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Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Laptop students still test the same
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||||
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Also on this page: In Depth: Laptops | |||||||||
Middle schoolers who used laptop computers for two years performed about the same on a standardized test as students before them who never had laptops. Critics of laptops say the scores are the first real evidence that the program, which so far has cost more than $15 million, is an expensive fad. But proponents say it's too early to expect dramatic changes in test scores. Rep. Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, co-chairman of the Legislature's Education Committee, said his own classroom observations have convinced him that laptops are an effective teaching tool, especially for students who are struggling. He said teachers are still learning how to integrate the new technology. ''I would like to see clear improvement,'' he said. ''I am surprised we did not see a larger leap. But we are still on the leading edges of that learning curve.'' The eighth-grade scores for reading, writing, math and science in the Maine Educational Assessment were essentially unchanged in the past school year compared with the previous two years. The MEA is a statewide test taken annually by fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders. It is aligned with state standards that spell out what Maine students should know in each grade. Students this year took the test in March. Maine has just completed the second year of a four-year, $37.2 million contract that provides laptops to all 34,000 seventh- and eighth-grade students and to 3,000 middle school teachers. Previous research on the laptops was favorable but based on observation, anecdotal information and surveys. The new MEA scores are the first real data showing whether laptops are helping students learn, said Dugan Slovenski, a Brunswick parent and school board member. ''At the end of the day,'' she said, ''if it doesn't change how much kids know and are able to do, it's just an expensive program to teach kids how to use a computer.'' Her son, David, 14, who will be in ninth grade this year, said his classmates found ways to play games on their laptops without their teachers noticing. Also, he said students spent a lot of time downloading and pasting photographs and sound effects to create movies. ''You don't have to do as much work as writing a report,'' he said. ''It's more about getting pictures and putting in sound effects than learning about the topic.'' Education Commissioner Sue Gendron said teachers over the past two years were just learning how to integrate laptops into the curriculum, and that it is unfair to judge the program after only two years. When asked when the test scores should improve, she declined to give a timetable, saying laptops are worth the investment even if they don't boost test scores. ''I believe that the jobs of the future will be based on technology, and part of Maine's goal is to have the best-educated citizens and to ensure that they are skilled to work in a creative economy,'' she said. Gendron is working to expand the program into high school. This fall, at least 33 school districts will pay $300 per student every year for four years to put computers on the laps of ninth-graders. The disappointing MEA scores, however, will make legislators more cautious about expanding the program, said Rep. Linda McKee, D-Wayne, who has long been a critic of the initiative. ''It's going to be hard to sell,'' she said. ''We still don't have the data that confirms that laptops are improving learning.'' Mike Duffy, chairman of the Windham School Committee, said it's too early to expect definite answers on the potential of laptops. The committee has yet to decide whether to give its ninth-graders laptops. It will likely take up the matter Wednesday. MEA scores may come into the debate in Windham and other school districts. Duffy, however, said he doesn't think they should play a deciding factor because more time is needed to measure the program's effectiveness. ''That's the problem with education,'' he said. ''There are no quick fixes. '' Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:
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