Two schools' journeys toward implementing 1:1 computing.
Long before devices entered classrooms at Baltimore County's Halstead Academy and Chase Elementary School, leaders at both schools laid the groundwork for these shifts by developing strong, schoolwide cultures of innovation and professional learning. To nurture innovation, and with the goal of 1:1 computing, principals at both schools gave teachers permission to get messy and become artists of pedagogy.
Putting a device in the hands of every student to personalize learning requires teachers to relinquish control and prepare students for more responsibility and choice. Here's how two schools used 1:1 computing to extend educator capacity, enable small-group instruction, and facilitate student-centered learning.
The Impetus
Five years ago, Halstead Academy, a pre-k-5 elementary school, was nearing restructuring status as the lowest performing school in Baltimore County, Maryland. At the time, teachers worked in isolation, instructional rigor varied, and students were disengaged from learning. School leaders knew that teacher mindsets had to change.
Several miles away, Chase Elementary, also a pre-K-5 elementary school, was performing satisfactorily on standardized tests. But school leaders were concerned about a culture of complacency. Growth was sluggish and achievement gaps were persistent. To break through average performance and help every student make progress, school leaders needed to support teachers in personalizing learning to meet individual student needs.
Both schools had recently experienced a change in leadership. The schools' new principals met the teachers where they were and encouraged them to take their instructional programs to the next level. To initiate change in their schools, both leaders rallied their staffs around the moral imperative to completely transform instruction. Both leaders broke down barriers that created cultures of isolation, as well as fostered more collaborative cultures that encouraged innovation, raised the bar for instruction, and provided ongoing support for teachers.
By 2013, both Halstead Academy and Chase Elementary had made major gains in developing school cultures that prioritize student-centered learning and higher expectations. A natural next step was to seek status as a Baltimore County Public School STAT Lighthouse pilot school for transformation in teaching and learning, also known as Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow (STAT). It was also an opportunity to focus on personalized learning with the support of 1:1 devices and to deepen innovative professional growth initiatives.