For advocates of classroom technology, a new study linking technology with student achievement provides welcome news: The use of educational technology in Illinois public schools has had "a small but significant impact" on student performance, according to a statistical analysis.

The Illinois State Board of Education commissioned Westat, a research firm based in Rockville, Md., to find out how the state's classrooms use technology and what affect computers and the internet have had on student performance.

The state has spent nearly $240 million on technology grants to schools since 1995, but it does not keep records on the number of computers or internet connections in a school or district, according to a state Department of Education spokesman.

After completing a two-and-a-half-year study, Westat concluded that Illinois' investment in learning technologies appears to be paying off.

"We are beginning to see a relationship between technology in the classroom and student achievement," said Gary Silverstein, principal investigator for the study. "In schools where [technology] usage was the highest, students' scores on certain subjects tended to be higher."

Westat researchers surveyed 440 elementary, middle, and high school principals twice to measure the scope and implementation of educational technology. They also surveyed 718 teachers from the same schools to find out about their use of technology in the classroom.

In addition, the researchers visited 15 schools that were making effective use of technology and five schools that weren't. They also conducted telephone interviews with 28 teachers and 28 technology coordinators, and they analyzed the state's standardized test scores.

The researchers' questions focused on technology access, use, competency, student learning, productivity, best practices, and factors that influence these items.

To determine the impact of technology on student achievement, Westat statistically analyzed the following variables: poverty, access to educational technology, professional development, extent of technology use, and scores from the state's 1998-99 standardized tests.

The statistical analysis shows in cases where teachers' use of technology to facilitate or enhance classroom instruction was high, standardized test scores also were high.

Technology's impact was strongest in the higher grades, but not in every subject area. It had the greatest influence on 11th-grade science and 10th-grade reading test scores.

Westat also found technology use was positively influenced by the amount of access and teacher training a school had.

The study "certainly suggests the state's investment was a good one," Silverstein said. "There certainly was a pay-off."

Poverty a greater factor