ASSISTments

Evidence Rating: Top Tier

Highlights

Program: ASSISTments is a low-cost, online study tool that assists seventh grade students with math independent practice (e.g., homework) and produces real-time reports on student performance that teachers can then use to tailor their lesson plans. ASSISTments is a “universal” program – i.e., delivered to all students, not just those who are struggling and/or low income.
Evaluation Methods: ASSISTments has been evaluated in two large, well-conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs) – one in Maine with a sample of 46 public schools containing 3,050 seventh graders, the other in North Carolina with a sample of 63 public schools containing 9,073 seventh graders.
Key Findings: Both studies found sizable effects on math achievement on established, standardized tests. The effect size in the Maine study, measured at the end of seventh grade, represented about a 60% improvement over the annual gain in math otherwise expected of seventh graders. The North Carolina study was unable to measure impacts at the end of seventh grade (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), but found a sustained impact at the end of 8th grade – one year after program completion. The effect size represented about a 31% improvement over the annual gain in math otherwise expected of eighth graders.

[Disclosure: Arnold Ventures helped fund the North Carolina study.]

ASSISTments is an online study tool that assists seventh grade students with math independent practice (e.g., homework) and produces real-time reports for teachers on student performance. As students work through math problems and enter their answers into ASSISTments, the system provides immediate feedback on the correctness of answers and offers additional assistance in the form of hints or scaffolds. ASSISTments provides teachers with real-time, easily accessible reports that summarize students’ work on a particular assignment, including concepts they are struggling with. Teachers can then use these reports to target their review of assigned problems during class and tailor instruction to their students’ needs. ASSISTments is a “universal” program – i.e., delivered to all students, not just those who are struggling and/or low income. The program’s cost is less than $100 per student.

The ASSISTments program website is linked here.

References

Study 1:
Murphy, R., Roschelle, J., Feng, M., & Mason, C. A. (2020) “Investigating Efficacy, Moderators and Mediators for an Online Mathematics Homework Intervention.” Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 13(2), pp. 235-270.
Roschelle, J., Feng, M., Murphy, R. F., & Mason, C. A. (2016). “Online Mathematics Homework Increases Student Achievement.” AERA Open, 2(4), pp. 1-12.

Study 2:
Feng, M., Huang, C-W., & Collins, K. (2024). Supporting middle school math learning with a technology-based intervention: Impact, moderators and usage. WestEd. San Francisco, CA (link).
Feng, M., Weiser, G., & Collins, K. (2024). Cost and cost effectiveness of ASSISTments online math support: Analysis from a randomized controlled study in middle school. WestEd. San Francisco, CA (link).

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Top Tier

Programs shown in well-conducted RCTs, carried out in typical community settings, to produce sizable, sustained effects on important outcomes. Top Tier evidence includes a requirement for replication – specifically, the demonstration of such effects in two or more RCTs conducted in different implementation sites, or, alternatively, in one large multi-site RCT. Such evidence provides confidence that the program would produce important effects if implemented faithfully in settings and populations similar to those in the original studies.
Near Top Tier

Programs shown to meet almost all elements of the Top Tier standard, and which only need one additional step to qualify. This category primarily includes programs that meet all elements of the Top Tier standard in a single study site, but need a replication RCT to confirm the initial findings and establish that they generalize to other sites. This is best viewed as tentative evidence that the program would produce important effects if implemented faithfully in settings and populations similar to those in the original study.
Suggestive Tier

Programs that have been evaluated in one or more well-conducted RCTs (or studies that closely approximate random assignment) and found to produce sizable positive effects, but whose evidence is limited by only short-term follow-up, effects that fall short of statistical significance, or other factors. Such evidence suggests the program may be an especially strong candidate for further research, but does not yet provide confidence that the program would produce important effects if implemented in new settings.

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ASSISTments

Highlights

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