John McCandless Middle School Math Competition
Faculty Mentor Name
Erika Almazan
Abstract
This is the case in the 7th and 8th-grade students attending the John McCandless STEM Charter School, with their standardized assessment outcome, including their i-Ready scores falling below the national average in math. To this end, a structured competition between grades/classes on math was developed and implemented based on the average score of the class, thus ensuring collective accountability and equitable participation.
Multiple versions of the assessment were created to ensure academic integrity, and performance was based on averages across the class rather than individual performance. Trophies for the best performing class in each grade were introduced as incentives to boost motivation harnessing gamification, and peer competition.
On the engagement behavioral front, the project has led to a significant positive change. They were more keen on knowing the results of the performances, which indicated that the framework based on competition successfully motivates students.
The project was carried out as a group effort, with Kim Gabriel responsible for the overall design of the project, development of questions and supervision, Christopher Garcia for performing statistical analysis and grading, Heedaya Sadek for preparation, and Ana Hernandez for communication and preparation of presentation materials.
Finally, these findings demonstrate that structuring academic competition can be an effective, cost-effective academic intervention to promote student motivation in mathematics. For example, future implementations may account for longitudinal performance tracking and varying incentives.
Location
DeRosa University Center, University of the Pacific
Start Date
24-4-2026 3:10 PM
End Date
24-4-2026 3:20 PM
John McCandless Middle School Math Competition
DeRosa University Center, University of the Pacific
This is the case in the 7th and 8th-grade students attending the John McCandless STEM Charter School, with their standardized assessment outcome, including their i-Ready scores falling below the national average in math. To this end, a structured competition between grades/classes on math was developed and implemented based on the average score of the class, thus ensuring collective accountability and equitable participation.
Multiple versions of the assessment were created to ensure academic integrity, and performance was based on averages across the class rather than individual performance. Trophies for the best performing class in each grade were introduced as incentives to boost motivation harnessing gamification, and peer competition.
On the engagement behavioral front, the project has led to a significant positive change. They were more keen on knowing the results of the performances, which indicated that the framework based on competition successfully motivates students.
The project was carried out as a group effort, with Kim Gabriel responsible for the overall design of the project, development of questions and supervision, Christopher Garcia for performing statistical analysis and grading, Heedaya Sadek for preparation, and Ana Hernandez for communication and preparation of presentation materials.
Finally, these findings demonstrate that structuring academic competition can be an effective, cost-effective academic intervention to promote student motivation in mathematics. For example, future implementations may account for longitudinal performance tracking and varying incentives.
