Louisiana School Sees Improved Test Scores after
Teachers Make Effective Use of SMART Board Interactive Whiteboards
Plaquemines Parish School District to install SMART products in grades four, eight and ten
New Orleans, LA --- June 22, 2004 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces the purchase of SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards for every grade four classroom and math and language arts classrooms for grades eight and ten in Plaquemines Parish from SMART dealer Creative Presentation. The decision to install was made after Belle Chasse Primary School reported a significant increase in student test scores from the eight fourth-grade classrooms equipped with the same SMART products. Compared to results in the 2003 Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century (LEAP 21), in 2004 this K–4 school had 10 percent more students achieve mastery ratings in each of the four tested areas – language arts, math, science and social studies. LEAP 21 is administered at grades four, eight and ten, and measures how well a student has mastered the state content standards. The five achievement ratings assigned through LEAP 21 are unsatisfactory, approaching basic, basic, mastery and advanced.
The Plaquemines Parish School District used competitive grant funds to support the installation of SMART Board interactive whiteboards and test their effectiveness in Belle Chasse Primary School. Teachers at the school reported increased levels of student engagement and interest. The school also installed a complementary SMART product, the SMART’s Sympodium™ ID250 interactive pen display, in the lunchroom to deliver information on subjects such as foreign languages and geography during the lunch hour.
“The pilot installation of SMART Board interactive whiteboards in our fourth grade classrooms has been a great success,” says Cynthia Hoyle, principal of Belle Chasse Primary School. “Our teachers are extremely enthusiastic about this teaching tool and have done a great job of using them to improve student outcomes. They cannot do without them anymore.”
“The SMART Board interactive whiteboard in my classroom has enabled me to use effective interactive content in a whole-class learning environment,” says Shelley Ritz, a fourth grade teacher at Belle Chasse Primary School. “I have found increased interest, participation and longer attention spans among students as a result of using this tool. It’s incredible. We just cannot go back to the old ways of teaching.”
“We want to ensure that students across the school board enjoy wholesome education and achieve better test scores to enable them to access high-quality education and achieve overall success later in life,” says Carol Roberts, director of secondary education for Plaquemines Parish School District. “The performance of the grade four students at Belle Chasse Primary School has proved that our teachers need these tools to shape a better educational future for the children in our parish.”
“SMART Board interactive whiteboards support a variety of teaching and learning styles, making it possible to achieve the positive students outcomes that have been reported from Belle Chasse Primary School,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s president and co-CEO. “The improved performance of these fourth grade students is the result of teachers’ enthusiastic adoption of SMART products at their school as well as the successful integration of these products into the curriculum. We are confident that teachers across Plaquemines Parish will demonstrate the same success as they put the SMART Board interactive whiteboards to use in their classrooms.”
About SMART Board interactive whiteboards
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is the world’s leading interactive whiteboard. Simply by touching the large interactive display, users can access and control any computer application or multimedia platform, including the Internet and CD-ROMs. Users can also write over applications in digital ink and then edit, save, print or post their notes to a website for future reference. SMART Board interactive whiteboards are used in classrooms, briefing rooms and boardrooms around the world, helping people to collaborate effectively whether they are in the same room or in another location. Feature-rich software and intuitive functionality make the SMART Board interactive whiteboard the number one choice of educators, presenters and trainers in more than 65 countries worldwide.
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For more information, please contact:
Public Relations
SMART Technologies Inc.
300, 1207 - 11th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB CANADA T3C 0M5
Phone +1.403.802.3337 Fax +1.403.228.2500
pr@smarttech.com
Please note that SMART is written in all capital letters.