Access to Algebra I: The Effects of Online Mathematics for Grade 8 Students

By American Institutes for Research (Jessica B. Heppen, Kirk Walter, Ann-Marie Faria) and EDC (Margaret Clements and Cheryl Tobe)

This report presents findings from a randomized control trial designed to inform the decisions of policymakers who are considering using online courses to provide access to Algebra I in grade 8. It focuses on students judged by their schools to be ready to take Algebra I in grade 8 but who attend schools that do not offer the course. The study tested the impact of offering an online Algebra I course on students’ algebra achievement at the end of grade 8 and their subsequent likelihood of participating in an advanced mathematics course sequence in high school. The study was designed to respond to both broad public interest in the deployment of online courses for K–12 students and to calls from policymakers to provide students with adequate pathways to advanced coursetaking sequences in mathematics.

Contact Info: Margaret Clements (2128074200 x4268)

Published by: U.S. Department of Education Order Info

Download a copy of Access to Algebra I: The Effects of Online Mathematics for Grade 8 Students (PDF, 3.6 MB): http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/northeast/pdf/REL_20124021.pdf

Price: Free
ISBN: NCEE 2012-4021
(185 pp.) PDF

Learn more about this research: http://www.relnei.org/research.onlinealgebra.php