Description

©Author: Robert Blomeyer, 2007

Abstract

The “South-Side Home for Trouble Youth” established a research and demonstration project to evaluate use of a blended implementation of a computer-based Integrated Learning System (ILS) in a residential treatment facility for severely emotionally disturbed pre-adolescents and adolescents.

During the late 1980’s, the remedial instructional intervention described in this case study provided math and literacy instruction for a supplementary summer education project undertaken supported by the local Private Industry Council (P.I.C.) and funding made available through the Federal Job Training Partnership Act (J.T.P.A.). After completion of the project, a program evaluation was prepared and delivered to funding agencies as per standard contractual requirements binding on all federally supported grants and contracts. (Blomeyer, 1989) The report and its findings were at the time not published or publicly disseminated to assure the privacy and anonymity of all participants and their community.

Researchers on-site conducted an investigation to evaluate the project's impact on the sponsored participants’ grade level achievement in math and language arts (literacy). Impact was assessed and reported based on two data sources: (1) detailed student-level data documenting participants’ daily and cumulative progress toward mastery of assigned mathematics and language arts content, and (2) a pre-post test comparison of sponsored participants’ scores on a contractually required standardized test assessing math and language arts achievement.

An analysis of the participant’s scores on pre- and post- standardized achievement tests failed to show any evidence of achievement gains, but data from the Integrated Learning System provided evidence that major gains were made toward grade-level mastery of math and language arts content by nearly all of the participating students. The project’s apparent positive impact, supporting significant mastery gains and reduction of participants’ pronounced achievement gaps, suggests that online instructional delivery systems, when accompanied by on-site mentoring and personalized learning support, may be very beneficial when used with similar academically and emotionally challenged student populations that are served by today’s schools and social services agencies.