Focusing on Classrooms Rather than Schools
Last weekend at the Podstock 2009 conference in Wichita, Kansas, I was very interested to learn more about Kansas’ Technology Rich Classrooms (TRC) project. This is a competitive grant project utilizing EETT (Enhancing Education through Technology) federal dollars, but instead of focusing on entire school campuses the program focuses on individual CLASSROOMS. According to the project website:
The seed of change is spreading across Kansas. Since 2003, 228 classrooms have participated in a Title IID initiative that has invested over $8 million dollars to improve learning in the content areas in our state. They are called Technology Rich Classrooms, and they are changing the way that teachers teach and children learn.
This Google Map mashup shows the locations of classrooms which have participated in the Kansas TRC program to date.
One of the attendees at PodStock shared that the number of participating classrooms in TRC is expected to jump from less than 10 per year to around 75 per year with the infusion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) dollars. This additional investment in educational technology will apparently coincide with a further reduction in legislative funding for education in Kansas on a per-pupil basis. Last year the legislature reduced per-pupil funding by $30, this year the legislature is expected to further reduce funding by approximately $130 per student. These are tough times.
I think Kansas’ focus on educational technology integration at the classroom rather than the building level is right on target. As educational leaders, we often want and strive for systemic, scalable change across entire organizations. Educational technology innovation generally tends to take place in isolated pockets, however, and the TRC project seems to recognize this reality. Clarence Fisher echoed these thoughts in his post today, “Replicating Classrooms.” Clarence noted:
In the rush to build places of learning that are appropriate for changing times, we have focused a great deal of our energy on the replication of schools. We criticize models of certain schools as being great places, but not replicable. I wonder if we are looking at the wrong level. I think that we need to be looking at classrooms as the “unit” that needs to be more closely examined.
Certainly there are many models of spaces where kids can learn. From museums to home schooling situations, there are many models that are possible. But when it comes to the formal learning space, I’m starting to think that we are spending huge amounts of energy and dollars in the wrong place. We pump millions of dollars into schools and hope for the trickle down model of success. We support buildings and programs, hoping that teachers will “buy – in.” Of course there are great models of individual PD where teachers are supported on an ongoing basis to change and be successful. But I still think that most of our time, energy and dollars are being spent at the divisional and the school level.
If we are looking for models worth replicating and for success, we need to look more deeply on a smaller scale, we need to look at classrooms.
I think Clarence is right, as are Kansas leaders who have implemented the TRC program.
Does your state have a campus or classroom focus for educational technology integration programs, and specifically (in the United States) for EETT initiatives? Do you think your state or nation’s focus is appropriate or not? Do you agree with Clarence Fisher?
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