Date
7-2020
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)
Chair
Russell Claxton
Keywords
Remedial Math Instruction, Middle School Instruction, Student Motivation, Learned Helplessness, Low-income Students, Self-efficacy
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Keaton, Roger Lee, "Improving Remedial Middle School Standardized Test Scores" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 2595.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/2595
Abstract
The purpose of this applied study was to solve the problem of low standardized test scores in a remedial class for a middle school in southern Virginia and to formulate a solution to address the problem. The central research question that data collection attempted to answer was: How can the problem of low standardized test scores in a remedial math class be solved in a middle school in southern Virginia? Data were collected in three ways. First, interviews of teachers and administrators of the remedial math class, called Math Lab, were conducted. These interviews were transcribed and coded, with the codes collected into themes and then displayed visually. Second, an online discussion board was conducted with current and former teachers of Math Lab, school administrators, and classroom math teachers. Third, surveys of teachers and administrators with knowledge of Math Lab and how it impacted students were completed. The quantitative surveys were analyzed by finding descriptive statistics of the data. After reviewing all data sources, a solution to address the problem was created that included designing a curriculum for Math Lab, requiring communication between Math Lab teachers and general classroom math teachers, and professional development of the Math Lab teacher about teaching remedial classes.
