Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative lauded in education report
Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 5:30 AM
Tommy Bice, Alabama's superintendent of education, praised AMSTI's results.MONTGOMERY -- The Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative is so successful that students in AMSTI schools had gains on math tests equal to 28 days of extra schooling after just one year, a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education shows.
AMSTI was selected for one of the largest math and science studies in 2006, in part because the program had received so many accolades across the country and internationally, said Steve Ricks, director of AMSTI for the state Department of Education.
The point of AMSTI is simple, he said.
"Students learn math and science by doing math and science," Ricks said at a news conference Tuesday to announce the results of the study. "We provide all of the materials and equipment they need."
The nearly 10-year-old program is in only 50 percent of Alabama's schools. The study looked at 82 schools, 30,000 students and 780 teachers.
Among its findings are:
- Students who attended AMSTI schools and classes for one year showed a gain of 2 percentile points on the Stanford-10 Achievement Test in math when compared with students who did not attend AMSTI schools. Those gains equal an additional 28 days of schooling in math.
- Exploratory results indicated students who attended AMSTI schools and classes for at least two years showed a gain of 4 percentile points when compared with students who did not attend AMSTI schools, which equals an additional 50 days of schooling in math.
- While the results for science were not statistically significant in the first year, over a period of two years, students in AMSTI schools showed a 5 percentage point gain over students in non-AMSTI schools.
- Despite AMSTI not explicitly teaching reading skills, students in AMSTI schools showed a gain of 2 percentile points on the SAT-10 reading assessment when compared with non-AMSTI students. These gains compare to an average of 40 extra days of schooling.
"This is a day of affirmation, that what we've felt and known for almost a decade we've now had affirmed," said state school Superintendent Tommy Bice. "Alabama's future is bright as these young minds are challenged to think critically and solve complex problems with no obvious answer -- the 21st-century skills business and industry are asking of our graduates."
The $3 million study, "Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative," was conducted by Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast and Empirical Education Inc., and the Academy for Education Development, and paid for by the U.S. Department of Education.
The study included an analysis of student achievement, teacher practice, demographic data, professional training logs, classroom observations, professional development surveys, interviews with teachers and principals and online surveys.
Math results were based on SAT-10 mathematics problem-solving scores for grades four through eight. Reading results were based on the SAT-10 reading assessment scores for the same grades. Science results were based on the SAT-10 science test, which is administered only in grades five and seven.
According to the report, in addition to strong student test achievement gains, AMSTI had a positive and statistically significant effect on classrooms. On the surveys, AMSTI teachers rated their students as more engaged than non-AMSTI teachers, because of the hands-on, inquiry-based instruction.
"To see our children today, they're so engaged," said Debbie Fletcher, principal of St. Elmo Elementary School in Mobile. "You ask students their favorite subject now, and it's not PE anymore. It's not lunch, even though we have a great nutritional program. It's math and science."
The study comes as the state Legislature is discussing the Education Trust Fund budget, which over the years has reduced AMSTI funding. The program received $26 million this year, but growth to other schools has remained stagnant as state funding has declined from a 2009 peak of $41 million.
Ricks said it would cost $50 million a year to have AMSTI in all of Alabama's schools.
That's a small investment for the return, Bice said.
An extra 28 days of school -- the equivalent of the results produced in math after just one year of AMSTI -- would cost $600 million, he said.
"Over two years, that's over a billion dollars," Bice said. "So to have AMSTI in all schools for $50 million? That sounds like a pretty darn good investment to me."
