Investigation of Instructional Approaches to Elementary Math (JUMP Math)

The Hospital for Sick Children

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Student Math Achievement

Treatments: Behavioral: JumpMath

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02456181

1000031586

Details and patient eligibility

About

The overall aim of the proposed project is to test the efficacy of a relatively new, well-developed math program on the math achievement of elementary school students in mainstream classes in urban schools. Use of this program is increasing in Canada and the United Kingdom. Preliminary findings derived from uncontrolled trials and our own pilot, randomized controlled trial suggest it may yield meaningful gains in math achievement for both at-risk and achieving students, as indexed by their performance on national exams, in national math competitions, as well as on standardized measures of math achievement. However, the program has yet to be rigorously evaluated to determine its relative efficacy compared to the math programs typically used by school boards. The program provision of grade-specific teacher's guides and student workbooks (for grades 1 to 8), and minimal teacher training, points to its potential utility for full-scale implementation, should its efficacy be confirmed.

Enrollment: 1,156 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 6 to 13 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• The students must: have sufficient command of English to understand their teacher's instructions (as judged by their teacher, ELL students will be included provided they meet this criterion). They must have a signed parental consent form and also assent to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• The students must have no uncorrected sensory, neurological, or physical impairments that would preclude the use of manipulatives, perceiving written math materials and figures, or hearing the teacher's instructions.

Trial design

1,156 participants in 1 patient group

JumpMath

Experimental group

Description:

The JUMP method focuses more on the mental activity involved in constructing mathematical knowledge. There is a strong emphasis on symbolic math (numbers, letters, mathematical symbols). Manipulatives are used prescriptively, in lessons carefully scaffolded to help students connect the objects (e.g., three buttons) to what they are intended to stand for (the magnitude "3").

Treatment:

Behavioral: JumpMath