Students in laptop program get high marks Students in laptop program get high marks (November 11, 2005)

District presents findings at national conference
by Rebecca Guyon

Middle school students enrolled in Pleasanton's laptop program posted higher grade point averages and standardized test scores than their peers who were not enrolled in the program, according to an evaluation report authored by James Gulek, director of assessment and evaluation for the school district. The report was published in the Jan. 2005 edition of "The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment" and Gulek presented his findings Oct. 24 during the pre-conference session of the National School Board Association's technology conference in Denver, Colo. Pleasanton was one of three school districts invited to present.

"We were invited because of the evaluation study, which was one of the first comprehensive studies with hard data on student achievement in the program," Gulek said.

Gulek's paper, titled "Learning With Technology: The Impact of Laptop Use on Student Achievement," co-authored with his colleague Hakan Demirtas of the University of Illinois, provides empirical evidence that students in the laptop program make greater academic gains than their peers. The study followed 259 middle school students over the course of three years, collecting data measures such as students' cumulative GPAs, end-of-course grades, writing test scores and state-mandated norm- and criterion-referenced standardized test scores. The study also included numbers that showed there was no statistically significant difference in the overall achievement of laptop and non-laptop students prior to enrollment in the program. The study did, however, find significantly higher achievement in nearly all measures after one year in the program. This finding was significant because the district believes it shows that the program not only helps students become technology-savvy, but also aids their academic success.

The program works by taking interested sixth grade students and placing them in language arts, history, science and health classes where laptop use is integrated into the lesson plan. Teachers include laptops in the curriculum by having students download assignments, take tests on the Internet, do research at their desks, create PowerPoint presentations and use Excel spreadsheets, said Trisha Leonard, vice principal at Harvest Park Middle School. Although students start in sixth grade, they stay in the program throughout their middle school careers.

"I think it's what we need to do," Leonard said. "These kids are growing up in the 21st century and technology is what they will be dealing with during their lives. We are not meeting our students' needs if we don't offer technology education."

Students' parents purchase the laptops through the school district, which has an agreement with Apple Computer, Inc. to get iMacs with a complete software package at a discounted price, she said. Each school does have "loaner" computers for interested students who cannot afford to buy the computers offered by the district, Gulek said.

"We would never deny a student who was interested in enrolling but couldn't afford it," Gulek said.

Pleasanton's laptop program started in 2001 at Harvest Park after a group of teachers and Leonard observed a school in Clovis, Calif. where such a program was already implemented and succeeding. The group was so impressed that they advocated bringing it to Pleasanton. The school piloted the program at the beginning of the 2001/2002 academic year with 60 sixth grade students and, at the end of the year, received a positive response from participating students and parents. From there the program snowballed with more incoming sixth grade students signing up and expansion to Pleasanton and Hart middle schools.

"It was a completely bottom up program," Gulek said, referring to the fact that the program started at the school site instead of beginning implemented by the district office.

Now, there are 700 middle school students district-wide who take part in the program with the majority at Harvest Park where there are 296 students in grades 6-8. Amador Valley High School also started the program for the first time this year after the initial 60 students who piloted the program graduated from Harvest Park and moved on to Amador. Instead of stopping their involvement with the program, Amador decided to let them continue and see how it works in the high school.

Even with the programs expansion, Leonard, who also attended the conference, said she believes in the future there will be no laptop program because laptops will become a standard piece of school equipment.

"Technology is here to stay," she said. "It's just a matter of being on board and keeping up with it."

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