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Posted on November 16, 2011
Idaho Moves Full Speed Ahead with Students Come First
The state's new education laws, which include funding for advanced classroom technology, are going into effect in spite of legal challenges and controversy.
The state of Idaho is involved in a sweeping and controversial overhaul of its education system under the leadership of public schools chief Tom Luna. Some of the most controversial aspects of new legislation, known collectively as Students Come First, involve teacher merit pay, the elimination of tenure, and limitations on teachers unions' collective bargaining abilities. Although several of these provisions recently survived a legal challenge in the Idaho district court, the Idaho Education Association plans to appeal—as well as to bring the question to voters through the ballot initiative process in November, 2012.
Slightly less contentious—although not without their critics—are the components of the program aimed at bringing schools into the 21st century. One of the goals of Students Come First, which budgets $13 million each year for advanced classroom technology and accompanying professional development, is to provide a 1:1 computer-to-student ratio for all high school students in the state. High school teachers will be issued mobile computing devices in 2012, with students following in 2013.
Modeling its one-to-one initiative after Maine's MLTI program, the state will negotiate contracts with one or more hardware providers and take responsibility for purchasing and distributing the devices. According to the Students Come First web site, "Local school districts will have the flexibility to institute policies on how students can use the mobile computing devices on a day-to-day basis, whether they can take them home, check them out, or only use them in classroom settings, for example."
Another component of the reform initiative involves online learning. In October, education leaders approved a plan that makes Idaho one of only four states (along with Alabama, Florida and Michigan) to require high school students to take at least one class online and the first state that requires two online classes to graduate. The rule, which goes before Idaho lawmakers for review in the 2012 session, would apply to students entering the 9th grade in fall 2012.
According to a recent article in the Huffington post, the Idaho Education Association is strongly opposed to the decision, saying the board "overruled the wishes of a majority of Idahoans and disregarded parental choice" by mandating the online credits. But state education leaders seem confident that public sentiment will change if people are reassured that the technology is not replacing teachers or leading to a drop in teaching quality. At their web site, they set out to reassure the public that:
Online courses are taught by Idaho teachers. Right now, the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, for example, has more than 10,000 students taking courses directly from Idaho-certified teachers, many of whom teach in traditional public schools by day and IDLA in the evenings. Research shows that online and distance learning are just as effective as traditional education when it comes to raising student achievement.
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