Archived

This content is available here for research, reference, and/or recordkeeping.

Date Available

6-25-2026

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Education

Department/School/Program

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Faculty

Xin Ma

Faculty

Kathleen Aspiranti

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between student and school-level information and communication technology (ICT) factors and reading achievement using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 in the United States. In an increasingly digital world, reading and information literacy are essential skills, yet significant gaps in digital competencies persist. This study investigated how ICT access, use, and perceptions relate to reading achievement in the context of student and school background factors.

A two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) framework was employed to account for the nested structure of students within schools. The sample included approximately 4,000 students across 133 schools. Student-level predictors included ICT access, ICT autonomy, ICT competence, ICT interest, and both home and school usage patterns. Student-level controls included socioeconomic status, gender, immigration status, and home language. School-level predictors included ICT infrastructure, ICT policy, and teacher ICT use. School-level control variables included school type, school size, student-teacher ratio, and school socioeconomic composition, as well as aggregated teacher-level variables capturing instructional ICT use, teacher ICT training, and teacher ICT capacity from the teacher questionnaire.

Results indicated that 15.3% of variance in reading achievement occurred between schools. Student ICT autonomy and interest were positively associated with reading achievement, while ICT use for entertainment and school-related ICT use were negatively associated. School-level ICT variables were not significant predictors. In the full model, student and school socioeconomic status were strong positive predictors, though several ICT variables remained significant. ICT variables explained 8.5% of within-school variance and 13.8% of between-school variance, while the full model explained 16.5% and 79.5%, respectively.

Findings suggest that how students engage with ICT is more important than access alone, highlighting the need for intentional ICT integration and attention to socioeconomic disparities.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.331

Archival?

Archival

Download

Share

COinS