Laptops help engage at-risk students in charter school

TECH SUPPORT: Science teacher Malika Al works with student Joshua Estrada at the Sheila C. “Skip” Nowell Leadership Academy, which opened its doors on Sept. 16. / PBN PHOTO/MARTIN GAVIN
TECH SUPPORT: Science teacher Malika Al works with student Joshua Estrada at the Sheila C. “Skip” Nowell Leadership Academy, which opened its doors on Sept. 16. / PBN PHOTO/MARTIN GAVIN

When 3-month-old Shawn falls asleep, his 19-year-old mother, Janna Miranda of Central Falls, plans to open the laptop her high school has provided and do some homework.
“It will be great,” said Miranda one October day when she was receiving training on the equipment. “When he’s napping, I can do work. Even if I’m on the bus for an appointment, the laptop is portable, and I … can use it anywhere. Regular high school didn’t work out for me. Five days a week was difficult. The work wasn’t hard; I can do anything I put my mind to. [But] this is a new way of learning.”
“This” is the new technology being rolled out as an integral part of the blended classroom at campuses for the new public charter high school at the Sheila C. “Skip” Nowell Leadership Academy, which opened its doors on Sept. 16.
On Nov. 1, all of the 160 students at either the Providence or Central Falls campuses started using laptops provided by the school to supplement two to three days a week of classroom learning. Up until then, they were preparing for and taking NECAP tests, said Jodi Timpani, the head of school.
Nowell was conceived to support at-risk youth challenged by parenting and pregnancy issues, and uses technology to enable flexible scheduling and round-the-clock access to faculty and the curriculum, according to Deborah L. Perry, co-chairman of the school, and president and CEO of YWCA Rhode Island, a school sponsor.
“Technology was and is the key to this school,” Perry said. “It really allows students to create their own schedule and it’s built around whatever conflicts the student may have – doctor’s appointments, work. They have access to online instruction 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
The “wrap-around” school also provides child care, transportation, health, guidance and support services.
The Dell laptops may be the most visible technological component, but there is an entire system set up to support students and their teachers: state-compliant GradPoint curriculum software; Verizon data cards for online access from anywhere a cellular connection is available; a secure, managed, private online network; and a Richer Picture data hub that tracks information and allows two-way communication about everything from grades, credits and attendance to coursework, capstone projects and personal feedback. The startup costs for leased laptops, hardware, software and staffing totaled $800,000 in the first year, Timpani said. The school’s annual operating costs are estimated at $2.2 million, she said.
The end result is individualized learning for students provided with a faculty-student ratio of 10:1 and customizable lesson management for teachers.
Deborah A. Gist, commissioner of the R.I. Department of Education, said technology is a tool that, used effectively, can help produce results that might otherwise be difficult to achieve.
“We have to recognize that high school can no longer look the same as it has looked for so many of us for decades,” she said. “It’s exciting that schools like Nowell are putting in designs that will give students a choice to stay and get their education and graduate.”
“You wouldn’t give somebody a dull pencil and ask them to complete a Picasso,” Timpani said, explaining the value of 24/7 access.
According to Timpani and Emily Santelises-Ramos, the principal intern leading teachers’ professional development, the blended learning model in use at Nowell requires students to attend class either on Tuesdays and Thursdays or Wednesdays and Fridays, with attendance on alternating Mondays and Saturdays available for extra work and support.
The rest of their week can be spent working on assignments, communicating with teachers and doing whatever else the wide array of online coursework, jobs and family obligations demand.
For the academics, the global Pearson Publishing Co.’s GradPoint digital coursework includes core subject matter, electives and AP classes, said Peggy Bernard, a Pearson virtual-learning specialist in New England.
The Gradpoint curriculum is aligned with Rhode Island and Common Core standards, Bernard said. Students can work at their own pace, but teachers can modify any program, even starting from scratch if desired, she said. Richer Picture’s data hub is an internal network with a dashboard that provides an array of information and means to interact, said David Niguidula, founder of Providence-based Ideas Consulting Inc., which makes the product.
“The interface looks more like a social media platform,” he said. “There’s a notes section. A teacher can go online and look at an individual student’s or a class dashboard.”
Looking at credits, a teacher might direct a student to focus more on math, for instance, by sending a message in the notes section, providing a link to a math forum, and answering when the student responds.
Alicia Cook, a communications teacher and special educator at the Providence campus, said the data hub is a “one-stop shop” for teachers.
“I use Richer Picture every day,” she said, “first to take attendance. Then, I use it as my grade book. I am able to create one assignment for all of my classes, then go in and see who completes it, what their score is. I’m able to see student Y is only missing two assignments, and I can remind student Y to get those turned in.”
Perry and Timpani say the technology not only provides a platform for greater interaction, but also a customized pace “so there’s no excuse for not succeeding.”
“The system collects data, shows student results by activity, student progress, time on task,” Perry said. “We’re holding these students accountable. It’s data driven. These students have to meet the same standards as any student in Rhode Island.”
PacketLogix Inc. of Barrington, whose clients include the U.S. Department of Defense and Harvard University, has designed and built a secure wireless network at both the Providence and Central Falls campuses, and also provides technical support, said CEO Terrence Boylan.
“Every student gets a modern Dell laptop with a Verizon data card,” Boylan said. “Empowering your students so you can get your Internet anywhere, that’s huge.” “These are accountable and responsible students. They had to fight for their spot to get into the school even though it is a public school, and they have to keep it, too.” •

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