Testing the Efficacy of a Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention by Small Group Size

• Main Authors: Ben Clarke, Christian T. Doabler, Derek Kosty, Evangeline Kurtz Nelson, Keith Smolkowski, Hank Fien, Jessica Turtura
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2017-04-01
• Series: AERA Open
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858417706899

This study used a randomized controlled trial design to investigate the ROOTS curriculum, a 50-lesson kindergarten mathematics intervention. Ten ROOTS-eligible students per classroom ( n = 60) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a ROOTS five-student group, a ROOTS two-student group, and a no-treatment control group. Two primary research questions were investigated as part of this study: What was the overall impact of the treatment (the ROOTS intervention) as compared with the control (business as usual)? Was there a differential impact on student outcomes between the two treatment conditions (two- vs. five-student group)? Initial analyses for the first research question indicated a significant impact on three outcomes and positive but nonsignificant impacts on three additional measures. Results for the second research question, comparing the two- and five-student groups, indicated negligible and nonsignificant differences. Implications for practice are discussed.