Personalized Learning in 8th Grade Math

8th Grade Math

Devin Silva

Problem Identified: Students with below-grade level math skills typically achieve a low percentage of mastered (Meet or Exceeding) learning outcomes. When given opportunities for upgrades, this population struggles to work independently, requiring extensive support from a teacher in order to complete tasks. I would like to provide academic tasks and resources that support a greater degree of independence.

Hypothesis: If I implement personalized playlists with struggling students in my low intensive, then I will see increased mastery of focus learning outcomes, as measured by data in MasteryConnect.

Data Collection: Most of the students in the target group improved their mastery ratings, though in small, incremental ways. Taken as a cohort, the findings are clearer: Not Yet ratings declined by 14%, while Approachings increased by 10% and Meetings jumped by 25%.

Actionable Step: Identify students who are struggling to develop skills in your content area. Select high-priority learning outcomes for them to focus on and compile resources and learning activities into a “playlist.” Create a group on Google Classroom and share playlists with these students with whatever frequency is feasible for your course.

Overall Findings/Impact: The upward shift in mastery grades among the group, particularly the decline in Not Yet scores was a clear success. Many of the targeted students benefited from being able to watch videos at their own pace and as many times as needed. The immediate feedback they received while ‘practicing’ a skill built greater confidence for completing the upgrade assignment. The pace of new content in math and the need to devote some intensive time to projects, re-teaching, and other activities meant that the intervention was not consistently applied.