November 2001 — Features
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Lessons Learned: An Inside Look at Four of the Top Technology School Districts in the Nation
Wilson County School District - Wilson, NC
Wilson is a rural, agricultural community located in Eastern North Carolina. Wilson County Schools serve more than 12,000 students in its 23 schools. With more than 4,000 PCs and 73 servers, the district's technology program - seeded with $5 million from the county - is an integral part of Wilson's instructional program. "Technology integration is the key to student success," says Dr. Lane Mills, assistant superintendent for accountability and technology services at Wilson County Schools. Technology is helping to strengthen the link between instruction and achievement, he says. In five years, district test scores have gone from about 60 percent of students in grades 3-8 achieving on grade level for reading and math to 80 percent in 1999-2000.
Teachers from every grade level and curricular area participate in summer technology integration projects. These teachers are paid a stipend to create technology-based lesson plans that are aligned with North Carolina standards. To date, teachers at Wilson have created 11 volumes of multimedia lesson plans that are available on CDs, notebooks, the network and, soon, the Internet. All of Wilson's classrooms have at least two PCs, and Internet access is available in 81 percent of the classrooms in the district. For the past five years, the district has provided free home dial-up Internet access for all staff through a cooperative agreement with East Carolina University. Another piece of Wilson's technology integration puzzle is Project T.E.S.T. (Technology Empowering Students and Teachers), which started about four years ago and first targeted the lowest-performing schools in the county.
Project T.E.S.T. helps improve reading, writing and other skills. Based on the integration model that supports state and national technology goals, the project sustains staff development, integrated lesson plans, the use of student mentors, and the accessibility of telecommunications and multimedia tools. Through Project T.E.S.T., participating students receive 25 hours of technology training. These students have laptops available for checkout, as well as digital cameras, digital projectors and CD recorders. They also serve as student mentors, even assisting teachers with technology-related projects. To date, 36 students have served as mentors and more than 1,700 students have participated in the project.
Wilson leadership also realized that if educators weren't comfortable using technology and didn't understand how to use it, there was no way they would make technology part of their daily routine or integrate it into the curriculum. So during the last five years, more than 100,000 hours were devoted to staff development for about 1,600 teachers and administrators. A Summer Technology Conference is also held each year in the local schools, which allows teachers to earn continuing education units. The free, weeklong event provides courses covering all technology skill levels.
Central Columbia School District - Bloomsburg, Pa.
The four buildings of Central Columbia School District are located in a campus setting in Bloomsburg, Pa.
