The purpose
of this study was to determine if 27 weeks of technology-enhanced instruction
would help 24 students who were repeating eighth grade perform better
on the CRCT in reading and writing. The reading CRCT benchmark mean
score was 316. After technology-enhanced instruction, the mean score
rose to 345 (a gain of 28 points). The writing CRCT mean score went
from 307 to 321 for a gain of 14 points. These gains were statistically
significant (see Table 1). Effect sizes were substantial
using the Cohen's d formula. Reading had an effect size of .82 yielding
a gain of 29 percentile points while writing had an effect size of .68
yielding a gain of 23 percentile points.
The correlation
of the set of writing scores was r = .63, p = .001.
The correlation of the reading scores was lower at r = .45,
p = .03. The cut off score for both tests was 300, leaving
a passing rate on the reading pretest and on the writing pretest of
71% for this group of students. On the posttest, the passing rate in
reading was 96% [ X 2 (1) = 7.3,
p < .007] and 83% in writing, [ X
2 (1) = 1.8, p < .18]. See Figure
1 for histograms of all four sets of scores.
Discussion
The most important finding from the research was the improvement in students' reading and writing CRCT scores with students making statistically significant gains. Challenges to the study's validity included student maturation and the fact that students had received the same curriculum previously.
The major change
in the intervention curriculum was the addition of technology to the
instructional delivery method. Exposing students to a technology-based
curriculum had a positive impact educationally for this group of at-risk
students. Traditional instructional methods which were teacher-centered
gave way to student-centered learning. Students took more ownership
of their work and were more involved and motivated by the interactive,
technology-infused learning environment. Students accepting ownership
of their own learning may have been a significant contributing factor
in the overall improvements evidenced in higher test scores in reading
comprehension, word recognition, writing, and spelling.
About the Author
 |
Eric
B. Little is a fourth year classroom teacher and graduate
student working on an Ed.S degree. He holds a B.S. and M.Ed. in
middle grades education. He is certified in grades 4 through 8,
and his interests are in using technology to improve student learning.
Email: erbrli@yahoo.com
Send correspondence
to:
231 Old Plantation Trail
Milledgeville, GA 3106 |
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Table 1
Descriptive Statistics on Eighth Grade Reading & Writing CRCT Tests
Note: Reading t
(23) = 3.7, p = .001; Writing t (23) = 3.9, p
= .001
Figure 1:
Histograms of pretest and posttest reading and writing scores.
Figure 2:
Gains in eighth grade reading and writing CRCT scores.
