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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

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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.

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EnvisionIT CurriculumAn 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

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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.

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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.

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Curriculum Intervention Study

2006-07A pretest-posttest control group design was used to answer the following research questions:

1. Did the EnvisionIT online transition curriculum increase student IT literacy?

2. Did the EnvisionIT online transition curriculum increase student transition planning skills?

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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

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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 ________.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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EnvisionIT Year 1 Descriptive StatisticsVariable Experimental (N=153) Control (N=134)

School SettingSuburban 17% 25%

Rural 83% 75%

GenderMale 56% 55%

Female 44% 45%

Ethnicity

White 93% 82%

African-American 3% 8%

Other 4% 10%

Classroom SettingResource Room 34% 47%

Inclusive 66% 53%

Disability StatusNo Disability 59% 57%

Disability 41% 43%

Reading Ability

Benchmark 32% 22%

Strategic Intervention 35% 47%

Intensive Intervention 33% 31%

Grade Level9th Grade 65% 25%

10th-12th Grades 35% 75%

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Preliminary Results: IT LiteracyTable 1. Comparison of mean change in Information-Technology Literacy Scores by

Student Classification Group.

Experimental Control t value p value*

Total Sample 3.493 0.571 3.5446 .0005* Disability Status Students with disabilities 1.241 -0.125 1.4265 .1549 Students without disabilities 5.745 1.268 3.6013 .0004* Grade Level 9th graders 2.883 1.186 0.9573 .3393 10th-12th graders 4.103 -0.043 3.7989 .0002* AIMSweb Classification Intensive Intervention 1.294 -0.573 1.6787 .0944 Strategic Intervention 3.666 1.229 2.3133 .0215* Benchmark Intervention 5.518 1.059 3.4553 .0006* School Location Suburbun 4.506 1.013 2.5605 .0110* Rural 2.480 0.130 3.1184 .0020*

*after controlling for the other predictors in the model, p ≤ .05.

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Preliminary Transition Results:

Knowledge of Finding JobsExperimental students with and without disabilities had significant gains in knowledge post-test compared to control students with and without disabilities.

Mean Lower 95% Upper 95%

Students without Disabilities

Experimental .2747 .0402 .5093

Control .1558 -.1073 .4189

Students with Disabilities

Experimental .3226 .0149 .6303

Control .2632 -.1105 .6368

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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.

Mean Lower 95% Upper 95%

Students with disabilities

Experimental .4677 .1307 .8048

Control .3333 -.0594 .7260

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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.