Comment on O'Donovan's Excellent 1:1 Article in DA

Cathie: In the February 2009 issue of District Administration there is an excellent article on 1:1 laptops. Eamonn O’Donovan, the author, clearly speaks from considerable experience; I recommend this article for anyone contemplating a 1:1 effort.

Elliot: While the article is chock full of interesting issues, I found the list of technology issues that at the end of the article particularly well-stated.

 

Cathie: I am worried about one issue in particular thatO’Donovan raises: the need that superintendents and their boards have for data that substantiates the claim that 1:1 results in improved student achievement.

 

Elliot: As usual, you go right to the heart of the matter.  

 

Cathie: There is precious little scientifically-based evidence – controlled studies – that shows that 1:1 does lead to improved student achievement. While we have done one such study – at a cost of $600,000 and 2 years of hard, hard work, the majority of research is qualitative and anecdotal. Those efforts don’t pass the stringent test for rigorous research.

 

Elliot: The community needs to give up its desire to prove efficacy. Over the past eight years, there have been several, national scale, multimillion dollar empirical studies of efficacy – do computer-based innovations lead to improved student achievement. And the results? (Drum roll….) No impact of the computer-based innovations.

 

Cathie: These large scale studies are fraught with all sorts of experimental, statistical, etc. challenges.

 

Elliot: There are no proofs of efficacy of textbooks! In fact, there is plenty of evidence that the use of textbooks does not lead to improved student achievement. Might I be brazen?

 

Cathie: And what if I said “hold your tongue,” would you listen?

 

Elliot: Ahhhh… No.

 

Cathie: Thought so… go ahead, then…just try not to alienate ALL our readers…

 

Elliot: No problem! I think that the reason superintendents and boards want “proof that computers work” is because they are afraid to make a decision themselves. They want someone else to say: it’s ok, go ahead, but, life is usually not so accommodating. The definition of a leader is someone who is willing to step forward, weigh the pros and the cons, and lead the way – knowing that there is definitely some risk involved. A district wouldn’t need a superintendent if the road ahead was perfectly known.

 

If superintendents and their boards demand proof of 1:1 efficacy before they move ahead on 1:1 projects, those districts will most likely never move ahead: the data simply isn’t there and it’s not going to be there.

 

Cathie: Ah, for those of you still with us,--let’s find another way to justify the significant investment that a 1:1 deployment involves. If we want to teach 21st century skills – and that is what the educational and the business community is calling for – then schools need to use 21st century tools. The global workplace in which our children will compete is already swimming in computers. To adequately prepare our children for that world, we need to use those same tools in our classrooms and schools.

 

Elliot: So, Mr and Mrs Superintendent, will the 21st century skills and tools argument fly in your district as a justification for a 1:1 rollout?

 

Cathie: Let me clarify Elliot’s point. The statement “21st century skills and tools argument” is shorthand. That statement would need to be unpacked, explained, and justified before a school board or teachers or parents would find it compelling. That kind of amplification can be done – just not in a blog.  So, assuming that sufficient flesh could be hung onto the shorthand statement, would you feel comfortable using it to justify a 1:1 deployment?

Comments

[Bart Banfield]

Hi Cathie & Elliot! I have never submitted a comment to a blog before and depending on your response may never again. My name is Bart Banfield and I am the Superintendent of Stidham Public Schools, "Oklahoma's School Of The Future." Our school was the first district to promote a school-wide (grades 1st-8th) One-to-One learning program in the state of Oklahoma four years ago. What has resulted in part due to the One-to-One deployment is four straight years of increased test scores including this past year where we actually scored 103 points ABOVE the state of Oklahoma's average. With 90% of our students qualifying for free or reduced lunch I can assure you we are as demographically challenged as anyone. All testing "data" is available at the Oklahoma State Department of Education's website.

[Cathie Norris]

You and your school are clearly doing something very right, Bart! Few schools see the kinds of improvement that you have achieved. Congratulations! In the spirit of helping others learn from your experiences, let us ask this: what one activity that you are doing makes the biggest difference? What one activity that your teachers are doing makes the biggest difference? And, what one activity that your students are doing makes the biggest difference? And finally, what one change do you feel needs to be made to further improve your school’s achievement? We don’t mean to put you on the spot, Bart, but there is truly a great thirst in our community to understand how to make 1:1 effective. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

[Bart Banfield]

Hi Cathie & Elliot,
Thank you for the compliment of Stidham Public School but I can assure you I am just as eager to learn from other school districts improvements as well. I believe a progressive mindset should be an unattainable goal. A district should never become satisfied with the status quo. The envelope must be pushed daily in order to facilitate "real" change. Allow me to answer your questions. What one activity that you are doing makes the biggest difference? The concept of One to One learning and the attempt to facilitate all of the multiple learning intelligences that our unique children display. What one activity that your students are doing makes the biggest difference? Sharing the commitment to accept higher standards from their teachers despite being demographically challenged. What one activity that your teachers are doing makes the biggest difference? Our teachers have overcome the fear associated with change and have become empowered because of it. And finally, what one change do you feel needs to be made to further improve your school’s achievement? How about fully funding education on an annual basis? I will leave you with one of my favorite Albert Einstein quotes: "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

[Elliot Soloway]

WOW! The Einstein quote is tremendous. It is a corollary – an appropriate corollary -- of “the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over again -- and expecting a different result.” And both observations point to the need for change. Indeed all three of your responses to our questions were about change – change in what students do, change in what teachers do. In particular, your teachers’ conquering their fear of change is an enormous achievement, one that is surely an ongoing, daily re-commitment.

While you and your faculty and staff have no “free time” to leisurely write up a history of your school’s transformation, perhaps focusing on one element that was the most surprising to you would be a fair compromise. The community needs to hear how you and your colleagues made the one-to-one shift. We look forward to hearing your stories, Bart!

[Bart Banfield]

Hi Cathie & Elliot,
The metamorphosis of Stidham Public School was triggered by a personal dissent with the current status quo of public schools in the United States. We are agitators to the established bourgeoisie that is public education. The current architecture of most public schools is both outdated and antiquated. The public education system as a whole is in a state of inertia, bogged down in bureaucracy and marred in its monolithic approach. This monolithic, one size fits all approach employed by most districts is the very chain that continues to shackle fundamental improvement in today’s educational system. From time to time we hear the stories of districts throughout the United States that are overcoming incredible challenges to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots. These districts inspire me and my district to continue to challenge the status quo. I suppose we are 21st Century revolutionaries in our unorthodox approach to the entrenched establishment of public education. One of the most surprising aspects to the one-to-one shift was the effect it had on student discipline. The year we implemented our one-to-one initiative, we saw a decrease in student discipline offenses. I would estimate an 85% drop in discipline cases. With one-to-one, there is virtually no down time. The final ten to fifteen minutes of class time per class you and I were accustomed to when we were in school has been replaced by 21st Century software programs that foster continuous student improvement. There is no time to get bored and thus very little opportunity to get in trouble. We are maximizing our educational school day by continuously keeping the students engaged. Discipline is an aspect that you will NEVER see on a districts end of instruction scores but I can assure you it is a critical factor in the overall educational equation.