Date of Award
5-2008
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Educational Leadership
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine how a one-to-one laptop initiative in a small, rural North Dakota school effected student academic performance based on the perceptions of participating students, teachers, and parents. Existing Northwest Evaluation Association Measure of Academic Progress student test results also were used to determine if the laptop initiative had any significant impact on student achievement in reading, language arts, and math. The primary focus of the study was based on pre-existing data regarding students', teachers', and parents' perceptions of academic performance versus academic achievement. Perceptions of academic performance were utilized by the researcher primarily as a result of availability of the data and the various uncontrollable variables when attempting to measure student academic achievement.
There were 79 junior and senior students and 16 classroom teachers who participated in a one-to-one laptop initiative during the 2006-2007 school year. The pre-existing data were analyzed to determine frequencies and percentages which were presented in narrative and tabular format. A chi square test for independence measured significant differences that resulted from student, teacher, and parent responses. Finally, a t-test measured significant differences in laptop students' MAP test scores in comparison to other North Dakota junior and senior students who took the MAP test in both the fall and spring of the 2006-2007 school year.
Results from the surveyed data indicated that the laptop initiative enhanced student classroom engagement, motivation, and organization, along with improved research, writing, and editing skills, based on the perceptions of participating students, teachers, and parents. Student grades and the amount of time spent on homework experienced minimal gains based on the data analysis. The study also measured student achievement in the content areas of language arts, reading, and math. Laptop students experienced significant gains in math test scores in comparison to other North Dakota junior and senior students during the academic year of project implementation. However, test results indicated that junior laptop students experienced significant negative differences in reading and senior laptop students experienced significant negative differences in language arts when comparing MAP test scores to other North Dakota juniors and seniors.
Recommended Citation
Burgad, Allen Aloys, "The Effects That A One-To-One Laptop Initiative Has On Student Academic Performance And Achievement" (2008). Theses and Dissertations. 734.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/734