Tennessee 1:1 Pilot Program

• In Event: The Great Migration: District, State, and National Perspectives on the Digital Learning Transition

Abstract

Tennessee 1:1 Pilot Program

Objectives or purposes

In the summer of 2013, Hamilton County schools and Public Education Foundation (PEF) began a 1-to-1 computing pilot project intended to provide teachers with the opportunity to transform their classrooms into innovative, collaborative, learner-centered places. The primary purpose of this evaluation is to document the implementation process of this pilot project; identify successful strategies and potential challenges in transitioning to a technology-supported PBL environment; and, to a lesser extent, assess the impact of the pilot on teacher improvement and student learning.
Perspective(s) or theoretical framework

Hamilton County schools and Public Education Foundation (PEF), with funding from the Benwood Foundation, began a pilot project intended to provide 25 teachers with the opportunity to transform their classrooms into innovative, collaborative, learner-centered places where technology is used as a tool and a process to support learning. The project has since expanded to include approximately 50 teachers and 750 students. To support this work, the partners will establish a locally based professional learning network (PLN) and teachers will receive training in project and problem based learning (PBL), which they will gradually implement in their classrooms over the course of the two-year initiative.

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry

This work is guided by a Real-Time evaluation approach, which involves assessing the quality and effectiveness of a program or project during implementation. Rather than a focus on reporting project processes and outcomes at the close of an evaluation, real-time evaluation focuses on providing ongoing feedback at critical decisions points through the project. The focus is on ‘improving’ programs, rather than ‘proving’ programs (Nolan and Fontane, 2012).

Data sources, evidence, objects or materials

Measurement tools for the evaluation include the Student and Staff surveys, Tennessee Value Added Assessment System and Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program data as well as artifact reviews and interviews. Qualitative and quantitative data will compare and discuss the extent to which the pilot program was implemented with fidelity, acquisition of knowledge skills and resources on behavior of teachers in the program and the factors that supported or impeded the transition to technology.

Findings
Results from this work will summarize of the 2-year project documenting implementation process, successes and challenges in transitioning to a 1:1 supported PBL environment, and recommendations for evaluating similar district wide digital learning initiatives.

Author

• Shaun B. Kellogg, North Carolina State University