Kathleen Puckett

Closing the Digital Divide: Update From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

The authors examined the progress made toward equitable technology access and use over childrens first 4 years of school. The sample consisted of 8,283 public school children who attended kindergarten, 1st, and 3rd grades. In 3rd grade, high-poverty schools had significantly more computers for instruction and a smaller ratio of children to computers than did low-poverty schools. Over the first 4 years of school, however, children attending low-poverty schools had significantly more access to home computers than did those attending high-poverty schools. Childrens use of computers during 3rd grade differed by school-poverty status. Results indicate that access to, and use of, a home computer, the presence of a computer area in classrooms, frequent use of the Internet, proficiency in computer use, and low-poverty school status were correlated positively with academic achievement. In contrast, frequent use of software for reading was correlated negatively with reading achievement.

Digital Equity: New Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

Abstract This study examined young children’s differential access to computers in school and home and the varying conditions that affect how children experience computers. The sample consists of 9,840 public school children who attended kindergarten and first grade. Lower and higher poverty schools are about equally likely to have computers available for children when they start their formal schooling. However, the findings suggest that the digital gap starts to widen as children move into first grade. Even though children’s access to most computer resources at school increased from kindergarten to first grade, children attending higher poverty schools had significantly fewer computers and software programs available. Young children’s use of computers in their classrooms differed by school poverty status.

Project ACCESS: Field Testing an Assistive Technology Toolkit for Students with Mild Disabilities.

The Project ACCESS toolkit includes strategies, software programs, and equipment used to access general education curriculum standards for K-8 students with mild disabilities. This article describes the contents of the toolkit and the results of field-testing with thirty-one special education teachers. The toolkit is promoted as a proactive strategy that gives ready access to essential tools that promote access to general curriculum standards and exploratory use of assistive technology.

Graduates Respond to an Innovative Educational Doctorate Program

Dispute about professional doctoral programs in education has increased, with much hinging on the design of educational doctorate (EdD) programs. In this study, the first cohort of graduates responded to a new, innovative EdD program designed to develop them as leaders, scholars, and practitioners. Twenty graduates completed an exit survey, and a content analysis of their dissertations was performed. Both were done to improve the program. Graduates valued curricular and instructional features, engaged in actions to improve their local settings, endorsed a sense of community that developed, and reported changes in their professional identities. Their dissertation work validated these ideas.

Using Technology to Support Visual Learning Strategies

Abstract Visual learning is a strategy for visually representing the structure of information and for representing the ways in which concepts are related. Based on the work of Ausubel, these hierarchical maps facilitate student learning of unfamiliar information in the K-12 classroom. This paper presents the research base for this Type II computer tool, as well as the alignment of the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS*S) and the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*T). In addition, basic information is provided regarding use of visual tools as diagrams and outlines, along with multiple K-12 lesson ideas, adaptations for special populations, software options, and useful Web links.

An Assistive Technology Toolkit: Type II Applications for Students with Mild Disabilities.

Abstract This article describes possibilities for technology use among students with mild disabilities. It considers characteristics of assistive technology from the standpoint of strategies associated with universal design for learning and Type I and Type II software applications. After a brief description of assistive technology definitions, legislation, and implementation issues, the assistive technology toolkit, an alternative strategy for equipping students with technology for classroom use, is presented. Observations from field-testing indicate that general and special education teachers can effectively use the toolkit to integrate general curriculum requirements for students with mild disabilities.

Implementing an Intervention in Special Education to Promote Social Skills in an Inclusive Setting

Abstract This study examined the effects of instruction, delivered in a special education classroom, to improve classroom behaviors and support the emergence of social skills in an inclusive classr...

Parents as Teachers of Children with Autism in the Peoples' Republic of China

Abstract In the Peoples Republic of China, many children with autism are excluded from government supported schools and parents are expected to deliver educational services. Parent training center...