EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF IT ON PUPILS ACHIEVEMENTS

It is proposed than any large scale investigation of this multi-facete d phenomena requires a range of methodologies and data types. The Impa cT study, an evaluation of pupils' achievements, teachers' practices, and schools' policies and resources, was conducted with 2300 pupils fr om 87 classrooms in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales . The work focussed on the school subjects of mathematics, science, ge ography, and English, and extends the research base to include longitu dinal effects within subjects, cross-subject considerations of classro om use of IT, and the provision and use of hardware and software resou rces. Results from the component parts of the work were integrated to address the main theme(s). Overall indications were that in particular circumstances the use of IT had a highly positive impact on children' s achievement, but this was not without substantial demands on teacher s and schools.