AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTEGRATED LEARNING SYSTEMS ON URBAN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

Many school districts have chosen to invest their federal funds in computer-based integrated learning systems that focus on literacy to increase high-stakes test scores and academic gains (Becker, 1994). In a study by Buly and Velencia's (2002) study supports the belief that a student's reading ability can improve substantially when instruction is integrated with computers and related software. In this quantitative study, the researcher examines the effectiveness of the integrated learning system (ILS) on reading and mathematics achievement of middle school students in an urban school district in NCLB corrective action status. The study employed an ex post facto design, including a treatment group with 188 middle school students who received intervention in mathematics and reading using an ILS and a control group composed of middle school students with similar academic status and demographics. The Oklahoma Core Curriculum Test (OCCT) was used as the dependent variable in this study. Individual total mathematics and total reading scale scores of the subjects were analyzed, along with gender, race and socio-economic data.

The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) and Pearson Correlation. The analysis concluded, in some cases with statistically significance, students can experience gains in their high-stakes assessment scores despite their gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status with the use of an ILS such as CompassLearning Odyssey for reading and math intervention. The information obtained by this study will inform district and school instructional leaders in their decision making process prior to investing in a technology based curriculum resource to meet their academic achievement goals.