PITTSBURGH -- Carnegie Learning's Cognitive Tutor(R) Algebra I has been recognized by the What Works Clearinghouse as having strong scientific evidence of effectiveness. The What Works Clearinghouse, a project of the US Department of Education, has just completed a review of middle school mathematics curricula. It set a high standard for what counts as evidence of effectiveness. Of over 800 submissions in the area of middle school mathematics, only two studies that showed significant positive effects were deemed to be of high enough quality to earn this distinction.
Cognitive Tutor was selected based on a study performed by the Moore Independent School District in Moore, Oklahoma. In the study, students were randomly assigned to use either Cognitive Tutor Algebra I or McDougal Littell's Heath Algebra for a full school year. The students assigned to the Cognitive Tutor course received significantly higher course grades and scored significantly higher on a standardized exam. Several teachers in the study taught both curricula and found that their Cognitive Tutor classes performed better. This result demonstrates that the Cognitive Tutor curriculum helps teachers to be more effective in their teaching.
Although the What Works Clearinghouse focused on student achievement results, the study also found that Cognitive Tutor students felt more confident of their abilities in mathematics and felt that mathematics was more useful in their lives outside of school.
Steven Ritter, Carnegie Learning's Senior Cognitive Scientist and a co-author of the study commented, "The Cognitive Tutor curriculum was developed by applying the best research into how people learn. This study confirms that a focus on the science of learning can, in fact, lead to a curriculum that is better able to help students learn mathematics."
The full study is available at: http://www.carnegielearning.com/research/published_research/ Moore2001writeup.pdf (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
About Carnegie Learning
Carnegie Learning is the developer of the Cognitive Tutor(R) comprehensive curricula for secondary mathematics. Established in 1998 by researchers, teachers and scholars from Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Learning was founded to apply and extend more than 20 years of award-winning research in cognitive science to mathematics instruction. Headquartered in Pittsburgh and operating with a full-time staff of more than 50 educators, researchers, management, technical, marketing and support staff members, Carnegie Learning's mathematics courses now serve more than 150,000 students in 46 of the nation's largest school districts. Available courses currently include Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and Integrated Math.
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