National Math Panel Report Mentions Carnegie Learning

You’ve likely viewed a barrage of news articles regarding the National Math Advisory Panel’s release of their final report. The work the panel was asked to complete was to “advise the President and the Secretary of Education on the best use of scientifically based research to advance the teaching and learning of mathematics, with a specific focus on preparation for and success in Algebra”. In fact, the panel members working within subcommittees (Conceptual Knowledge and Skills, Learning Processes, Instructional Practices, Teachers, and Assessment) reviewed approximately 16,000 studies.

The Final Report was based upon findings from subcommittee reports. Research on Carnegie Learning’s Cognitive Tutor is very well supported in the Learning Processes subcommittee report and is also referenced in the Instructional Practices report. We are cited as an example of a curriculum that has strong evidence of effectiveness and that is a model for applying basic research in the classroom. In addition, several specific studies are cited in support of various findings about how students learn math. The following are just a few excerpts from the report.

On Our Effectiveness:

Use of other learner-adapted systems, especially cognitive tutors, is also associated with improved skills in geometry and algebra, if the tutor is well integrated with classroom instruction and the overall curriculum. In a large-scale quasi-experimental study, [Carnegie Learning’s Founders] demonstrated substantial gains in the ability to translate algebraic word problems into equations.

… in a study of another cognitive tutor (geometry), holding time-of-instruction constant, one group discussed why and how they used the strategy they used, and the other practiced more problems. The authors report that the former group had significantly greater understanding and showed greater transfer.

Cognitive Tutors are cited as the only example of a mechanism for translating research into classroom practice:

A mechanism is needed for fostering translation of basic research findings into potential classroom practices and for scientifically assessing their effectiveness in the classroom. The Cognitive Tutor for algebra illustrates how this can be achieved.

Carnegie Learning has made even more improvements and enhancements to its line of mathematics curricula for 2008-2009, and we invite you to view a short video presentation that outlines all of these features in greater detail. View the video presentation at http://www.carnegielearning.com/2008_09_Software/2008_09_Software.html

For more information about the National Math Panel report and the sub-committee reports, please visit the US Department of Education web site: www.ed.gov/MathPanel.

New Jersey Study Shows Impressive Increases in Algebra and Geometry Pass Rates with At-Risk students

To help the 10 to 15 percent of their students that simply could not pass algebra, South Plainfield Public Schools in New Jersey implemented Carnegie Learning curricula as part of an NJSSI grant program.

The results of first year of the program in 2006 saw the Algebra pass rate climb to 86%. The following year, students used Carnegie Learning's Geometry and boosted the pass rate again, this time to 88%.

The results are the subject of a new paper titled Thinking Outside the Rhombus, by Robert J. Rosado Ed.D. and Kaye Crown. To read the fully story, download the PDF from our website.

Still Looking for a Summer School Solution? It’s Not Too Late to Implement one of Our Solutions

Carnegie Learning’s Cognitive Tutor® courses are bundled into a simple-to-deploy summer school package that includes:

• Pre-training evaluations
• Textbooks
• Our award-winning Cognitive Tutor® Software
• Two full days of professional development

We can even customize our curricula to meet the individual needs of your district. Even in a compressed time frame for instruction, students can master as a many as 38 key algebraic concepts.

For more information, contact the Educational Sales department at 888-851-7094 Option 7 or visit our website at http://www.carnegielearning.com/SummerSchool.

Check us out at one of the following upcoming events – we love visiting with our customers!

Summer Leadership Executive Conference
June 14 - June 15, 2008
Myrtle Beach, SC

National Education Computing Conference (NECC)
June 29 - July 3, 2008
San Antonio, TX

High Schools That Work Conference
July 9 - June 12, 2008
Nashville, TN

For additional event listings visit:
http://www.carnegielearning.com/company_news_events.cfm

For more information on Carnegie Learning's curricula or services, please contact us at info@carnegielearning.com or use our contact form.

www.carnegielearning.com