Chapter One students have historically been at risk of failing to achieve at the elementary school level. Computer Assisted Instruction is one intervention which is likely to have a positive effect on the achievement of these children. This study evaluated the impact of the JOSTENS Integrated Learning System (ILS) on the achievement of Chapter One students. The JOSTENS ILS was piloted at four sites within a large urban school system in the Northeast. This special instructional system was utilized with Chapter One students in addition to their regular program and supplemental Chapter One instruction. The basic design of this evaluation followed that of the Quasi-Experimental Model with non-equivalent groups. Test score data from two administrations of the Metropolitan Achievement Test were collected from 800 Chapter One students in grades two through six at the four pilot and four comparison schools. Statistical analysis was carried out, by grade at each school and across schools, to determine the pre-test mean, the post-test mean and the difference mean for each dependent variable; vocabulary, comprehension, computation and problem solving. Questionnaires were developed and distributed to approximately 35 staff members at the pilot schools. These questionnaires were designed to elicit responses which rated the opinions of the respondents on a variety of issues related to Computer Assisted Instruction in general and the JOSTENS ILS in particular. Personal interviews were held with each of the Principals of the pilot schools to determine; the level of each Principal's commitment to CAI at the school level, the Principal's background and training in issues related to CAI and the administrator's opinion and perception of CAI and its potential to improve the educational achievement of students within an elementary school. This study found that students who were exposed to the JOSTENS ILS achieved significantly higher on tests of achievement than did the children who did not receive any computer assisted instruction. It was also found that the school which showed the greatest gain in student achievement was the school in which teachers and administrators expressed the most positive opinion of computer assisted instruction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-1318 |
| Date | 01 January 1993 |
| Creators | Sinkis, Deborah Mary |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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