This report outlines the evaluation of Utah STEM Action Center's Computing Partnership (CP) grant program in their second and final year of implementation during the 2024-25 academic year. Findings from the evaluation highlighted the expansion of computing programming at participating sites and reported growth among students and educators engaged in grant activities, while also noting the need for continued support in rural areas and strategies to better foster students’ computing identities.
The Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC), in collaboration with the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), conducted an evaluation of the Early Interactive Software Program (EISP), a state-supported initiative to strengthen literacy skills among students in grades K-3 through early literacy software. The evaluation focused on both implementation of the program and its impact on reading proficiency.
This report provides findings from the Utah Education Policy Center’s 2024-2025 evaluation of STEM Action Center’s AmeriCorps Math Mentors Program for the 2024-2025 school year. The report summarizes results related to program implementation, mentors’ perceptions of training and support, and changes in student attitudes and performance.
This report presents findings from an independent evaluation of Beast Academy Online, a digital mathematics learning platform, conducted by the Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC) in partnership with Art of Problem Solving. The findings indicate that regular use of Beast Academy Online supports mathematics achievement for high-ability elementary students, a group often overlooked in remediation-focused recovery efforts. Based on its correlational design with statistical controls for selection bias, this study provides Promising Evidence under ESSA Tier 3.
This report provides findings from the Utah Education Policy Center’s 2024-2025 evaluation of STEM Action Center’s K-12 Math Personalized Learning Software Grant Program. Using teacher surveys, student surveys, math learning software (MLS) usage data, and statewide administrative data, the evaluation examined five key evaluation questions related to the quality of MLS implementation, teacher and student perceptions of its value, and the relationship between MLS usage and student math attitudes and achievement.
Published in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, this manuscript examines associations between the goals teachers set for their students’ use of math personalized learning software and both teacher and student attitudes.
In partnership with the Utah STEM Action Center and the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), the Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC) examined associations between myriad software implementation practices and student achievement outcomes.
UEPC identified associations between teachers’ goals for students’ math software use and teachers’ perceptions of the value of software, in partnership with STEM Action Center.
Along with our partners as STEM Action Center, UEPC looked at the associations between student attitudes toward math and math learning software use.
This research brief, prepared in partnership with STEM Action Center, looks at associations between math learning software usage and personalized, competency-based instructional strategies.
In partnership with STEM Action Center, UEPC shares best practices for math blended learning environments based on teacher and student survey data.
This report was prepared for the STEM Action Center in support of the K-12 Math Personalized Learning Software Grant Program. The results of this quasi-experimental study suggest that Utah students who, on average, used IXL for 20 minutes or more per week in 2020-2021 performed better on statewide math assessments than students who did not use IXL. This finding is consistent with IXL’s implementation fidelity and usage recommendations which indicate that, for “optimal usage,” students should reach proficiency in at least two skills per week.
In this study, the Utah Education Policy Center provides evidence that students who are low-income use math personalized learning software for less time than students who are not low-income, with the gap in usage increasing in magnitude after the soft closure of Utah’s schools in March 2020. The benefits of usage were similar for students regardless of low-income status.
In this study, the Utah Education Policy Center presents evidence for a “digital use divide” in Utah wherein some students are using technology in ways that enhance their mathematics learning through student-centered and data-informed teacher support while other students are using technology in ways that lead to student disengagement and that contribute to educator disaffection.
An evaluation of teacher knowledge, practices, and outcomes using mathematics personalized learning software.
An evaluation of student attitudes and perceptions of math personalized learning software.
The infographic presents the varied and meaningful ways the University of Utah trains teachers to integrate technology into instruction.
Educators and stakeholders are increasingly interested in the integration of technology in the classroom.