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TOP STORY Is It Feasible to Expand Learning


Programs on the School Bus? A handful of districts say yes, but finding resources is a challenge


By Michelle Fisher Word is spreading about creative ways to turn the school bus into a mobile classroom where


students can read, do homework and learn. According to Te New York Times in February, the “Internet buses” traversing Arizona ranchlands have turned into “rolling study halls” where stu- dents quietly work on laptops instead of teasing, shouting, pushing and worse. Arizona school districts plan to equip more buses with Wi-Fi routers from Autonet Mobile, which has already sold them to districts in Florida, Missouri and Washington, D.C. Reading programs aboard the school bus are also drawing attention for improving behavior


and enhancing learning. Students at Mount Vernon Elementary School in Kennebec, Maine, are reading to themselves and to friends during bus rides thanks to “Books on the Bus.” Teach- ers recruited a local high school student to read to kindergartners who would not stay seated. Near Bradenton, Fla., school bus driver Rosemary Peterson started her book club in early


2010 for that very reason. Like “Books on the Bus,” her program rewards children who read and turn in book reports. Peterson has expanded her program, which was featured last year on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, to include current events and history, according to area coordinator Teri Dingler, who notes that further expansion occurred when other bus drivers in the Manatee County (Fla.) School District adopted similar programs. “Te buses that are using the reading programs have certainly seen a reduction in bad behav-


ior. We have one migrant bus … and it’s been a wonderful help,” said Dingler. “We would love to have more programs, but it is an expense.”


THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX Charlie Hood, state director of the Florida Department of Education (DOE) and NASDPTS


past-president, recognizes that lack of funding is the main obstacle for on-board educational programs. Hood would like Florida and other states to more actively support programs that tie school bus time into classroom learning. “It’s feasible to not only have books on school buses but also other technology,” said Hood, a


member of the American School Bus Council. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t see [screens] on school buses before too long. Like with anything, cost is the issue.” Te idea of increasing school hours to improve student achievement is being discussed at


the presidential level, Hood noted. Te federal DOE director of education technology, Karen Cator, told Te Times that the Internet buses in Arizona reflect “a wider effort to use technol- ogy to extend learning beyond classroom walls and the six-hour school day.” Added Hood, “People are trying to think outside of the box right now to meet our nation’s


educational challenges.” T(i)NQ Ed CEO Mary McCaffrey is a strong advocate for utilizing 21st-century tools, such as


Smartphones, to help re-engage students. With 25 years of experience in technology and edu- cation, McCaffrey supports the “WWW” (wherever, whenever, whatever) mentality of today’s multitasking students, or “digital natives.” “Using the school bus as an extension of the classroom is apropos because students do not want


to sit doing nothing for 15, 30, 40 minutes. What better way to guide their learning experience than to provide capacity such as Wi-Fi on a bus, or platforms like our journie product (student-directed learning environment software), that can be used on mobile devices and notebooks,” said McCaffrey.


20 School Transportation News Magazine April 2011


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