Advancing the Math Skills of Middle School Students in Technology Education Classrooms

While curriculum specialists and committees often decide how mathematics is taught, it is ultimately principals who influence the extent to which these initiatives are carried out. The overall goal of this article is to provide school leaders with classroom-based research that describes one way of improving the math skills of middle school students. The study employed a randomized pretest-posttest comparison group design to examine the effects of two versions of Enhanced Anchored Instruction (EAI) and a Business as Usual (BAU) condition on the math skills of middle school students in technology education classrooms. Results showed that both EAI conditions were effective at improving the math skills of students over those of students in the BAU classes. The findings suggest that technology education teachers can make important contributions in helping students develop their computation and problem-solving skills.