Endorsed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Superintendent of Instruction Jack O’Connell, School2Home is a comprehensive program to assist low-performing California middle schools in implementing costeffective, technology-based strategies to improve student educational outcomes and digital literacy. These strategies center on providing each student with a computing device to use in the classroom and at home with his or her family, and to leverage the power of broadband to deliver educational resources and strengthen school-to-home connections.
The goals of School2Home are to:
- Increase digital literacy and educational performance among targeted middle school students.
- Improve the 21st Century skills of students so they can contribute to a more competitive workforce upon
- graduation.
- Strengthen the involvement of parents in the education of their child through the use of home-based digital technologies and, in turn, expand the adoption of broadband technology.
To accomplish these goals, School2Home enables schools to equip each student with a computing device for school and home and works with teachers and parents to ensure these devices are used to transform the classroom and reinforce learning at home. The program therefore includes professional development for teachers to help them maximize their use of digital tools for teaching and learning, and digital literacy training for parents so they can safely guide the online activities of their child and access valuable online resources. School2Home also ensures all families have Internet access at home by offering affordable broadband to underserved families. School2Home also encourages strong educational relationships by enabling online learning communities, offering teacher and principal learning academies and providing web-based collaboration tools for students, parents and teachers.
The approach of School2Home is distinct from other school technology programs. School2Home places equal importance on the home and school environments as places for learning and works to enrich student opportunity by making stronger connections between them. The program builds on evidence and lessons learned from 1-to-1 laptop initiatives across California and the country and also advances the growing body of research underscoring the educational significance of a home computer and Internet access. While technology-rich classrooms connect students to updated information, engaging multimedia and distance learning, home computers lengthen the school day, facilitate individualized homework assignments and provide opportunities to engage parents as learning partners.
School2Home aims to support both the school and home learning environments in a way never undertaken by a school technology program and on a scale never achieved in California. By capitalizing on economies of scale and model program components, School2Home can be easily replicated and evaluated to provide the kind of evidence-based education California needs to close the Achievement Gap and the Digital Divide.