Communication
Finances
Professional Development
Scheduling
School Facilities
Technology
Computer Training, Lab Time, and Equipment

The following observations regarding logistical obstacles were expressed in interviews with Project participants.

"Obstacles can really get in the way of good theory," says media literacy coach Jeff Share with a smile. "Finding time, finding the digital camera that's been borrowed, dealing with a video player that doesn't work and teachers who've been pulled out for training," are some of the difficulties that crop up."

"It's important," says CML President and CEO Tessa Jolls, "not to let logistics interfere with the true purpose of the project."

Communication

"Because it is so complex with so many people involved, technology itself enables the Project," Jolls explains. "Without e-mail it wouldn't have been possible."

An online virtual community at www.nicenet.org, established in Year 3 of SMARTArt, keeps participants informed of workshop schedules, coaching sessions, and more. It provides access to lesson plans, curricular resource materials, and coach Share's "Demonstration Lesson Notes," which describe classroom media literacy activities taking place as the Project progressed.

Finances

Getting contract monies released isn't always easy, according to Jolls. Grant funds are sent directly to the lead education agency, LAUSD, and the Center for Media Literacy has a contract with them, but delays occur. For instance, "grant monies released in October were not distributed until June," Jolls says. In general, internal bureaucracies of schools and districts are not geared to working with community partners easily.

"The federal government is trying to encourage outside partnerships with schools and with outside agencies," Jolls says. "Often, however, schools are unprepared for handling the business side of that relationship; so you have to be prepared for that."

Professional Development

The biggest hurdle in professional development, according to coach Share, is that "most teachers feel overly restricted by the mandated Open Court program and the excessive constraints of testing and preparing for testing. Teachers really need perspective about the big goals of education to balance what the students need with all the new school requirements," he says. "This is where media literacy can help to focus teachers on the critical thinking skills that will help their students far more than the mere acquisition of isolated facts."

Share asserts that "the comment I hear most often from teachers is 'This is what I really want to be doing but I'm overwhelmed by all the testing I have to do, and Open Court, and other mandated curricula.' Open Court is a huge program and to implement it takes more time than is available; that's how it is designed," says Share. "It takes a teacher with confidence to be able to not do some of the things they're told to do because they know they're doing what the kids really need."

Another challenge is that traditional teacher preparation courses focus more on theory than on implementation. Teachers need to have enough experience to trust their intuition and do something different than how they were taught in college.

Scheduling

The three tracks at this year-round school make Project scheduling incredibly complex. Working on alternating schedules, the school year for Track A teachers begins in August and ends in June; Track B goes from July to June; and Track C from July to April. Leo Politi's multitrack system works on a model called "Concept 6" in which every four months one track comprising of one third of the school's students and teachers rotates off for two months of vacation while a different track rotates on.

Three school tracks make it cumbersome to schedule artists. For instance, exposing all SMARTArt students to the four visual and performing arts disciplines meant that in Year 3 eight artist/educators made four to six visits to each of the 16 Project teachers' classrooms.

Year-round schools add a level of complexity to everything, even media literacy demonstration programs.

School Facilities

"The year-round facilities at the elementary school are under stress," Jolls says. "There is no break between tracks; when one goes off on a Friday, another begins the following Monday." Group facilities, such as an auditorium that is constantly in use, need maintenance. Problems with overbooking the multi-purpose auditorium occurred in the first two years when dance, or other instructional sessions that required more space, were not available when needed.

Technology

The shift in the Project's last year to having teachers produce the student animations is a big one. In the first two years, students produced their 30-second PSAs with AnimAction professional artists in a one-day workshop. In FY2003-2004 teachers were trained to use The BOX! Animation Production Studio™ with four classroom coaching sessions supporting the endeavor.

Computer Training, Lab Time, and Equipment
The school provides teachers with limited professional development in computer technology, none of it in the classroom. Students' time in the computer lab is approximately 40 minutes-to-one hour once a week.

Classroom computers are typically older than those in the computer lab. In both areas, limited technical support means the equipment needs maintenance. Currently, one technical assistant works in the lab three hours a day.

The school's lab is supplied with a good selection of technology tools, but more digital cameras and camcorders would better accommodate media literacy studies. Presently equipment includes:

• 25 Macintosh computers
• 1 PC to use with The BOX! Animation Production Studio™
• Various software, ranging from HyperStudio® and KidPix® to Microsoft Office® and Power Point®. Skill-building software includes Thinking Things® and other vocabulary and math programs.
• Three digital cameras
• Two camcorders
• One TV and one VCR

Generally, lack of computer training and lab time, and minimal maintenance of technology equipment are common areas of difficulty in public schools. Until those items receive more attention in the educational system, "you have to be realistic in what you expect from teachers," Jolls says. On the up side, dedicated teachers can sometimes find ways to get around technical difficulties. When the school's TV and VCR were broken, some teachers brought in their own from home; one SMARTArt teacher bought this equipment for his classroom. In 2004, two TVs and two VCRs were purchased with funds from the Project's budget.