The PNJ reports that the Escambia County School District will have Chromebooks in the hands of all its students, grades 3-12, by Dec. 31.
Chromebooks in the classroom are a national trend. Baldwin County has had laptops and iPads in its students hands for the past four years. In November 2014, Education Week wrote about the gaining popularity of the less expensive Chromebooks.
Lee County, Florida handed out Chromebooks to its middle school students last year. The plan got rave reviews from parents and students, but had little impact on school performance.
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The pilot program for the Escambia County School District was C.A. Weis Elementary. The school showed no improvement in English and slight improvements in Math and Science. It finished in the Bottom 10 of worst performing elementary schools in Florida. The learning gains weren’t enough to get the school above an F.
School Grades – 2016
English Language Arts Achievement: 11 —2015: 11
English Language Arts Learning Gains: 30
English Language Arts Learning Gains of the Lowest 25%: 44
Mathematics Achievement: 16 —2015: 22
Mathematics Learning Gains: 28
Mathematics Learning Gains of the Lowest 25%: 26
Science Achievement: 13 —2015: 26
Total Points Earned: 168
Chromebooks are not going to turn around the Escambia County School District. They can be great education tools and resources, but the laptops are only as effective as the systems in place to use them.
More innovation is needed. Achieve Escambia has its work cut out for it.
