Yep! That's me!!

My dissertation, titled "Impact of Information Technology (IT) Industry Certification on the Achievement of High School Students Enrolled in Technology Courses," examined whether teachers holding relevant IT industry certifications positively influence student performance in technology courses.

As technology proficiency becomes increasingly essential in high school curricula—with some districts now requiring computer skills for graduation—understanding effective IT instruction is critical. While most high school technology teachers hold state teaching certifications, many lack industry-recognized credentials (such as Microsoft Office or IC3 certifications), which validate competence through education, experience, and rigorous examinations.

The study aimed to quantify the impact of teacher IT certification on student achievement. Using posttest data from Computer Applications I courses across nine North Carolina school districts, along with survey responses from 51 of 80 teachers, the analysis compared outcomes between IT-certified and non-certified teachers via parametric inferential statistics.

Key Findings: Students taught by IT-certified teachers demonstrated significantly higher achievement levels. These results suggest that industry certifications better equip teachers to deliver complex technology content effectively.

Recommendations: School districts should implement professional development programs to encourage relevant IT certifications among Computer Applications I teachers. Additionally, certified IT instructors can promote the value of industry certifications to students, enhancing the perceived importance of technology courses.

Here is the summary!
It was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in the level of achievement of high school students in a computer applications’ class who are taught by a teacher with IT certification and students in a computer applications’ class who are taught by a teacher without IT certification as measured by the State of North Carolina Vocational Competency Achievement Tracking System (VoCATS) end-of-course test. Thus, the main purpose of the study was to establish the value of IT certifications as an attribute of teaching effectiveness. To accomplish this goal, nine North Carolina school districts participated in a study which compared the student posttest scores of teachers holding relevant IT industry certification with those student posttest scores of teachers not holding relevant IT industry certifications.

The researcher selected the Computer Applications I course to test the hypothesis (i.e., that there will be a significant difference in the level of achievement of high school students in a computer applications’ class who are taught by a teacher with IT certification and students in a computer applications’ class who are taught by a teacher without IT certification as measured by the State of North Carolina VoCATS end-of course test) because of its relevancy, popularity, practicality, and uniformity throughout the statewide high school system. Figure 2 illustrated the core plan of the research whereby VoCATS posttest data were compared and analyzed with data collected from teachers who completed an online survey. In creating the survey, the researcher enlisted a panel of experts to establish the validity of the survey. Although the survey was voluntary, approximately 64% of the teachers participated in the study.

Nine counties participated in the study. Approximately 80 Computer Applications I teachers were asked to participate in the study. Although this number represented about half of what the researcher expected, 51 teachers (i.e., 64%) participated in the study; thus, the high participation rate assured an adequate sample size of Computer Applications I teachers. The actual teacher sample size used in the study consisted of 43 teachers with nine teachers (i.e., 21%) holding IT industry certifications. The reduction in teacher participants to the actual sample size of 43 teachers was necessary to maintain a consistent and relevant data set.

The various data sets (e.g., the 80-teacher population, 43-teacher data set, the 34 non-certified teacher data set, and the nine certified teacher data set) were analyzed by contrasting their associated descriptive statistics. An analysis of the VoCATS posttest data and the solicited teacher survey information of the 43-teacher data set suggests that IT industry certified teachers raised the level of achievement in high school students who were enrolled in Computer Applications I courses. In the data set composed of 43 teachers, the mean of the student posttest scores of nine certified teachers (i.e., 75.43) was 2.96 points greater than the mean of the student posttest scores generated by the 34 non-certified teachers (i.e., 72.47).

An independent t-test disclosed that the 2.96-point difference in the means was significant. The computed value of p (.024) for Levene’s Test was less than .05 therefore, a significant difference existed between the variances of the certified teacher data set and the non-certified teacher data set (see Table 8). In addition, the two-tailed p value (.000002) was compared to a generally accepted alpha value of .05. Because the p value was less than the alpha value, the null hypothesis was rejected. Finally, in corroborating the significance of the 2.96 differences between the means, the calculation of Cohen’s delta yielded .277. Thus, the nearly three-point difference between the means of the certified teacher and non-certified data set exhibited a medium effect size.

Karl's Dissertation-

People can brag all they want about what university they attended, how well they performed in their graduate courses, and even about their war stories concerning the "defense" of their dissertation. Remember- "the proof is in the pudding!" Special THANK YOU to my Dissertation Chair, Dr. Steven R. Terrell, and to the wonderful members of the committee!

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