Plato lab gives students extra help

By Carol Rolf

LITTLE ROCK — Plato is alive and well at Morrilton High School.

Not the Greek philosopher himself, of course, but a Plato Learning lab for students needing a little extra help.

Although Plato is not an acronym, Wendy Duff, facilitator of the Morrilton program, offers this meaning: Potential Learners Achieving by Technological Opportunities.

The Plato lab is used for three purposes, explained Dr. Tamekia Love Brown, principal at Morrilton High School. It is used for remediation, test preparation for end-of-course tests and credit recovery.

"Students in grades nine through 12 use the lab," Duff said. "We use Plato software on the computers. Each computer (there are 25 in the classroom) has headphones and each student works at his or her own pace. It's based on what the student's needs are. They work on different subjects."

Brown added, "We focus mainly on the core subjects."

Since this is the first year for the program at the high school, there is no "hard data on proven results," Brown said. "But from all indications of the teachers who work with these students, it's working well."

Brown said several schools in Arkansas have Plato labs and the facilitators "collaborate with each other to maximize the potential of the software."

Duff, who taught at Morrilton Middle School before transferring to the high school this year, received training on the software before the program began this fall. In addition to monitoring the Plato lab, which is open six periods a day, Duff serves as the assistant librarian at the high school. Bryan Swymn is also a Plato lab facilitator. Assistant facilitators are Stacey Heston and Ernest Downs.

Duff said the amount of time a student spends in the Plato lab depends on his needs.

"We have some who study for sixweeks, trying to improve their test scores or other skills, but those who are trying to recover a credit are in the lab for at least a semester," Duff said. Students who have failed a subject and need to make up that class are among those who use the lab for credit recovery.

Each student listens to the tutorial through the headset. "They can listen to the tutorial as many times as they want or need to before moving on to the next phase," she said.

"They go through the application to practice the lesson, or module, then they are tested," Duff said. "Theyhave to score 80 percent or better on the master test to proceed." In fact, the software program will not let the student advance unless he has scored at that percentile. "It locks up, and sends the student back to the tutorial," Duff explained.

Brown said earlier in the year, the 11th-grade English and geometry teachers collaborated with the Plato trainers to align what's being taught on the computer program to what's being taught in the classroom.

"We want to all be on the same line," Duff said.

Participation in the Plato lab is scheduled through the counselor's office, just as any class is.

"Some students who are assigned to study hall, which is not counted as a credit, can come into the Plato lab at different times to complete a credit," Brown added.

Duff offers the students an incentive to participate and complete modules in the Plato lab. Each week, she gives the student a numbered ticket, and at the end of the week, they draw for a prize.

Brown said, "It might be a candy bar or a homework pass. Or maybe even tickets to the movie."

"I'm working on getting some free movie tickets," Duff said with a laugh. "Doing this really gives the students an incentive to do well."

Brown said the South Conway County Public School Foundation was instrumental in getting the Plato lab for Morrilton High School. "The foundation is a local organization," Brown said. "One focus of the foundation is to raise money to help out our schools. They were instrumental in bringing about the Plato lab and in funding it. We could not have it without their support."

Brown noted the Plato lab has "endless possibilities" since it is a Webbased program. "For example, we could use if for home-bound students if we needed to," she said. "There are many potential uses for the future." More information may be found at the Web site, www.plato.com.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 72 on 03/06/2008