
DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250066

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: BACK TO SCHOOL

        In a series of stories, The Virginian-Pilot examines the changes to

        Virginia's education system.

SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  151 lines

HIGH-TECH HOPES, LOW-TECH SCHOOLS VIRGINIA'S STANDARDS OF LEARNING REQUIRE A PROFICIENCY IN THE USE OFCOMPUTERS. BUT MANY SCHOOLS IN HAMPTON ROADS ARE UNDERFUNDED AND ILL-EQUIPPED TO BUY OR INSTALL THEM.

Norfolk's Ruffner Middle School looks like what it is, an educational model for the 21st century.

The city's technology magnet school has up-to-date computer equipment in every room, computer labs on every floor, 27-inch wall-mounted color TV monitors in each classroom that allow students to watch programs drawn from far-away satellites or taking place in their own auditorium down the hall. The school even has its own computer network engineer whose job is to keep about 300 Pentium computers up and running.

But for every Ruffner in South Hampton Roads there are countless schools with less-sophisticated equipment, with electrical systems that can't support the demands of such technology, with computers that go down and stay down for weeks at a time because there isn't enough staff to fix them.

As the state requires all schools to teach students key technology skills, and prepares to test them on those skills at the end of the fifth and eighth grades, many educators say it only makes sense that young people master the machines that will drive the future.

But some also say that the technology standards of learning will be among the most difficult to implement. The enthusiasm for computer education is there among the students and is growing among teachers, but the cost of training staff and supplying equipment is formidable, they say. And in a region where some schools still lack air conditioning, it's hard to imagine that every building will offer its students the same opportunities as Ruffner.

``The dirty little secret is the funding issue, and no one wants to talk about it,'' said Cheryl Williams, director of the National School Board Association's Institute for the Transformation of Technology to Education.

Since the early 1990s, the state has pumped about $200 million into the public schools across Virginia to be used for technology for everything from hardware and software to cabling and training, according to a spokeswoman with the state Department of Education. But some districts say they are still woefully shy of where they need to be. In Norfolk and Virginia Beach alone, the cost of bringing schools up to speed technologically would easily top $100 million.

``We're dealing with the curriculum issues, we're dealing with the training. Our problem is the hardware,'' said K. Edwin Brown, assistant superintendent for accountability and technology in Virginia Beach.

Technology is the only state standard integrated across every other standard. Computers are not meant to be taught as a separate class but as a skill that supports everything else a student learns - using online research as part of social studies or English, for instance, or using spread sheets in math.

Parents, like Virginia Beach mother of five Denise Becker, want to see kids use technology successfully.

``Everybody's going to go to work and every business is turning to computers,'' Becker said. ``Kids have to know computers.''

Students will be tested in such areas as computer theory and vocabulary; the ability to retrieve electronic information from databases, CD-ROMS and the like; the ability to create documents and use graphics in them; and the ability to develop a home page.

Experts say teaching technology appropriately means making it relevant, much as the state is trying to do. Students must see why they're learning what they're learning and how it can be applied to the real world. The focus should never be on a particular program because in the mega-quick world of computer technology, it will soon be outdated.

Equally important, they say, is making sure teachers are comfortable and ready-to-use technology - otherwise the computers will sit idle or be used only as digital worksheets.

``We made the mistake in Virginia about six years ago of putting the computers in the hands of the kids before we adequately trained the teachers,'' said Carolyn Roberson, supervisor of instructional technology for the Norfolk Public Schools. ``We've been playing catch-up ever since.''

School officials across South Hampton Roads said they have extensive training opportunities available for teachers and are working to make technology as accessible as possible to their students.

In most divisions, one or even a small group of teachers at each school will receive extra training so that they can help with basic technology needs and questions at that site. At Virginia Beach's Louise Luxford Elementary School, fifth-grade teacher Janene Gorham has filled that role.

She and principal Alycia Capwell proudly show off the 20 new Pentium computers paid for with state grant money and delivered to the school this summer to replace aging technology in the computer lab. Those older computers will now be scattered among the classrooms.

The goal for Luxford teachers is to have all of them proficient in Windows 95 by the end of the school year. Eight hours of on-site training will be provided on the topic.

``It doesn't have to be accomplished in a day,'' Gorham said of meeting the standards. ``These skills may not all be here the first year, but the foundation is there. It won't be as impossible as we thought.''

The type and age of the technology that is available can vary widely within a division. Some school systems have decided to use Apple computers in the elementary grades and IBM-compatibles at the secondary levels. Others have chosen to go exclusively to an IBM platform. Although older computers are more likey to break down and can't be used to run the most up-to-date software, even those can be used for teaching keyboarding skills, educators say.

Indeed, efforts are being made to get as much use from the equipment as possible. When Ruffner received brand-new Pentium computers this summer, more than 200 Macintoshes from its computer labs went to other schools in the system, so students throughout the division benefited, said principal Cynthia Watson.

Many schools have set up labs where they cluster their newest computers. Those that can, also put an individual computer or two in each classroom.

``The best of all worlds would be a computer per child,'' said Mary Ann Ward, a curriculum coordinator with the Portsmouth schools. ``But that's not possible.''

Supplying the hardware and software is not the only challenge, however. In some schools, the aging electrical systems could not support the sharply increased demand of a computer lab. Some rooms don't even have the necessary three-prong plugs.

Newer schools are being designed and built to better meet the demands of technology. The new I.C. Norcom High being built in Portsmouth, for instance, will be a model for integrating technology into the fiber of a school. Computers will be available in classrooms, in labs throughout the school, in student project rooms, the gym and even the cafeteria.

``Anywhere there's students,'' said technology supervisor Erma Curtis-Evans. ``Except the bathrooms.''

Curtis-Evans estimated that $1 million had been spent on technology for the new school not including the wiring, cabling and other technology-related portions of the infrastructure that were included as part of the total $37.7 million price tag.

The money issue never goes away. While educators agree that every school doesn't need to be a Ruffner or new Norcom, there is still the struggle to provide students with an equitable basic level of access.

For instance in Virginia Beach, the School Board considered asking voters to create a dedicated tax stream to help pay for technology, but decided not to proceed this November because of lingering questions. With a week to go before classes resume, eleven of the city's 53 comprehensive elementary schools have computer labs that can accommodate an entire class of at least 24 students. But even within those labs, the quality of the technology varies.

Even as they face stiff odds at the equipment end of the equation, educators nevertheless say they are committed to meeting the technology standards because of the level of enthusiasm they see from students and teachers and because they recognize the role that computers play now and in the future.

``We know that it's a challenge,'' said Capwell, the principal at Luxford. ``And we know it's an essential.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

FILE

Students are required to learn key technology skills, but many

schools lack the equipment.

POP QUIZ

VP GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

SOURCES: Virginia Beach Public Schools, Virginia Standards of

Learning KEYWORDS: EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY COMPUTERS