Students Receiving Instruction in a Spanish Immersion Classroom Exhibit Gains

The study examines the implementation of McGraw-Hill Education’s Everyday Mathematics program in a Spanish immersion classroom for fifth-grade students during the 2016-2017 school year. The setting is a public school in Michigan that uses an early-total, one-way Spanish immersion model, serving students from Kindergarten through sixth grade. The study involved 23 fifth-grade students from one classroom in a school within a larger district that serves nearly 10,000 students across 18 schools. The methodology was a correlational study without a control group, relying on student performance data from the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) in mathematics. Statistical analyses included comparisons of mean scaled scores and proficiency levels between the 2016 and 2017 administrations of the M-STEP. Results showed statistically significant gains in scaled scores across all content areas, with an average increase of 100 points (p < .000). Additionally, the percentage of students scoring in the Advanced range increased from 39% in 2016 to 52% in 2017. Everyday Mathematics users performed significantly better than their peers at the state level, (p < .000). While the EM users performed better than their school and district peers, the differences were not statistically significant. Teacher and student perceptions of Everyday Mathematics were favorable, with the teacher expressing satisfaction with the program’s simplicity and reporting that it was easy for students to understand. The study highlights the need for expanded sample sizes and control groups to strengthen future research.