching: A Randomized Field Trial” informed me on the different aspects of developing a

rigorous mathematics curriculum through web-based instructional coaching. The program was

designed to support teachers who are implementing common-core standards in their mathematics

curriculum. Teachers were selected randomly to receive instructional coaching to improve

specific areas of their mathematical delivery. Although improvements to teachers’ instruction

were made, studies found that there were no improvements in student state mandated test scores

and semester assessments.

The last article reviewed was “Web‐Based Instruction on Preservice Teachers’

Knowledge of Fraction Operations”. This article was dedicated to help determine if web-based
instruction can help improve teachers’ methods of teaching fractions and if web-based

instruction was more effective than the traditional method of teaching fractions. Results found

that implementation of web-based instruction of teaching fractions was more effective than the

older fraction methodologies of teachers. I really thought this was an interesting find because of

the many arguments seen throughout education about whether or not new practices are as

effective as old.

After reviewing these different articles, I saw that there was a mix of results determining

whether or not personalized web-based learning truly improved or hurt students’ when it came to

their competency in any subject. This helped guide my process and hypothesis of determining

whether increasing students’ minutes in I-Ready Mathematics increases students’ competency in

math. If I am able to find that implementing the I-Ready instructional program more than the

suggested time of fifteen minutes daily, I would prove it increases student achievement in the

classroom. I am very excited to test my theory and put all of my findings together. I will

continue getting students actively engaged in I-Ready. The review of literature helped guide my

research by helping to decide what technology to use and how it should be delivered.

Methodology:

After reviewing the scholarly articles retrieved from Coastal Carolina’s database, I

created a plan as to how I would incorporate more minutes of I-Ready for students throughout

the school day. My first thought was how I can give certain students more minutes in the

program without taking away from their instructional time. I decided to randomly split students

into one group of eight (Group 1) and one group of nine (Group 2). Group 2 received the

district’s allotted time of 15 minutes per day in I-Ready Mathematics, and Group 1 received

extra time to work in I-Ready Mathematics. Both groups accessed I-Ready Mathematics through
their personalized chrome books issued from the district. In order to be sure incorporating more

minutes of I-Ready did not interfere with their regular instructional time, Group B completed

extra minutes during their daily mathematics rotations during class.

To obtain qualitative data, students completed a pre-assessment, were given informal and

formal assessments each week, and completed a post assessment. I created an assessment on

adding and subtracting fluently through 99 and coin recognition. Students took the same pre-

assessment and post-assessment created by me and was given to them physically on paper. The

assessments given at the end of each week consisted of adding and subtracting fluently through

99 and coin recognition. Each weeks’ assessment consisted of different numbers and problems,

but were aligned on the same skill level.

In order to collect qualitative data, I used observations and conducted student interviews

during our mathematics rotations. During class, I was able to walk around and observe students’

interactions with I-Ready during their fifteen minute sessions, and during their sessions when

extra time was given. At the end of each week, I interviewed different students to see how their

interactions with I-Ready Mathematics were going, their feelings about content they were

encountering, and how confident they felt while completing adding, subtracting, and coin

recognition/counting material.

After I reviewed the different literature, reviewed quantitative and qualitative data, and

student observations and interviews, it was time to analyze all data and determine if students who

received more time in I-Ready had greater success than students who only received the allotted

time of fifteen minutes per day. My first analyzation consisted of the quantitative data retrieved

from the pre-assessment, treatments, and the post-assessment.

 For each assessment, students had to solve fifteen adding and subtracting problems and

five problems of coin counting/recognition. I analyzed the pre-assessment first by determining

how many questions students answered correctly. Data was broken down through the use of pie

charts and bar graphs. Pie charts were broken down into four different sections: Students who

scored 90% or higher, students who scored 80% to 89%, students who scored 70% to 79%, and

students who scored 69% and below.

After students completed the pre-assessment, students who were given extra time in I-

Ready Mathematics soon began their task. At the end of each week, I used a similar twenty

question assessment with familiar content. Students were also interviewed to get an insight on

their feelings and their confidence when completing adding, subtracting, and coin

counting/recognition. Below you will find more pie charts and graphs to show how information

was collected for this research.

 According to week one data, there was an increase in both groups, however Group 2

clearly had a better overall increase. When students were first interviewed after assessment week

1, the overall majority felt uneasy about adding, subtracting, and coin counting/recognition.

Many students from Group 2 also felt jealous towards Group 1 because they felt Group 1’s

students were receiving more incentives due to them being on I-Ready for extra time. At the end

of week two, students were given another assessment similar to week one. Week two assessment

showed even more growth for students. During week two, Group 1 had a greater increase of

scores. Students were interviewed a second time after Week 2’s assessments, and results showed

that students’ confidence was growing exponentially. The jealously from Group 2 also seemed to

subside. I feel this was due to them adjusting to the routine of completing their certain amount

and some students needed to stay on the program longer. On the final post-assessment, Group 1

had an overall success of 100% of students having scored at least 90% to 100% on the

assessment. This showed to be the greatest increase from all assessments. Group 2 had an overall

increase on the post-assessment from the pre-assessment. It was very satisfying to see all

students from both groups grow from where they were.

Findings:

After reviewing literature and conducting my own action research on whether increasing

students’ time spent on I-Ready Mathematics would in turn increase students’ competency when

working with adding, subtracting, and coin counting/recognition, I have determined that students

who received extra time in I-Ready Mathematics proved to be more successful. Group 1 went

from having 50% of students score 69% or lower to 100% of students score 90% or higher.

However, all students from both groups increased their scores significantly. Group 2’s students
went from having 33% of students score 69% or below to no students scoring in that range.

There was also an increase of approximately 33% of students who scored 90% or higher on the

post-assessment in Group 2. In the future, I plan to allow students more time in I-Ready

Mathematics because not only does it prove higher growth, but it shows students comprehend

material better the more they engage with it. I also plan to look into other learning platforms

similar to I-Ready Mathematics to differentiate instruction.

As I reflect back on this action research project, it truly makes me happy to see all

students increase their scores and mathematical competency. With them mastering these skills,

they will have an easier time comprehending spiraled mathematical content once they move to a

higher grade. Although students from Group 2 may not had enjoyed seeing their classmates

receive more time on I-Ready, they did not let that stop them from succeeding as well. The

results of this action research project, as well as the findings from the literature selected, both

support my findings that receiving more time in I-Ready Mathematics will increase students’

scores and their mathematical competency.

 References

Adlof, S. M., Baron, L. S., Scoggins, J., Kapelner, A., McKeown, M. G., Perfetti, C. A., Miller,

E., Soterwood, J., & Petscher, Y. (2019). Accelerating Adolescent Vocabulary Growth:

Development of an Individualized, Web-Based, Vocabulary Instruction Program.

Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 50(4), 579–595.

https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_lshss-voia-18-0143

Lin, C. (2010). Web‐Based Instruction on Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge of Fraction

Operations. School Science and Mathematics, 110(2), 59–70.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1949-8594.2009.00010.x

Kraft, M., & Hill, H. (2020). Developing Ambitious Mathematics Instruction Through Web-

Based Coaching: A Randomized Field Trial. American Educational Research Journal, 57(6),

2378–2414. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831220916840

Florence Martin. (2008). Effects of Practice in a Linear and Non-linear Web-based Learning

Environment. Educational Technology & Society, 11(4), 81–93.

Hill, P. (2018). The Effects of a Web-Based Instructional Program: Promoting Student Growth

in Reading and Mathematics Achievement. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.