Special Report
Accountability

Vt. Initiative Seeks to Balance Innovation, Accountability

By Kevin Bushweller — March 14, 2011 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Laurie Hodgdon is a big believer in the power of technology-rich, personalized learning. But the co-principal of Milton Middle School/High School in Vermont emphasizes the importance of a balance between educational innovation and accountability.

“That level of accountability needs to be there,” she says. “You can’t just teach your pet project. You want to see kids not only learning but achieving.”

Milton Middle School was the first site to participate in I-LEAP, the Learning and Engaging Adolescents Project, an initiative run by the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education at the University of Vermont. The initiative aims to improve teaching and learning for middle school students in the state by creating 1-to-1 computing environments that allow students to use the latest digital tools to work at their own pace, collaborate with peers, and pursue classroom projects based largely on their own interests.

The middle school, which received a four-year, $800,000 grant in 2006 to get started, is now close to having a 1-to-1 computing environment, using netbooks and laptops as well as a host of other digital devices such as Kindle e-readers, iPads, and digital cameras. And the program—which emphasizes a heavy dose of professional development for teachers—has since moved into the high school.

To find that balance between innovation and accountability, researchers at the University of Vermont, in Burlington, are working with the three Vermont schools in I-LEAP—Edmunds Middle School in Burlington, Milton, and the pre-K-8 Manchester Elementary School in Manchester—to assess the impact of technology-rich, personalized learning.

Penny Bishop, the director of the Tarrant Institute, which is based at the university’s college of education and social services, is spearheading the research project. The project is following 256 students in I-LEAP; of that group, a subgroup of students was identified after the 6th grade year as being at risk for dropping out of high school or not completing high school on time because of poor attendance (less than 80 percent), bad behavior (one suspension or a poor behavior mark for the year), or failure in math or English.

The university researchers are following the students as they make their way through middle school (some have already completed middle school) and high school to see how many drop out or do not graduate on time.

In tandem with that longitudinal, quantitative approach, the researchers are gathering qualitative data through teacher and student interviews and on-site observations. They will also be conducting interviews with parents. They want to know more about how students do as they make the transition from middle school to high school, and what impact the I-LEAP approach had on their preparation for high school academic work.

The qualitative research will play a key role in driving changes in professional development, which is a big component of the I-LEAP initiative, Bishop says.

‘It Has to Have Standards’

At Manchester Elementary-Middle School, I-LEAP was put in place in grades 5-8 at the start of this school year with a three-year, $500,000 grant from the Tarrant Institute. After struggling through some major technology challenges in the fall because students and teachers were having connectivity problems with the netbooks the school had purchased, the school switched to pricier MacBooks in January. That change seems to have eased the technological problems. “It made for a very rocky start,” Principal Jackie Wilson says of the problems.

Personalized Learning in Action

Students in the I-LEAP initiative at Edmunds Middle School in Burlington, Vt., are given laptops they can use in class and at home to do school assignments and projects tailored to their interests.

Other, nontechnological concerns remain.

Wilson says she probably would not have embarked on the initiative if it weren’t connected to a university and its researchers. She wants her school’s decisions to be backed up by ongoing research and carefully crafted professional development from the university.

“Folks from outside with fresh eyes, they notice things I don’t notice,” she says.

Without that partnership with the university, Wilson says, maintaining academic rigor with a technology-rich, personalized approach could become a challenge. “I think that’s a real concern,” she says. “When we put out an assignment, we have to make sure it’s not just a free-for-all. It has to have standards.”

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Accountability Opinion What’s Wrong With Online Credit Recovery? This Teacher Will Tell You
The “whatever it takes” approach to increasing graduation rates ends up deflating the value of a diploma.
5 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Accountability Why a Judge Stopped Texas from Issuing A-F School Ratings
Districts argued the new metric would make it appear as if schools have worsened—even though outcomes have actually improved in many cases.
2 min read
Laura BakerEducation Week via Canva  (1)
Canva
Accountability Why These Districts Are Suing to Stop Release of A-F School Ratings
A change in how schools will be graded has prompted legal action from about a dozen school districts in Texas.
4 min read
Handwritten red letter grades cover a blue illustration of a classic brick school building.
Laura Baker, Canva
Accountability What the Research Says What Should Schools Do to Build on 20 Years of NCLB Data?
The education law yielded a cornucopia of student information, but not scalable turnaround for schools, an analysis finds.
3 min read
Photo of magnifying glass and charts.
iStock / Getty Images Plus