Project Activities
Research question
- Did the use of educational technology improve student achievement in reading and/or mathematics?
- Under what conditions and practices did the use of educational technology improve student achievement in reading and/or mathematics?
Structured Abstract
Design
Teachers who volunteered to participate in the study were randomly assigned to use a given educational technology product or to a business-as-usual control group. Sixteen educational technology products intended to improve student academic achievement in reading and/or mathematics were competitively selected for this study. These products targeted four combinations of subjects and grade levels: reading in 1st grade, reading in 4th grade, mathematics in 6th grade, and algebra in 9th grade. The products were implemented in schools during the 2004–05 school year. During the 2005–06 school year, the same teachers used 10 of the educational technology products with a second cohort of students. The impact of the educational technology products on reading or mathematics achievement was estimated through standard experimental methods in order to address the study's research questions.
Key findings
- After one school year, there were no statistically significant impacts of the educational technology products on student achievement for each of the four groups: 1st grade reading, 4th grade reading, 6th grade mathematics, 9th grade algebra.
- After two school years, the impacts for 1st and 4th grade reading products were no different from the impacts after one school year. For the 6th grade mathematics products, impacts worsened after the second year of implementation. For the 9th grade algebra products, impacts improved after the second year of implementation.
- When examining the individual impacts of the 10 educational technology products that were implemented for two student cohorts, only one product (LeapTrack for 4th grade reading) had a statistically significant positive impact on student achievement.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
The final report, titled Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings From Two Student Cohorts, was released in February 2009.
Other publications from this study are listed below.
- Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort (March 2007)
A restricted-use file containing de-identified data is available for the purposes of replicating study findings and secondary analysis.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
