Outlook 2008
Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mike Kennedy
The research found that 88 percent of the schools that tracked academic results in a ubiquitous computing program reported positive outcomes.
“It appears that properly implemented ubiquitous computing solutions can help improve student achievement to a significant degree,” the report says.
Ubiquitous computing will require teachers to receive training so they can work more effectively in a one-on-one environment. Only 17 percent of district curriculum directors believe their professional development program is set up to effectively support ubiquitous computing.
“Professional development is perhaps the single largest factor in the success or failure of the digital school,” the report says.
The prevalence of computer networks and Internet connections at most schools and universities also has led to a boom in online courses and distance learning. In “America's Digital Schools 2006” school districts reported that 3.8 percent of students were taking part in online courses in 2006; by 2011, the report projected, 15.6 percent of students will be taking online courses.
At the higher-education level, nearly 3.5 million students — about 20 percent of all students — were taking an online course in fall 2006, according to “Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning,” a report by the Babson Survey Research Group. The report gathered responses from more than 2,500 colleges and universities.
More than two-thirds of higher-education institutions have some form of online offerings, the report notes. The most prominent school specializing in online courses is the University of Phoenix. Its online campus reported an enrollment in fall 2006 of more than 165,000 students, far outpacing the numbers found on any brick-and-mortar campus.
Administrative support for online programs is critical for online courses to flourish, the study found.
“For online education to continue its rapid growth, it must be perceived as important by the chief academic officers who are planning tomorrow's educational offerings,” Online Nation says.
With Internet connections in place for academics, schools and universities can take advantage of the bandwidth their computer networks provide. Some districts and college campuses have set up Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems to replace traditional phones.
Continuing technology improvements allow schools and universities to boost student security. Computer networks typically have enough capacity to accommodate numerous video cameras that can provide surveillance of many parts of a school campus. The images captured can be monitored in real time, or recorded and reviewed after the fact. Their presence deters crime and allows security officers to more effectively investigate incidents that do occur.
Some schools have adopted high-tech identification systems using biometric software to determine who is allowed to enter a facility. The systems can scan a finger, hand or even a person's eyes. In Nashville, Tenn., a pilot program that began in 2007 at three schools uses face-recognition technology to compare someone trying to enter a building with a photo database of those authorized to come into a facility.
OUTLOOK business and finance
The costs of running schools and universities continue their steady upward climb. In 1991-92, the nation's public school expenditures were $293 billion, or $6,969 per student. By 2003-04, the amount had risen to $415.5 billion, or $8,561 per student. In “Projections of Education Statistics to 2016,” the federal government projects that by 2016-17, public school expenditures will be between $565 billion and $618 billion. That translates to between $10,598 per student and $11,599 per student.
Making sure there is enough money to pay their staffs and maintain facilities is a perennial battle for administrators. There never seems to be enough money to accomplish the educational objectives, and what is a suitable budget one year can become a nightmare the next because of economic conditions or the whims of legislators. When legislatures or other funding sources tighten the purse strings, administrators can have a hard time sorting through the priorities delivering high-quality education.
In Nevada, superintendents are trying to figure out how to absorb a mid-year 4.5 percent cut to their 2007-08 state funding. At first, schools were spared from the state's cuts, but Gov. Jim Gibbons determined that the size of Nevada's financial shortfall — $440 million over two years — forced him to include school districts in the budget rollbacks.
Administrators say the cuts could lead to layoffs and program cuts. Walt Rulffes, superintendent of the Clark County district, Nevada's largest with more than 300,000 students, says that because the cuts are coming halfway through the school year, they will have to be twice as severe.
For some struggling school systems, the situation has become so dire that government intervention becomes necessary. In Washington, D.C., schools are suffering from declining enrollment, aging facilities in disrepair and poor student achievement.
Mayor Adrian Fenty has persuaded the City Council to give him greater authority over the school system, and Fenty hired Michelle Rhee to the new position of school chancellor. In 2008, she is expected to begin overhauling the school system's central administrative staff; the city council has given her the power to fire non-union employees without cause. Rhee also is moving forward with an unpopular plan to close more than 20 of the district's under-capacity schools.
In Los Angeles, the city's mayor also is pushing forward with efforts to take some control of schools in the Los Angeles Unified District. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's efforts to assume control of the district's operations has been thwarted in the courts, but he has formed a partnership with a non-profit group that will take control of several struggling city schools and provide them with extra support and resources.
The difficulties encountered running a school system have made the job of superintendent a difficult one to fill in some districts, despite the high salary in most large systems. A report issued earlier this year by the American Association of School Administrators, “The State of the American School Superintendency: A Mid-Decade Study,” found that 60 percent of superintendents found their job “very stressful.”
“These are the highest stress levels in any AASA state of the superintendency study, as superintendents face the pressure of meeting increasing expectations with dwindling resources,” the AASA says. Still, the report noted, 9 out of 10 superintendents say they find their work rewarding and believe they have made the right career choice.
OUTLOOK energy
Higher energy prices and a weak U.S. dollar may combine to ruin utility spending forecasts for schools and universities in 2008. Education institutions that have taken steps to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels to heat and light their facilities, and power their buses and other vehicles will be in a better position to keep their school systems operating smoothly without busting their budgets.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy's EnergySmart Schools program, schools can cut their energy costs by 5 to 20 percent by improving operations and maintenance. Lighting, which represents from 25 to 40 percent of a typical school's energy costs, is one area where energy-saving steps can make a significant difference in utility bills.
The use of daylighting strategies to reduce dependency on electric lights has become more accepted in recent years at schools and universities. Accelerating that acceptance were studies that have indicated that students perform better in classrooms with ample amounts of natural light.
Properly designed clerestory windows, roof monitors and lightshelves allow daylight to be dispersed uniformly and prevent glare. Baffles can further diffuse daylight in a space.
To further reduce the use of artificial lights, schools can use sensors that adjust lighting levels depending on the availability of natural light or whether anyone is using a particular space. Timers also can be installed to automatically control lights.
Compact fluorescent and smaller-diameter fluorescent tubes provide more light with less energy than incandescent bulbs or wider fluorescent tubes.
Reducing the use of electric lights also means less heat is generated. Another way schools can prevent unwanted heat from entering a facility is installing cool roofs, which typically are made of light-colored, reflective materials that turn away sun rays.
Alternative energy sources can help schools acquire the power they need at lower costs. Some education institutions use wind turbines to harness energy and use it to power their facilities. The federal government's goal is for wind power to provide 20 percent of the nation's electricity by 2030.
The Department of Energy's Wind Powering America program works with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to bring wind power to schools, especially in rural areas. Schools in 23 states have school wind projects.
In addition to the energy savings, wind power projects can be used to educate students about how energy is produced.
Solar power is another way schools can acquire energy more efficiently. Photovoltaic cells atop school roofs can be used to capture sun rays and convert them to energy. In Florida, the SunSmart Schools program provided photovoltaic systems to 17 schools and colleges in 2006-07. In California, Pacific Gas & Electric's Solar Schools program provides photovoltaic panels to up to 40 schools a year so they can cut electricity costs and teach students about solar energy.
Some schools have been able to lessen their reliance on fossil fuels for their energy needs by installing geothermal heating and cooling systems, which take advantage of the constant temperature of the earth. In the summer, heat pumps remove heat from a building and store it in the ground; in the winter, the system pumps heat from the ground back into the building.
Systems such as a geothermal heat pump can be expensive, and schools may not have the finances to pay for such a large upfront cost — even though administrators know they can save money in the long run with a more efficient system.
For many schools and universities, the solution is a performance contract. An energy company agrees to pay the initial costs of installing more energy-efficient equipment in an education facility. The school or university agrees to repay the cost of the new system out of the savings generated by the more efficient system.
The rising cost of fuel hits school district transportation budgets especially hard, so administrators should be open to alternatives that will enable them to run their fleets more efficiently. Several districts around the country are experimenting with electric-hybrid school buses.
The Austin (Texas) district began using a plug-in hybrid school bus in November — the first district in Texas to buy such a bus. The district estimates that with an electric drive and a diesel engine, the bus will get about 12 miles a gallon, compared with about 6 miles a gallon for a typical diesel-powered bus. Battery packs that provide the electric power to the bus are recharged overnight.
Kennedy, staff writer, can be reached at mkennedy@asumag.com.
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