Efficacy of ASSISTments Online Homework Support for Middle School Mathematics Learning: A Replication Study and Analysis of Long-Term Effects

A study in Maine found that students using ASSISTments for homework support scored significantly higher on an end-of-year standardized test. The results in Maine are sound, yet people wondered whether the effect will replicate outside of Maine and whether ASSISTments’ effects would be sustained after the intervention was complete.

Purpose

Researchers at WestEd partnered with North Carolina State University, SRI International, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute to conduct a replication study and long-term follow-up analysis of the ASSISTments platform in a nationally representative sample of 63 North Carolina schools. Teachers use ASSISTments to assign and review homework, regardless of textbook. ASSISTments provides immediate feedback for students and diagnostic reports for teachers that indicate which students struggled and which problems had the most wrong answers.  

Audiences Served

Findings from this independent replication study and the long-term analysis will provide practitioners and policymakers with more generalizable insights about the promise of online support to make middle school math homework more effective and to help ensure the academic success of middle school students in our nation’s increasingly diverse schools. 

Project Activities

The efficacy study compared 7th grade classrooms randomly assigned to use ASSISTments for math homework with classrooms assigned to a “business as usual” model.  

The study measured the effects on students’ end-of-year math achievement. The long-term follow-up analysis found significant treatment effects of the intervention on students’ math achievement 1 year after the intervention was completed, at the end of 8th grade (effect size = 0.1), and that the intervention is cost-effective.

Project Director

Mingyu Feng

Mingyu Feng is a nationally recognized expert in development and research of education innovations with a focus on the impact, implementation, and cost of innovative computer technologies and platforms. She works as a Research Director on the Learning and Technology team.

Funder

The replication project was funded under the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education under Grant R305A170641, and the long-term analysis was funded by Arnold Ventures through a grant awarded to WestEd. 

Project Duration

7 years (9/1/2017–3/31/24)