Wawasee Hears Reports On Donations, ACT Panel, Computerization
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By John DeGroff-
Superintendent Dr. Tom Edington presented three donations that were awarded to the district.
The first was a $500 gift from Dr. Neil Van Ness, Kosciusko Community Hospital, to the athletic department.[[In-content Ad]]A gift of $2,469 was presented by the North Webster Parent Teacher Family Organization for the purchase of two basketball goals for the playground at North Webster.
Another gift mentioned was a camcorder, valued at $665, presented to the high school science department by Mr. and Mrs. Steve Rozow. The camcorder already has started to be put to use by chemistry teacher Kim Nguyen.
"Nguyen is going to use this to podcast his lessons," said Edington. "If a student is absent, they would be able to go to a certain Web site and view it, or download it. Also, if a student wishes to review a lesson, this would make it available to them for that purpose. Some could literally download a lesson, or even a portion of a lesson, to their iPod and then watch it."
According to Edington, the use of a camcorder to make classroom lessons available online is something that other schools and colleges are beginning to use.
Syracuse Elementary School Principal Jim Garner, along with several students, were on hand to demonstrate Leap Pads. A Leap Pad is a device where a specially designed book is inserted into an electronic unit that helps the student read the text. It can say words that the child might not know, and offers other reading help as well. The Leap Pad can be taken home by students, in a backpack made especially for it. The device is the size of a small laptop computer and is rechargeable.
Phil Metcalfe, chair of Wawasee's ACT committee, spoke before the board on goals set by the committee for the district. The concept is to focus each school in the district on the same goals in basic education, such as reading skills, writing and communication and mathematics ability.
Dr. Robert Cockburn presented information regarding a computer program that consolidates students' test scores throughout their school career. This will keep track of scores on both the Indiana State Test of Educational Progress and tests produced by the school.
"A teacher either in third grade or 10th grade can see how a child has scored," said Edington. "This not only measures progress, but can also serve as a way to detect potential weak areas early on. The system is secure, not everyone can get the information. When we talk about No Child Left Behind, in the future, this is going to key in on individual students' progress, more than even the school progress. We will be able to see how individual students all hopefully are gaining, every year that they are in school."
It was announced by Edington that the Indiana State Board of Education has adopted a new testing format. During the 2008-2009 school year, testing will be in the fall and spring, with end of course testing possibly in May. Nothing has been officially announced yet.
Edington said that possibly very soon, a lot of testing could eventually be moved into a computer format. Instead of the traditional paper and pencil test, students will take a test via computer and have results automatically and immediately scored.
Wawasee School Board members are Dallas Winchester, Mike Wilson, Becky Linnemeier, George Gilbert and Mary Louise Dixon.
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Superintendent Dr. Tom Edington presented three donations that were awarded to the district.
The first was a $500 gift from Dr. Neil Van Ness, Kosciusko Community Hospital, to the athletic department.[[In-content Ad]]A gift of $2,469 was presented by the North Webster Parent Teacher Family Organization for the purchase of two basketball goals for the playground at North Webster.
Another gift mentioned was a camcorder, valued at $665, presented to the high school science department by Mr. and Mrs. Steve Rozow. The camcorder already has started to be put to use by chemistry teacher Kim Nguyen.
"Nguyen is going to use this to podcast his lessons," said Edington. "If a student is absent, they would be able to go to a certain Web site and view it, or download it. Also, if a student wishes to review a lesson, this would make it available to them for that purpose. Some could literally download a lesson, or even a portion of a lesson, to their iPod and then watch it."
According to Edington, the use of a camcorder to make classroom lessons available online is something that other schools and colleges are beginning to use.
Syracuse Elementary School Principal Jim Garner, along with several students, were on hand to demonstrate Leap Pads. A Leap Pad is a device where a specially designed book is inserted into an electronic unit that helps the student read the text. It can say words that the child might not know, and offers other reading help as well. The Leap Pad can be taken home by students, in a backpack made especially for it. The device is the size of a small laptop computer and is rechargeable.
Phil Metcalfe, chair of Wawasee's ACT committee, spoke before the board on goals set by the committee for the district. The concept is to focus each school in the district on the same goals in basic education, such as reading skills, writing and communication and mathematics ability.
Dr. Robert Cockburn presented information regarding a computer program that consolidates students' test scores throughout their school career. This will keep track of scores on both the Indiana State Test of Educational Progress and tests produced by the school.
"A teacher either in third grade or 10th grade can see how a child has scored," said Edington. "This not only measures progress, but can also serve as a way to detect potential weak areas early on. The system is secure, not everyone can get the information. When we talk about No Child Left Behind, in the future, this is going to key in on individual students' progress, more than even the school progress. We will be able to see how individual students all hopefully are gaining, every year that they are in school."
It was announced by Edington that the Indiana State Board of Education has adopted a new testing format. During the 2008-2009 school year, testing will be in the fall and spring, with end of course testing possibly in May. Nothing has been officially announced yet.
Edington said that possibly very soon, a lot of testing could eventually be moved into a computer format. Instead of the traditional paper and pencil test, students will take a test via computer and have results automatically and immediately scored.
Wawasee School Board members are Dallas Winchester, Mike Wilson, Becky Linnemeier, George Gilbert and Mary Louise Dixon.
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