CONTACT: Joseph Garcia
Matthew Maurer
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Technology Counts '98: Putting School Technology to the Test Annual Report on Nation's Investment in Education Technology Includes Groundbreaking Study on Computers and Student Learning
How Computers Are Used Matters More Than How Often, Study Shows; Math Simulations, Applications, and Learning Games Linked to Higher Scores
Survey Finds Most States Are Funding Education Technology, But Many Are Still Struggling With How To Ensure It is Used Well
EDITORS: Detailed state-by-state information and up-to-date national statistics available
WASHINGTON -- September 29, 1998 -- An unprecedented study released today by Education Week links computer use to higher student test scores. The key is how students use the computers -- not how often, the analysis shows.
With billions of dollars being spent each year on education technology, policymakers and the public are demanding to know: Is it effective?
The answer is yes -- under the right circumstances. The study links computers to higher student scores on a national standardized test, but only if the technology is placed in the hands of trained teachers who use it in the most productive ways. Used in other ways, computers appear to have a neutral or negative effect on scores.
The study, conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), is part of Education Week's second special report on education technology in the nation's schools, Technology Counts '98: Putting School Technology to the Test. The annual project is sponsored by the Milken Exchange on Education Technology, an independent, nonprofit initiative of the California-based Milken Family Foundation.
Technology Counts '98 also includes a survey of the 50 states' policies on education technology. Most states are appropriating money for technology each year. But far fewer are addressing inequities between low- and high-technology schools, requiring students to meet technology standards, or demanding that teachers demonstrate they can use technology in the classroom.
"Many states are not preparing and supporting teachers in a way that new research says leads to higher student achievement," said Virginia B. Edwards, the editor and publisher of Education Week, American education's newspaper of record.
"There's a big difference between having technology and using it effectively," said Cheryl Lemke, the executive director of the Milken Exchange on Education Technology. "Without policy changes focused on increasing effectiveness, technology risks becoming another lost educational opportunity."
Studying "The Nation's Report Card"
At the request of Education Week, ETS Associate Research Scientist Harold Wenglinsky analyzed 4th and 8th grade mathematics scores from the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federally sponsored exam known as "the nation's report card." In addition to students' scores, the NAEP data include teachers' responses to questions about technology use, teacher training and school climate.
After controlling for the influence of other factors that affect achievement, such as students' socioeconomic status, class size, and teacher qualifications, Wenglinsky found links among certain kinds of technology use, higher student achievement, and better school climate. School climate includes teacher and student attendance, tardiness, and morale. His research is the first to document these relationships on a standardized test given to a nationally representative sample of students. Until now, most studies on computer use were restricted to observations in a much smaller number of classrooms.
"Technology can have positive benefits," Wenglinsky said. "But those benefits depend on how the technology is used." Wenglinsky's full-length study titled "Does It Compute: The Relations Between Educational Technology and Student Achievement" is available from ETS.
Among the findings:
-- Higher-Order Thinking -- Eighth graders whose teachers used computers mostly for "simulations and applications" -- generally associated with higher-order thinking -- performed better on NAEP than students whose teachers did not. A simulation can illustrate relationships and allow students to test the effects of changing variables. An application such as a spreadsheet program lets students manipulate and analyze data. Eighth graders whose teachers used computers primarily for "drill and practice" -- generally associated with lower-order thinking -- performed nearly half a grade level worse. Technology Counts '98 includes state-by-state data describing these kinds of computer uses.
-- Learning Games -- Among 4th graders, students whose teachers used computers mainly for "math/learning games" scored higher than students whose teachers did not. These students scored up to 15 percent of a grade level higher than other students. The research found no association, positive or negative, between 4th graders' scores and simulations and applications or drill-and-practice. Technology Counts '98 includes state-by-state data describing this kind of computer use.
-- Teaching the Teachers -- In both grades, students whose teachers had professional development in computers outperformed students whose teachers did not. Similarly, where teachers had professional development with computers and used them for higher-order skills, schools tended to enjoy higher staff morale and lower absenteeism rates. In addition, 8th graders whose teachers had had technology training performed more than a third of a grade level better than those with teachers who lacked such training. The training also was linked to gains at the 4th grade level, although the effect was indirect and the difference in scores was much smaller. Technology Counts '98 includes state-by-state data describing teacher training.
-- Time on Task -- Students who spent more time on computers in school did not score any higher on the 1996 NAEP in math; in fact, they performed slightly worse. Technology Counts '98 includes state-by-state data describing class time devoted to computer use.
-- Achievement Gap -- Low-income and black students are less likely than their peers to have teachers who use technology to its full advantage, the study found. In 8th grade, about 31 percent of white students used computers mostly for simulation and applications, compared with just 14 percent of black students. At the same time, more than half of America's black students had teachers who used computers mostly for drill-and-practice compared with only 30 percent of white students.
-- School Climate -- The same factors that were tied to better achievement also appeared to be linked to an improved school climate. Where teachers had professional development with computers and used them for teaching higher-order skills, schools tended to enjoy higher staff morale and lower absenteeism.
The View from the States
Technology Counts '98 also presents nine policy recommendations that states should follow in their efforts to use technology most effectively. State activities in each area, including funding, equity, standards, and teacher preparation, are examined.
"We hope this information will help state policymakers see how their states stack up against those in the rest of the country and then to spur them to make smart decisions about using technology in schools," Edwards said.
Among the findings:
-- Spending -- All but eight states provided funds for education technology in fiscal 1998. State spending ranged from $500,000 in Vermont to $230 million in California, for a total of $1.7 billion.
-- Access -- The amount of hardware is rapidly increasing in schools. Three of every four U.S. public school classrooms have at least one computer designated for instructional use. Across the nation, the number of students per instructional multimedia computer dropped by a third over the past year, from 21 students per computer to 13 students per computer. Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, and West Virginia made the biggest reductions. More than four of every 10 classrooms are connected to the Internet.
-- Equity -- Across the nation and in many states, high-poverty schools are less likely than other schools to have Internet access. Only 22 states target technology funds to particular disadvantaged school districts. Of those 22, only eight states target funds on the basis of technology availability. Others distribute funds on the basis of wealth, under the assumption that poorer schools and districts have less money to spend on technology.
-- Technology Standards -- Thirty-eight states have standards or graduation requirements pertaining to technology. Some states focus on the technology skills students should acquire, while others emphasize the history of technology or its role in society. West Virginia requires that kindergarten students should know how to use a mouse and hit the "return" button on a keyboard. Colorado's science standards ask students of all ages to "know and understand interrelationships among science, technology, and human activity, and how they can affect the world." In North Carolina, beginning with the Class of 2001, high school seniors will have to pass an assessment of technology competency before graduating.
-- Teacher Preparation -- Thirty-eight states have technology requirements either for teaching candidates or for teacher preparation programs, but the requirements vary widely in rigor. In Massachusetts, schools of education are required only to help prospective teachers learn to use "new technologies"; in Idaho, education schools assess whether candidates are proficient in technology.
-- Professional Development and Support -- More than eight out of 10 (81 percent) of the nation's 4th graders and over three-quarters (76 percent) of 8th graders had math teachers who had received any amount of professional development in technology within the past five years, according to the 1996 NAEP survey. Almost all states offer teachers opportunities for professional development in technology, but only Connecticut, New Hampshire and North Carolina require teachers to participate in training in technology as a condition for renewing their license. Fourteen states require districts to spend a certain percentage of technology funds on professional development. Nonetheless, teachers are less likely to have had training in advanced technologies. In 1997, 40 percent of teachers reported having had no formal training in using the Internet. While nearly three in 10 schools have a full-time technology coordinator, poorer schools are less likely to have such support for technology,!
the report says.
-- Effective Use of Technology -- How teachers use computers in math and science varies by grade level and by subject, the report says. Eighth graders are most likely to have math teachers who use computers primarily for "drill and practice," even though this use was linked to lower test scores on the 1996 NAEP. The majority of 4th graders have teachers who use computers primarily for math/learning games. Among 8th graders, nearly half had math teachers and science teachers who used computers for instruction in 1996. And three-quarters of 4th graders had teachers who used computers in math instruction that year. The report says that two-thirds of teachers spend two hours or less per week using the Internet for instruction. Teachers are far more likely to use the Internet as a source of information than as a tool for communications.
Technology as a Tool for Education Reform
Technology Counts '98 also presents 10 case studies of schools and programs that are using technology to foster goals of the education reform movement. Each case study includes highlights of the relevant research, recommendations for using technology most effectively, and a list of additional resources. The reform goals highlighted are:
-- Teaching the basics
-- Teaching students to think
-- Preparing students for a digital world
-- Making learning "authentic"
-- Changing the way teachers teach
-- Building a better teaching force
-- Forging the home-school connection
-- Turning students on to school
-- Making the most of assessments
-- Opening up the classroom
Education Week and its sister publication, Teacher Magazine, are owned and operated by Editorial Projects in Education, a Washington-based nonprofit organization. For more information, visit the publications' web site is at www.edweek.org.
Copies of Technology Counts '98 are available for $6 from Education Week by calling (800) 346-1834.
Founded in 1997, the Milken Exchange on Education Technology is a nerve center of an emerging national network of educators, public officials and business leaders concerned with the effective and responsible use of technology in America's classrooms. The nonprofit organization provides independent, nonpartisan analysis and research, and a forum for debate of cutting-edge learning technology issues. For more information, visit the Milken Exchange website at www.mff.org, or call Michael Reese at (310) 998-2878.
The Educational Testing Service is the world's largest private educational measurement institution and a leader in educational research. The nonprofit organization develops and administers achievement, occupational, and admission tests, such as the SAT for the College Board, for clients in education, government, and business. ETS annually administers more than 9 million tests in the United States and 180 other countries. For more information, visit the ETS website at www.ets.org, or call Ed Tate at (609) 734-1616. Copies of "Does It Compute" are available for $9.50 from ETS by calling (609) 734-5694. The report can also be downloaded from ETS's website at www.ets.org/research/pic/index.html.
For more information on Technology Counts '98 or to arrange interviews, please contact Joseph Garcia or Matthew Maurer at (202) 467-8344.
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