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U.S. LAPTOP SCHOOLS

Outside of Illinois, laptops have proven effective at improving measurable outcomes -- namely, test scores and student performance.

A study of Maine's program, launched in 2002, which gives a laptop to every 7th and 8th grader in all of the state�s 243 middle schools, concluded that the laptops improved scores on writing skills assessments, and that more frequent use is linked to higher scores

The study looked at eighth grade writing scores on the state�s standardized test, the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) prior to the start of the statewide laptop program, and then several years after the first laptops were distributed. They found that 49 percent of eighth-graders were proficient in writing in 2005, compared to 29 percent in 2000. The average student in 2005 scored better than approximately two-thirds of all students in 2000. What's more, over 80 percent of teachers reported that the quality of their students' work has improved since the laptop program started.

Fresno, California�s school district is deploying nearly 10,000 Mini-Note PCs from Hewlett-Packard Co. to students in grades two through 12 in the fall of 2008. HP gave the district a discount for its volume purchase of the Windows-based version of the Mini-Note, keeping the price at $500 per laptop.

In South Carolina, a partnership between the state Department of Education and the non-profit Palmetto Project (funded by philanthropists Erwin Maddrey and Linda Ketner), started a 600-laptop pilot project for kindergarten and elementary students in Marion County, South Carolina.

In Birmingham, Alabama, the city funded a 1,000-laptop pilot program in one Glen Iris Elementary School. It is the precursor to a $3.5 million 15,000-laptop project that will span all the city�s schools in 2008.

Finally, in New York City, �One Laptop Per Child� donated 1,500 laptops to New York City public schools. In 2009, the city school system is planning to issue an ambitious �Request for Proposals�, inviting low-cost computer vendors to propose favorable bulk discount pricing for city schools.

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