CLEARWATER – Some Clearwater elementary students are testing a creative way to bring up their math scores by logging at least 30 minutes a night playing math games on their assigned iPod Touch.
Administrators at High Point Elementary chose 20 students who scored the lowest on the latest FCAT math test and assigned each of them an iPod Touch that has been loaded with 30 to 40 math applications and math songs, said Rachel Walters, assistant principal at High Point. The wireless has been disabled on the devices so they will not be used for unintended purposes.
The school is part of the district’s decentralized decision making pilot program, which means it is allowed to use its yearly allotted funds in more flexible ways, Walters said. Each year, she said, the school gets about $8,000 that in the past was to be used to pay tutors for extended learning programs. This year, the school’s core team brainstormed about how to connect kids to learning in a more engaging way, Walters said. They decided to create an iPod lab.
High Point purchased 20 iPod Touches and a cart to synch all of them to the same computer for about $7,400.
“We’re not making Annual Yearly Progress in math in most of our subgroups, and this would target those students, particularly African-Americans and students with disabilities,” Walters said.
The school’s technology specialist sifted through about 200 math applications to find the best ones for the students. Some of the popular ones are Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, Brain Tuner and Cash Cow, Walters said. These programs help kids with number concepts, problem solving and other skills, she said.
The kids take the iPods home on Mondays and turn them back in on Friday mornings for synching, updating and for safe keeping. The kids, third- through fifth-graders, are responsible for keeping a log that documents which applications they used and for how long each night.
“At the end of the semester, we’ll look at FCAT scores and our regular testing program here in Pinellas County to measure the growth with those particular students,” Walters said. “... The specific goal would just be to increase students’ FCAT scores to have them score at a level 3 or above in math, which would mean that they’re on grade level.”
Currently, the participating students have scored at levels 1 or 2, Walter said. If it is successful, Walters said the school hopes to expand the program, as many students are on a waiting list, eager to participate in the program.
Walters said the school is the first in Pinellas County to try such a program, and one of the first in the country to try it. She said she has heard of other schools doing similar things, but she doesn’t know of any others who allow children to take the iPods home. There was positive feedback after the first week of the program, Walters said, which recently began.
The school is grateful that the decentralized decision making allowed administration to use the funds in this way, Walters said, instead of earmarking them to be used in a specific way.
“With the decentralized decision making model that some schools are piloting, it really gave us the opportunity to do something more powerful with our students,” Walters said. “I think if we’re doing this and we can show success, it can show that other schools need to take initiative with the decentralized decision making, and it’s up to the schools to make those decisions of what’s best for their schools because what’s best for my school isn’t necessarily going to be best for a school in a different part of the district or student clientele. So I think it sends a strong message that we’re here to tailor them for the needs of the children in that particular school.”
