The IKASYS programme is an innovative system in the sphere of educational research which, by means of didactic activities of wide-ranging typology, is designed to develop the resources that pupils need in order to achieve basic skills. It is a system whereby each pupil can learn with his or her own PC. It has three functions: task undertaking, memorising and for each to work at their own pace: it is a process for the pupils, in an autonomous and individual way and based on their capabilities, to set themselves the level and rhythm of their learning and to do the corresponding exercises. There are three components of the programme: Hardware, Software and Curricular Content: they include a wide range of activities classified by themes and levels of difficulty. 45,000 exercises in each theme have been created for the 6-12 age range. In total, there are 135,000 exercises divided into three spheres (Basque, Spanish and English). It has three functions: For task undertaking, for memorising and for each to work at their own pace. Before launching the programmes throughout all the ikastolas in the Basque Country, an impact evaluation was undertaken and, to this end, a procedure was drawn up and developed during the 2008-09 academic year. This experiment was carried out in 19 schools in the Basque Country. The aim of this paper is to present the evaluation process and the results obtained by pupils participating therein, subsequently comparing these results with those obtained by pupils of a control group, attending the same schools. We focused on the results obtained in Basque, Spanish and English, as well as on linguistic interdependence which, according to the hypothesis formulated and drawn up by Cummins between the end of the 70s and beginning of the 80s (Cummins, (1979)), is produced in learning these three languages. When we talk about evaluation, we are referring to a process of identification, compilation and analysis of relevant information. This information may be either quantitative or qualitative and has to be collected and compiled in a rigorous, planned, objective, reliable and valid manner. The final goal of this evaluation is to make value judgements on the “educational target” so as to take decisions directed at enhancing the target itself. In this case, when we talk of “educational target”, we are referring to the IKASYS programme. Although this evaluation undoubtedly has a summative dimension, in the sense that there is an evaluation of the results or impact, we can say that basically we are dealing with a “formative evaluation” given that its fundamental goal is the enhancement and perfecting of the programme being evaluated.

Impact evaluation will be effected through a “quasiexperimental design with a non-equivalent control group”. In this design the dependent variable is the performance in the 3 different areas of content (Basque, Spanish and English) and the capacity of self-regulation of the pupils. The system implemented at the 19 schools, with pupils between 6 and 12 years and distributed over three levels. 815 pupils from the 2nd course, 791 pupils from the 4th and 799 from the 6th. In each school and course, the results from the two classrooms - one taking part in the IKASYS experiment and the other the control group – were analysed. Prior to initiating the experimental programme, and with the goal of analysing any possible differences between both groups. To evaluate the impact specific tests for each of the areas in for which the impact is measured were drawn up and validated.

The Ikasys system is a good complement to the curriculum development of pupils of all the ages studied. The interest and motivation of the pupils increases on working with the PC in the classroom. Pupils state that it is more fun working with this system In all the subjects and at all levels, the pupils in the experimental group obtained better results than those in the control group. This difference is not maintained in a monotonous manner in all the schools participating in the experiment. In general, greater differences were obtained with the closed items than with the open. The greatest differences were obtained between the youngest pupils. In the Basque language the greatest differences were found in the 4th course, while with Spanish this occurred in the 2nd. Both in Spanish and in Basque the difference obtained with the closed items were found to be greater than those obtained with the open questions. In English the greatest differences were found in Vocabulary and Writing, these differences being more accentuated in the 2nd course. The socioeconomic level of the schools modifies, on occasions, the direction or tendency of the difference