Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2759

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    Testing the Digital Divide: Does Access to High-QUality Use of Technology in Schools Affect Student Achievement?
    (2012) Talley, Gregory Keith; Hawley, Willis D.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study investigates the relationship between access, use of technology and student achievement in public middle schools in Maryland. The objective of this study was to determine whether a digital divide (differences in access and utilization of technology based on student characteristics of race, socioeconomic status, and gender) exists among schools, and whether those differences relate to mathematics and reading achievement. More specifically, the study uses school data on technology access, students' instructional uses of technology, and teacher technology proficiency from the 2007 Maryland Technology Inventory. This study analyzes student demographic data and assessment results from the 2007 Maryland School Assessments in reading and mathematics obtained from the Maryland State Department of Education. The data analyses use descriptive and multivariate statistics to determine the existence of digital divides and their effects on reading and mathematics achievement. Analysis of these data described patterns of technology access and use in order to determine whether differences in access and use resulted in a digital divide. Differences in access and use were then examined to determine their impact on reading and mathematics achievement levels. The research design relied on descriptive and multivariate statistics to analyze access and use and their relationship to academic achievement. Findings indicated that digital divides exist in the student-to-computer ratio and the number of teachers with classroom computers, and digital access was positively associated with eighth-grade mathematics and reading proficiency scores. However, student classroom computer ratios were negatively associated with achievement, controlling for other factors. Digital divides in students' use of technology for publishing text, organizing information, and communicating information were identified, with access to technology for these tasks/skills and positively associated with mathematics and reading scores, but connecting language to words had a negative impact. Teachers' use of technology for creating instructional materials had a positive impact on reading scores but a negative impact on mathematics achievement, when the researcher controlled for other factors. Findings suggest that differences exist in several areas of technology access and use when considering student characteristics of race, socioeconomic status, and gender. This study contributes to existing research on the effects of technology on instruction and informs state and local policy on instructional technology implementation and practice.
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    A Qualitative Case Study of the Impact of Principal Leadership and School Performance Awards on Eight Maryland Schools
    (2004-05-13) Strouse, Darla Fishbein; Mawhinney, Hanne; Education Policy, and Leadership
    From 1996-2001, the Maryland State Department of Education allocated each year, $2.75 million in monetary awards to schools that made significant improvement in student achievement on the Maryland Performance Assessment Program. School performance rewards, given to 313 schools, averaged $30,000. The purposes of the awards were to reward successful schools, to encourage their continuous improvement, and to set an example for others to follow. Of the 313 schools, a limited number, eighteen, were successful in winning awards three or four times. The purpose of this qualitative case study dissertation was to obtain rich information about the leadership practices of principals that received awards for improvement numerous times and to explore and describe their perceptions about the impact of these rewards on their schools. The methodology employed involved in-depth interviews of eight principals that received rewards three or four times and an examination of supportive documentation used to corroborate interview data. The study also presents economic, demographic, and performance data on each school as well as comparative data with all schools that received awards and all schools in Maryland that participated in the state assessments and were, therefore, eligible for rewards. Descriptions of individual leadership practices before, during, and after the administration of the rewards are included, as well as an analytic cross-case analysis of patterns across the cases. Accounts of how schools used rewards money are also included. Findings point to an interrelationship between effective outcomes of the rewards program and unique leadership skills and practices employed by the principals. They suggest that the utility of a school-based performance awards program may require an environment poised for change and improvement.