May 2004 — Exclusive Series: SBR
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State-Level Studies
1. Arkansas Education Department
Evaluation of the EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Initiative; $1.8 million over three years.
The EAST Initiative involves the creation of interdisciplinary school-based technology labs that promote student intellectual growth and technology skills acquisition, as well as teacher training on facilitating student learning through service projects and teamwork. The study will involve 120 projects serving 9,000 students (55% rural, 25% suburban and 20% urban setting).
2. Iowa Education Department
Using Technology to Support the Scaling-Up of the Iowa Professional Development Model; $1.9 million over three years.
This multiagency, statewide field-research effort will focus on reading and mathematics instructional practice in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades in 150 public school districts, including 43 high-needs districts as defined by NCLB. The project will yield a research model for identifying and scaling up teacher training on best practices.
3. Maine Education Department
The Impact of Teachers' Professional Development on the Mathematics Achievement of Low-Performing Rural Students in Technology-Rich Classrooms; $1.9 million over three years.
The study will focus on seventh- and eighth-grade students in schools that serve low-income rural communities and have shown low performance in eighth-grade mathematics. The study promises to contribute to research-based knowledge of effective practices in mathematics education and technology integration, ubiquitous computing, professional development, and education in low-income rural schools.
4. N.C. Public Instruction Department
LANCET: Looking at North Carolina Educational Technology; $1.5 million over three years.
This project will study the implementation of the state's IMPACT professional development model and its effects on schools, teaching practices and student achievement. The project will develop and assess strategies for building the capacity for educators across the state to collect, analyze and use evaluation data for making decisions about technology programs, projects and practices.
5. Pennsylvania Education Department
Evaluation of Student and Parent Access Through Recycled Computers (eSPARC); $1.8 million over three years.
The eSPARC study project seeks to develop and test an evaluation model to measure the impact of educational technology initiatives. The project will randomly assign recycled computers to a sample of 400 fifth-graders and their families. The study will assess whether and how in-home computer and Internet access impact students and parents.
6. Tennessee Education Department
The Tennessee EdTech Accountability Model (TEAM); $1.7 million over three years.
The project will measure the effectiveness of an intervention to prepare school-based technology coaches to work with teachers to align technology use with the delivery of the curriculum to foster increased student achievement. The project will measure the effectiveness of the intervention in 37 schools and develop a replicable, validated evaluation protocol for use in all schools.
