WATERLOO -- Officials saw what may be the next generation of learning for Waterloo Community Schools' students when they visited Florida's Sarasota County in May.

New Superintendent Gary Norris implemented the $300 million Next Generation Learning Plan during his tenure with the Sarasota County School District. It ushered in new teaching strategies and classroom technology in a bid to close the achievement gap and increase the graduation rate.

The four district administrators who visited the school system told the Board of Education this week that there were similarities to what is already happening in Waterloo.

Patrick Clancy, associate superintendent for educational and student services, noted Sarasota has created data teams to better focus student instruction, strives to identify effective instructional practices and groups students into smaller learning communities to better monitor achievement and allow collaborative teacher planning.

But he said it frequently appeared that the 42,000-student district was farther ahead on these efforts than Waterloo, which has about 10,000 students. Sarasota also has taken some steps that Waterloo hasn't attempted yet, such as integrating interactive whiteboard technology into all classrooms. Last summer, Sarasota spent $15 million to install ActivBoard technology and provided training for teachers.

The interactive white boards are equipped with software that allows for both writing and manipulating images on the screen. Students use wireless hand-held devices that allow them to simultaneously respond to a teacher's questions. And they include video capabilities.

"The interactive boards that they use in Sarasota were very exciting to me," said Brad Schweppe, Logan Middle School's new principal.

He witnessed a teacher use an interactive board to access a brief online video, answer a distracted student's question and get the class back on track. A middle school principal told him that discipline problems decreased dramatically because students are so engaged by the technology.

Jane Lindaman, Waterloo's director of learning and results, said Sarasota makes "strong use of the coaching model in each building." This means a staff person was available during the school day to work with teachers on learning and using technology in the classroom.

"It's not completely different from what we're doing; it's just a deeper level of implementation," she said.

"The foundation has been beautifully laid here in Waterloo," said Norris, who was attending his first Waterloo board meeting since taking the helm July 1. "I think we may need to take a look at how planning time is structured, look at how professional development is delivered."

"I would say if we do the technology stuff, that is probably at the most a year away; the capital investment is not that huge," Norris said.

He did add that it likely would require an upgraded fiber backbone and increased bandwidth to provide adequate Internet access to all district classrooms. He said that in Sarasota it was harder to implement the educational reforms than the technology upgrades.

"I hope, by mid-year to two-thirds of the year through, to bring you a plan that has the resources," Norris told the board.

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.