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| Steve Mazingo, Superintendent of Greene County Schools |
On Wednesday night, I was invited to a leadership dinner at the MICCA conference in Baltimore. It was good food and good thought. Anthony Salcito, General Manager for Microsoft Education, gave an engaging presentation about Philadelphia’s School of the Future. He talked mostly about what went into the planning and the catalyst for wanting to create models. Salcito said that they were spending less per child at the School of the Future than was being spent at other Philadelphia schools. I’d like to see that analyzed and explained.
Salcito was followed by Steve Mazingo, Superintendent of Greene County Schools in eastern North Carolina. As Anthony described what went into the planning for 21st century learning environments, Mazingo demonstrated what the outcomes might be. I grabbed a couple of his slides with my camera, and according to Mazingo…
- 53% of high school students were at or above grade level before 1:1, and now it’s 78%
- 59% of middle school students at or above grade level before, and now it is 76%
- Prior to 1 to 1 laptops, 25% of high school graduates entered college. Last year it was 79%. 84% have already been accepted among this year’s graduating class
- Teen Pregnancy rate was #2 in North Carolina. Now it’s #18.
I know Greene County and much of that part of the state. It is incredibly economically depressed. It is almost exclusively agricultural with almost no industry. Mazingo reported that they have just built a community recreation center and a golf course resort, and in the first two weeks, they sold out on the first two phases of property offerings — people who wanted to move in. Knowing the area, this probably impressed me they most. They’ve made Greene County a place people want to move to.
I’m sure there are other factors, but I suspect that their 1:1 initiative was the catalyst…
Oh yeah! I almost forgot. We are so often impressed by the multimedia shows put together by young students. At the end of his presentation, Mazingo played a multimedia show that he, a superintendent, had produced. Now I’m really impressed 😉
I’m not surprized at the numbers. When you allow students to use their native form of compostion and communication you are going to get a more engaged student. This is meeting the learner where they live. Education without 1 to 1 is a disconnect from the way they do life.
I agree with what you are saying, Linda. But another element of this story is that most of those students are probably no “natives” in the sense that my children are. Most of them did not have computers, internet, or even cell phones. I’m making some assumptions here, but, again, this is an extremely economically depressed part of the state/country.
— dave —
I can see the savings easily. If they are using the technology wisely, they have probably saved a truckload of dollars on books and school supplies. They have probably reduced the dollars they were spending on behavior issues as well. Absolutely wonderful!! Challenge the minds of your young people at YouthPlay.org.
Does anyone know how the Microsoft School of “The Future” is doing?
Besides banning books, I see little evidence of “the future.”
The 1:1 initiative is brilliant, It gives students opportunities they never would have had otherwise. Technology is the future, the one to one gives students who aren’t exposed regularly(at home) to computers to be a step ahead, and it gives student who are already computer literate a chance to feel comfortable and do better work due to their comfort level at using a computer and having a vast database of resources and information at their fingertips almost constantly. I attended school at Greene County Schools and the year this was implemented I noticed major changes in the behavior of students, the halls became less crowded and much less noisy, the students began to wish to learn how to use a computer and to see what they were capable of doing with it, students become more focused and more willing to listen. The generations that are currently in high school will have to know how to use technology to get through college, many colleges already require submittal of work online, online research, and at least basic computer skills classes.