William D. McInerney

An investigation of the relationship between integrated learning systems and academic achievement

This study sought to determine whether there is a significant difference in the rate of gain in test scores between students who use an Integrated Learning System (ILS) and students in a set of like-paired schools who do not. Nine dependent variables from the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) examination for third grade students provided the data. The study found that pre- versus post-test score differences were significant for both groups for the nine dependent variables examined separately or simultaneously. Experimental versus control test score differences were not significant for the nine dependent variables examined separately or simultaneously. The pre/post change for the experimental schools was not significantly different from the pre/post change for the control schools for the nine dependent variables examined separately or simultaneously. These results suggest that in Indiana during the time period studied, the use of an ILS did not lead to improved student performance on standardized test scores.

Effects on Achievement of a Home/School Computer Project

AbstractThis study investigated a home/school computer project and its effects on reading, language, and mathematics achievement for students after one year and two years in the project. The treatment group consisted of 142 fourth- and fifth-grade students, each of whom received a computer, printer, and telecommunications equipment for use in learning activities in their homes. The comparison group consisted of 147 fourth- and fifth-grade students at a different school in the same district. The data for the study were collected from the California Achievement Test and the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, 4th edition. The dependent variables were the changes in scale scores over the time period investigated in the study. The findings indicated that participation in the project was not associated with increased academic achievement. Therefore, educators should enter home/school computer projects with caution and realistic expectations.

Computers and School Reform.

Part of the vision of school reform is to reconstruct schools as “learning communities” in which students and teachers pursue topics of interest. Computers can provide powerful tools for students in learning communities where inquiry, data gathering, interpretation, thinking, and judgment take place. Changing beliefs in educational goals and great support for teachers will be necessary if we are to realize the potential of computers in restructured classrooms. The greatest possibilities exist in new “Professional Development Schools,” where university faculty join school teachers in joint efforts to restructure learning environments. New evaluation procedures are also needed if competencies associated with information retrieval and use are to be assessed.

Hiring the Right Teacher: a Method for Selection

The process of teacher selection can be more effective if administrators determine what kind of teacher they want, whether the current selection process helps find the best teachers, and whether current teachers have a part in the process.

Social and Organizational Effects of Educational Computing

This article employs Leavitts sociotechnical systems model of the interaction in organizations of technology, structure, people, and task to explore the social and organizational impacts of the introduction of computing into academic and administrative aspects of schools [1]. Data collection took the form of written analyses prepared by seven teachers and seventeen administrators in ten school districts in Indiana. The article argues that the effects of the technological change represented by the introduction of computing into schools on the people, relationships, and tasks of schooling may be understood through an examination of the issue of control over computing.

The Principal's Role in the Multi-Disciplinary Assessment Team.

Administrators who are also instructional leaders should expand their involvement in the instructional program to include special education. One way to do this is through participation in a multi-disciplinary assessment team.

Enhancing Thinking Skills With School-University Collaboration

To meet the need to restructure the teacher-preparation process, an Indiana school system teamed up with Purdue University to establish a mutually rewarding collaboration.