New Microphones Are Bringing Crystal-Clear Changes

She urged school administrators to install audio systems in all classrooms, but there was little progress until a new special education director, Pamela Downing-Hosten, arrived three years ago. Downing-Hosten had seen the systems work in California. She had worked in Prince George's before and had heard Mickelson's pitch. She called the audiologist. "Are you still interested in going forward?" she asked.

"Absolutely," Mickelson said.

Last year, Audio Enhancement systems were installed in all 398 kindergarten classrooms in Prince George's, by far the largest number for any school system in Maryland. This year, technicians are installing the systems in 505 first-grade classes. The idea is to add the devices to one more grade each year, as well as to install them in new and renovated buildings.

Officials in Fairfax, Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties say that the audio systems are being installed in their new and renovated buildings, too but that they have no plans to put them in all schools.

Maury Elementary's Walsh said her first reaction to having a microphone around her neck, when she arrived in Alexandria two years ago, was "this is kind of weird." But, she said, she learned that "it really does help with the distractibility of the kids. It gives them more focus and allows every kid to hear your voice at the same level."

The only annoyance she has encountered is occasional static or a loud squeal when she is standing under a ceiling speaker. "That just drives the kids crazy, but it is easy to overcome," she said.

There's another added benefit, teachers say. The student microphones seem to cut through the shyness that often keeps young voices low and inaudible. One teacher told Mickelson: "I have this child who has not talked the whole year. I gave her the microphone, and you should hear her now."

Mickelson said that she wondered how veteran teachers would react to a sudden change in the way they communicated with students but that she has yet to hear any complaints.

"I tell them, 'Just try it for two weeks,' " she said. "And when I go back, they make it clear that if I tried to take away that microphone, they would kill me."