1996
Case Study: Bronx, NY, CSD 8
29
Schools Within New York City Community School Distrcit 8
Begin Jumping LevelsŪ Pilot Program in grades 2 through 9.
In 1994,
New York City Community School District 8 approved the piloting of
the Jumping Levels® program
in grades two through nine throughout the district, reaching some
750 classrooms in CSD 8’s 29 schools. Classroom teachers were
asked to incorporate use of the 24® game into classroom work,
either five minutes per day or one period per week.
The
Jumping Levels® program
utilizes 24® game play, posters, award stickers and incentives
that encourage students continually to improve math skills at their
own pace. This student-driven program has a unique, feedback mechanism
that gives educators the ability to analyze the performance of students
on a monthly basis and to take corrective action where indicated.
Schools
in the Bronx adopted the program because it focuses on several key
components of their
math curriculum: teaching-tools to increase math fluency, methods
to engage students, solid foundation in basic skills—all driven
toward improvement of standardized test scores. At the end of the
first year, Suntex identified a correlation between students’ standardized
test scores and their performance in the Jumping Levels® program.
Grade levels that performed well in the program had higher standardized
test scores than grade levels that did poorly in the program.
The most
striking result was found among a large group of students at Intermediate
School 131.
These students successfully completed each of the twelve "jumps"
on the Jumping Levels® poster. [Level 1 starts students out with
a one-step addition or subtraction exercise. Level 12 is a complex,
multi-step problem-solving exercise requiring the use of simultaneous-thinking,
pre-algebra skills.] The standardized test scores of the 64 students
who jumped Level 12 (30 percent of the eighth grade at IS 131) were
compared to their previous year’s scores. The increases in scores
were substantial —on average an increase of 11 percentile points
among this group of students.
Suntex
knew that the best way to improve math fluency and test scores was
to get 24® games
into the hands of each student. Teachers concurred with this approach
and their input was extremely important in refining the program.
Key to the success of the Jumping Levels® program was to provide
each student with individual “Mini Decks” of each edition
of the 24® game. With their own Mini Decks, students can spend
free time in school, as well as at home, playing each edition of
the game.
STUDY
EXPANDED
During
the 1995-96 school year, the Jumping Levels® program was widely
expanded in its second year to include three additional Bronx
districts: CSD 7, CSD 9 and CSD 12. Program materials provided
included Mini Decks for each student—throughout 1,685 Bronx
classrooms. As a result, all districts participating improved
test scores.
Suntex
offered these schools the choice of three distinct Jumping Levels® kits:
Add/Subtract primer for grades two and three, Multiply/Divide primer
for grades three and four, and Standard edition for grades four and
up. All three kits include Mini Decks to provide students access
to the game and the opportunity to practice their math skills, contributing
to increased math fluency.
Correlation
between the Jumping Levels® Index (an average of the number
of students reaching any of the 12 skill levels that comprise the
Jumping Levels program) and student performance on standardized tests
is strengthened after review of the 1995-96 test-score data. CSD
8 test results have for the first time in a decade shown over 50
percent of students scoring at or above grade level.
Other
Bronx districts using the Jumping Levels® program for the first
time showed significant gains in test scores—between 7.2 and
12 percent increase in students scoring at or above grade level.
In fact, of the 10 New
York City districts that registered substantial gains in math scores,
four of them were Bronx districts.
CONCLUSION
After implementing the Jumping
Levels® Mathematics
Program, CSD 8 test
results had—for the first time in a decade—shown over 50 percent of
students scoring at or above grade level.
Other
Bronx districts using the Jumping Levels® program for the first
time also showed significant gains in test scores—between 7.2
and 12 percent increase in students scoring at or above grade level.
Of the 10 New
York City districts that registered substantial gains in math scores,
four of them were Bronx districts.
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