Lindsey Burke of the Heritage Foundation relays timely quotes from those who continue to urge traditional public schools to adopt alternative models of instruction.
One of those models, a 1:1 laptop initiative, has been adopted successfully by the Mooresville Graded School District in North Carolina. Political commentator Juan Williams acknowledged the Mooresville initiative in an article published by the Wall Street Journal. Burke quotes the following passage from the article:
All of their textbooks, notes, learning materials and assignments are computerized, allowing teachers and parents to track their progress in real time. If a student is struggling, their computer-learning program can be adjusted to meet their needs and get them back up to speed. And the best students no longer wait on slow students to catch up. Top students are constantly pushed to their limits by new curricular material on their laptops.
Burke urges policymakers to abandon 19th-century education practices and adopt 21st-century delivery models like the one identified above. She concludes, “School choice—whether vouchers, education tax credits, education savings accounts, or virtual schools—ensures that families won’t be left behind when the online learning revolution is in full force.” Right on!
