examination of the implementation of the Intel Essentials project-based learning model on middle and secondary reading and language arts FCAT student achievement and engagement

The purpose of this study was to identify (1) the effectiveness of the Intel Essentials model of project-based learning based on student Florida Comprehensive Assessment test (FCAT) reading scores; (2) the differences in student engagement between students in classes with teachers trained in the Intel Essentials model of project-based learning and teachers not trained in the model as measured by the Beliefs about Classroom Structures Survey; (3) the level of implementation (high, average, or low) of teachers trained in the Intel Essentials model of project-based learning; and (4) any correlation between the level of implementation and the level of student engagement. A total of 32 teachers participated in the study. The teachers were split into 2 groups: the experimental group (N = 16) that participated in the Intel Essentials Training, and the control group (N = 16) that did not participate in the training. The results for this study were mixed. The students of the experimental group teachers (N = 780) had significantly higher (p < .05) FCAT scores than that of the control group students (N = 643). The control group with the exception of Motivating Tasks subscale had significantly higher levels of engagement. The correlation between level of implementation and student engagement produced a moderate negative correlation, meaning that the Intel trained teachers with the highest levels of implementation had the lowest levels of engagement.