A survey from teachers and school principals guided the Springfield Board of Education to approve purchasing Chromebooks for students.
With a 6-0-1 vote, the board on Feb. 27 approved a purchase of 8,657 Chromebooks at a cost of about $2.38 million. Of those devices, 1,867 of them will be touchscreen devices for use by kindergarten students.
Board member Kelly Byrne abstained from the vote — while he said he appreciated hearing how helpful having Chromebooks are, he could not bring himself to fully support the proposal.
“I’m still conflicted about the kindergarten Chromebooks, yet I do acknowledge that we need these in the rest of the grades, and teachers need what they need to do their job,” Byrne said. “Had we voted separately on first through ninth grade, I would have passed it without questioning it. I’m hung up on the kindergarten portion.”
Survey helps identify need
During a Feb. 13 discussion of the purchase, the board revisited previous concerns about purchasing Chromebooks on a one-to-one basis, where every student uses their own device. Byrne, as well as board members Maryam Mohammadkhani and Steve Makoski wondered if SPS could buy fewer Chromebooks and students could share devices.
Bruce Douglas, chief information officer for SPS, said during that meeting that the devices were intended to replace older Chromebooks and iPads that are outdated and will no longer receive security updates from their manufacturers. New Chromebooks are intended to replace iPads.
A new survey of 84 kindergarten teachers and principals in Springfield showed that 82.1% of them favored having a device for each student, when compared with options for sharing, or not having devices at all.
Respondents emphasized that having one-to-one technology eases the login process, and that Chromebooks are the only way for students to take Galileo screenings. Galileo is the computer-based screening tool SPS uses for ensuring Springfield students are meeting learning standards set by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Motion to separate kindergarten Chromebooks fails
While the purchase agreement did not get any “no” votes, it took about an hour of discussion for board members to get to the 6-0-1 result.
Byrne, who spoke first during debate, made a motion to separate the purchase of Chromebooks for kindergartners from the rest of the proposal, for a separate vote. Byrne said even with the survey results, he wasn’t convinced the purchase was a good one, and wondered if the school district would be better off not including Galileo for kindergartners.
“What I’m seeing here is a very classic example over here about teaching to the test,” Byrne said. “I’m seeing (survey responses) that we need the Chromebooks so we can do Galileo testing, but I’m not seeing much of a case for teachers saying we need this because it’s what’s best for the students to learn.”
Board member Shurita Thomas-Tate said she drew a different answer from the survey responses. Thomas-Tate saw responses of how Chromebooks would ease transitions between lessons and help engage students.
“I see that teachers are using them for more than just testing, and that logging on is not the only reason that they want to have devices one on one,” Thomas-Tate said. “I understand the challenges of having to share devices. Time on task is something that teachers are accountable for, and trying to get enough opportunity for instructional time in classrooms is hard when you have to spend time with transitions.”
Board member Judy Brunner said the survey responses showed the devices were being used in a balanced manner, compared to pencil and paper.
“I was glad to see a balance in here between textbooks and screen time,” Brunner said. “I didn’t see anything in here that alarmed me, that students were spending an unnecessary amount of time in the computers when they had them.”
More technology talk coming in 2024
The discussion referenced an upcoming technology comprehensive plan that the board will be asked to evaluate over the summer. Requested by board member Maryam Mohammadkhani, the technology plan will help guide decisions about device use across the school district for the next few years.
After the discussion veered into homework policies, upcoming curriculum plans and more, Brunner made a motion to call up the purchase agreement for a vote. Byrne’s motion for separating the kindergarten devices failed with a 4-3 vote, paving the way for the final vote in favor of the purchase.
“Last year, this board had questions about whether or not our teachers wanted the Chromebooks for kindergartners and overwhelmingly the teachers said yes, they needed them on a one-to-one basis, and the board as a whole decided that wasn't enough,” Board President Danielle Kincaid said before the vote. “This year, we asked them again, and they overwhelmingly said yes[...] I'm hoping that this board will respect the professional statement of the teachers in our classrooms.”
