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COMPUTE! September/October, 1980. issued
Teaching Basic Academic Skills
Can Micros Make A Difference?
Tory Esbensen, Coordinator of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction
Doug Hed, Supervisor of Media Services, Edina Public Schools, Edina, Mn.55435
As microcomputers become more visible in school set
tings, they may be increasingly asked to present
their teaching credentials. This report is a preliminary
attempt to respond to thai likely development.
In the fall of 1979, the Iowa Tests of Basic
Skills were given to all of the 3rd and 5th graders in
the Edina Public Schools. Students who scored poorly
on these tests in capitalization, punctuation, and
usage, were singled out to take advantage oi micro
computer programs written for the PET in these
academic areas by MICRO-ED, INC. (Box 24156,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55424).
Although every elementary school in the Edina
system uses microcomputers, and although micro
computer programs are readily available to any class
room teacher wishing to employ them, for the purpose
of this project special instructional arrangements were
made with student support centers that had been
established in four of our elementary schools. Briefly,
in those schools where support centers existed, 3rd and
5th grade students who scored in the bottom quartilc
of the Iowa Tests in capitalization, punctuation, and
usage, were targeted to receive additional instruction
from microcomputers. This selection procedure was
based on local norms which are higher than national
norms.
It is important to emphasize that no attempt was
made to handle this as a pure research project.
No students were used as a control group. In the
four schools in which the project was formally
carried out, we tried to provide microcomputer
instruction to every student who seemed to need
il. In those schools which had no support centers,
microcomputers were also used by individual teachers
to provide additional instruction to students. No
attempt was made to restrict this in any way.
Above all, great care was taken to avoid giving
any impression that microcomputers are somehow
preferable to other modes of instruction. In our
opinion, it is important to have micros viewed as
the instructional allies of teachers, not as competitors.
Therefore, what this report will provide is infor
mation concerning what happened to a group of
students when microcomputers were used to play a
major role in furnishing certain kinds of remedial
instruction. No comparison with other instructional
practices or results is intended or implied.
We shall begin by considering a group of 59
fifth grade students who scored the lowest in the
Iowa Tests in the area of English usage. In the fall
of 1979, based on national norms, the median score
for this group placed it at the 37th percentile for a
grade equivalent score of 4.4.
When this group was re-tested in the Spring of
1980, its median score for English usage placed it
at the 58th pereentile for a grade equivalent score
of 6.4. Academically, this group of students gained a
total of 20 months over a period of 7 months.
Next we shall look at a group of (37 filth grade
students who scored the lowest in the Iowa Tests
in the area of punctuation. In the fall of 1979, based
on national norms, the median score for this group
placed it at the 36th percentile for a grade equivalent
score of 4.5.
When this group was re-tested in the spring of
1980, its median score for punctuation placed it at the
62nd percentile for a grade equivalenl score of 6.5.
Academically, this group of students also gained a
total of 20 months over a period of 7 months.
Then we shall consider a group of 73 fifth
grade students who scored the lowest in the Iowa
Tests in the area of capitalization. In the fall of 1979,
based on national norms, the median score for this
group placed it at the 35th percentile for a grade
equivalent score of 4.5.
When this group was re-tcsted in the spring of
1980, its median score for capitalization placed it at the
70th percentile for a grade equivalent score of 7.0.
Academically, this group of students gained a total
ol 25 months over a period of 7 months.
Now we shall consider a group of 43 third grade
students who scored the lowest in the Iowa Tests
in the area of capitalization. In (he fall of 1979,
based on national norms, the median score for this
group placed it at the 25th percentile for a grade
equivalent score of 2.4.
When this group was re-lested in the spring of
1980, its median score for capitalization placed it at
the 59th percentile for a grade equivalenl score of 4.2.
Academically, this group of students gained a total
of 18 months over a period of 7 months.
Next we shall look at a group of 35 third
grade students who scored the lowest in the Iowa Test
in the area of English usage. In the fall of 1979,
based on national norms, the median score for this
group placed it at the 33rd percentile for a grade
equivalent score of 2.4.
When this group was re-tested in the spring of
1980, its median score for English usage placed it
at the 72nd pereentile for a grade equivalent score of
5.1. Academically, this group of students gained a total
of 27 months over a period of 7 months.