Thomas Jefferson Elementary School: Defying Stereotypes

• In Event: Supporting Meaningful New Learning Opportunities Through Technology in High-Poverty Schooling Contexts

Abstract

The Apple and ConnectED initiative and Compton Unified School District launched the 1:1 iPad program at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in 2016. This partnership is closing the achievement gap and transforming the school into an innovative environment that promotes 21st Century skills.

Jefferson Elementary is a prek-8 school in Compton, just south of Los Angeles. Compton is a complex city that has seen dramatic demographic shifts over the last 50 years. Our 860-student population is 96% Hispanic and 4% African American, with 42% English learners and 23% Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP). We are a Title 1 school, with 100% of students receiving free lunch. Families here face economic barriers and negative stereotypes, with widespread perceptions that a Compton school couldn’t possibly have resources for 1:1 or engage in innovative practices. In reality, our students participate in multiple arts programs, robotics, GATE, and AVID College and Career Readiness. We work hard to ensure that all students receive high academic instruction and become life-long learners, and believe that a supportive school culture must be the first response to any challenges they bring from home.

With support from Apple and the ConnectED grant, our teachers and support staff are now utilizing technology to innovate in both classroom and community. Classrooms have been transformed into learning spaces, and activities that were once rote now feature collaboration, creativity, communication, critical thinking, and problem solving. For our language learners, technology integration has allowed us to develop a new whole language approach that enhances their speaking and listening skills in addition to helping them gain access to academic content. With their technology tools, students are able to create books and narrate a story. They can record and listen to their own enunciation, and listen to and engage with each other.

Student-led conferences and well-attended parent workshops are helping to extend to the community the skills needed to be successful in technology use and creation. Parents participate with the students in engineering projects, and we reach out to them using the same differentiated and hands-on approaches used in school. Teachers also find the language tools on the iPads helpful when non-Spanish-speakers need to communicate with parents in that language.

Differing levels of teacher skill and confidence with technology were an early barrier, as were fears that technology might lead to disruption and behavior issues. We are supporting teachers through differentiated professional development and side-by-side coaching, and they are taking on the challenge of supporting each other. Teachers have opened their doors to district personnel, administration, parents, and colleagues to provide feedback and continue to cultivate their teaching.

At Jefferson Elementary, purposeful use of technology has led to breakthroughs. Innovation is no longer a dream for the community but a growing reality with powerful implications. Once called a traditional elementary school, the school has flourished to academic excellence, innovation, arts, and lifelong learning. Transforming each classroom has brought inclusion of all students, positive relationships, and engagement in social awareness that is breaking the negative stigma of Compton.

Author

• Sal Aquino, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School