The Center for Education, Widener University,
One University Place, Chester, PA 19013
Raymond Allen, Ed. D.
October 27, 2003
RETURN
edited 12/14/05
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A dissertation completed at
The Center for Education, Widener University, One University Place, Chester, PA 19013 |
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The Correlation Of Technology Prowess With Elementary School Achievement On Standardized Tests Raymond Allen, Ed. D. October 27, 2003 |
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RETURN
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ABSTRACT
This study attempts to examine the relationship between technology prowess and achievement as measured on standardized tests for elementary students in two public schools that have a sending district relationship with the Atlantic City, New Jersey school district. The study describes the amount of access students have to technologies such as microcomputers and the Internet, both at home and in the school setting. It then examines just what is the nature of that access, for example, what are the activities in which students have gained some form of prowess. An attempt was made to find correlations between the quality of access and prowess and student achievement in public schools, as measured on standardized instruments.
The primary purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between the degree of technology prowess that students develop and their achievement on standardized measures. Three issues connected to this relationship were examined in depth:
1) where are the correlations of greatest magnitude in the technology prowess/achievement model, when the mediation of SES and access are accounted for,
2) is the correlation between technology prowess and achievement significant, once SES and access have been controlled, and
3) after calculating partial correlations among all variables, may one conclude that some predictor of achievement, or set of predictors, is a more independent correlate of academic achievement.
To accomplish this, data were collected regarding student access to the various technologies. This was found to be determined in major part by the socioeconomic status of students and their families. Analysis of this was through coding the students into viii profile groups bases on SES and determined by their classification as Basic Skills Students by the school district. The quality and nature of their access was determined by the North Central Region Education Laboratory (NCREL) Technology Profile Survey filled out by the school technology professionals. It measured the capability and sophistication of the school equipment. The degree of prowess demonstrated by students was measured by another section of the technology prowess instrument developed by NCREL filled out by the school personnel, and a student survey that measured the nature of the access both at home and in the school settings. Data were also collected regarding student achievement on two standardized instruments, the CTBS TerraNova Test and the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment, or ESPA for the State of New Jersey.
The study was designed to assess the relationship between and among the variables of SES, access to technology, degree of technological prowess and student achievement as outlined above. The data collected from this study indicated that access was determined by socioeconomic status. The quality and nature of access to technology and the resultant prowess was, in turn, found to be correlated with student achievement on standardized test instruments. This was especially so for the students of lower socioeconomic status. For these students, there was a correlation with all of the achievement variables in the study. This becomes important for educators to recognize and to forge attempts by practitioners to lessen the Digital Divide.