| This study sought to determine if eighth grade students who are part of a one-to-one laptop program achieve higher results on a computer-based science assessment than students who are not part of a laptop program. In addition, gaps between females and males and between Black, Hispanic, and White students were analyzed to discern if laptop programs can help close achievement disparities. The study used a quantitative, non-experimental design focusing on a causal-comparative analysis of archival data from the 2012-2013 school year. The participants were all North Carolina eighth grade students at Title I schools who took the North Carolina science End-of-Grade test online during the 2012-2013 school year. Results showed a statistically significant difference at p < .01 in science achievement scores between students who did participate in a one-to-one laptop program, who scored higher, and those students who did not participate in a laptop program. In addition, there was a smaller gap in science achievement scores between male and female students in laptop programs than the gap between male and female students that did not participate in a one-to-one laptop program. The difference between female and male students in laptop programs was not statistically significant. However, the gap between female and male students who were not in a laptop program was statistically significant at the .007 level. A smaller gap in science achievement scores was found between Black and White students that participated in a laptop program than the gap between Black and White students that did not participate. Both differences were statistically significant at p < .01. Also, results showed a smaller gap between Black and Hispanic students for those in laptop programs than the gap for those who were not. However, neither of these differences were statistically significant. Finally, the gap between Hispanic and White students was found to be the opposite of previous results, in that it was smaller for those students who were not in a laptop program than for those students who were in a laptop program. The findings from this study indicate that laptop programs can help increase student achievement in science on computer-based assessments. |
