| The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a cooperative homework model, Cooperative Homework Teams (CHT), on measures of mathematics achievement, rate of homework completion, and percent correct on homework. Ten special education teachers of mathematics and 171 students (grades 6, 7, 8) with mild educational handicaps completed this 8 week study. The settings were 20 self-contained special education classrooms in a large suburban public school system. Two independent variables were compared: CHT and a control condition (C). Standardized testing was used to measure achievement (pretest/posttest) in both conditions. Data on the rate of daily homework completion and the percentage correct on homework was collected at pretreatment and posttreatment. Random assignment of treatment (CHT or C) to groups was used. The data were analyzed using an analysis of covariance to compare the pretreatment/posttreatment group means on the dependent variables.; Results indicate that there were no significant differences between groups on measures of achievement. There were, however, significant differences between groups on direct measures of homework in favor of the CHT groups. Post-hoc analyses found: (a) no significant effect of handicapping condition or level of special education service on any of the dependent variables, (b) a significant effect for grade suggesting that the sixth grade achieved significantly less than the seventh and eighth grades, (c) no significant differences between sixth grade groups on either rate of homework completion or percentage correct on daily homework, and (d) significant differences indicating that seventh and eighth grade students in the CHT group completed significantly more homework and had significantly higher percentage correct than their peers in the C group.; Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that the CHT treatment did not significantly improve the mathematics achievement of students with mild educational handicaps over this 8 week period but did have a significant effect on the both the amount and the accuracy of completed homework. |
