Sunbay Digital Mathematics. Pilot Year 1 Final Report Brief: Learning Gains In Pinellas County, Florida

Summary

In June 2009 the Helios Education Foundation and the Pinellas Education Foundation
provided funding for the pilot year of the SunBay Digital Mathematics program. The
program is being run by SRI International (SRI) in collaboration with the University of
South Florida St. Petersburg (USFSP) and the Pinellas County Schools (PCS).

1. Begin implementation and effectiveness studies of digital mathematics, build
   capacity within the collaborating organizations, and refine the teams’ understanding
   of specific needs within PCS.
2. Develop a comprehensive strategic plan that addresses how we will deploy digital
   materials, provide teacher professional development, and engage school leaders.
3. Create shared intellectual capital to effectively raise additional funds.
   

This report details the manner in which these three goals were met. To meet Goal 1 the
team recruited and trained 13 middle school mathematics teachers from Pinellas County,
and each has had significant and ongoing participation in the program. The team has
modified a set of technology-based algebra materials and related assessments to meet
the needs of Pinellas County, and provided ongoing professional development (PD) to all
13 teachers in the effective use of these materials. Figure E-1 shows the classroom mean
gain scores for all the teachers who participated in Florida, as well as all the teachers who
participated in our earlier successful experiment in the state of Texas. This graph shows
that students of teachers using the SunBay intervention, in both Texas and Florida, to
teach the key mathematical topics of proportionality and rate showed consistently higher
learning gains than students in Control classrooms who were taught by more traditional
means.
This pilot year had three specific goals: