The Mooresville Graded School District may rank 100th out of 115 North Carolina school districts in per-pupil spending. It might serve a community where 40 percent of its students are eligible for free or reduced lunches. Nevertheless, since the initiation of a progressive digital conversion program four years ago, Mooresville has risen from 38th on the list of the state's "Schools of Distinction" to No. 3 in 2011. End-of-term composite test scores at Mooresville High School rose 21 percent during the same period, and 13 percent for third-graders across the district. Oh, and the district's dropout rate fell 54 percent.
The fact that MGSD was able to create one of the most successful 1-to-1 laptop computing programs in the United States--despite rough economic conditions--might qualify it as a Cinderella story all on its own, even without the accompanying academic success. It's one reason why this program and its impact on academic achievement earned the Mooresville district the 2012 Sylvia Charp Award . |
