Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2005

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

EdD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Learning Sciences and Human Development

Committee Chair

John Wells.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine differences among the standardized test scores of students due to factors of Internet access at home, household income, and the highest level of education attained by mother, father or guardian. If students with Internet access at home have a different academic standing, is it the result of the Internet connection or confounding factors of family affluence?;The San Miguel GEAR UP program at New Mexico Highlands University, located in Las Vegas, New Mexico had existent data on program participants for Internet access at home, household income, highest level of education in the household, and standardized test data. The population of the participants consisted of students from two public school districts in northern New Mexico. These students were in grades six to ten, and standardized test data and demographic data were from the 2003-2004 school year. The independent variables were: (A) Internet access grouped as yes versus no, (B) highest level of education of the parent and/or guardian grouped as those with or with out a bachelor's degree, and (C) household income in three categories ({dollar}0-{dollar}20,00, {dollar}20,001-{dollar}30,000, and {dollar}30,001+) of annual income. The dependent variable was the NCE total score from Spring 2004 CTB/McGraw-Hill - TerraNova. The method of analysis was a 3-way factorial ANOVA.;There were two significant differences in the primary analysis students NCE total scores: (1) the main effect for the education level of the parent and/or guardian, F(1, 544) = 20.412, p < 0.001, and; (2) the three way interaction of the factors of Internet access at home, household income and highest level of parent education, F(2, 560) = 3.234, p = 0.040. Only the education level of the parent and/or guardian proved to far exceed the level of rejection in this study.;Outlying data were removed for further analyses. An unbalanced factorial ANOVA, fully crossed and balanced factorial ANOVA, and two sets of one-way ANOVAs were performed. Findings were consistent among all further analyses performed. The highest level of education within the household was the only determinant factor of student NCE total score performance.

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