8/6/13 - Voyager Elementary will receive more than 200 new high-tech devices this fall thanks to a purchase of more than $100,000 approved by the Howell School Board last night. The purchase will provide and install 32 data projectors, 175 desktop computers with displays, and 32 Google ChromeBook tablets to the school. Some of the desktops will replace units at Howell High School, but the majority of the purchase will go to Voyager Elementary to enable the new Northwest Evaluation Association assessments. The NWEA system was adopted by the district for K-11 schools, and it requires students to have access to high-tech devices. School Board President Mike Witt says the new system will provide a more timely alternative to the traditional MEAP testing, which administers tests in the fall and returns data in the spring. Under that system, he says teachers only find out how their students are performing or in need of attention near the end of the school year. Because they are so heavily based on technology, the NWEA assessments provide test data back to teachers within two weeks and can be administered multiple times per year. Witt says this will give teachers a better understanding of where their students are having difficulty. (TD)
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