ABOUT THE STUDY

About the Study
Research Questions
Design & Samples
Measures
Study Timeline

There is a distinct regional and national need for solid information about the effectiveness of virtual coursework.  This study is designed to inform educational decisions about whether and how to invest in the use of online courses in the Northeast region for specific purposes and populations.  In particular, increasing access to critical "gatekeeper" courses like Algebra I is a priority across the region, and offering the course online is one potentially effective way of providing increased access to more students.

This study is an investigation of the use of an online algebra course to expand access to eighth graders who, though they are ready to take the course, are unable to because they attend schools that are often small and in rural locations that do not offer the course until high school.

The goal of the study is to evaluate the impact that taking algebra online in eighth grade has on student achievement and later mathematics course-taking. We will compare outcomes at the end of 8th grade, end of 9th grade, and beginning of 10th grade for students who attended schools that received online algebra to those of students who attended comparison schools.

The study used a lottery to randomly assign eligible schools to either receive an online algebra course (at no cost to them) in 2008-2009 or no online algebra course in 2008-2009. Comparison schools that do not receive the online course in 2008-2009 will receive it the following year. All participating schools will receive the online course for two consecutive years.