Help improve math outcomes
Field test your ideas within Carnegie Learning's MATHia
Carnegie Learning recently received a grant from the US Department of Education to support researchers who have ideas about how to improve middle and/or high school mathematics outcomes. The Department is now soliciting applications from researchers. Winning proposals will receive up to $400,000 to design and implement their ideas in cooperation with Carnegie Learning. Your idea will be tested within MATHia, which is used by over 600,000 students per year.
This is an opportunity to test ideas to improve math education at scale in real classrooms.
Research can address mathematics activities and content, feedback, motivational supports and user interface features. Research can take up to 2 years, with the first 6 months devoted to completing the design and implementation of your idea. Proposals are due January 11, 2024. Questions? Check the FAQ.
MATHia
MATHia is effective, intelligent software that adapts to each student's needs. Students typically use MATHia as part of their everyday math instruction in school, and we have alignments to state standards in all states. You can try MATHia in our Sample Center.
Students using MATHia complete a series of math topics (which we call "workspaces"). A typical course consists of 50-100 workspaces.
The UpGrade Platform
Research within MATHia will be supported by our free open-source UpGrade platform. UpGrade will help implement your research design, including randomly assigning students to either get the standard version of MATHia or a version of MATHia including your ideas. Explore UpGrade in our demo.
SEERNet
The Department of Education selected Carnegie Learning's MATHia and UpGrade as one of the platforms to support research. There are four others: ASU, ETrials, Kinetic and Terracotta. Digital Promise is acting as the network hub and, together, we refer to the platforms as SEERNet, following the Department of Education's SEER Principles for educational research.
Institute for Education Sciences
This research is sponsored by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), which is the research arm of the US Department of Education.
To submit a proposal to this program, please read the RFA (84.309N). If you have any questions about the program, you can direct them to Erin Higgins at erin.higgins@ed.gov or (202) 987-1531.
Examples
Carnegie Learning has a long history of supporting research on the MATHia and Cognitive Tutor platforms. The examples here provide some sense of the range of research that MATHia and UpGrade can support. See also a sample of published research papers that use MATHia and UpGrade.
Showing students the value of math
One study we recently supported tested the impact of students' perception of the value of mathematics on their math achievement
Personalization to improve students' sense of belonging
In this study, we personalized word problems so that names of characters within the problems more closely matched common names in the student's community.
Exploring the area of a circle
In this study, we investigated whether introducing interactive manipulatives highlighting real-world objects led to increased mastery of the relationship between the vocabulary and the parts of a circle.
Introducing operations with negative numbers
In this study, we presented problems involving negative numbers on a number line with meaningful real-world context.
Simplifying word problem content
In this study, we re-wrote word problems to make them simpler and more accessible to students, particularly those who are struggling readers.
FAQ
Where do I find information about how to apply for funding?
The Department of Education's Request for Applications explains much about the process: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/pdf/2024_84305N.pdf
Who can apply for this funding?
There are no restrictions on who can apply. Applicants may include educational institutions as well as for-profit and non-profit organizations. IES is particularly interested in funding people at institutions that do not normally receive grants like this, including researchers at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
Does Carnegie Learning decide who gets funding?
No. Carnegie Learning has no role in reviewing proposals. A panel convened by the Department of Education will review all proposals.
Can Carnegie Learning help me write my proposal?
Proposers are required to ask Carnegie Learning for a feasibility assessment, which will be submitted along with the proposal. In addition, we will participate in "office hours" sessions, where we can address any questions about MATHia and UpGrade.
What schools and students will participate in the study?
MATHia is used by middle and high schools across the country. School districts using MATHia include urban, suburban and rural schools in all 50 states. Carnegie Learning does not normally collect student-level demographic information. If your study targets students with particular characteristics or requires student-level information, we can work with you to identify appropriate school districts who are willing to provide such information. Similarly, if you require data like course grades or scores on standardized tests, we can assist in working with school districts to gain such information, but any studies that require such information will necessarily be limited to a small number of school districts.
If you have connections with one or more school districts that are using MATHia, you may want to include them in your proposal. Otherwise, Carnegie Learning can help you to identify appropriate research districts during the six month planning period.
How can I learn more about MATHia?
These papers provide some publications describing the pedagogy behind MATHia (formerly called Cognitive Tutor) as well as field studies focused on improving impact and demonstrating results with students. If you want to try MATHia for yourself, please request access to our Sample Center.
Will Carnegie Learning create content or write software to support my study?
Carnegie Learning will provide consulting and implementation support for successful proposals, but your proposal should ask for adequate resources for creating any content or software required to implement the study.
What dates do I need to be aware of?
November 9, 2023, 4:00 Eastern time: SEERnet Office Hours session about Carnegie Learning and UpGrade. Join at https://ies.ed.gov/funding/technicalassistance.asp
November 14, 2023: Due date for (optional) Letter of Intent.
November 30, 2023: Deadline for Carnegie Learning to submit an assessment of the feasibilty of your study.
January 11, 2024: Due date for proposals.
Sept. 1, 2024: Possible start date (beginning of planning period).
March 1, 2025: Possible implementation date for field study (following 6 month planning period).
LET'S TALK
For more information
The Department of Education will be hosting office hours for potential applicants on November 9, 2023 from 4-5 PM Eastern time. Information about IES's Virtual Office Hours is available here: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/technicalassistance.asp
Send requests for feasibility analysis to:
upgradeplatform@carnegielearning.com
