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Academic Youth Development:
A new approach to improving
Algebra I performance
Uri Treisman
Susan Hudson Hull
Laurie M. Garland
Charles A. Dana Center
The University of Texas at Austin
Imagine: Mathematics Assessment for Learning
July 21, 2009
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Many students have difficulty in school not because they
are incapable of performing successfully, but because
they are incapable of believing that they can perform
successfully.
BUT, efforts that attempt to enhance academic
performance that do not also include efforts to increase
content knowledge are doomed to failure.
Noncognitive Factors
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In the National Math Panel survey, 62% of
teachers rated working with unmotivated
students as the single most challenging
aspect of teaching Algebra I successfully.
(National Math Panel, 2008)
Noncognitive Factors
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Wisdom of Practice
• AVID (Mary Catherine Swanson)
• Step-Up to High School (Chicago Public Schools)
• The Algebra Project (Bob Moses)
• Puente Project (California Community Colleges)
• Emerging Scholars Program (Treisman)
Building on Practice and Research
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Building on Practice and Research
• Malleability of intelligence: Intelligence is
something that can be influenced and shaped
through actions and beliefs.
• Attribution: Success is attributed to task-
specific causes (e.g., effort), not to global
causes (e.g., luck or native intelligence).
• Effective effort: Getting better at something
requires the right kind of effort.
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The Academic Youth Development Initiative
Is:
• A set of experiences designed to
influence student beliefs, attitudes,
and behaviors about learning
• An academic development program
for “regular students” to help ensure
they get started in high school on the
right track
• An intervention designed to create
and support a classroom culture of
respectful engagement
• A transitional program to foster
success in high school and beyond
Is not:
• Remediation of
grade 8 math
• Credit recovery
• Preteaching of Algebra I
• A summer math class
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Goals of the AYD Initiative
Three primary goals:
• Improve student performance in Algebra I
and all high school mathematics courses.
• Build a classroom culture focused on
respectful engagement in academics.
• Increase the capacity for teaching to
rigorous mathematics standards.
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AYD shapes and supports a culture in which . . .
• Engagement, participation, positive motivation,
and risktaking are developed and embraced.
• Students don’t have to choose between being
smart and being cool.
• Effort and persistence are recognized and
valued.
• Mutual accountability is fostered and expected.
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• Getting smarter: Growing your brain through
hard work and effort
• Learning to learn and what learning feels like
• Learning with peers: The importance of good
communication
• Making attributions: What do you have control
over in learning?
• Applying “learning about learning” strategies in
problem-solving situations
AYD Online Curriculum Topics
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Students surveyed and/or interviewed reported:
• Higher self-confidence
• Higher motivation and persistence
• Increased use of metacognitive learning strategies
• A greater understanding of theories of intelligence
Findings from the 2008 Summer
Bridge Component
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“It’s fun and you’ll learn a lot. You
don’t just do math here, but learn how
to work as a community.”
--Academic Youth
Development student
California
What Students are Saying…
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In interviews, teachers reported an emerging classroom
culture of . . .
• students taking more responsibility
• better student-to-student communication
• higher levels of students engagement
• increased willingness of students to work with one another
• increased willingness of students to encourage and support
one another
Findings from the 2008 Summer
Bridge Component
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“Seeing students motivated and working
together and hard is energizing me for
next year. Students do work well in groups
and help each other out . . .”
--Academic Youth
Development teacher
California
What Teachers are Saying . . .
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AYD becomes an integral part of a
comprehensive approach to improving student
outcomes in math
Teachers and students bond
Students and teachers experience positive
changes in beliefs and attitudes
Students are able to articulate their own role in
learning
Students are increasingly able to work and
learn together
AYD: What can schools expect?
AYD is designed to complement your campus/district improvement efforts.
