As published in the Record Journal, Thursday February 7, 2013
By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
(203) 317-2235
evo@record-journal.com
Twitter: @ericvoRJ
WALLINGFORD - The school system is looking into buying more computers, to give students more opportunities in the classroom as well as to prepare for the Smarter Balanced Assessment program in 2014-15. With more computers likely to be available for student use soon, officials are also looking at updating the user policy for electronics.
This year, under a pilot program, a few teachers were given the opportunity to test the computers in a classroom setting, said Randall Backus, the schools’ director of information technology services. As more services become available, Backus said, the school system is trying to figure out the best way to give students access to these services.
“We provide computing services in the library and labs on a regular basis and in the past we did laptop carts,” Backus said. “Now that we’re moving into Google Apps and Google Docs and doing more in the ‘cloud,’ we’re trying to figure out the best route to provide devices for students outside the lab.”
Having more computers in the classroom for students creates a more fluid experience, said School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo. If his 2013-14 budget proposal, which includes $200,000 for new computers, passes, laptops and desktops could be added to classrooms in the next year, though Menzo emphasized that they would be for only in school use. Having new computer systems is important because the school system “needs to be ready for the new (Smarter Balanced) Assessment,” Menzo said.
That is an online test that will replace the Connecticut Mastery Test, given to students in grades 3 through 8, and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test, taken by students in 10th grade. The difficulty of the test changes based on how the student does on preceding questions — answering correctly generates a more challenging question the next time, while an incorrect answer generates an easier question.
However, until the district knows how much money will be in its budget, no firm decision on the next step can be made, Menzo said.
“We’re leaving it open,” he said. “The decision will be made when we have the money.”
As the board plans to upgrade its computers, it’s also updating the schools’ electronics user policy. The central office staff went over the proposed revision with the school board’s Instructional Committee Monday night. The policy states that administrators have the right to monitor student activity on school-owned devices and that students “should not have any expectation of personal privacy in the use of these computer systems.”
David McGuire, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, said that, as technology becomes more widespread, “there’s been a lot of questions about what schools can and can’t do.”
“Regardless of what the district does, they need to make clear to parents and students ... what they can and can’t do,” McGuire said. “Putting it in a policy doesn’t give a proper notice to the parents and students.”
No formal action on the policy revisions was taken Monday night. When the new policy is adopted, McGuire said, he’s confident the district will “get this right.”
“We were really impressed with how open minded (the district) was and you can tell that Superintendent Menzo truly respects student privacy,” he said. “I’m confident they will take the right steps so that the policy won’t impede on their rights.”
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