- Author:
- Holly Duckett Dale,
- Adviser:
- Wm. D. Lamkin
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the configuration of Integrated Learning System (ILS) instruction on reading and mathematics achievement of fourth-grade students. The research design included two experimental groups. The population included 113 students.
Students in experimental group one were enrolled in an elementary school with an ILS in a distributed-network configuration. Students in experimental group two were enrolled in an elementary school with an ILS in a self-contained laboratory configuration. All students participated in daily activities using the computer with instruction by teachers who had received special training in the use of the ILS. Students in experimental group one rotated reading and mathematics instruction with the ILS in order to ensure a minimum of ninety minutes over a six day period in each content. Students in experimental group two received reading and mathematics instruction that involved the use of the ILS curriculum three times a week for thirty minutes each session for a total of ninety minutes per week.
Student achievement was measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Sixth Edition, with Spring, 1991 scores used as the covariate. The Norm-referenced Achievement Program for Texas, administered in Spring, 1992, was used as the posttest. Analysis of covariance was applied to the tests of reading and mathematics. Analysis of the mathematics test yielded a statistically significant difference in student achievement favoring the experimental group who received instruction supplemented by the ILS in a self-contained laboratory. Analysis of the reading test yielded no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Additional analysis of gender, socioeconomic status, and minority status revealed no statistically significant difference in the reading achievement of the two groups. Analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the mathematics achievement of the students eligible for free and reduced-priced lunch and students ineligible for free and reduced-priced lunch. Both experimental group one and experimental group two analyses revealed higher least square mean scores for students eligible for free and reduced-priced lunch.
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