A Computer in the Classroom [microform]

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: A group of seven people, four parents, two teachers and a school principal, launched a program to provide a computer in every classroom. After considerable reading and discussion, the group which had grown to include the P.T.A. Executive Board, two-thirds of the staff of this K-6 elementary school in a middle-class neighborhood, decided to buy Apple computers because of the availability of software for education. We had paper drives, two Halloween candy sales, aluminum can drives, direct solicitation of parents, solicitation of companies and businesses and several other fund drives. Several businesses gave special days for our P.T.A. and we received 50% of their profit over and above their normal amount. We have a P.T.A. vice-president who took on the leadership of this project. We basically clarified our goal, acquired a working knowledge base and sold the program with gusto. We have raised over $40,000.00 in the past two years, with approximately $25,000.00 for hardware and software. We also acquired a $2,500.00 grant from Region 7 TEC Center for inservice training for teachers last spring. This year we are asking our P.T.A. for another $2,500.00 for inservice training since teacher expertise is the significant variable in our program. The unstinting support of teachers by the P.T.A. has virtually all of the teachers enthusiastic about computers in education. We are building our software library and continue to stress teacher inservice and support. This document was selected by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Task Force on Public Confidence as descriptive of a promising practice or exemplary project worthy of highlighting for the California educational community. (Author)