Mastery Connect usage leads to ELA and math gains: Insights from our latest ESSA Level III Studies

[AlLeeLP]

With so many tools out there, it’s critical that the ones you’re using with students are known to drive outcomes. We’re proud to announce the results of our latest Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Level III-aligned studies, which demonstrate a strong correlation between Mastery Connect usage and student performance on English Language Arts (ELA) and math end-of-year assessments.

As of March 1, 2024, Instructure has conducted three ESSA III studies examining how the number of assessments completed in Mastery Connect are related to student performance on end-of-year assessments, including Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina state summative assessments and NWEA MAP and iReady assessments. Students came from racially and ethnically diverse, small- and medium-sized districts.  

Overall, grade 3–8 students who completed more assessments in Mastery Connect had significantly higher ELA and math performance on end-of-year assessments. For every two Mastery Connect additional assessments completed in grades 3–8, students gained anywhere from 2 to 38 percentile points. This outcome underscores the pivotal role of ongoing formative assessment in fostering academic growth among elementary and middle school students.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires federal funds be used for interventions that meet one of four levels of evidence. Level III, or “Promising Evidence”, means that a correlational study at a single site demonstrated positive student outcomes and the product is eligible for all years of federal funding. By using edtech products that are aligned to ESSA standards, administrators can have confidence that the tools they are implementing have been rigorously evaluated and shown to drive positive student outcomes.

Keep an eye out for additional studies and a meta-analysis of our Mastery Connect ESSA studies to identify trends and overall effect sizes across contexts.