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Research Brief | New Jersey NJSLA Success
Clifton Public Schools, NJ
Imagine Robotify Supports Clifton Public
School Students’ Achievement on NJSLA
OverviewDuring the 2022–2023 academic year, Clifton Public Schools in New Jersey
implemented Imagine Robotify to support students in meeting coding
standards for Grades K–8 students. Over the course of the year, 4,535
students used the program and completed an average of 24.2 tasks (all
these students also used Imagine Math during the 2022–2023 school year).
The purpose of this research study was to examine how usage of Imagine
Robotify impacted students’ mathematics achievement. As the district
did not employ a standardized computer science or coding assessment,
Imagine Learning analyzed the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments
(NJSLA) mathematics data for the users and correlated outcomes
to program usage to determine how students’ usage of Imagine Robotify was impacting mathematics
performance with the assumption that mathematics might serve as a proxy for coding achievement. This
assumption is supported by research that indicates there exists a strong relationship between computer
science instruction and mathematics achievement, with time spent on computer science instruction
positively impacting students’ mathematics achievement (Century et al., 2020; Salac et al., 2021).
MethodsImagine Learning employed two analytical techniques to understand the relationship between Imagine Robotify
usage and students’ mathematics achievement as measured by the NJSLA assessment. First, Imagine Learning
regressed the number of tasks that students completed within Imagine Robotify against their NJSLA mathematics
scores to determine the direction and strength of the relationship between program usage and math achievement.
Second, students were categorized into users or non-users based on number of tasks completed within Imagine
Robotify and then statistically matched based on baseline scores and demographics using propensity score
matching. Then the average NJSLA math scores of each group were compared to better isolate the impact of
Imagine Robotify on students’ math achievement.
ResultsData from this research study demonstrate positive associations between the use of Imagine Robotify and NJSLA
math performance. Particularly, as students completed more tasks in Imagine Robotify, they achieved statistically
greater scores on their 2023 NJSLA math assessment (p < .01, see Figure 1). This indicates that as students spent
more time completing tasks in the program, they, on average, achieved greater scores on the NJSLA math
assessment. Further, after statistically matching students on baseline scores and demographic variables, results
showed that students who completed at least 19 tasks1 in Imagine Robotify statistically outperformed their peers
by about 7 points on the NJSLA math assessment (p < .001, see Figure 2). This matching analysis provides further
proof that when isolating the impact of Imagine Robotify on students’ math achievement, we see students who
use the Imagine Robotify program achieve greater outcomes on the NJSLA math assessment. Overall, these
results indicate that Imagine Robotify is a strong solution for not only developing students’ coding skills but also
supporting students in their mathematics achievement.
1 19 represents the median number of tasks completed.
Clifton Public Schools, NJ
Demographics (n = 4,535)
Special Education Status 17.3%
Free/Reduced Lunch Status 44.6%
ELL 7.8%
Title I Math 30.3%
504 Plan 1.8%
Figure 1. Association between tasks completed in
Imagine Robotify and 2023 NJSLA Math score.
2023 NJSLA Math Score
Figure 2. Average 2023 NJSLA math score by Imagine
Robotify usage.

Non-Users Completed 19 Tasks
650
675
700
725
750

Average 2023 NJSLA Scaled Score
Imagine Robotify Tasks Completed Imagine Robotify Usage
References
Century, J., Ferris, K. A., & Zuo, H. (2020). Finding time for computer science in the elementary school day: A quasi-experimental
study of a transdisciplinary problem-based learning approach. International Journal of STEM Education, 7(20).
https://stemeducationjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40594-020-00218-3
Salac, J., Thomas, C., Butler, C., & Franklin, D. (2021). Understanding the link between computer science instruction and
reading & math performance. In 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
V. 1. (ITiCSE 2021), June 26-July 1, 2021, Virtual Event, Germany. ACM, https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3430665.3456313

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