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Explore the impact of the EnvisionIT curriculum on student IT literacy, transition planning skills, and overall achievement in high schools. Preliminary results show significant gains in knowledge acquisition, particularly for students with disabilities. The curriculum integrates technology and transition skills into general education, promoting engagement and relevance for all students.
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Experimental Analysis of a Curricular Intervention on Student Achievement and Transition Outcomes OSEP Project Directors Conference Margo Vreeburg Izzo, Ph.D., The Ohio State University Nisonger Center margo.izzo@osumc.edu Kelly Dillon, MA, The Ohio State University Nisonger Center kelly.dillon@osumc.edu http://nisonger.osu.edu/transition.htm
Need for Information andTechnological Literacy • Defined as the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze and use information. • Individuals who are both technologically and information literate will be able to use computers effectively to find the information they need. • Useful for people with disabilities because they enhance communication, learning, writing, and task management. • Creates equal opportunities in education and aid in transition from school to work. • Teachers and students appreciate the independent self-directed learning technology can provide.
EnvisionIT Curriculum An online curriculum for ALL high school students that teaches: • Information Technology (IT) Literacy • Self-directed Transition Planning • National and Ohio English/Language Arts Standards • National and Ohio Technology Standards. • Age Appropriate Transition Assessment
EnvisionIT Curriculum • 40 hour curriculum in Technology or English/Language Arts classes • Grades 9–12 • 6th grade reading level, on average • 10 complete units, 8 with Guided Notes & quizzes • Students complete information technology and reading comprehension activities • Students create Self-Directed Transition Portfolios.
Need for EnvisionIT • EnvisionIT integrates IT and transition skills into general curricula. • Students become more engaged and invested in learning by using relevant material. • Examples: Online self-assessments, searching the Internet for information on career choices, developing resumes, cover letters, high school course plans.
Curriculum Intervention Study2006-07 A pretest-posttest control group design was used to answer the following research questions: • Did the EnvisionIT online transition curriculum increase student IT literacy? • Did the EnvisionIT online transition curriculum increase student transition planning skills?
Methods: Setting and Participants • 15 high schools randomly assigned stratified by SES • 7 experimental schools • 8 control schools • 19 inclusive classrooms • 18 resource room/direct instruction classrooms • English/Language Arts classrooms & Technology classrooms • Year 1 N=287
Dependent Measures: IT Literacy Information Technology Literacy Survey • 21-item multiple choice test used as pretest and posttest • The curriculum-based measurement was found to be reliable (Cronbach’s Alpha =.822, ICC =.676) • Example Question: Web directories and search engines are created differently. Search engines are made by ________.
Dependent Measures: Transition Skills Ohio State Career Survey • 23 item survey to measure students’ perceptions of their transition skills • The curriculum based measurement was found to be reliable (Cronbach’s Alpha =.847, ICC = .740). • Example Question: Please rate your knowledge about finding jobs.
Preliminary Results: Analytic Sample Year 1 Participants (N=287) • 59% did not have a documented disability. • 41% had a documented disability, • 17% had a learning disability • 14% had mental retardation • 11% had other documented disabilities (e.g., autism, multiple disabilities, SED/SBH, Speech, TBI and OHI).
Preliminary Results: Analytic Sample • 80% were from rural school districts • 55% were male • 87% were of Caucasian ethnicity, 12% are African-American, Hispanic, Asian, or of other decent. • 47% were 9th graders (65% in experimental group compared to 25% in control group) • 68% were not reading either independently or instructionally at grade level.
Preliminary Transition Results:Knowledge of Finding Jobs Experimental students with and without disabilities had significant gains in knowledge post-test compared to control students with and without disabilities.
Preliminary Transition Results:Finding College Information Compared to control students with disabilities, experimental students with disabilities had greater gains in reported ability to find college information.
Discussion and Questions • Students who completed EnvisionIT: • Improved their IT Literacy Scores • Reported increased knowledge of how to find jobs (all students) • Reported increased knowledge of college information (SwD only) • Data analysis to continue for 2007-08 school year. • All schools receive intervention 2008-09.