School Information System: Student Math Scores Jump 20 Percent with HMH Algebra Curriculum for Apple® iPad®; App Transforms Classroom Education

January 21, 2012

Student Math Scores Jump 20 Percent with HMH Algebra Curriculum for Apple® iPad®; App Transforms Classroom Education

Pilot study finds students in Riverside Unified School District who used Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's HMH Fuse™: Algebra 1 app were also more motivated, attentive, and engaged than traditionally educated peers.

Global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced the results of a yearlong pilot of HMH Fuse: Algebra I, the world's first full-curriculum Algebra app developed exclusively for the Apple iPad, involving the Amelia Earhart Middle School in California's Riverside Unified School District. The pilot showed that over 78 percent of HMH Fuse users scored Proficient or Advanced on the spring 2011 California Standards Tests, compared with only 59 percent of their textbook-using peers.

The pilot showed that over 78 percent of HMH Fuse users scored Proficient or Advanced on the spring 2011 California Standards Tests, compared with only 59 percent of their textbook-using peers."

The first assessment of the pilot-- Riverside's district Algebra benchmark -took place during the second trimester of the 2010-2011 year. Students using HMH Fuse scored an average of 10 percentage points higher than their peers. The app's impact was even more pronounced after the California Standards Test in spring 2011, on which HMH Fuse students scored approximately 20 percent higher than their textbook-using peers.

Christina Bonnington has more.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 21, 2012 6:17 PM
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Comments

I would not place too much emphasis on this study. That student's got a new toy may have increased their focus or desire to study and learn the material. This might be labeled a Hawthorne Effect, where the simple act of changing and being studied created increased motivation to succeed.

And that motivation could include the students, the administration, and the teachers.

But improving motivation is the key to improving student outcome. And it's the job of schools, teachers, administration, parents and students. A change in curriculum, an iPad, paint on the walls, new text books, etc, respect for teachers and students, hope, the expectation that education will lead to economic security, all are important motivators.

I doubt the iPad and curriculum alone were the cause of the improvement.

Posted by: Larry Winkler at January 21, 2012 10:36 PM