Effectiveness of a Middle School Summer Mathematics Remediation Program

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires schools to show measureable improvement in student achievement in order to demonstrate Adequate Yearly Progress. Although the Georgia Department of Education has documented the short-comings of Georgia’s students in mathematics on standardized tests, little research has been done on short-term remediation programs that seek to improve students’ proficiency on skills measured by a specific evaluation instrument. Maslow’s theory on human motivation is the theoretical framework for this study, as the students build self-esteem and self-efficacy in mathematics through time on task learning and movement toward self-actualization. This quantitative project study is an evaluation of a summer mathematics remediation program aimed at improving Grade 8 students’ proficiency scores on the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). The research question examined the difference in math scores from the 2012 spring CRCT and the summer CRCT Retake for students who participated in a remediation program. A convenience sample of 33 Grade 8 students who failed the mathematics portion of the 2012 CRCT participated in a 3-week remediation program that focused on the 4 mathematic domains addressed on the CRCT. At the conclusion of the program, students participated in the CRCT Retake. A quantitative outcomes-based evaluation utilized a paired sample t test to reveal a significant difference between mean mathematics test scores from the 2012 spring CRCT (M = 786) and the CRCT Retake (M = 804). Findings indicate that focused time on task improves students’ self-efficacy in mathematics and demonstrate how programs such as summer mathematics remediation have the potential for positive social change.