Michael Rosholm, Pia Beck Tonnesen, Klaus Rasmussen, Steffen Overgaard, Julie Vangsøe Færch, Signe Gottschau Malm, Jimmy Harder
{"title":"A tailored small group instruction intervention in mathematics benefits low achievers.","authors":"Michael Rosholm, Pia Beck Tonnesen, Klaus Rasmussen, Steffen Overgaard, Julie Vangsøe Færch, Signe Gottschau Malm, Jimmy Harder","doi":"10.1038/s41539-025-00310-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Running two separate two-stage randomized trials, we implement and test three variants of a small group instruction intervention aimed at improving mathematics competencies for the 20% lowest achievers in mathematics in grades 2 and 8 in Danish public schools. We calculate immediate impacts on math competencies as well as impacts in the medium term and conduct cost-effectiveness analyses of the different intervention arms. The context is the Scandinavian welfare state with an already high-quality public school system. Nevertheless, we find very large positive and cost-effective impacts of several intervention variants, some of which persist in the medium term. In particular, interventions in grade 2 tend to persist, while eighth-grade interventions tend to fade out in the medium term.</p>","PeriodicalId":48503,"journal":{"name":"npj Science of Learning","volume":"10 1","pages":"18"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12003807/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"npj Science of Learning","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00310-9","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Running two separate two-stage randomized trials, we implement and test three variants of a small group instruction intervention aimed at improving mathematics competencies for the 20% lowest achievers in mathematics in grades 2 and 8 in Danish public schools. We calculate immediate impacts on math competencies as well as impacts in the medium term and conduct cost-effectiveness analyses of the different intervention arms. The context is the Scandinavian welfare state with an already high-quality public school system. Nevertheless, we find very large positive and cost-effective impacts of several intervention variants, some of which persist in the medium term. In particular, interventions in grade 2 tend to persist, while eighth-grade interventions tend to fade out in the medium term.