Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine whether educational technology variables differentiate between "effective" and "ineffective" elementary schools. It was hypothesized that "effective schools" use educational media in instruction more frequently than "ineffective schools". It was also expected that "effective schools" use educational media in qualitatively superior ways to "ineffective schools". In addition, it was predicted that "effective schools" would have better prepared teachers in educational media and teachers with more years of teaching experience than "ineffective schools". The sample consisted of fourteen elementary schools located in 12 school districts throughout Louisiana. Each school was determined to be either an "effective school" or an "ineffective school" by the level scored above or below predicted achievement test score on the Louisiana Basic Skills Test, and were paired on racial composition and location. The 3'R's Test of reading, language, and mathematics achievement was administered to all third grade students in each school. A questionnaire on the use of educational technology in the schools was administered to all of the teachers in the sample schools. An instrument was used to record the quality of use of educational media in the classroom, and approximately 36 hours of observational data was collected in each school. The data were analyzed at the school level using paired t-tests, and results indicated that "effective schools" used transparencies more frequently that "ineffective schools". It was found that teacher and adult-lead interactive teaching with books was greater in "effective schools" than "ineffective schools". Off-task behavior was observed more frequently in "ineffective schools". Additionally, teachers who had taken an undergraduate course in educational media were more likely to be on the faculty of "effective schools". A discriminant function analysis using predictor variables identified from a stepwise regression was computed and correctly classified the schools as effective or ineffective. The predictor variables entered into the model were the same as the significant variables identified from the paired t-tests. The results are discussed with respect to the effect of educational technology variables on elementary school student achievement.
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