BENTONVILLE -- The School District's student-to-computer ratio has improved vastly over the past several years, but ratios at each school vary, according to a recent report.
Andy Mayes, the district's director of technology, reported to the School Board last week on equity among the schools regarding student access to electronic devices, including tablets and laptop and desktop computers.
Technology time
This chart lists the number of electronic devices — computers and tablets — each Bentonville school will have this fall. “Equitable portion” refers to the number of devices each school would have if the district’s total was divided among the schools in proportion to their enrollments.
SchoolComputers/tabletsEquitable portion*students per device
Apple Glen Elementary School383472*1.6
Ardis Ann Middle School471484*1.4
Bentonville High School2,6082,628*1.3
Bentonville Gateway program5966*1.5
Bright Field Middle School728493*0.9
Centerton Gamble Elementary School341580*2.3
Central Park Elementary School606592*1.3
Cooper Elementary School430506*1.6
Elm Tree Elementary School254476*2.5
Fulbright Junior High School1,137668*0.8
Lincoln Junior High School830645*1
Mary Mae Jones Elementary School524494*1.2
Old High Middle School463468*1.4
R.E. Baker Elementary School504410*1.2
Barker Middle School344457*1.8
Sugar Creek Elementary School421423*1.3
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School253423*2.2
Washington Junior High School1,249568*0.6
West High School549907*2.2
Willowbrook Elementary School350673*2.5
Source: Bentonville School District
The ratios vary from 0.6 students per device at Washington Junior High School to 2.5 students per device at Elm Tree and Willowbrook elementary schools. The district average is 1.3 students per device.
The numbers include more than 2,600 devices received or ordered using money the state awarded to the district's schools this spring for student success on last year's Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, tests in math and English and language arts.
"When I came here, our standard was one computer per classroom," Mayes said. "What we have held as a goal as a district since my arrival was trying to achieve a 2-to-1 (student-to-device) ratio. So we by and large have achieved that."
The district's collection of electronic devices has grown from about 1,200 to more than 12,000 over the past five years, Mayes said.
He calculated the number of devices each school would have if the district's total was divided among the schools in proportion to their enrollments. By that standard, Willowbrook Elementary School is 323 devices short of its equitable portion. Elm Tree Elementary is 222 devices short.
West High School, which opens in August, has been assigned 549 devices, leaving it 358 short of its equitable portion. Bentonville High School has 2,608 devices, 20 short of its portion.
The different ratios among the schools can be explained in part by how much money each school receives either through state rewards or Title I money.
State reward money may be spent on equipment that will support student performance. It also may be spent on employee bonuses or the hiring of temporary employees to help maintain and improve student performance.
Title I money is used to supplement educational services for disadvantaged students. A school must have at least 40 percent of its students qualify for free or reduced price meals to receive the federal funding.
Debbie Jones, the district's interim superintendent, said the data Mayes presented is a starting point for a technology plan.
"I think this is a big step in the right direction to have a school name, know the number of devices they have and work from this on our future plan," Jones said.
Board member Grant Lightle said knowing the device count is only one piece of information.
"That doesn't tell you whether the schools are utilizing them," Lightle said.
He said the district should know how many hours a week the average kid at Centerton Gamble Elementary School is being exposed to technology-driven solutions versus a kid at Sugar Creek Elementary, for example.
Mayes agreed with Lightle.
"This is not a prescription. It does not tell the whole story. It's just something to use as a conversation starter," he said.
Mayes added he's been impressed by the incredible success of the schools to find creative ways to improve their student-to-device ratios.
The district's 21st Century Technology initiative, which ran from 2012 through last year, also helped boost the number of devices in the district. That program provided 96 grants to teachers, with each grant providing a classroom a set of laptops or tablets.
Mayes said his department's emphasis has been on improving the district's technological infrastructure, so it could support the additional devices.
Mayes is leaving the district this week to become chief information officer for the Rogers School District. He spent four years with Bentonville.
NW News on 06/28/2016