EVIDENCE
IN THE NEWS
U.S. Department of Education
Plateau effect in test scores
may not be cause for
study uncovers trends in concern
educational technology
IN EDUCATION, the “plateau effect”
describes the perceived phenomenon
that test scores rise in the early years
of test-based accountability – when
THE ENHANCING EDUCATION THROUGH teachers and students are rapidly
TECHNOLOGY (EETT) PROGRAM is a federally adjusting to new test formats – and then
funded technology initiative with three level off as “easy” ways to make gains
main goals: 1) improve student academic are exhausted. However, a report from
achievement through the use of educational the Center on Education Policy (CEP)
technology, 2) ensure that every student is concludes that the plateau effect may
technologically literate by the eighth grade, be less prevalent in student testing than
and 3) encourage the effective integration previously believed.
of technology in teacher training and Drawing from CEP’s database of
curriculum development. reading and math test results from all
In an effort to examine the implementation 50 states going back as far as 1999,
of the EETT program, the U.S. Department of researchers looked for evidence of a
Education conducted a study that analyzed plateau effect in 55 “trend lines” from 16
educational technology trends in schools. states with six to 10 years of consistent
Their report provides descriptive information test data (for purposes of this study,
about educational technology practices a trend line referred to the movement
related to the core goals and strategies of in percentage of students reaching
the EETT program. Data for the study was profi ciency and above for one grade level
collected from nationally representative and one subject in a single state).
samples of states, districts, and teachers While instances of plateaus were found
between school years 2002-03 and 2006-07. of technology use to support their own work in some state test scores, CEP reported
A total of 27 case studies were included in on a weekly basis. However, teacher reports that the problem is not pervasive across
the study. did not refl ect any increase in the frequency the nation. Of the trend lines studied,
The results of the study showed that of student technology use for learning. 15 exhibited a plateau effect, 21 showed
student access to the Internet was similar With respect to teachers’ technology steady increases in the percentage of
across high-poverty and low-poverty schools, profi ciency, states were generally not students scoring at the profi cient level
according to teacher survey responses. collecting data regarding the percentage and above, and 19 illustrated a zigzag
Similarly, computer access, with the of teachers meeting state technology pattern, meaning student performance
exception of laptops, was nearly equivalent. standards. States also lacked consistent, increased and decreased multiple times.
Teacher surveys responses also suggested reliable data regarding the percentage of The report also showed that, for a third
that there was a statistically signifi cant students meeting state technology literacy of the trend lines studied, the greatest
increase from 2004–05 to 2006–07 in the standards by eighth grade. score gains were made in the 2003-04
number of teachers reporting several types U.S. Department of Education, 2009 period, during a time when testing under
the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law
was fully established. It is suggested in
High quality teachers found to have
the report that test results can increase
substantially, even after a test has been in
place for several years, if higher stakes are
positive impact on peers
introduced in the accountability system.
This report is the second in a series of
STUDENTS HAVE LARGER TEST SCORE GAINS qualifi cations and the other on estimated 2009 CEP reports that seek to analyze
when their teachers engage in peer learning peer effectiveness – the study concluded student achievement trends.
with high quality colleagues, according to a that teachers perform better when the The Center on Education Policy, 2009
study from the National Bureau of Economic quality of their peers improves within the
Research. same school over time. In particular, changes
The study, which reviewed longitudinal data in the quality of a teacher’s colleagues
on North Carolina school children from 1995 were associated with changes in his or her
through 2006, tested whether or not changes students’ test scores gains.
in a teacher’s peers affect the test score This study provides some of the fi rst
growth of his or her own students. A focus documented evidence of the effects
was placed on math and reading test scores of a teacher’s peers on his or her own
of students in the 3rd through 5th grades. effectiveness.
Using two separate measures of peer National Bureau of Economic Research,
quality – one based on observable teacher 2009
fall 2009 Better: Evidence-based Education 25
Better(US) Fall09.indb 25 14/10/09 13:05:50
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