May 2004 — Exclusive Series: SBR

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Making the Case: Research Efforts on Educational Technology

By John Bailey

Tennessee Department of Education
The Tennessee EdTech Accountability Model (TEAM)
$1.7 million over three years
Online: www.state.tn.us/education/acctteam.htm
This project will measure the effectiveness of an intervention to prepare school-based technology coaches to work with teachers on methods of aligning technology use to the delivery of the curriculum by using instructional materials that foster increased student achievement. The project will measure effectiveness of the intervention in 37 schools; develop a replicable, validated evaluation protocol for use in all schools, and disseminate the results and instruments nationally.

Texas Education Agency
Evaluation of the Texas Technology Immersion Pilot (eTxTIP)
$1.9 million over three years
Online: www.tea.state.tx.us/
TXTIP is a state-mandated technology immersion pilot that seeks to increase student achievement by providing each student with a wireless mobile computing device, software, as well as online and other learning resources. The TxTIP evaluation will test the effectiveness of technology immersion in increasing middle school students' achievement in core academic subjects, technology proficiency, attitudes and attendance. The evaluation will also test its effect on the school environment, personnel, as well as on parent and community partnerships. Approximately 38,000 students and 2,700 teachers in about 60 randomly assigned middle schools will participate in the evaluation.

West Virginia Department of Education
ED PACE: Educational Development for Planning and Conducting Evaluations
$1.4 million over three years
Online: http://wvde.state.wv.us
ED PACE will employ a quasi-experimental design with experimental elements to assess student achievement in virtual foreign language courses as compared to the achievement of students in classroom-based foreign language courses. Over the course of three years, the project will generate three scientifically based research models (a summative research model, a formative research model and an action research model) that can be replicated in other settings used at local, state and national levels to measure the impact of other technology-enhanced interventions on student achievement and to validate their effectiveness.

West Virginia Department of Education
The Evaluation of West Virginia's Enhancing Education Through Technology Model School Project
$1.3 million over three years
Online: http://access.k12.wv.us
The project will assess the outcomes for teachers and students of West Virginia's ESEA Title II, Part D school-based teacher trainer initiative. The study will employ an experimental research design and make use of technology-based desktop meters and random interval data collection pop-up screens to document the use, time, topic and function budgets of teachers and students. These methods will yield objective, detailed information about classroom integration of technology as an outcome of professional development and the impact of technology integration practices on student performance on West Virginia's tests of standards-based content. In its third year, data from the study will be used to explore the extent to which evaluation data is used by state policy-makers to inform decisions.