Giving laptops to students helps performance, but school districts need to track effects better

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    A student selects a laptop computer from a charging cart (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)

    A student selects a laptop computer from a charging cart (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)

    Do test scores improve when schools provide laptops to every student? A new analysis of data from researchers at Michigan State University sought to shed light on the issue.

    Education Week’s Ben Herold joined NewsWorks Tonight to make sense of what they turned up. 

    The findings were generally positive but not a ringing endorsement for a one-to-one laptop ratio. But Herold says this is still a step forward, especially for schools that have already made the investment.

    “Schools have been spending billions of dollars over the past decade or so to give devices, specifically laptops, to all of their students, and making that investment with really very little understanding of how it’s going to impact student learning,” Herold said.

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