Publications

Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort. Report to Congress

March 2007

The No Child Left Behind Act called for the U.S. Department of Education to conduct a national study of the effectiveness of educational technology. The study identified reading and mathematics software products based on prior evidence of effectiveness and other criteria and used an experimental design to assess the effects of technology products, with volunteering teachers randomly assigned to use or not use selected products. On average, after one year, products did not increase or decrease test scores by amounts that were statistically different from zero. In addition, effects were correlated with some classroom and school characteristics. For reading products, effects on overall test scores were correlated with the student-teacher ratio in first grade classrooms and with the amount of time that products were used in fourth grade classrooms. For math products, effects were uncorrelated with classroom and school characteristics.
Download the report in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

The Effectiveness of Educational Technology:
Issues and Recommendations for the National Study

May 2003

Recommends that an upcoming study of the effectiveness of educational technology in improving academic achievement focus on four goals: (1) defining what is meant by "educational technology," (2) deciding how to measure effectiveness, (3) clarifying what kinds of students will be studied, and (4) pinpointing how academic achievement will be defined and measured.
Download the report in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Department to Study Technology's Role in Raising Student Achievement

February 2004

In an effort to help determine the effectiveness of educational technology for learning reading and math, the U.S. Department of Education announced today that it will fund a study of 16 computer-based reading and math products. The products, from 12 different companies, were developed to enhance the learning of reading in grade one, reading comprehension in grade four, pre-algebra in grade six, and algebra in grade nine. They were chosen in a peer-review process from a pool of 163 applications.

Read the full release on www.ed.gov website.