THE centrepiece of the Federal Government's so-called education revolution may be worse than useless, a visiting American researcher says.

Before the 2007 election Kevin Rudd vowed to spend $2.3 billion rewarding parents who installed or bought home computers.

Kevin Rudd announces his education revolution before the Federal Election. Credit:Glen McCurtayne

He later said his decisions would be evidence based.

Jacob Vigdor, of Duke University, North Carolina, has conducted what is probably the world's biggest study on the effect on maths and reading scores of gaining a home computer. He finds "statistically significant" evidence that it sends them backwards.