Student Achievement versus Technology in the Catholic Classroom: Correlation or Added Bonus

摘要

Spending limited educational budgets on technology for classrooms is a strategy many school districts have used to increase student achievement (Levenson, Baehr, Smith, & Sullivan, 2014). In recent years, the technology movement allowed for arbitrary purchasing of devices with little to no pedagogical planning for how technology device usage was expected to increase student achievement (Johnston, 2014). The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between student achievement and the amount of money spent on technology hardware, technology software, and technology-related professional development. The research design incorporated quantitative methods through collection of test scores and survey data regarding school budgets and educational technology expenditures. The data were analyzed to reveal the strength, if any, of correlations between the amount of money spent on technology hardware, technology software, and technology-related professional development and student achievement among third, fifth, and eighth-grade students. The target population of the study consisted of 23 elementary principals within a Catholic diocese in southwest Missouri. A convenience sampling was conducted with 100% participation. De-identified core battery scores from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) were provided by the superintendent of the diocese for grades three, five, and eight. The data collected and analyzed in this study revealed weak or no significant positive correlations between the amount of money spent on technology hardware, technology software, or technology-related professional development and ITBS test scores in grades three, five, and eight for the academic years 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014.