Round Rock ISD completed a case study in the fall of 2007 which examined the potential of Promethean’s Activclassroom to bolster academic success in ELL learning environments. Their program compared classrooms with and without Activboards side by side and measured results.
Results
The Round Rock Digital Learning Classroom project demonstrated that increasing student achievement is possible through Promethean Activboard Technology.
3rd Grade TAKS Math Performance
The goal of significantly increasing ELL academic achievement with the Digital Learning Classroom’s technology was realized by the district. The ELL Digital Learning Classrooms TAKS pass rate was 84.5% as compared to 60.0% pass rate of the control group of ELL students in classrooms without the technology.
The performance of mainstream low-income students in Digital Learning Classrooms were comparable students in classrooms without the technology. The TAKS pass rate of students in classrooms without the technology was 95.1% as compared to the 90.9% pass-rate for students in classroms with the technology, but more of the students in classrooms with the technology reached the highest assessment level on the TAKS (“TAKS Commended).
3rd Grade TAKS Reading Performance
The impact of the Digital Learning Classroom technology on ELL academic achievement was subtle . The ELL Digital Learning Classroom students’ TAKS pass rate was 77.8% as compared to 84.6.0% pass rate of the control group of ELL students in classrooms not using the technology. However, the percentage of ELL Digital Learning Classroom students who achieved at the TAKS Commended level was 10% higher than that of those in the control group of ELL non-Digital Learning classrooms.
The average assessment results of mainstream low-income students in the experimental and control groups were within ±5% of each other. The mainstream non-Digital Learning Classrooms achieved a TAKS pass rate of 95.1% compared to 90.9.% for those in the Digital Learning Classroom classes. However, again, the percentage of students achieving “TAKS Commended” score levels was 10% higher for those in the Digital Learning Classrooms than those in the control group of comparable classrooms without the technology.
5th Grade TAKS Math Performance
The goal of increasing ELL academic achievement with the ELL Digital Learning Classrooms was achieved by the district. The ELL Digital Learning Classrooms TAKS pass rate was 88.9% as compared to 66.0% pass rate of the control group ELL non-Digital Learning classrooms.
Furthermore, the percentage of ELL students achieving the TAKS Commended rating was 50.0% for those in the Digital Learning Classrooms compared to 8.5% for those in the control group without access to the technology.
The TAKS results of mainstream low-income students in the control and experimental group classrooms were similar, within ±5% of each other. 84.6% of the mainstream students not in the Digital Learning Classrooms passed the TAKS assessment compared to 87.2% of comparable students in classrooms using the technology. However, the percentage of students achieving at the TAKS Commended level was 35.9% for those in Digital Learning Classrooms compared to 28.2% for those in classrooms not using this technology.
5th Grade TAKS Reading Performance
5th grade is normally a year when some districts see a decline in ELL student scores. The goal of increasing ELL academic achievement with the ELL Digital Learning Classrooms was achieved by the district.
The TAKS pass rate for ELL students in Digital Learning Classrooms was 100% compared to a 73.2% pass rate for ELL students in the control group of classrooms not using the technology.
The TAKS pass rate of mainstream students in non-Digital Learning Classrooms was 83.6% while that for mainstream students in Digital Learning Classrooms was 66.7% . 20% of mainstream students in both Digital Learning Classrooms and in classrooms not using the technology achieved a TAKS Commended rating.
Summary
Based on these findings the district found that significantly increasing student achievement among ELL students is distinctly possible using Promethean Activboard technology. Based on the significant learning gains seen in initial use of the technology, even greater results can be expected for ELL students in the second year of implementation and beyond as teachers deepen their skills in using the technology instructionally, identifying and delivering the Digital Learning Classroom’s digital curricular resources, and engaging ELL students in meaningful learning. The gains in ELL student achievement also should be especially greater for those 3rd and 5th grade ELL students found to be academically ready for promotion based on their first-time TAKS test results.
