Purpose of the Study
Mathematics is one of the most important subjects in schools. Math helps a student in other subjects. Math can also be important in job search after completing studies (Fore et al., 2007). Most African Americas and Hispanic students do not have basic math skills. For instance, a report in the year 2000 indicated that 39% of African Americans and 48% of Hispanics had basic skills among grade 4 students. For grade 8, only 32% African Americans and 41% Hispanic were at or above basic skills (Fore et al., 2007).
This study had three different hypotheses. In the first one, the teachers’ self-monitoring effects of CBM measures on math implementation were evaluated. It was investigated whether self-monitoring had any impacts on the way teachers review and modify reviews on plans that they use to analyze the performance of student based on CBM measures in math. The second study involved the generalization of CBM survey level math assessments. This study aimed to compare the variations that exist between two different types of survey-level CBM math assessments. The third study examined the construct validity of CBM math measures. The objective was “to examine how M-CBM improves the general math achievements of students and help them in their computations, as well as applications of theoretical perspectives” (Fore et al., 2007, p. 324).
Design and Procedure
This research was conducted in the United States. Data regarding the performance of students in mathematics was collected and compared among the various ethnicities across the U.S. The experimental based approach, as well as the evidence-based approach, was used to get the data due to the empirical nature of the study. Participants in this second study were 67 in total where 93% were Caucasians, African- Americans at 3%, Indian at 3%, and Asians at 1%. 207 grade 4 students were involved in the third study where 46% were female and 54% were male. The dependent variables used in this study were the effects that the implementation of CMB had on the performance of students in basic mathematics skills (Fore et al., 2007). On the other hand, the independent variables were the actual performance and improvement of students in math. Data was collected through interviews, where teachers from various schools were interviewed. The performance and achievement of students in math were also evaluated to complement the data.
Data analysis
Data was collected from interviews and students’ performance measurement and recorded for purposes of analysis. The study aimed to test how CMB measuring can be used to improve the performance of students in math. The data was coded and then put through the various analytical programs. The results of the analyses were used to come up with a conclusion.
Conclusion/ Implications
The study indicated that CMB can be used together with problem-solving models in mathematics. The formative approach for measuring the performance of students is effective since it can help teachers know problems early enough. Teachers can, therefore, be able to act in advance to improve the performance of students or to prevent any failure. Also, CMB can be used to find solutions and intervene to improve students’ performance in case a problem occurs in the learning process.
Critique/ Evaluation
This study confirms that math is one of the most challenging subjects for students. Most students seem not to understand the math language, thus they perform poorly in the subject. I agree with the authors that the curriculum-based approach used in conjunction with problem-solving models is an effective way of improving the performance of students. Teachers can come up with ways of avoiding problems when they realize the potential problems early. This can be done by improving their teaching methods to make students understand the subject better. The authors sufficiently showed that CMB can measure the performance of students and indicate where their problems are, thereby making it easy for teachers to help students overcome problems in the subject.
References
Fore, C., Boon, R. T., Lawson, C. r., & Martin, C. (2007). Using curriculum-based measurement for formative instructional decision-making in basic mathematics skills. Education, 128(2), 324-332.