Study Background

Across the 2023 – 2024 school year, 141 middle and high schools in Texas used STEMscopes Math for their Algebra 1 instruction. This report looks at how STEMscopes Math influenced students' performance on the 2024 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) End-of-Course (EOC) Algebra 1 test. The main goal is to see if students in schools using STEMscopes Math did better on their math exams compared to similar schools who did not use the program.

What We Did

To understand the impact of STEMscopes Math, we compared STAAR Algebra 1 outcomes in schools using STEMscopes with those from schools using other math programs. We wanted to make sure that the schools we compared were similar in many ways, so any differences in scores would be due to STEMscopes Math. We matched schools based on several characteristics, like the percentage of students from different ethnic/racial backgrounds, the overall size of the school, and the percentage of students receiving special services. 

Key Findings

1. Overall Performance: Students in schools using STEMscopes Math for Algebra 1 had higher STAAR Algebra 1 EOC benchmarks then comparison schools in all positive categories (Approaches, Meets, Masters) with a significant increase for the “meets category”, and a lower percentage of students who did not meet grade level benchmarks. STAAR EOC average scale scores in STEMscopes schools were 34.40+ points higher than non-STEMscopes schools. This finding was significant. When we look at 2024 scores compared to 2023 EOC Algebra scores, we see STEMscopes schools' average scale scores remained stable and high while non-STEMscopes schools had significant decreases in EOC Algebra 1 average scale scores (see figure below).

2. Subgroup Analyses: Student subgroups in STEMscopes Math schools had positive increases in average scales scores compared to non-STEMscopes Math schools. Differences were significant for females, Hispanic/Latinx students, and White/Caucasian students. Impacts were similar across subgroups.

Conclusion

This report provides evidence that STEMscopes Math may help improve math achievement for various student groups in Texas’ Algebra 1 classrooms. Results demonstrate “moderate evidence of effectiveness” (Tier 2) based on ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) guidelines.