The Impact of Instructional Technology on the Reading Achievement of High School Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if instructional technology has an impact on ninth grade students’ reading achievement. There were two groups of students, both of which included students with IEP’s and 504 plans, that participated in the study. This study used a pretest to determine that the groups did not differ in reading achievement prior to experiment. The groups read and annotated a short story either through technology (n = 20) or by pencil and paper (n = 16). Reading achievement was evaluated through a post assessment that involved multiple choice questions and a literary analysis essay about the story. The mean reading comprehension scores did not differ significantly between students that used a technology format (Mean = 78.00, SD = 13.12) and those that used a paper format (Mean = 73.50, SD = 12.93) [t (31) = .99, p = .33]. Consequently, the results of this study determined that there was no significant difference in achievement when students used instructional technology. Observational data, however, suggested students were more engaged when using technology. Research in this area should continue as students are becoming more familiar with technology through their daily life.