A long-awaited federal study of reading and math software found no significant differences in standardized-test scores between students who used the technology in their classrooms and those who used other methods. The study compared classes overseen by teachers who used the technology-based products with those of other teachers who used different methods. Those other approaches also included the use of technology in some cases. Achievement in reading or math was measured by standardized-test scores, with complete data collected for 9,424 students. The overall finding of no net test-score gains from the software is sure to complicate the efforts of advocates of technology in education, who are lobbying the Bush administration and members of Congress to continue providing millions of dollars annually in support for classroom technology. The study's second main finding was that reading-test scores for 1st graders were higher when their teachers had fewer students and lower when the teachers had more students. Similarly, the test scores of 4th graders were higher when they spent more time using the reading software and lower when they spent less. Representatives of the educational software industry immediately took issue with aspects of the $10 million study of 15 commercial software products, arguing that its findings did not support the conclusion that using educational technology does not have academic benefits in reading and math. Several professional groups devoted to helping educators use technology said in a joint statement that the study looked only at a small slice of a broad spectrum of educational uses of technology. "This study misestimates the value of information and communication technologies by focusing exclusively on older approaches that do not take advantage of current technologies and leading-edge educational methods," Christopher J. Dede, an education professor at Harvard University, argued in the statement, which included comments by several officials of the groups.