TERC Mixing in Math Evaluation Final Report

The evaluation was guided by four major questions: 1) How has math education changed at the afterschool programs sites over the course of the project? 2) Have children's experiences of informal math changed over the course of the project? 3) How have program staff changed in relation to math education? and 4) How is Mixing in Math being sustained at the program sites and disseminated to other programs and sites? Staff, program, and organizational factors all played a strong role in supporting high quality implementation of Mixing in Math. Mixing in Math was most successful where the organization provided both support and accountability; the program culture created an atmosphere of openness to new things and intentionality about goals; and program leadership kept Mixing in Math alive throughout the year. While organizational and programmatic factors are important, in the end, staff conduct Mixing in Math as they work with children in their program each day. The evaluation found that staff who came to the MiM activities with a skill set in delivering content-rich, experiential learning activities were more successful, not only in creating a positive experience for children, but also in communicating the desired math education. Programs that have staff with these skills will find themselves in a favorable position in implementing Mixing in Math; other programs may want to consider developing training and staff recruitment focused on such skills, since they are likely to support implementation of other research-based afterschool curricula as well as Mixing in Math.