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The Evaluation of Project SEED, 1990-91
Abstract
Project Special Elementary Education for the Disadvantaged (SEED) is a national program in which professional mathematicians and scientists from universities and industry teach abstract, conceptually oriented mathematics to full-sized classes of elementary school children as a supplement to their regular mathematics instruction. In the Dallas (Texas) public schools the Socratic group-discovery approach of Project SEED was used with all grade levels in elementary schools with high percentages of minority and low-income students. The 1990-91 evaluation considered the impact of Project SEED on students in the Dallas Learning Centers program as well as on those not in the Learning Centers. Achievement test results of more than 1,300 students in grades 4 through 6 were compared with those of non-SEED students. An immediate impact could be measured after one semester of SEED instruction, and there was a cumulative impact of more than one semester. Retention of mathematics skills was apparent as long as 4 years after SEED instruction, and Project SEED students were more likely to enroll in advanced mathematics in secondary school. Twelve tables and five figures present evaluation findings. (Contains 4 references.) (SLD)
... A study that evaluated the effects of one semester of Project SEED in Detroit (Webster & Chadbourn, 1992) compared the California Achievement Test (CAT) scores of 244 fourth grade students in SEED classrooms to those of 244 fourth grade students in SEED schools, but not in SEED classrooms (non-SEED), and to those of 244 fourth grade students neither in SEED schools nor in SEED classrooms (comparison group). Students in all three groups were matched based on gender, ethnicity, free or reduced lunch status, and third grade CAT scores. ...
This is a time of great opportunity, but also of great danger in the education of students placed at risk for school failure. Students may be placed at risk for many reasons, among which are low socioeconomic status (SES), minority status, and limited English proficiency, if they attend schools that are not prepared to build on their strengths. Although individual low-income and minority students may excel, and individual schools may have great success with high-poverty students, on average such students perform significantly worse in school than do advantaged students in well-funded schools (Knapp & Woolverton, 1995; National Center for Education Statistics, 1993, 1994). In particular, African American and Latino students have, as a group, performed significantly lower than other groups. Although the gap between these groups and White students on the National Assessment of Educational Process (NAEP) and other tests has gradually diminished since the early 1970s, the gap remains substantial, and in the most recent NAEP assessments the White-minority gap actually increased slightly for the first time since the NAEP has been given (National Center for Education Statistics, 1994).
This article reviews research on the achievement outcomes of three types of approaches to improving elementary mathematics: mathematics curricula, computer-assisted instruction (CAI), and instructional process programs. Study inclusion requirements included use of a randomized or matched control group, a study duration of at least 12 weeks, and achievement measures not inherent to the experimental treatment. Eighty-seven studies met these criteria, of which 36 used random assignment to treatments. There was limited evidence supporting differential effects of various mathematics textbooks. Effects of CAI were moderate. The strongest positive effects were found for instructional process approaches such as forms of cooperative learning, classroom management and motivation programs, and supplemental tutoring programs. The review concludes that programs designed to change daily teaching practices appear to have more promise than those that deal primarily with curriculum or technology alone.
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