Book Description

Gaps in achievement test scores continue to exist in students depending upon race, gender, income, and ethnicity according to the Center on Education Policy (CEP), an advocate for public schools. School districts and schools are struggling to close the achievement gap that exists. In the 2010-2011 school years, 34.4% of African American students in the third grade failed to pass the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) in the research school. The participants in this study were enrolled in a Title I elementary school located in south east Georgia. The school system was comprised of one comprehensive high school (grades 9 through 12), one middle school (grades 4 through 8), two elementary schools, and one alternative school. The school district served approximately 1,689 students with 144 employees. Mathematics-related music did not have a significant effect on basic mathematics fact fluency. GRASP Mathematic Computational Fluency pre and posttest results were used to determine if there was academic growth for the treatment group when compared to the control group. According to the results from the study, mathematics-related music was not a valid intervention. The students in Group B who participated in the intervention did not make significant gains when comparing their pre (M = 21.95, SD = 7.62) and posttest (M = 23.89, SD = 8.23) scores to the control groups pre (M = 18.84, SD = 8.96) and posttest (M = 20.53, SD = 8.62) scores. Fourteen students in Group B only slightly improved their achievement scores while three students' scores decreased, and two students' scores stayed the same. In Group A, 15 students increased their achievement scores, while three students' scores decreased, and one student's score remained the same. To determine the effect size of mathematics-related music on students' basic mathematic fluency scores, Cohen's d calculations indicated the intervention had a medium effect (d = 0.41) on Mathematic Computational Fluency scores. An average student in the treatment group would be expected to outscore about 66% of the students in the control group. Mathematics-related music increased scores approximately 16%. The following are appended: (1) GRASP: 3rd Grade Computational Fluency Screener; (2) Third Grade Student Survey; and (3) Student Engagement Walkthrough Checklist.