Eric.ed.gov – A Summary Report of the Instructional Effectiveness of the “Harcourt Math Program.” Technical Report Number 104.

This report describes one of a series of pilot studies that were conducted to evaluate the instructional effectiveness of the Harcourt Math Program. Harcourt School Publishers (HSP) contracted with the Educational Research Institute of America (ERIA) to conduct a series of independent pilot studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the Harcourt Math Program. HSP sought out volunteer teachers to participate in the study, the Harcourt Department of Test Services scored the standardized tests, and ERIA conducted the study and analyzed the data that were collected. The study described in this report was conducted during the spring of the 1999-2000 school year. Research questions included: (1) Is the Harcourt Math Program instructionally effective?; and (2) Do selected chapters significantly increase students’ understanding of key math skills, concepts, and strategies as measured by the program’s chapter tests and by standardized achievement tests (i.e.; Stanford)? A total of three teachers from grades 2, 5, and 7 volunteered to participate in the study. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was used. Before instruction began, students were administered two pretests. The increase in test scores on the nationally standardized tests, the Stanford Achievement Tests, and on the Harcourt Math Assessment were both positive and statistically significant for all subtests and total test scores at grades 2, 5, and 7. (ASK)