An evaluation of the Palm Springs Unified School District’s one-to-one laptop pilot program, presented to the school board on March 21, 2009, shows that the average attendance rate for 24/7 classes was between 95.2 percent and 97.9 percent — about 2 percent higher than the school average attendance rate. Students in the pilot laptop program also showed a larger increase in California Standards Test scores from 2007 to 2008 than those not participating. The pilot began in the 2007-2008 school year.

Director of educational technology Frank Tinney adds that the students are learning things that are not measured by the available tests: tech-skills, collaboration and other 21st-century skills, for example. The report also showed that teachers involved in the pilot program showed a dramatic increase over their counterparts in both their own computer knowledge and their ability to support student learning with technology.

The district is running the pilot within five schools: Cathedral City Elementary, Cielo Vista Elementary, Bubbling Wells Elementary, James Workman Middle and Cathedral City High. Some participating students are in the Gifted and Talented program, others are low-performing, and all fourth- and fifth-grade students at Cathedral City Elementary participated.

Source: The Desert Sun, Laptop Program Benefits Students