July 2005 — SETDA
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Enhancing Curriculum and Instruction Through Technology
www.state.ia.us/educate), and Iowa State University’s external evaluator for the project. In addition to the monthly ICN sessions, site visits were conducted by the program leader and a representative of Carnegie Learning to check for fidelity of implementation.Video conferencing units. In the fall of 2004, video conferencing units were distributed to more than 80 percent of the teachers involved in the Cognitive Tutor program. The purposes of the video conferencing units were to facilitate collaboration among teachers, provide coaching opportunities, and to observe peers delivering math instruction. Also, the program leader had a multi-point video conferencing unit that allowed her to communicate with teachers, observe classroom implementation, and conference with the Iowa Department of Education and the external evaluator at Iowa State University.
Supporting cognitive teachers. Implementation momentum was sustained through hour-long monthly ICN meetings, site visits, and video conferencing. In February, AEA 9 and Carnegie Learning cosponsored a technology and learning conference that featured speakers from Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Learning, Iowa State University, and the Iowa Department of Education. The purpose of the conference was to increase administrative support for the Cognitive Tutor Algebra I curriculum, teachers, and learning through technology; however, it actually had a much greater impact on the teachers who attended.
Brian Reed, who teaches Cognitive Tutor Algebra I and Geometry at Northeast High School in Goose Lake (IA), commented, “The best part of this conference was the chance to talk with Cognitive Tutor teachers from other districts and states. Sharing their learning and harvesting their ideas was priceless.”
Student Evaluation Process
The Mississippi Bend AEA implemented a variety of approaches to assess student achievement. In the spring of 2003,prior to implementing Cognitive Tutor Algebra I, 1,145 seventh- through eleventh-graders from AEA 9 participated in area-wide testing to establish an end-of-course baseline. The following spring, the same test was administered to different students at the same grade levels. Because students were different, the only comparisons that could be made were between the teacher and the overall change in student performance.
In the fall of 2004, 2,250 students took an algebra pretest; in April, the same students took the identical exam as a post test. This assessment procedure has provided participating teachers and districts with academic-year growth data for individual students, which results from the use of their district’s mathematics curriculum (either Cognitive Tutor Algebra I or another program).
“We learned that implementation of a project of this size is related to one principle: Commitment to technology in a technology-based project is important.”
Lessons Learned
We have learned a number of lessons regarding the implementation of a project of this size that are related to one principle: Commitment to technology in a technology- based project is important. This may seem obvious, but lack of access to technology affected the project in many ways:
