Researchers looked at how K-6 students in Tulsa Public Schools performed on the 2022 MAP Growth assessment. The research, which uses quasi-experimental matching techniques to isolate the impact of Zearn Math on student achievement, compares students who consistently completed three or more Zearn lessons each week with similarly matched students who did not consistently use Zearn<cms-citation-text>[1]<cms-citation-text>. Unlike a standard correlational analysis, this method allows differences in outcomes to be more confidently attributed to Zearn Math and not to other variables. Researchers found:
- Students who used Zearn grew 1.5 grade levels in one school year, while their peers who did not use Zearn fell short of expected one-year growth benchmarks.
- Across all starting MAP Growth achievement levels, students who used Zearn were more likely to improve their proficiency level<cms-citation-text>[2]<cms-citation-text>.
- Students who started the school year with below average math achievement were 2.2 and 2.6 times more likely to improve their achievement level with consistent Zearn usage compared to students who did not use Zearn.
- Consistent Zearn usage resulted in a double-digit increase in proficiency for Black and Latino students, economically disadvantaged students, and multilingual learners<cms-citation-text>[3]<cms-citation-text>
<text-style-figure>FIGURE 1<text-style-figure>
Students who used Zearn grew 1.5 grade levels in one school year, while other students fell short of expected one-year growth<cms-citation-text>[4]<cms-citation-text>.
<text-style-figure>FIGURE 2<text-style-figure>
Across all starting achievement levels, students with consistent Zearn usage were more likely to improve their achievement level in 2022.
Students with consistent Zearn usage were also less likely to move down a level: 39 percent of students who met Tulsa Public Schools’ benchmark for proficiency on the fall 2021 MAP Growth assessment who did not use Zearn scored below average on the spring 2022 assessment, compared to only 11 percent of students who used Zearn.
<text-style-figure>FIGURE 3<text-style-figure>
Students who started with below average math achievement were 2.2 and 2.6 times more likely to improve their achievement level when they consistently used Zearn.
<text-style-figure>FIGURE 4<text-style-figure>
Consistent Zearn usage resulted in a double-digit increase in proficiency for each student subgroup, while similarly matched students experienced declines.
Between fall 2021 and spring 2022 consistent Zearn usage resulted in a 20 percent increase in students meeting Tulsa Public Schools’ benchmark for proficiency on the MAP Growth assessment, while there was a four percent decline in students meeting proficiency among students who did not use Zearn. This increase in students meeting proficiency held true for each student subgroup. Black and Latino students experienced a 27 percent increase in proficiency after using Zearn during the 2021–2022 school year. In comparison, Black and Latino students who did not use Zearn experienced a 13 percent decline in proficiency.
