Evaluating the effectiveness on integrating agricultural science and technology with algebra I on the Texas assessment of knowledge and skills mathematics test

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires states to develop and implement a statewide yearly assessment measuring student’s progress and understanding of the state curriculum (United States Department of Education, 2003). As a result of this act, Texas has developed and implemented the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) as the statewide assessment. Upon the implementation of the TAKS test students are expected to reach proficiency level of achievement in the areas of reading/language arts, mathematics, and science before graduating from high school. Even with the proper instruction in course work, students are struggling to reach levels of proficiency in these subject areas resulting in their ineligibility to graduate from high school. The A2E2 course is designed for ninth grade students who unsuccessfully completed the eighth grade TAKS test and are enrolled in Algebra I. A2E2 is designed to assist students who are struggling in understanding concepts by creating the opportunity for the application of algebra concepts to real world settings. The course creates the opportunity through a block scheduling that allows for students to spend the first half of the class learning algebra concepts and the second half of the class applying those concepts to real-world, agricultural topics. Students in the state of Texas must pass the TAKS test for reading/language arts, mathematics, and science before graduating from high school. Students are struggling to reach acceptable achievement scores on the mathematics portion of the test. The A2E2 course is designed to help increase student achievement in algebra. The primary purpose of this research project is to explain the elationship that the A2E2 course has on tudent achievement as measured by the TAKS Test.

The research project incorporated the use of an ex post facto research design to investigate the effectiveness of the A2E2 course. Although there were not any significant differences found between A2E2 and other forms of math remediation the researcher found evidence supporting the A2E2 course and its use as a form of math remediation.