| Purposes. The purposes of this study were to assess the effectiveness of the Advanced Sixth Grade Mathematics Program of a mid-western school district for raising achievement levels as measured by the California Achievement Test-C and to determine the relationship between program participation and placement of students in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade mathematics classes.;Subjects. The sample consisted of 29 students in the experimental group who participated in a pilot study of the Advanced Sixth Grade Mathematics Program in three elementary schools of the district. The control group was selected from a pool of 14 elementary schools and consisted of 29 students who were matched to the experimental group students on sex, Concepts and Applications scores from their fifth grade CAT-C Test battery, and scores on the Cognitive Skills ($pm$6). Each group consisted of 12 girls and 17 boys. Experimental group students were similar to control group students in socio-economic status.;Treatment. Experimental group students participated in the Advanced Sixth Grade Mathematics Program. Control group students experienced the regular sixth grade mathematics curriculum of the district.;Hypothesis Testing. Seven null hypotheses were utilized to accomplish the purposes of the study. Hypotheses 1 through 4 were tested using a randomized complete block analysis of variance, blocking on the matching pairs of students. Hypotheses 5 through 7 were tested using the Chi-square test of independence. All tests were conducted at the.05 level of significance and computations were performed using the Statistical Analysis System, SAS (1984).;Conclusions. (1) The Advanced Sixth Grade Mathematics Program, with its primary emphasis on problem solving, was highly effective in raising levels of achievement of the Concepts and Applications section of the CAT-C from the fifth to the sixth grade, p =.0036. (2) The placement was significantly dependent upon participation in the Advanced Sixth Grade Mathematics Program. (3) It appears that the recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in "An Agenda for Action: Recommendations for School Mathematics of the 1980's" were supported by the results of this study. |
