ESPARC SUMMARY AND LESSONS LEARNED

Lessons Learned Full Document

The SPARC initiative was envisioned as a low-cost and replicable approach for addressing the digital divide, establishing electronic connections between homes and schools in impoverished communities, and meeting the diverse learning needs of underserved students. The resulting evaluation was designed to assess the impact of providing 5th graders from impoverished households with a home computer and Internet access. Study findings reveal that gaining access to a home computer and the Internet significantly increased the frequency of student computer use for both school and recreational purposes. It also improved computer skills for both students and parents. Nonetheless, the study did not uncover any evidence that the SPARC intervention had an impact on students’ grades or PSSA scores.

Given the myriad of factors that affected the scope of the SPARC intervention, we are reluctant to use the study’s findings to cast doubt on the educational merit of providing elementary school students with home access to computers and the Internet. However, study findings certainly suggest that absent a broader educational framework, the provision of home computers and Internet access is unlikely to lead to improved student achievement or parental involvement. At the very least, our research should serve as a warning to school districts that a “passive” home computer intervention is unlikely to yield positive effects on student achievement, student engagement, or parental involvement.

Educational initiatives looking to build on findings from the SPARC evaluation might explore the feasibility of supplementing the provision of home PCs with a dynamic in-school component that is closely aligned with regular classroom activities (or with an out-of-classroom component that is closely aligned with ongoing academic activities in core subject areas). Such an intervention might include (1) a robust educational framework emphasizing frequent in-class use of learning technologies and/or a mandatory out-of-classroom technology training component, (2) structured opportunities for the out-of-classroom use of computers and the Internet for homework and special projects, (3) home computers with enhanced reliability and functionality (e.g., more memory, faster processing speeds, and faster Internet connections), and (4) timely technical assistance.

The recommendations in Chapter 9 of the full report reflect a series of lessons learned as a result of the SPARC study regarding home computer interventions and the use of random assignment as a tool for evaluating such interventions.