Is computer availability at home causally related to reading achievement in grade 4? A longitudinal difference in differences approach to IEA data from 1991 to 2006

Abstract

BackgroundIs the level of home computer use causally related to reading achievement? This question is addressed in this paper theoretically, methodologically, and empirically through secondary analyses of data from reading literacy studies conducted by the IEA in 1991, 2001, and 2006. Based on previous analyses of aggregated country-level data (Rosén and Gustafsson 2014), our hypothesis is that increased computer use at home has a negative effect on reading achievement and that this can be explained by displacement theories. AbstractResearch on effects of home computer use on children's development of cognitive abilities and skills has yielded conflicting results, with some studies showing positive effects, others no effects, and yet others negative effects. These studies have typically used non-experimental designs and one of the main reasons for the conflicting results is that studies differ with respect to how well they control for selection bias in comparisons of children with different amounts of computer use. The current study takes advantage of data from international comparative studies of educational achievement and uses the trend design of these studies to conduct longitudinal analyses at the country level. This allows for a difference in differences approach which effectively controls for within-country selection bias, time-invariant country-level omitted variables, and random errors of measurement in the independent and dependent variables. The empirical investigations are based on data from the IEA 10-Year Trend Study and the PIRLS 2001 and 2006 studies. For these studies, information about frequency of home computer use is available in the student questionnaire. The main analytical approach employed in the paper is regression estimation based on micro-data, with fixed country effects and cluster-robust standard-errors. This approach allows estimation of main effects of home computer use and interaction effects with student characteristics (gender and socio-economic status). For both data sets negative effects of home computer use on achievement are found. Results are discussed in substantive and methodological terms, focusing particularly on possible threats to valid causal inference, such as omitted variables that are not time invariant.

Students' profiles of ICT use: Identification, determinants, and relations to achievement in a computer and information literacy test

“…It therefore seems as if these differences in ICT user profiles do not necessarily lead to differences in CIL achievement. This result sheds light on the often controversially discussed relation between ICT use outside of school and student achievement (Rosén & Gustafsson, 2016;Tamim et al, 2011). In fact, the ICILS 2013 study did not reveal substantial relations among students' ICT use and their CIL achievement in Norway (Fraillon et al, 2014); hence, it seems somehow expected that the profiles, which are identified on the basis of ICT use variables, do not differentiate by CIL achievement.…”

Surveying preschool teachers’ use of digital tablets: general and technology education related findings

“…One possible reason for increased ICT use being related to a decrease in science and mathematics achievement in various analyses, is the notion that since digital tools are "fragmented communicators", they could be associated with poorer reading literacy, as communicated by Rosén (2011). In fact, a longitudinal international analysis at the country level by Rosén and Gustafsson (2016) has revealed a negative relationship between ICT availability and reading achievement for Grade 4 pupils.…”

The Contribution of International Large-Scale Assessments to Educational Research: Combining Individual and Institutional Data Sources

“…For example, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) was introduced in 1995 to assess educational outcomes in primary, secondary, and upper secondary school, and it is repeated in a four-year cycle. With such complex study designs, researchers can exploit variation across multiple educational stages (e.g., Hanushek & Woessmann, 2006) and over time (Rosén & Gustafsson, 2016). Moreover, they allow researchers to apply so-called "fixed-effects models" to make causal claims about the effects of certain features of the educational system on educational outcomes (see Schlotter, Schwerdt, & Woessmann, 2011, for a discussion of the methodological advantages of such research designs).…”

“…The goal of this study was to examine the causal effect of computer availability at home and reading achievement for fourth grade students. Specifically, Rosén and Gustafsson (2016) investigated the relation between changes in computer availability and changes in students' reading achievement between 1991 and 2006 in order to disentangle causal effects and interaction effects with students' background.…”

“…Process of data combination. Rosén and Gustafsson (2016) used data from two sources: the IEA Reading Literacy Study that was conducted in 1991and 2001, and PIRLS 2001. Separate sets of results are reported for these two data sources.…”