Theses and Dissertations
Comparison of Achievement Differences Based on Years of Participation in a One-to-One Laptop Program
Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
James David Ferguson
Committee Member
Karen Kimball
Keywords
benchmarking, digital divide, socioeconomic status, student achievement
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine the extent to which a statistically significant difference existed in eighth-grade English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics achievement between groups of students of low socioeconomic status (SES) who participated in a Washington school district’s one-to-one laptop program for 1 year versus 3 years. Siemens’ (2005) connectivism theory served as the theoretical framework for the study. The problem addressed by the study involved the digital divide. According to van Dijk (2006), the digital divide is defined as unequal access to computers and the Internet based on economic status. The research questions asked if and to what extent a statistically significant difference existed between 2016 eighth-grade ELA and mathematics achievement for students of low SES who participated for 1 year in a one-to one laptop program and 2018 eighth-grade ELA and mathematics achievement for students of low SES who participated in the program for 3 years in a mid-sized, suburban school district in the state of Washington.
The 2016 and 2018 ELA and mathematics summative archival data from the Smarter Balanced were used to measure achievement of eighth-grade students of low SES who participated in 1 year compared to 3 years of a one-to-one laptop program. The total sample used for the analysis of eighth-grade ELA summative achievement scale scores for students of low SES was as follows: Group 1 (2016) included 338, and Group 2 (2018) included 328. The total sample used for the analysis of eighth-grade mathematics summative achievement scale scores for students of low SES was as follows: Group 3 (2016) included 341, and Group 4 (2018) included 326. An independent-samples t test was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings of the study were that a statistically significant difference existed between groups. For both Research Questions 1 and 2, the independent-samples t test generated a p value that was statistically significant at .001, and the Levene’s test determined it was statistically supported. For both Research Questions 1 and 2, the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted. The findings of this study provide insight into the potential impacts of the implementation of one-to-one computer programs and may help to inform technology spending decisions in the public school setting.
NSUWorks Citation
Anne Petersen-Carnell. 2023. Comparison of Achievement Differences Based on Years of Participation in a One-to-One Laptop Program. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. (444)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/444.