Albertson Foundation gives Idaho $25M grant

BOISE (AP) - A private foundation is giving the state $25 million to better track student achievement and fulfill a cash commitment toward Idaho's education broadband system.

The investment from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation was announced Wednesday and includes $21 million for the Idaho Department of Education to pay for software designed to improve the performance of students and teachers.

The software is designed and distributed by SchoolNet Inc., a private New York company.

The SchoolNet tool will improve the way schools monitor real-time student progress and teacher effectiveness, said Albertson Foundation Executive Director Jamie MacMillan.

"The foundation has always believed that it was important to move toward a more informed, accountable and transparent education system where data is used to make timely decisions that benefit student learning," MacMillian said in a statement.

The SchoolNet tool will be an extension of Idaho's new longitudinal data system, which was designed to collect and monitor individual student test scores, attendance and other data from the time they enroll in kindergarten. Idaho was the last state to install a longitudinal data system.

With the new software, teachers will be able to cater lesson plans to individual students and develop tests based on a single lesson to see if students retained the material, said state Department of Education spokeswoman Melissa McGrath.

The new software program dovetails with the education reform plan that public schools chief Tom Luna championed during the 2011 Idaho Legislature, McGrath said. The reforms were signed into law earlier this year and shift money in the public schools budget for salaries to fund technology upgrades in the classroom and a new teacher merit pay plan.

Idaho will phase in laptops for high school teachers and students, under the plan.

"This is related to the reforms because we really want teachers to have more technology in the classroom that will assist them in raising student achievement and this type of technology is critical," McGrath said.

The grant money will also cover the remainder of the foundation's $6 million pledge toward the $60 million cost for installing broadband infrastructure statewide for the Idaho Education Network, a project to link public schools, universities and businesses across the state.