July 2005 — SETDA
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Enhancing Curriculum and Instruction Through Technology
Mississippi Bend districts implement
a technology-rich, research-based
math program to meet EETT goals.
Sometimes, state requirements really are helpful, resulting in projects that positively affect teachers and students. In our case, the requirement for school districts and area education agencies (AEAs) to submit annual progress reports (APRs) to the state, based on student data, resulted in a technology project with wide-reaching implications. Using the analysis of APR data, which included districts’ student achievement data and comprehensive school improvement plans, the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency 9 (AEA 9) noticed two specific problems common to virtually all of its 21 K-12 districts:
- There was a significant drop in the state’s math test scores for eighth-grade students, specifically in the area of problem solving, and particularly among students from low soci'economic backgrounds.
- National and state studies of teachers’ technology use revealed that there was a large, teacher-identified need and interest in using technology more effectively in the classroom.
Fortunately, both needs meshed perfectly with the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act’s (NCLB) Title II D: Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program.
Satisfying State and National Goals
AEA 9 district superintendents met and discussed the APR data as well as participation guidelines for a consortium proposal for EETT funds. Then, 17 of the 21 districts chose to participate in the implementation of a technology-rich, research-based, National Science Foundation (NSF)-designated “exemplary” mathematics program— Cognitive Tutor Algebra I—to address the problems. The remaining four districts elected to continue their implementation of other NSF “exemplary and promising” math programs and served as controls.
The EETT Math Project with Integrated Technology (www.aea9.k12.ia.us/06/e2t2/e2t2_year2_report_files/frame.htm) was designed to increase the percentage of students in both the high and intermediate math performance groups for low soci'economic status and minorities through the effective use of technology.
The project sought to do this in two ways: First, it addressed the quantitative and technological abilities of all middle and high school students, helping them to prepare for successful careers in the technology-rich environment of the 21st century.
Second, the project focused on improving the quality of mathematics instruction by providing participating teachers with standards-referenced, research-based instructional strategies supported by technology that facilitated school improvement processes and technology integration in AEA 9 mathematics classrooms.
Thus, this initiative satisfied state goals to increase the use of technology by students and teachers, and NCLB goals to provide classroom instruction by highly qualified teachers.
