The effects of Peer and Group Education (PAGE ONE), a comprehensive compensatory program for students at-risk for school failure, on mathematics achievement and student attitude

According to the 1991 National Education Goals Report, fewer than one out of every five students in grades four, eight, and twelve has reached the National Education Goal of demonstrating competency in Mathematics. The researcher developed Peer And Group Education (PAGE ONE) to provide academic support to children, to increase parental involvement and communication, to provide professional development opportunities for pre service and in-service teachers, and to network with local agencies to stress the importance of providing academic support to the children they serve in latch-key programs (in addition to the other services they provide). PAGE ONE provided an academically stimulating environment which extended the instruction students received in their public school classrooms to after-school and summer school programs. Students and parents learned the value of mathematics during after-school and summer school opportunities. This study investigated the effects of PAGE ONE in the areas of student achievement in mathematics and student attitudes toward learning mathematics. Mathematics achievement was measured using the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT-7) (Instructional Objective - Mathematics: Concepts and Problem Solving) and the Basic Skills Examination Program (BSAP) Mathematics Exam scaled scores. A seventeen item, 4-point version of the Attitudes Towards Mathematics and its Teaching (ATMAT) Survey was constructed as a result of a factor analysis conducted during the pilot study, to measure the relative attitudes of participants and non-participants. The analysis of covariance method was used to adjust for previous examination results, make groups of subjects more comparable, and reduce the likelihood of Type II error. Meta-analysis, a method of systematically combining data from a number of studies is presented as a means to determine the overall affect size of PAGE ONE on the mathematic achievement of participants. The researcher performed a series of t-test for the attitudinal portion of this study. Based on the results, it was concluded that participation in PAGE ONE did not result in greater mathematics achievement, neither did participation in PAGE ONE result in better attitudes toward learning mathematics within its funding year.