New Study Says Equals Curriculum Generates Significant Gains

Recently posted research results on Equals, adds to the substantial body of evidence on the efficacy of the adapted numeracy curriculum for students with special needs.

Published on the Ablenet website is an update to their now four year case study on Equals conducted by a suburban school district in the US mid-west. The researchers started with 72 students ages 5-14 with a variety of cognitive, sensory and physical challenges resulting in mild to severe instructional needs. They charted the progress of a group of students after Year 1, 2 and 3.

Using the Equals Assessment to help group students by level and theme for their starting point, Equals instruction was then delivered 40 minutes/day, every instructional day to groups of 3-8 students.

In the first year all 72 students demonstrated progress.  In fact there was an average gain of 38% across all student groups.

43 students continued to participate in the project for 3 consecutive years. After 3 years, the students demonstrated an average gain of 112%!

These results are documented in white papers and are summarized in a short video.  One of these studies breaks-out and specifically addresses experiences with students on the autism spectrum. You can find all the information here.

https://www.ablenetinc.com/curriculum/mathematics/equals-mathematics#Research

These papers reinforce with data, the experiences of Alberta teaches with Equals documented in rich detail on Alberta Education’s Numeracy for All website. This is the landing and share area for the Communities of Practice developed around the implementation of a new math initiative for students with special needs, initiated in 2012.  The Equals curriculum was the core resource for this initiative with hundreds of Equals kits deployed across the province.

Since we first wrote about the webpage even more resources have been added, including recorded webinars on Meaning-Filled Activities, Real Life Math Connections and Problem Solving.

For more information on Equals, join us for a webinar, or contact Bridges about a personal presentation, for you and your team.