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Lone Star 2000: Documenting Successful School or University Teaching and Learning
DR. DENNIS M. HOLT, Director
Lone Star 2000 Project
University of North Florida
Jacksonville, Fla.
KAREN LUDWICK, Teacher
Cornerstone Christian Academy
Ponte Verde, Fla.
PAULA McALLISTER, Teacher
Educator Duval County Public Schools
Jacksonville, Fla.
There is considerable concern among educators and ordinary citizens
about the quality of teaching and learning taking place in America’s
public schools. The debate over the failures of public education
frequently fills daily newspapers and popular news magazines. Clarion
calls for tuition vouchers, charter schools and schools run by free
enterprise capture the imaginations of politicians.
In what ways should these concerns be addressed, and by what means?
Should we use nationally-normed tests, based on new, national
standards? Should we use state-normed tests, based on state
standards? Or should new assessment tools be employed, such as
student and teacher portfolios? Solutions must be found to help
convince the public that classroom-based educational reforms are
occurring in ways that work.
Examples of New Approaches
The purpose of this article is to provide examples of new approaches to
teaching and learning, those which use some of the best available
curriculum and educational technologies. We believe the strategies
employed by participants in Lone Star 2000, our K-12/ higher education
partnership, address the national debate over education’s problems and
inherent criticisms.
We think new hope is offered by newly available solutions to some of
the problems confronting America’s schools and teacher-education
programs. These new approaches provide innovative and effective ways
of motivating students and teachers to do their best every day. At the
same time, these approaches provide opportunities for educational
accountability -- by assessing and documenting student achievement
through student and teacher portfolios.
Lone Star 2000 Project
For a third year, IBM Corp., the University of North Florida (UNF) and
the Duval County Public School District engaged in a project to bring
new educational technologies to selected classrooms within the district.
In the 1996 spring semester, ten teachers and ten University of North
Florida interns participated in the Lone Star 2000 Project.
At the Lone Star Elementary School in Jacksonville, Florida, three
interns were assigned to first-grade teachers, one to a second-grade
teacher, and two interns to fifth-grade teachers. At the Fletcher Middle
School in Jacksonville Beach, four interns were assigned to four social
studies teachers. Three UNF faculty members served as intern
supervisors for the project.
