In a clear validation of technology's place in the classroom, the Connecticut Board of Education has ruled there is nothing illegal about a controversial program for at-risk students in Woodbury, Conn., that relies on computers instead of educators for instruction.

The May 7 decision was handed down in response to complaints from instructors at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, who argued the state's Student Technology Education Program (STEP)—a computerized curriculum designed to guide potential dropouts through such core subjects as math, science, and English—violated state law by compromising the need for certified teachers in the classroom.

The Nonnewaug Teacher's Association (NTA) took the line that the program's computer-based instruction, which automatically calculates and assesses student performance, had been used to replace teachers with machines. But the board rejected those allegations in unanimous fashion, voting 7-0 to maintain the program despite educators' criticisms.

Students who participate in the STEP program complete their lessons at desktop computers and receive automated assessments, which result in grades handed out by teachers and credits toward graduation, officials said.

But teachers opposed to STEP said they got little direction about what to do in the program and were asked to give grades to students with whom they had very little contact.

"Having observed the program in action, I can tell you that the program completely supplants the teacher in the instructional process," said NTA President Tim Clearly, in an interview with eSchool News last October. (See "Teachers cry foul over instruction by computers," http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=4043.)

At the time, criticism of the program was so widespread among educators in Nonnewaug that the Connecticut Education Association (CEA)—the state's largest teacher's union—agreed to take up the fight on their behalf, requesting that the state hold a hearing to rule on the legality of the program.

CEA officials did not return calls from an eSchool News reporter before press time.

However, STEP's staunchest supporters maintained the program did not violate any laws and that its methods were, in fact, approved by state education officials before its launch.

Following CEA's initial complaint, Tom Murphy, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Education, told eSchool News that department officials had monitored STEP closely, performing at least two site evaluations during the program's inaugural run and finding very few problems.

Murphy did acknowledge some discrepancies concerning the presence of certified teachers in STEP classrooms, however. During the original evaluations, he said, teachers were out of the room for extended periods of time and—in some cases—were found in other buildings.