Current Issues in Education (CIE) is a peer-reviewed
scholarly journal freely accessible on the internet at
<http://cie.asu.edu/>http://cie.asu.edu/
CIE has just published Volume 5 Number 4 "Does it Matter With
What I Write? Comparing Performance On Paper, Computer and
Portable Writing Devices" by Michael Russell, Boston College,
MA and Tom Plati, Wellesley Public Schools.
The article can be accessed directly at: <
http://cie.asu.edu/volume5/number4/
An Abstract follows:
Does it matter with what I write? Comparing performance on
paper, computer and portable writing devices Michael Russell,
Boston College, MA and Tom Plati, Wellesley Public Schools
This study builds on three previous studies (Russell, 1999;
Russell & Haney, 1997; Russell & Plati, 2001) to examine the
effect of administering extended composition test items on
paper, on computer, or on a portable writing device has on
student performance. This study employs writing items from
the 1999 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)
to examine the mode of administration effect in grades four
and eight. Similar to previous studies, this article finds
that open-ended Language Arts items that require students to
generate responses using paper and pencil, severely
underestimate the achievement of fourth grade students
accustomed to writing using a computer. This study also finds
that open-ended tests administered on paper underestimate the
achievement of eighth grade students accustomed to writing
with an eMate (a portable writing device). Combining the
effects found in this study with those found in Russell's
1999 study, this article estimates that the MCAS Language
Arts test underestimates the performance of students
accustomed to writing using a computer by four to eight
points on an eighty point scale. This article concludes by
recommending that state testing programs that employ open-
ended items in Language Arts provide students with the option
of composing responses using the writing tools with which
they are accustomed to working.
Authors:
Michael Russell can be reached at Technology and Assessment
Study Collaborative Center for the Study of Testing,
Evaluation and Educational Policy, Boston College, MA.
russelmh@bc.edu
Tom Plati is the Director of Libraries and Educational
Technologies, Wellesley Public Schools. He can be reached at
tom_plati@wellesley.mec.edu
Ildiko I. Laczko-Kerr, Ph.D.,
Ildiko.Laczko@asu.edu
Marina Gair,
Marina.Gair@asu.edu
Editors, Current Issues in Education
College of Education
PO Box 870211
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-0211
http://cie.asu.edu/
Email:
cie@asu.edu
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reposted from AERA