The Impact of Technology Use on Hispanic Students' Mathematics Achievement Within Family and School Contexts: Subgroup Analysis between English- and Non-English-Speaking Students

Abstract

This study tested a theoretical model explaining the relationship between technology, family context, and school context variables as predictors of mathematics achievement across two language groups: English-speaking and non-English-speaking Hispanic students. It used data from the base year and first follow-up of the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS: 2002(ELS: /2004). The multigroup analysis of the path model was used to analyze the data. The findings continue to indicate the importance of individual technology usage as a predictor of mathematics performance among non-English-speaking Hispanic students. The study also found that Hispanic parents' direct involvement in their children's schooling has a significant negative effect on their academic achievement.Although the impact of technology on academic achievement has been studied extensively, very little research has examined its effect within the contexts of family and school for language minority students. Recently, researchers (Du, Havard, Yu, & Adams, 2004;Tsikalas & Gross, 2002) noted that the effects of educational technology use across diverse subgroups of students with regard to socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity are inconsistent. Despite the recent focus on educating language minority students in the United States, 453

Relations between Technology, Parent Education, Self-Confidence, and Academic Aspiration of Hispanic Immigrant Students

“…Consistent with previous research (Park, 2008;Park et al, 2007), language minority students' technology use is positively related to their mathematics performance. Within the language minority Hispanic students, later immigrated students may gain more benefits from technology use than moderately or early immigrated student groups.…”

“…They concluded that self-esteem or academic confidence is a significant factor to help Hispanic students who repeatedly failed and experienced academic difficulties in being successful. Park (2008) revealed that mathematics self-efficacy is a much stronger predictor than other variables in family and school contexts. Regarding Mexican immigrant youth who lag behind other immigrant groups in educational completion and achievement, Chavkin and Gonzalez (2000) found that many resilient Mexican immigrant youth had demonstrated high self-confidence to overcome tough odds to succeed.…”

“…Recent studies (Park, 2008;Park, Quinn, & Jiang, 2007) reported that one of the factors that contribute narrowing the achievement gap between language minority and majority students is technology use. Specifically, Park (2008) reported that language minority students' individual computer usage was positively related to their mathematics performance. They may gain more benefits from technology than English speaking students.…”

Does Math Achievement h’APP’en when iPads and Game-Based Learning are Incorporated into Fifth-Grade Mathematics Instruction?

“…The verdict on 1:1 devices is mixed. Many researchers suggested the usage of mobile learning devices such as iPads was effective in academic success, but especially had use in teaching mathematics (Alagic, 2003;Berk, 2010;Hamilton, 2007;Hubbard, 2000;Mendicino & Heffernan, 2007;Park, 2008;Rosen & Beck-Hill, 2012). Many other studies had inconsistent and stagnant results, not to mention millions of dollars in technology maintenance (Holcomb, 2009;Hu, 2007;Rockman, 2004, Silvernail & Gritter, 2004Texas Center for Educational Research, 2009).…”

“…Technology could be vital to creating authentic learning opportunities (Allsopp, Kyger, & Lovin, 2007). Numerous academic studies have shown the significant positive correlation between technology, student learning, and mathematics achievement (Alagic, 2003;Berk, 2010;Hamilton, 2007;Hubbard, 2000;Mendicino & Heffernan, 2007;National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2008;Park, 2008;Rosen & Beck-Hill, 2012). Hamilton (2007) found that the incorporation of technology was correlated with improved student mathematics achievement.…”