The longitudinal influences of computer-intensive learning experiences on at-risk elementary students

The Longitudinal Influences of Computer-Intensive Learning Experiences on At-Risk Elementary Students

[ ] Steven M, Ross Lana S. Smith Gary R, Morrison

Steven M. Ross, Lana J. Smith, and Ga D" R. Morrison are at Memphis State University.

This evaluation study examined the school achievement and adjustment by at-risk students one year following their participation as fifth and sixth graders in computer-intensive classrooms using the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) program. Comparisons between the former ACOT subjects and a matched control group who had attended the same elementary school were made on attitudes toward school, teacher evaluations, grades, computer skills, and standardized test scores. Results showed some advantages for the ACOT students in the seventh grade, but on most measures they were indistin- guishable from the control group. Specific- ally, both groups appeared to remain at risk based on their poor performance and relatively poor adjustment. A key factor in interpreting outcomes for the ACOT group was the limited availability of computers in the seventh grade, which thus restricted their opportunities to apply or transfer the skills they had learned.

[] The advent of computer-based education as a means of substantively changing and im- proving how learning takes place in schools has attracted considerable attention and public support. In the early 1960s, Skinner projected how teaching machines would revolutionize education (Department of Education, 1960; also see Suppes, 1966). Two decades later, Papert (1980) and numerous others (Bork, 1987; National Task Force on Educational Tech- nology, 1986) made similar forecasts about the potential of computers to change traditional forms of learning by individualizing instruction and freeing the teacher from numerous management and record-keeping tasks. These predictions also encompassed promise for social outcomes such as motivation and empowerment for at-risk students, those most in peril of not succeeding academically in traditional educational structures (Dwyer, Ring- staff, & Sandholtz, 1991).

The reality today is that, while there is some evidence to suggest the effectiveness of computers for learning (Becker, 1987), the pre- dicted revolution has not yet occurred to nearly the degree envisioned (Mecklenburger, 1990; O'Neit, 1990; Rothman, 1988). A key factor appears to be that typical applications of computer learning are limited in intensity, duration, and degree of integration with the curriculum and standard practices (Woolfolk, 1990). For example, a typical computer "con- dition" might consist of a class using individual microcomputers to practice mathematics

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34 E1R&D, Vol, 39, No, 4

or writing for an hour each day over a period of several weeks (see reviews by Bangert- Drowns, 1989; Becker, 1987). Access to the computers would thus be restricted to prescribed periods for prescribed functions. While such applications realistically capture what may be feasible given available resources, they provide little impression of how learning and motivation might be influenced when computers are highly accessible and fully integrated into regular classroom activities. Little evidence also exists regarding long-term effects of computer interventions on at-risk students.

The present research was designed to address this question by evaluating the impact one year later of participation in a special computer-intensive learning environment at the upper-elementary school level. The specific program was the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) project in Memphis, Ten- nessee. Memphis was one of five national sites used to establish ACOT, a computer-intensive classroom environment featuring abundant computer hardware and software, local program coordinators, specially trained teachers, and technical assistance (Kitabchi, 1987, 1988). The main component was the provision to each student and teacher of an Apple Ue'M computer to use at school and another computer to use at home, thus allowing for virtually un- limited computer access for receiving computer-based instruction (CBI) and working with tool applications. The Memphis ACOT program was unique due to its 100% minor- ity student population in an inner-city elementary school and incorporation of distance tutoring as a supplementary program component. Most of the disadvantaged enrollees in this school were low scholastic achievers.

The basic premise of the program was that a computer-saturated environment can do more than simply provide automated tools to make learning tasks easier and more enjoyable. Expectancies were that carefully designed and intensive cognitive learning experiences would help students to develop (a) practical skills for applying advanced technology to learning; (b) increased proficiency at independent learning through CBI, program-

ming, and problem-solving applications; (c) stronger knowledge foundations in basic subjects through CBI experiences; and (d) more positive self-concepts through a sense of personal accomplishment and the "empowerment" (e.g., Fisher, 1988; Perlman, 1989) acquired by working with sophisticated tools to complete tasks and solve problems. These possible benefits of intensive computer experiences obviously acquire special significance for disadvantaged students, such as the present target population, who are more at risk than middle-class students to fail under conventional educational methods (Friedman & Kephart, 1989; Gross, 1989).

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Beginning in the 1985-1986 school year, Ap- ple Computer, Inc., established five primary ACOT sites serving diverse populations and conditions in different regions of the country (Dwyer, Ringstaff, & Sandholtz, 1991). The initial and primary interventions at the Memphis site were conducted in a single fifth-grade dass in 1985-1986, with expansion to fourth- and sixth-grade classes in later years. Subjects examined in the present study participated in ACOT in both fifth and sixth grades. Each student received an Apple IIe computer to use at his or her desk in school and an Apple IIc computer to use at home. Computer activities were varied and pervasive, involving virtually all subjects across the school day.

As described by Johnson and Ross (1989), typical applications of the ACOT resources in reading and language arts involved a teacher- presented lesson using direct instruction, fol- lowed by a computer assignment on which the students could practice some of the prin- ciples and concepts taught. In mathematics classes, typical applications used CAI to fa- cilitate a within-dass grouping structure in which the teacher could work with one group while the other group worked at the computer. Clearly, the most pervasive ACOT activity was the routine use of the word processor in com- pleting written assignments, both in class and at home (Ross, Smith, & Woodson, 1991). In

COMPUTER-INTENSIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES 35

these ways, the computer was used primar- ily as an educational support tool rather than as an instructional medium. Thus, the main objective for this beginning phase of the ACOT project was not so much to develop a systematically designed computer-integrated curriculum as to help at-risk students to feel successful and "empowered" about academic achievements through positive interactions with technology while learning the standard school curriculum.

Evaluations of ACOT have been conducted at both national and local levels since the program's inception (e.g., Baker, Gearhart, & Her- man, 1990; Baker, Herman, & Gearhart, 1988; Kitabchi, 1987, 1988). These evaluations have been comprehensive, involving multiple data sources and measures, such as achievement on standardized tests, performance on written compositions, student attitudes, attendance, and parent attitudes. Due to the relatively small number of classrooms, the problem of con- structing appropriate instrumentation to assess complex learning, and confounding by numerous extraneous variables (see Baker et al., 1990), the results do not provide firm con- clusions about ACOT effects. Even with these constraints, however, some sense of how ACOT experiences impact students at the time of their participation has emerged.

First, results for both the Memphis site and the national sites have indicated that ACOT participants become confident and skilled users of computer technology for a variety of learning functions. Second, ACOT students' writing skills have been found to improve in comparison to similar groups of students (Baker et al., 1990; Ross et al., 1991). Third, there are indications that the ACOT structure engenders greater emphasis on higher level computative tasks, student initiative, and co- operative group activities than do traditional classrooms.

Despite these advantages, ACOT students have been found to be comparable to or only slightly higher than control students in performance on standardized achievement tests (Baker et al., 1990; Kitabchi, 1987, 1988). As Baker et al. (1990) suggest, this outcome should not be viewed as surprising, given that

such measures do not appear to address the types of skills directly promoted by the ACOT experience. Also, the time that ACOT teachers and students must spend in learning and practicing technology skills is time that oth- erwise would be devoted to traditional school subjects.

PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT STUDY

Integral to the ACOT project philosophy was the idea that students' participation in a technology-rich classroom environment should have potential long-term benefits for their educational achievement. These benefits would be especially important for "at risk" students, such as the target population of the present study. As teachers and educational research- ers continue to struggle with the question of how students' exposure to technology can enhance learning (e.g., general transfer or acquisition of specific skills), one conception that has emerged is that use of computers "empowers" students to accomplish tasks and extend their learning beyond what is possible under conventional learning conditions (Fisher, 1988; Perlman, 1989; Tierney, 1988). Another potential benefit is the use of CBI to reinforce the learning of basic skills. To the extent that new skills and positive attitudes transfer to fu- ture learning situations, program experiences should positively impact on students when they leave the ACOT environment and ad- vance to higher grade levels.

Interest in these questions prompted the present evaluation study of the progress of an entire class of students who had participated in ACOT as fifth- and sixth-graders but were now enrolled in conventional seventh- grade classes at different schools in the same city. The primary research question concerned whether former ACOT participants would demonstrate any advantages relative to control students in basic skills, motivation, classroom socialization, and computer skills. A supplementary question was how computer access and associated activities in the post- ACOT (conventional) classroom would compare to those of the ACOT setting.

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METHOD

Subjects

The target sample for the research was the entire population of seventh-graders (n = 25) who had participated the previous two years as fifth- and sixth-graders in the Memphis ACOT program. All ACOT students were initially located, but one had moved out of state before the actual study was initiated, yield- ing a final n of 24. A control group was formed by randomly selecting 30 students out of 61 who were enrolled in two non-ACOT sixth- grade classes at the same time and at the same school as the ACOT sample. As occurred for the ACOT group, all control students were initially located, but one had moved before the study began (n = 29). All but 11 of the ACOT students and 26 control students attended "School A," a secondary school encompass- ing grades 7-12 located a few miles from the students' elementary school. The latter students attended 8 different schools in the Mem- phis area. School A draws its enrollees from diverse socioeconomic strata, relative to which the present subjects would be among the most disadvantaged. A goal of the project was that ACOT participants would be able to compete more successfully as a result of their experiences both in School A and at other schools. Two control students who moved from the city in the middle of the year were included in the fall but not the spring assessments (spring control n = 27).

The control students lived in the same neighborhood as the ACOT students and were considered to be comparable in general abilities, motivation, socioeconomic status, and home environment. Even so, because origi- nal assignment to the ACOT class had not been done at random, differential selection remains a threat to the internal validity of any ACOT-control group comparisons. Partici- pants in ACOT were originally selected for the program on a voluntary basis, with the restric- tion that a home phone be available for the child's use in telecommunications activities and that a parent agree to attend an orienta- tion workshop. These selection factors were viewed as mainly distinguishing participants

on the basis of interest in the program rather than on ability or attitudes toward school.

To confirm the equivalence of groups, a series of one-way MANOVAs was conducted using California Achievement Test (CAT) scores and school attendance as dependent variables. The CAT scores analyzed in individual MANOVAs depended on the particular subtests administered by the school system in the different semesters and years concerned. The CAT data sets consisted of various com- binations of the following subtests: vocabu- lary, reading comprehension, math concepts, math applications, spelling, language mechan- ics, language expression, reading total, language total, and mathematics total.

Four separate MANOVAs were performed on data for fall and spring semesters of students' fifth-grade year, the initial year of the ACOT group 's participation, and for their sixth-grade year, the second year of program activity. None of the analyses yielded a multivariate group effect that reached or even approximated significance (all p's > .05). In- spection of the univariate ANOVA results further revealed no significant group differences on any of the individual dependent variables (i.e., CAT subscores or attendance). Conse- quently, these analyses, along with those comparing control and program CAT scores for other ACOT cohorts (Kitabchi, 1987, 1988) sug- gested that ACOT and control students were highly comparable in standardized achievement scores prior to leaving the program. Both groups, however, performed relatively poorly, averaging in the bottom quartile of CAT national norms on most of the tests.

The present research was designed as an

evaluation study of the long-term impact of

the ACOT program experiences. The basic de-

sign was quasi-experimental for outcomes in-

volving ACOT-control group comparisons: (a)

attitudes toward school (fall and spring); (b)

teacher evaluations in math and English (fall

and spring), computer keyboarding skills (fall

and spring), and seventh-grade CAT scores (fall and spring). Descriptive and qualitative analyses were made of interview data collected

from the ACOT group and their seventh-grade computer teacher.


Instrumentation

Keyboarding Test

Students' keyboarding speed and accuracy were assessed using the "MECC Keyboard- ing Master" program on an Apple IIe computer. All students, including those in the control group, were highly familiar with the operation of the Apple IIe, but none had any prior experience with the particular typing program. Four sentences of differing readability were selected from seventh-grade reading texts. Readability was determined using the Rixrate (Anderson & Kretschmer, 1983) readability software package. Sentences were separately presented in order of increasing readability level. For each, the program auto- matically recorded number of errors and completion time and computed the average number of words typed per minute. Test- retest reliability (n = 51) was determined to be .84 following a six-month interval.

Student Survey

The student survey contained 17 items to which students reacted using a 5-point Likert scale. The survey, which was adapted from an instrument developed and validated by Kitabchi (1987, 1988) for use in previous ACOT evaluations, was designed to assess general attitudes toward school and learning, specif- icaUy in regard to (a) motivation for learning and achieving (item n = 4), (b) locus of control and internal attributions (n = 6), (c) appreciation of school and its benefits (n = 2), appreciation of computers and their benefits (n = 4), and perceptions of gender differences in computer abilities (n = 1). The major purpose was to determine whether the experiences of working with computers and learning independently through such activities promoted high motivation and greater internality in locus of control attributions, especially among girls, who had initially shown less interest than boys in the computer activities.

Student Progress Survey

The Student Progress Survey was designed for administration to each student's mathe-

matics, English, and computer teachers. The basic form asked the teacher to evaluate six areas of performance or motivation (subject interest, subject skills, motivation, independence, self-confidence, and social skills) using a 5-point scale ranging from "inferior" to "exceptional." The computer teacher received an additional section listing specific computer skill areas (knowledge of computer parts, keyboarding, etc.) to evaluate on a 5-point scale. Cronbach's alpha reliabilities for these scales ranged from .46 to .98, with a median of .81.

Student Interview

The student interview was given to both the ACOT and control groups. Questions asked students to (a) describe their experiences the current year and previous year; (b) compare the two years in regard to learning activities in general and computer experiences in particular; and (c) describe their views regarding the importance of having computers to use in learning. The interview required from 10 to 15 minutes.

Computer Teacher Survey and Interview

A survey and interview were designed for use with the computer teacher at School A who taught 11 children in the combined ACOT and control samples sometime during the year. The first 8 items of the survey asked the teacher to rate the students on their computer skills and attitudes compared to other students, using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from inferior to superior. Additional items asked the teacher to identify the best computer students from her class, describe the types and amounts of computer applications students learned, and indicate the amount of class time they received.

After the teacher completed the survey, the interview was initiated by asking her whether she knew anything about the ACOT project. Some general background information was then given to her about the project, and the students who had participated in the ACOT class the previous year were identified. She was then asked the following questions:

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1. Did ACOT students appear distinguishable in any way from other students in the class?

2. Were any of the ACOT students already familiar with the software? If so, did they be- have differently?

3. Did the ACOT students make higher grades in the computer class?

4. Were the ACOT students more willing to help others in the class who were not familiar with the material?

5. What advantages and/or disadvantages of the ACOT program could be inferred on the basis of having had the ACOT students in class this year?

Procedure

In October of the school year, students were scheduled in small, mixed treatment groups at School A and individually at other schools to attend a session that involved administration of the keyboarding test and the attitude survey. For the keyboarding test, the student was seated at the computer and given intro- ductory instructions. The proctor monitored each student as he or she paged through the opening information screens and began the actual test. At the completion of the test, the students were orally administered the attitude survey individually or in small groups. Also in October, the students' English, mathematics, and computer teachers were administered the Student Progress Surveys.

In April, the keyboarding test and attitude survey were readministered under the same procedure used in October. Following the attitude survey, students were interviewed individually for about 15-20 minutes. The Stu- dent Progress Surveys were also readministered to the teachers as was done in the fall. The computer teacher at School A was interviewed for about 60 minutes by the first au- thor. Fall and spring reading and mathematics CAT scores were obtained from the school system for analyzing standardized achievement test performance.

RESULTS

Teacher Ratings

Mathematics

Mathematics teachers returned 23 ACOT surveys (96%) and 29 control surveys (100%) in the fall and 17 ACOT surveys (71%) and 19 control surveys (70%) in the spring. Results are summarized in Table 1. For each performance category, a 2 (group) x 3 (rating) chi- square test of independence was performed, using a .01 level of significance to reduce the family-wise Type I error rate. To achieve sufficient cell frequencies, the two highest and the two lowest rating categories from the orig- inal 5-point scale were each combined, as re- flected in the table. None of the chi-square results was significant, thus failing to indicate any reliable advantages for the ACOT group over the control group.

As shown in the table, the percentages of students receiving the different ratings were nearly identical for the two groups in the fall survey. In the spring survey, however, there was some tendency for the percentage of "high" evaluations for the ACOT group to in- crease relative to their fall evaluations on the "interest in subject" and "skills" dimensions. However, within-groups comparisons of fall and spring ratings showed no significant changes on any of the items for either group.

Groups were also compared, using t tests for independent samples, on the combined mathematics rating score (maximum = 30) across all six evaluation items. The overall fall means were 17.4 for ACOT and 18.0 for control, which were not significantly different, t (50) = - . 64, p >.05. Nor were differences indicated in the spring means, t (34) = 1.71, p > .05, although the ACOT (M = 18.5) group had a directional advantage over the control (M = 16.4) group. Finally, comparison of the final math grades (0 to 4.00 scale) received by students showed no difference between groups (ACOT M = 1.76, Control M = 1.42), t (34) = .98, p > .05. In fact, both groups achieved relatively poorly; their combined grade distribution was F: 17%; D: 30%; C: 33%; B: 17%; and A: 3%.

COMPUTER-INTENSIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

TABLE 1 [ ] Percentage of Students Evaluated in Different Performance Categories by Mathematics Teachers in Fall and Spring Surveys

39

FALL SPRING

Perfvrmance Category High a Average L o w b High a Average L o w b

1. Interest in Subject ACOT 21.7 52.2 26.1 41.2 29.4 29.4 Control 24.1 51.7 24.1 15.0 40.0 45.0

2. Skills ACOT 21.7 52.2 26.1 35.3 35.3 29.4 Control 27.6 44.8 27.6 20.0 30.0 50.0

3. Motivation ACOT 21.7 47.8 30.4 29.4 35.3 35.3 Control 21.4 42.9 35.7 20.0 25.0 55.0

4. Independence ACOT 30.4 52.2 17.4 35.3 52.9 11.8 Control 27.6 44.8 24.1 30.0 30.0 40.0

5. Self-Confidence ACOT 13.0 78.3 8.7 11.8 82.4 5.9 Control 17.2 72.4 10.3 15.0 70.0 15.0

6. Social Skills ACOT 13.0 69.6 17.4 5.9 88.2 5.9 Control 17.2 65.5 17.2 10.0 75.0 15.0

Note: ACOT-Fall n = 23, ACOT-Spring n = 17, Control-FaU n = 29, Control-Spring n = 19. aHigh = "'Exceptional" and "Above Average" categories combined. bLow = "Below Average" and "Inferior" categories combined.

English

English teachers returned 23 ACOT surveys (96%) and 29 control surveys (100%) in the fall and 18 ACOT surveys (75%) and 20 control surveys in the spring (74%). Results are summarized in Table 2. As can be seen, the fall ratings generally were higher for the ACOT group than for the control group, but the effects failed to reach significance. On the spring survey, the ratings tended to be more similar for the two groups, with no significant differences indicated on any category. However, wi thin-groups comparisons, us ing t tests, showed a significant decline from fall to spring for the ACOT group in the "self-confidence" rating, t (16) = 3.92, p < .001.

Comparison of combined scores (maximum = 30 points) indicated a significant advantage for the ACOT group (M = 16.3) over the control group (M = 13.4) in the fall, t (51) = 2.06, p < .05, but not in the spring (M's = 13.0 and 15.1, respectively). English grades for the spring were quite low and not significantly different between groups (ACOT M = 1.12; Con-

trol M = 1.32). The combined group grade distribution was F: 19%; D: 39%; and C: 42%.

Computer

In the spring, 11 s tudents (9 ACOT and 2 control) out of the 51 in the combined sample had taken a computer course sometime during the year. Although this relationship between group (ACOT vs. control) and computer course enrol lment was significant, ×2 (1) =

5.14, p < .03, the interpretation is clouded by numerous factors that affected the availability of computer courses to individual students (e.g., prior computer experience, membership in special enrichment programs, interest in the course, etc.). It was assumed, however, that the ACOT students who were enrolled in computer classes would be comparable to other classmates except for their ACOT experiences.

Examination of the teacher ratings showed that ACOT students received their most positive evaluations on interest in the course (30% "above average," 70% "average") and

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TABLE 2 [ ] Percentage of Students Evaluated in Different Performance Categories by English Teachers Teachers in Fall and Spring Surveys

FALL SPRING

Performance Category High a Average Low b High a Average Low b

1. Interest in Subject ACOT 12.5 41.7 45.8 11.8 35.3 52.9 Control 3.4 37.9 58.6 10.0 45.0 45.0

2. Skills ACOT 8.3 33.3 58.3 5.9 41.2 52.9 Control 6.9 34.5 58.6 - - 55.0 45.0

3. Motivation ACOT 13.0 30.4 56.5 11.8 23.5 64.7 Control 17.2 27.6 55.2 14.3 42.9 42.9

4. Independence ACOT 20.8 41.7 37.9 11.8 29.4 58.8 Control 10.3 24.1 64.5 14.3 42.9 42.9

5. Self-Confidence ACOT 29.2 41.7 29.2 - - 29.4 70.6 Control 17.2 27.6 55.2 4.8 52.4 42.9

6. Social Skills ACOT 20.8 54.2 25.0 11.8 29.4 58.8 Control 10.3 31.0 58.6 4.8 38.1 57.1

Note: ACOT-Fall n : 23, ACOT-Spring n = 18, Control-Fall n =29, Control-Spring n = 20. aHigh = "Exceptional" and '~Above Average" categories combined. bLow = "Below Average" and "Inferior" categories combined.

computer skills (40% "above average," 60% "average"). They received lower ratings on motivation (30% "below average"), independence (30% "below average," 20% "inferior"), self-confidence (20% "below average"), and social skills (30% "below average"). The modal group rating was "'average" in word-processing skills; "average" to "'above average" in knowledge of computer parts, operations, and programming; and "above average" in using a word processor.

Computer Teacher Interview

The computer teacher, who had nine years' experience teaching computer courses, taught a basic literacy course covering BASIC programming, word processing, and computer operations and functions. The "Unders tanding Computers" software series from Encydope- dia Britannica was used to support the latter instruction. Students taking the course averaged five hours per week of dass time for one semester.

The teacher was first shown a list of the students whom she taught from the present ACOT and control samples (n = 11), without an indication of their group or special status. She was asked to identify the five "best" students. Both of the control students (100%) and three of the nine ACOT students (33%) were selected. The nine members of the ACOT group were then identified as having participated in the ACOT program. The teacher was

asked to think about those students and compare them as a group on eight dimensions to other students in the class. She rated the ACOT students as "average" on most dimensions, specifically, enthusiasm, following di- rections, being "computer buffs," computer skills, and social interactions. She rated them as "above average" in keyboarding and basic familiarity with computers and as "superior" in being unafraid to use computers.

In an interview, the teacher indicated that

she could discern some of the ACOT students as being different from their classmates, but more on the basis of their keyboarding skills than computer skills. She also noted that the

COMPUTERqNTENSIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES 41

ACOT students were generally resistant to learning about the computer as a subject as opposed to using it as a tool. Other observa- tions were that they were more interested than the other students in playing computer games, were less independent and self-sufficient in their work, had shorter attention spans, and were normatively represented throughout her grade distribution over the semester. In general, she created a picture of these students' experiencing some difficulty in adjusting to the more structured setting of her computer dass. When asked about students' social skills, she expressed disappointment with what she perceived to be a limited amount of classroom socialization. ACOT students did not appear more likely than other students to help others with the computer activities.

One advantage of ACOT was perceived to be acquiring a high degree of "comfort" with using the computer. ACOT students were def- initely uninhibited about trying new things. They were also relatively knowledgeable about operating the computer (disk use, keyboard, etc.). A third advantage was their obvious su- periority in keyboarding skills.

The major disadvantage perceived was a questionable amount of transfer from the prior year's experience to learning the new applications of the current year. For example, surprisingly, ACOT students did not appear to be more skilled at using the word-processing program that was taught, even though all were highly experienced users of a different program. The new commands appeared to frustrate some of them and even to cause some negative transfer.

Student Attitudes

Comparisons between ACOT and control groups on the student attitude survey yielded no significant differences (at p K .01) for the 34 tests conducted (17 items x fall-spring testings). Also, no differences were found for either group between fall and spring item responses.

The responses for both groups generally showed high agreement (over 75%) with state- ments that described behaviors reflective of

an internal locus of control, although relatively fewer students (30-66%) agreed that they did well on tests due to ability factors, an internal- stable attribution. There was also generally high agreement on items dealing with motivation. Nearly all students liked learning with a computer and felt that working with a computer would help them later on. All but one ACOT student (96%) preferred typing an assignment on a computer over writing it by hand; 22 out of 29 control students (79%) preferred typing on the computer.

Student Interview

Those students interviewed were all 16 of the ACOT students and 23 out of the 26 control students at School A. (The 3 controls not interviewed were absent from school that day.) Responses for two groups are summarized by question below.

Computer Experiences Last Year and This Year

All ACOT students indicated that they worked on the computer all day (87%) or half the day (13%) during the previous year. The control students, however, indicated that they spent less than an hour a day on the computer. Both ACOT and control groups described similar activities such as CAI, Logo, and games, with "typing" being the most fre- quent response (100% of ACOT; 83% control).

In direct contrast to the previous year, the seventh-grade experiences were described as extremely limited, with approximately half of the control students and a fourth of the ACOT students indicating that they had no contact with the computer. Those who had experiences indicated that they occurred in isolated lessons in art class and computer dass. When asked which school year was more enjoyable, 94% of the ACOT group and 87% of the control group indicated that the sixth-grade year was better. There were many comments, especially by ACOT students, that last year they learned more, had more fun, and had much more computer time. Strong feelings were expressed of being "left out" this year by not being able to use computers. Comparing their

42 ETR~, Vol. 39, No. 4

computer skills this year to last, 50% of both groups felt their skills had declined and 50% felt their skills had improved or remained about the same.

Importance of a School Computer

Both ACOT and control students overwhelm- ingly (close to 100%) expressed the belief that it is important for students their age to have a school computer. One popular rea- son was preparation for a job. Many students also felt that computers could help them to write better. Four students mentioned that the computer could often help when the teacher could not.

Overall, the interview responses of ACOT and control students were generally more comparable than different. This was not viewed as surprising, given that the control group also had much greater contact with computers the previous year than in the current year as a result of having taken a full-year computer course. Thus, both groups were reacting as individuals who had "lost" their computers and privileged status in the seventh-grade year, and both felt frustrated and unhappy with the situation. Working with CAI and using a word processor were the two main activities that students missed.

Keyboarding

The keyboarding results showed a clear su- periority of the ACOT group over the control group. In the fall, ACOT students averaged 38.7 words per minute compared to the control group's 17.6 words per minute, t (47) =

7.61, p < .001. In the spring, the respective group means were 37.4 and 15.8, t (44) = 6.45, p < .001. These results suggest that, despite having limited or no opportunities to practice keyboarding in seventh grade, the ACOT students maintained comparable skill levels over the year.

California Achievement Test Scores

Students took the reading and mathematics subtests of the California Achievement Tests (CAT) in September and May of the school year. Means are summarized on Table 3. For each testing, a one-way MANOVA was conducted on the two subtest scores. Both multivariate effects were significant (p's < .01 and .004, respectively), indicating advantages for the ACOT over the control group. Univar- iate tests, however, as summarized in Table 3, showed that the differences in reading only approached significance (both p's <.10), while those in mathematics were highly significant (both p's < .01). It is noteworthy that average percentile ranks for both groups combined relative to national norms were only 20 and 39 for math and reading, respectively, in the fall; and 25 and 48, respectively, in the spring. Thus, s tudents tended to perform better normatively in math than in reading, but generally low overall.

DISCUSSION

The present study examined the achievement and attitudes of seventh-grade students following their participation as fifth- and sixth- graders in computer-intensive classrooms. In

TABLE 3 [ ] ACOT vs, Control Comparisons of Mean CAT Raw Scores

Time of Testing and Group

SEPTEMBER MAY

ACOT Control ACOT Control (n = 24) (n = 26) (n = 24) (n = 25)

Subtest M (SD) M (SD) F M (SD) M (SD) F

Reading 55.4 (17.4) 46.4 (15.5) 3.76 65.3 (21.8) 55.4 (15.6) 3.32 Math 64.5 (12.1) 53.7 (11.6) 10.35" 77.0 (18.8) 60.3 (16.3) 12.80"* "p < .01

• "p < .001


interpreting results, two limitations of the design need to be considered. One was the use of intact rather than randomly composed groups as the experimental and control samples. The second was viewing the ACOT program, which involved many different activities and interventions, in a holistic manner in mak- ing inferences about its effects. Consequently, any positive or negative results obtained for the ACOT group relative to the control group can be discussed only as general "program" outcomes without knowing which specific program components may have caused them.

Despite these limitations, the Memphis ACOT program represented a systematic, carefully planned, and seemingly successful effort to integrate computers into the curriculum and to make them highly accessible to students as an instructional tool. Based on current conceptions of the potentialities of computers to enhance learning (Bork, 1987), and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it would seem reasonable to expect positive af- fective and academic outcomes to result from such opportunities, particularly for disadvantaged students. Accordingly, the present results should offer a reasonable indication of what influences over time may occur when computer-intensive environments, comparable to ACOT, are made available to elementary school children. The results pertaining to this question are discussed in the following sections.

Do ACOT Students Demonstrate Educational Advantages over Control Students?

Given the multiple and varied measures of student outcomes assessed in this study, there is no simple answer to the question of ACOT's influences on academic performance. On cer- tain measures, some advantages for ACOT were indicated; on other measures, however, there was no advantage for either group. Most impressive was the ACOT group's clear su- periority on the mathematics CAT (fall and spring Effect Size = .94 and 1.02, respectively) and close to significant advantage on the reading CAT (Effect Size = .58 and .63, respectively). These differences contrast with the

nearly identical group performances on 10 different CAT subtests administered at the start of and during the ACOT program. It is there- fore conceivable that the ACOT experiences did have some positive, relatively long-term effect on basic skills. A second encouraging result was that, despite the lack of opportu- nity to use computers in seventh grade, the ACOT students appeared to maintain relatively high keyboarding skills.

A less positive picture, however, emerged from school achievement outcomes. Of the 24 teacher rating comparisons made (6 items x 4 surveys), no significant group differences were found. Analyses of composite ratings, however, did reveal an advantage for the ACOT group in fall English evaluations. With regard to grades, the most revealing finding was that both groups performed poorly, earning mostly C's and D's and only one A in their combined English and math grade distributions. Further, in both her ratings and personal comments, the computer teacher conveyed that ACOT students only "blended in" her classes with regard to their computer skills and course per* formance. A positive characteristic, in her opinion, was their superior skills in keyboarding; negative characteristics were restlessness, impatience, and, surprisingly, lack of independence. In interpreting these findings, it is important to consider that this teacher used a relatively structured, teacher-centered orien- tation in which the computer itself was the focus of learning. This approach was quite different from the ACOT classroom in which students were much more free to explore applications of computers to perform particular tasks.

Based on these results, the ACOT students' motivation and achievement can be considered to be at least as high as, and in some instances, better than, the control group's. But overall, ACOT students were not distinguishable from other students on the basis of their school accomplishments. Judging from the latter outcomes, as well as their relatively low CAT scores, they remain at risk in middle-school grades, despite their positive accomplishments in the ACOT class (as supported in Kitabchi, 1987, 1988; Ross, Smith, Morrison, & Erickson, 1989; Ross et al., 1991.)

ETR&D, Vot. 39, No. 4

Computer Access in the Post-ACOT Year

Students' computer experiences in the seventh-grade class were extremely limited. At best, some students (20%) took a one-semester computer course offered at only one out of the nine secondary or middle schools attended by ACOT and control subjects. At worst, they had no contact with computers during the entire year (42% of the total sample). Even the computer course provided an average of less than one hour of computer contact each day, a substantial decrease from the virtually all-day exposure provided in the ACOT classroom. Given that only a handful of students (11% ) had home computers, it can reasonably be concluded that for the typical ACOT student, opportunities to practice and apply the computer skills they had learned were virtually nonexistent in the seventh- grade year.

These conditions appear consistent with those at most schools nationwide. Although the acquisition of computer hardware and software is steadily increasing in America's school systems, the accessibility of computers still remains highly limited in the typical classroom. Recent studies have reported the typical ratios of computers to students to range from 1:20 to 1:50 (Herrmann, 1989; Mecklen- berger, 1990; O'Neil, 1990; Ricketts, 1990). For example, only about half of the schools in Herrmann's (1989) study reported having as many as 20 or more computers in the entire school. These figures indicate that resources are far too limited to enable the average student to work with a computer for more than a small fraction of the school day.

Trends Across the Post-ACOT Year

A final question of interest was whether the performance and attitudes of ACOT students would show any significant shifts across the seventh-grade school year. Results provided no such indication, although, not surprisingly, there was a tendency (p < .05) for ACOT students' self-confidence (in mathematics) to decline over the year. Nor did differences between the ACOT and the control groups vary to any noticeable degree across the two assess-

ment periods. Both groups were perceived to experience difficulty adjusting to the new school, and their problems appeared to per- sist the entire year.

Conclusion

Overall, the results failed to show that the former ACOT students were distinguishable from their seventh-grade classmates in attitudes or achievement. On the positive side, where differences were found, they consis- tently favored the ACOT group (e.g., CAT scores and typing skills). The CAT differences, in particular, are suggestive of possible bene- tidal effects of the ACOT environment, which expressly attempted to create positive academic experiences by integrating computer activities into classroom learning. On the other hand, given conditions of the program and school environment, it may be unrealistic to expect larger or more consistent effects to have occurred. The literature on remedial programs (Evans, 1971; Hodges & Smith, 1978) and on strategies for teaching at-risk students (Slavin & Madden, 1989) is discouraging regarding the probability of attaining long-term gains from short-term interventions, especially with children beyond the kindergarten or first- grade level. Aside from the limited duration of the ACOT program, a second limiting factor for the present sample was entering a new school environment featuring different teachers for each subject, greater structure, and increased competition.

An important limiting factor concerns the issue of computer access. The foundation of the ACOT philosophy and experience is learning to use computers as an educational tool (Dwyer et al., 1991). If no computers are sub- sequently available in learning situations, the applicability of those experiences will be se- verely limited. In this regard, an outcome of the present research that is more difficult to document objectively, but was highly noticeable during the interviews, was the excitement in the children's faces and voices when they talked about the computer experiences they had during the previous year. Equally discern- ible was their disappointment at the lack of such experiences in the current year.


In recent literature on computer-based learning, the term "empowerment" is often used to describe the role of the computer in ena- bling s tudents and teachers to expand their view of the world and what they can accomplish (e.g., Fisher, 1988; Perlman, 1989; Tier- ney, 1988). An analogy can be made that an automobile empowers people to expand how fast and far they can travel, but just because one has learned to drive does not mean that one can also travel farther or faster wi thout a car. From this perspective, ACOT s tudents may be perceived as individuals who had successfully learned to use automated tools and, with access to them, could potentially extend their reach far beyond what it was formerly. However, in a world without automation (the seventh-grade class in this study), that means of special empowerment no longer existed. Through this analogy we take the view that learning to use computers expands one's potential range of accomplishments in situations where those particular skills can be applied; it does not necessarily lead to decontextualized transfer that makes one more intelligent or productive in activities not involving the computer (e.g., see Perkins & Salomon, 1989).

A main implication of the Memphis ACOT program, based on evaluations over the past four years (Baker et al., 1988, 1989; Kitabchi, 1987, 1988; Ross et al., 1991), is that, by being able to work with computers, all children, per- haps especially disadvantaged ones, can in- crease the range of their accompl ishments while developing skills with modern technological applications valued by society. As they acquire and demonstrate those skills, they can feel more positive about themselves, possibly in ways they have never experienced before. How- ever, to remain so empowered, students must have access to the tools on which those successful performances depend. The experience of having worked with a computer in the past is of questionable value in classrooms where computers are no longer accessible. [ ]

This research was supported by a grant from Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow, Apple Computer, Inc. Correspon- dence concerning this article should be addressed to Ste- yen M. Ross, Foundations of Education, Memphis State University, Memphis, TN 38152.

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