Algebra on demand

School districts nationwide have yet to agree upon a standardized method for student achievement in algebra at the middle school level. This comparative case study, with a phenomenological approach, was designed to evaluate the implementation of a middle school algebra preparedness program, referred to as Algebra on Demand, in a Southeastern Pennsylvania (PA) School District. This program provided middle school students, grades 6-8, the opportunity to study algebra when they were deemed "ready" at the earliest grade level in their middle school education. Specifically, the study examined the perceptions of middle school mathematics teachers about how students are identified and selected to participate in the Algebra on Demand program, how middle school algebra teachers worked with students of varying abilities once they became part of the program, and to what extent the program prepared middle school Algebra 1 students to achieve proficiency on the PA Keystone Algebra 1 Exam. Through the frameworks of the Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1978) and Change Theory (Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009; Senge, Smith, Kruschwitz, Laur, & Schley, 2010; Kotter, 2012), the development and delivery of the program were explored. Key components of this study were to investigate how students were selected for the Algebra on Demand program, how student progress was monitored throughout participation, and what constituted successful completion of the program. Utilizing both qualitative and archival data collection processes for this study allowed these issues to be assessed from a variety of stakeholder viewpoints. These methods allowed the researcher to evaluate if the Algebra on Demand program model was a viable option for improving student achievement in algebra at the middle school level.