Boise schools consider high-tech way to teach – Program could be in place this fall with a grant

Four Boise elementary schools are considering adopting a computer-based curriculum from the same company that supplies teaching materials to the Idaho Virtual Academy.

The four schools are Pierce Park, Monroe, Mountain View and McKinley elementaries.

Bill Roberts
The Idaho Statesman

http://www.idahostatesman.com/News/story.asp?ID=63430

The program, developed by Virginia-based K12, combines technology such as electronic “smart boards” and computer graphics with a back-to-basics curriculum that stresses strategies such as phonics. The approach counts on children´s fascination with technology to engage them in learning and lets parents access their kids´ lessons at home.

Boise schools could offer the program by fall if schools agree and the district gets a grant to run the program for three to five years.

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K12 was formed about four years ago to provide curriculum for home-schoolers and an Internet-based curriculum for about a dozen charter schools across the country. In the past two years it began developing a curriculum for classroom use. Many companies sell curriculum packages to schools. But K12 is hoping to marry curriculum and technology in a way they believe actively engages kids in instruction.

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Micron Technology Foundation recently contributed to the Idaho Virtual Academy and says it is interested in K12´s work, but hasn´t committed to fund a Boise schools project. The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation first brought the program to Boise´s attention, but has made no commitment.

“This is a possibility for something we might be able to participate in,” said Tom Wilford, foundation CEO. Bill Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education and chairman of the K12 board, served on the Albertson Foundation´s board until January when he resigned because of other commitments.

Before the district accepts any grant, Boise School Board trustee Nancy Gregory said she wants to know how much the school district would end up paying for the program once the foundation money runs out.

“I have serious questions about that,” she said. “We haven´t crunched the numbers.”

The Boise district is considering the program as one more option to provide school choice for families in a district that has lost more than 1,000 students since the mid-1990s. Boise has started all-day kindergartens, converted one of its schools to a curriculum popular with Treasure Valley charter-school parents and opened enrollment to students outside the district.

“I think one of the things for which we are responsible is to show options and opportunities to staff people and the general community,” said Stan Olson, district superintendent. “K12 may support meeting the needs of youngsters that the current program does not address.”

K12 is best known in Idaho for supplying curriculum to the statewide Idaho Virtual Academy, the state´s largest charter school with about 1,800 students — many from the Treasure Valley — who get instruction in their homes through the Internet.

But the future of the Virtual Academy is unclear. K12 may pull out after this year if the Idaho Legislature doesn´t approve a proposal from Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to give the academy an additional $1.6 million and bring its per-student state allocation closer to the Idaho average of $5,034.

“We are losing a significant amount of money,” said Ron Packard, K12 founder.

The Senate voted 31-4 Tuesday to give Idaho Virtual Academy the additional money. The bill now goes to the House.

In addition to its Internet-based schools, K12 is working on developing in-school programs for districts like Boise. Pilot projects are under way in a few schools in Chicago, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Arkansas.

The 4-year-old company´s work on the school-based curriculum began about two years ago. It provides teachers with materials, computer gear and smart boards to engage kids in their learning, Packard said.

Company representatives demonstrated the program Monday for teachers at Pierce Park Elementary. Second-graders spent an hour — surrounded by a roomful of teachers and administrators — learning about cell structure.

Kristen Kinney, a K12 reading specialist, walked the children through the parts of a cell, often reading directly from captions under pictures projected on the smart board, a high-tech version of an old-fashioned chalkboard.

By touching the smart board´s screen with her finger, Kinney was able to flip through the lesson and even activate a graphic showing cells dividing.

She continued the lesson in more traditional instruction by creating a “cell” out of a plastic bag, lemon jello and pineapple. Finally, the kids used pencil and paper to draw various kinds of cells.

The kids appeared to stay focused on Kinney´s lesson.

“It seems to be a lot more visual and hands-on,” said Linda Anderson, Pierce Park principal. “I think what was going on was getting kids´ attention.”

Brenda McKenzie, a second-grade teacher at Pierce Park, is impressed with the program.

“I see a lot of interaction,” she said. “You can give an instant illustration.”

She´s also intrigued because the curriculum provides virtually all the materials teachers need in a computer program — which could save her hours of hunting down the materials on her own.

“One of the things I like is that it cuts down on preparation time and the grunt work that is tied to lesson development,” Olson said.

Whether the K12 program ever takes a firm hold in the Boise School District, however, could come down to money. Packard said K12´s price likely would be about what schools spend every year on textbooks. Boise School District spends about $1.4 million a year on textbooks districtwide.

K12 is still developing the program and hasn´t attached a final price-tag. K12 delivers its curriculum to charter schools like the Idaho Virtual Academy for about $1,000 a child, but that includes costs for computers, testing and other expenses that wouldn´t be required in Boise classrooms, which would stick with its own testing regime.

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Bill Roberts
[email protected] or 377-6408