Abstract
Statement of Problem
By the end of third grade, the achievement gap in mathematics is already evident. Many studies have shown the widening of this gap as students get older. Furthermore, summer learning loss creates an even bigger disadvantage for lower performing students when they return to school in the fall. The purpose of this thesis was to determine whether attending a summer school remedial program would help
close the gap in mathematics between higher and lower achieving students.
Sources of Data
The study population included ten students identified as at-risk and enrolled in a summer school program during the summer of 2007 at a suburban elementary school near Sacramento, California. Data associated with each student were obtained from a pretest given during the last week of the 2006-2007 school year, a posttest given during the first week of the 2007-2008 school year, and an additional posttest given during the eighth week of instruction in the 2007-2008 school year. All assessments were based on the 2006 released third grade number sense questions from the California Standards Test. One hundred twenty students were given the initial assessment, and of those students, 73 students completed the two posttests.
Conclusions Reached
The data indicated that were was not a significant difference in the mean growth on the number sense test between students in the experimental and control group. An ancillary finding that, while not statistically significant, males in the experimental group gained more from the treatment than females was noted, along with recommendations for further research.