Intervention for First Graders With Limited Number Knowledge: Large-Scale Replication of a Randomized Controlled Trial

• Published in: American educational research journal 2015-06, Vol.52 (3), p.516-546
• Main Authors: Gersten, Russell, Rolfhus, Eric, Clarke, Ben, Decker, Lauren E., Wilkins, Chuck, Dimino, Joseph
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: At Risk Students; Clinical trials; Comparative Analysis; Computation; Control Groups; Elementary School Mathematics; Elementary School Students; Experimental Groups; Grade 1; Hierarchical Linear Modeling; Intervention; Mathematical Concepts; Mathematics Achievement; Mathematics education; Mathematics Instruction; Small Group Instruction; Student Characteristics; Teaching Methods; Teaching, Learning, and Human Development; Urban Schools; Word Problems (Mathematics)
• ISSN: 0002-8312; 1935-1011
• DOI: 10.3102/0002831214565787

Replication studies are extremely rare in education. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a scale-up replication of Fuchs et al., which in a sample of 139 found a statistically significant positive impact for Number Rockets, a small-group intervention for at-risk first graders that focused on building understanding of number operations. The study was relatively small scale (one site) and highly controlled. This replication was implemented at a much larger scale—in 76 schools in four urban districts; 994 at-risk students participated. Intervention students participated in approximately 30 hours of small-group work in addition to classroom instruction; control students received typical instruction and whatever assistance the teacher would normally provide. Intervention students showed significantly superior performance on a broad measure of mathematics proficiency.