• Diagnostic and prescriptive analysis techniques built into ILS provide the basis for more and better individualization of lesson materials for students .
• The logistical problems associated with software distribution and maintenance are eliminated by networking from centralized servers .
• Strong tutorials and extensive drill-and-practice opportunities are provided for students within a wide range of abilities .
• There is an obvious articulation between the content of ILS lessons and standardized assessment approaches used in most schools .
• Students and teachers can experience a common user interface across subjects and grades .
What about the question of their heavily advertised effectiveness ? ILS are complex systems that involve the use of specific hardware and software to address large portions of the standard school curriculum , especially in areas such as mathematics , reading , and language arts . Funding for the development of early versions of these systems came from government resources targeted for “ at risk ” students , and they are sometimes criticized as having too much “ drill and kill ” materials in them ( Bailey , 1992 ). Becker ( 1992c ) provides evidence that ILS are most effective for those students with either low or high aptitude for regular classroom instruction , but that the 40 % of students in the middle range experience no improvement from ILS over regular classroom instruction . Becker ( 1992b ) uses meta-analysis techniques to examine the effectiveness of some of the ILS from major vendors . As illustrated in Table 2 , most of the results are positive , but much more modest than promised by the vendors themselves .
Table 2 . Effect sizes for ILS derived from Becker ( 1992b ). ILS Source Effect Size Number of Studies Included Vendor # 1 0.17 13 Vendor # 2 0.40 4 Vendor # 3 0.33 3
Despite the lack of evidence that ILS are as effective as the commercial interests behind them claim , they are quite likely to play an even larger role in classrooms in the foreseeable future ( Bracey , 1992 ). For example , a January 1998 press release indicates that Jostens Learning has initiated a seven-year partnership with Addison-Wesley Longman , one of the world ’ s largest education publishers , to promote ILS in the United Kingdom where a new government initiative aims at increasing the use of technology in schools [ www . jlc . com ]. The collaboration predicts at least a 34 million dollar contract within the UK alone . In November 1997 , Computer Curriculum Corporation inked a reported 50 million dollar agreement with Research Machines , the leading supplier of educational software
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