Summer Math Program's Impact Evaluation: Middle Years Math Grantee Report

N

21

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Summer Programs; Mathematics Instruction; Program Effectiveness; Mathematics Achievement; Middle School Students; Student Interests; Online Courses; Grade 6; Grade 7; Grade 8; Grades (Scholastic); Comparative Analysis; Standardized Tests; Mathematics Tests; Scores; Student Characteristics; Race; Ethnicity; Lunch Programs; COVID-19; Pandemics; Program Implementation; Teaching Methods; Educational Policy; School Districts

Elevate [Math] is a 19-day (76-hour) in-person summer math program created by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation to help middle school students who are struggling in math to achieve math proficiency, increase their interest in math, and develop a growth mindset. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person summer program was adapted to a 19-day (67-hour) online synchronous summer program for summer 2020. This report follows students who attended the in-person summer program in 2019 and the online summer program in 2020. It analyzes results for incoming grades 6 and 7 students in summer 2019 and incoming grades 7 and 8 students in summer 2020 and a 2-year component that analyzed results for the returning incoming grades 7 and 8 students in summer 2020. Key findings include: (1) Two years of participation in Elevate [Math] raised students' probability of earning a passing grade and earning a B or higher in their math courses; (2) The 2020 program participants experienced a slightly larger 1-year impact on course grades than did 2019 program participants; (3) In comparison to nonparticipants, students who participated in Elevate [Math] for 2 years scored higher on the standardized math assessment after the second year; (4) Compared to nonparticipants, grade 7 students who attended the Elevate [Math] program for two summers earned higher assessment scores and were more likely to earn a math grade of B or higher; and (5) Patterns of impacts on standardized math assessment scores and course grades were not consistent for other subgroups of students, including groups defined by student race/ethnicity and free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL) participation.

ERIC

2023

ED628912