Can Zeal tutoring enhance middle school math instruction?
KIPP Heritage sixth graders experienced an unplanned transition a month into school with a teacher vacancy in their science block. School leaders wanted to make sure to set the incoming teacher up for success. In an effort to boost math achievement, the team decided to craft the science block into a Personalized Learning block with programs such as Zeal. KIPP wanted an additional tool that could offer students personalized attention and a mastery-based approach.
“We felt Zeal was an important part of our sixth-grade success, so it was natural to try it with our seventh graders as well.”
— Tricia Dong, Assistant Principal & 7th Grade Teacher
Implementation
KIPP Heritage introduced Zeal to all 6th grade students at the end of October 2016, with the goal of students spending one hour per week on Zeal.
At the time, students were using other tools and doing math enrichment work, but Zeal posed the opportunity to deliver additional live instruction from math coaches.
Under Ms. Dong’s leadership, KIPP Heritage implemented Zeal in rotations throughout class periods.
Students received math coaching on a variety of sixth-grade skills with Zeal, better preparing them to approach the content in their math block and solidifying their understanding.
Throughout the week, the teacher would share student’s coaching sessions and results to the class so they could engage with their learning and focus on success.
Zeal data reports allowed KIPP to keep an eye on students’ misunderstandings. With the ability to watch coaching sessions, Ms. Dong was able to track what the Zeal coaches were working on, making sure those misunderstandings were being addressed.
Impact
6th graders achieved a six point average MAP growth from Fall to Winter. On Zeal, students learned 1–2 standards per week on average, mastering 11 standards by the end of January. Though students only had the opportunity to use Zeal for a handful of weeks leading up to the MAP test, the results were encouraging.
School leaders decided to implement Zeal for their seventh grade class in January to broaden the potential. Many initiatives and instructional support systems were put in place to set the students up for this home run, but having Zeal in the mix proved to have a positive response from all stakeholders involved.
Seventh graders started the beginning of February and got off to a blistering start, averaging almost three skills per week.
