Hello mzamara-ga,
This turned into a very interesting research project. I thought I
could very quickly locate some research reports for you confirming
that the major investment in technology by the California schools has
led to measurable results. I was shocked that I wasn’t able to find
very much. The E-Desk report from SRI looks very promising since it’s
a meta-study looking for the kind of information you’re hoping to
find. In addition, I’ve included some positive and some neutral
reports as well. There is lots of literature on test scores but
they’re not correlated to technology initiatives. The technology
initiatives tend to be evaluated by different criteria, such as number
of children who have access, number of teachers trained and similar
metrics. I don’t know if these would be of use to you.
Since you didn’t say what is the purpose of your research, I’m not
able to guess if you were hoping for positive or negative information
about the availability of research. In either case, I hope that the
research will meet your needs.
Best wishes for your project.
czh
http://www.sri.com/policy/ctl/html/synthesis3.html
E-DESK: A Review of Recent Evidence on the Effectiveness of Discrete
Educational Software
Abstract
As part of this USDOE task order, SRI produced a research synthesis of
the extant evaluation literature (1993-2000) on the effectiveness of
educational software supporting skill development in language arts and
mathematics. The synthesis focused on the quality of the research
methdology used in extant studies and the implications of the overall
research quality in the field on the interpretation of research
findings. Despite the shortcomings of the available research, the
authors used the best available-evidence and meta-analytic approaches
to estimate the size of effects associated with the use of educational
software in language arts and mathematics.
***** This is a 119 page report that can be downloaded in its
entirety.
http://ctap.k12.ca.us/
The California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) is a statewide
educational technology leadership initiative, providing assistance to
schools and districts in integrating technology into teaching and
learning. …
Funded by the Education Technology Local Assistance Program, CTAP
focuses on promoting the effective use of educational technology
through regional coordination of educational support services based on
local needs.
***** This is a portal site that will help you research all aspects of
California’s technology grants.
http://www.pearsonedtech.com/successes/successmaker/andrewjackson.cfm
In November 1998, all 15 elementary schools in the Desert Sands
Unified School District participated in a pilot program administered
by CTAP, the California Technology Assistance Project. … After
evaluating the different software programs, CTAP chose SuccessMaker
and implementation began in earnest.
Results
After a year of using SuccessMaker, students saw measurable gains at
all grade levels. …
In STAR testing, students improved from the 18th percentile in reading
as fourth-graders in 1999 to the 26th percentile as fifth-graders in
2000. The same group of students jumped from the 39th percentile in
1999 to the 45th percentile in 2000 in mathematics. In 1998, before
SuccessMaker was implemented schoolwide, those students were scoring
in the 12th percentile in reading and the 24th percentile in
mathematics as third-graders.
***** See tables for reading and math results.
http://www.pearsonedtech.com/successes/product.cfm
Success Stories by Product -- Pearson Education Technologies
***** Browse through table for several other examples of California
schools using Pearson products and achieving better test results. It
is not clear which of the projects got CTAP grants.
http://caret.iste.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=searchStudies
Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology
***** This is a list of 46 articles. See #16) Goolsbee & Guryan (2002)
The Impact of Internet Subsidies in Public Schools. Click on link. You
may purchase this paper on-line in .pdf format from SSRN.com ($5) for
electronic delivery. http://www.nber.org/papers/w9090
Summary:
This study was an investigation of the effect of the E-Rate subsidy in
all California public K-12 schools, from its inception in 1998 through
the 2000-01 school year. The U.S. government enacted the E-Rate
subsidy to increase Internet and communications investment by schools.
Comparing California data on school technology use with application
data from the E-Rate program, the authors concluded “the subsidy did
succeed in significantly increasing Internet investment.” They
indicate that “overall, by the final year of the sample, there were
about 66% more Internet-connected classrooms than there would have
been without the subsidy,” and they also indicate that the greatest
increase in Internet access was in “urban schools and schools with
large black and Hispanic populations.”
The authors compared this increase with Stanford Achievement Test
(SAT-9) score data from the state-testing program during the same
years. They suggested that there was no impact on this measure of
student achievement resulting from the increase in Internet
connections. However, they did not attempt to relate any particular
instructional use or NDN-use of the Internet to the measure of student
achievement, making it impossible to draw a conclusion about a
relationship of student achievement to Internet use.
***** This article indicates that technology has not brought
measurable test results.
http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin121.shtml
Technology in Schools: Some Say It Doesn't Compute!
Technology changes faster than educational researchers can study it.
Although many researchers insist computers are valuable in schools,
they readily admit they can't yet say whether technology actually
helps kids achieve educational goals. Have schools jumped onto the
technology bandwagon too soon? In this story, Education World focuses
on some of the research that makes a strong case against the way
technology is currently used in schools.
***** This is a collection of articles (not all of them about
California) that takes a very skeptical approach toward technology
leading to improved test scores.
http://www.sri.com/news/releases/11-11-02.html
MENLO PARK, California - November 11, 2002 -
New SRI International Study Shows Handheld Computers Can Increase
Learning in K-12 Classrooms
Approximately 90 Percent of Teachers Surveyed Say Handhelds Are An
Effective Instructional Tool
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