1 to 1 Supports Transformation of Maine Classrooms

Profiles in Success: Maine Public Schools

Augusta, Maine — In March of 2002, former Governor of Maine Angus King pledged his support for educational technology by announcing the country’s most ambitious learning technology initiative to date — the distribution of wireless iBook computers to all 36,000 middle school students and teachers in the state. Since then, King’s successor, Governor John Baldacci, has enthusiastically endorsed the Maine Technology Learning Initiative (MLTI), and the extension of the laptops’ reach into his state’s high schools. Educators all over the U.S. have been eagerly anticipating the results of research conducted in classrooms that have been using the laptops. Now, with two years of research and analysis completed, the State of Maine is sharing their good news with the community.

“When I came into office, the University of Southern Maine was doing a study on the impact of the laptop initiative,” Baldacci notes. “Although the study was incomplete at the time, the researchers had seen tremendous promise. Also, during my campaign I heard from numerous parents that I needed to keep the iBook program going. It meant a lot to their children, some of whom were never doing homework before, and were actually enjoying it and staying after school to study. What I heard was remarkable!

“It’s really about developing constant, lifelong learners who are expert thinkers and problem-solvers. Our iBook initiative allows and supports that kind of learning, in ways we never could have imagined.”

— Bette Manchester, Director of Special Projects, Maine Department of Education

“Since I’ve been in office, I think the research has begun to quantify the laptops’ very positive impact,” Baldacci continues. “Once Governor King and our legislature opened up to our students the knowledge that’s available through the Internet and the wireless iBook laptops, I felt it was our responsibility to maintain that openness and accessibility. We just can’t turn back now.”

Classroom Research Results in Similar Findings

Maine received one of ten federal grants that enabled the launch of a three-year, scientific research project to study the impact of the 1 to 1 program on student achievement and teacher professional development in mathematics. The analysis of Maine’s 1 to 1 learning program took a multipronged approach, and required countless hours of collaboration between the research teams and school principals, teachers, and students. MLTI’s researchers were culled from the University of Southern Maine’s Maine Education Policy Research Institute, the Maine Department of Education, and Classroom Connections International in Canada.

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