This article describes the EDC/TERC Middle School Technology Integration Project, which is investigating how technology is integrated into language arts and mathematics curricula, and its impact on mainstreamed mildly handicapped students. Over 3 years, EDC/TERC will build a model of technology integration by holistically studying four diverse school districts as they expand computer use Based on assumptions that technology integration is evolutionary and dynamic and studying it requires outside intervention, EDC/TERC has adopted a naturalistic perspective. The research approach includes 10 features: natural setting, grounded theory, emergent design, interactive researchers, intervention/analysis, qualitative procedures, case study method, triangulation of data, negotiation of results, and multiple reporting modes. The resulting model will encompass relationships between critical variables emerging from the diverse sites, the different pathways schools follow to integrate technology, and interim outcomes reflecting stages within the process.
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