The Effects of a One-to-One Laptop Initiative on Student Achievement

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent the one-to-oneinitiative impacted student performance on the MAP ELA and mathematics assessments.The participants included those students from a suburban Kansas City, Missouri schooldistrict who were enrolled in fourth grade during the 2011-2012 school year and fifthgrade during the 2012-2013 school year. There were no statistically significantdifferences in fifth grade student achievement on the MAP English Language Arts (ELA)and mathematics assessments between students who participated in the one-to-one laptopinitiative and students who did not participate in the initiative. The difference in the fifthgrade student achievement on the MAP ELA and mathematics assessments betweenstudents who participated in the one-to-one laptop initiative and students who did notparticipate in the initiative was not affected by student race or socioeconomic status(SES). However, the difference in fifth grade achievement on the MAP mathematicsassessment between students who participated in the one-to-one initiative and studentswho did not participate in the initiative was affected by student gender. Female studentswho participated tended to outperform female students who did not participate, whilemale students who participated tended to perform poorly when compared to males whodid not participate.A statistically significant difference in ELA growth, as measured by a differencebetween the fourth and fifth grade scale scores on the MAP ELA assessment, was foundbetween fifth grade students who participated in the one-to-one laptop initiative and fifthgrade students who did not participate in the initiative. The differences were not affectedby student gender and SES; however, although not statistically significant, White students who participated in the one-to-one initiative tended to outperform Whitestudents who did not participate. No differences were found between fourth and fifthgrade scale scores on the MAP mathematics assessment between fifth grade students whoparticipated in the one-to-one initiative and those that did not participate in the initiative.The differences were not affected by student gender, race, and SES.It was recommended that District X evaluate the effectiveness of this one-to-oneinitiative, consider expanding internet access to their students outside of the school day,and develop and implement strategies targeting the academic performance of lowerperforming students. Future studies could be conducted that include additionalquantitative measures of student achievement such as STAR, Acuity, and iReady andsurvey results from teachers, parents, and students. In addition, a measure could beincluded to evaluate the student acquisition of 21st century skills.