Logon for Learning, Inc. a newly formed, non-profit organization that came to be after the success of the ON_DEC (Our Neighborhood Digital Education Community) program at JPMorgan Chase.
ON_DEC, an acronym which means Our Neighborhood Digital Education Community was first envisioned by former CEO/Chairman of JPMorgan Chase, Bill Harrison in 2000 and was a project to see if the Bank could leverage its resources - financial, technical and human - to focus on one school to see if the company's help could produce a model approach that lifted student outcomes. Since the program started, the school has received significant professional development in change management, working with data, "how to" sessions on using technology in the classroom as well as providing PC and internet access to the entire school community (teachers, students and their families received computers if they completed the requisite training). Moreover, in developing the model, we found it necessary to keep the technology working with on-site technical support at the school and other capacity building programs that meet the particular needs of the school community. Eight years later, the program at Ditmas IS 62 in Brooklyn, NY has demonstrated consistent progress on all fronts - students are more engaged, teachers are motivated and parents are more involved - which has all led to progress on most student achievement indicators.
JPMorgan Chase has also graciously supported the ON_DEC program model for the past four years at SlighMiddle School in Tampa, Florida where we are starting to see the changes in school culture take hold.
Given the successes at Ditmas and Sligh, coupled with the positive results from a three-year longitudinal study of the program's effectiveness by Policy Studies Associates, Inc., it was now time to get other schools and funders involved. In order to replicate this model and raise additional funds, it was necessary to break away from operating inside the Bank and to set the course under a new organization to move this work forward and ultimately, help more school communities. Logon for Learning is now open for business.
