Well, for my kids when they went to kindergarten they had to know the alphabet, count to 50, be able to write their full names, and be able to add and subtract single digit numbers before they were considered capable of starting. They then had to be able to write each letter of the alphabet before the 6 week mark or they were considered to be far behind. They would have spelling tests each week starting at the end of those six weeks. Starting at the 3 month mark, they would bring home a reading log where your child has to ready 30 minutes each day at home for home work. At this point the students are allowed to go to the library a often as is needed to get new books for reading because 30 minutes a day can go through a lot of books. This also included the weekends btw. I can go on about this, but I'll finish my points up now to save you all the blah blah blah.
So anyways, I can see how these may be very helpful with these younger students because of a few key capabilities that are inherent to iOS devices. First thing is the fact that it lets you use your fingers to do stuff. I know this sounds silly, but kids love this feature. It can help them learn how to make letters by allowing them to trace an image on the screen. It can help them learn patterns and math easier by allowing them to know if they got it right as soon as they answer the problem. It doesn't have to give them the answer, but by simply telling them it's wrong as soon as they put their answer down would be much more helpful then having to wait a day or two for a graded paper to come back telling them they got it wrong.
Also, these will probably also allow the school to cut down on teacher over time because they can automatically grade or check any work that is done by the students because it's all electronic anyways. Also the amount of money saved in buying the paper handouts can slowly be saved over time as they transition to this style learning materials. It can also save even more time, because in my kids school the run the kids through a computerized test that tracts their progress about every 3 weeks. With the devices already handing out work electronically and storing all the data in real time, it can track all of this stuff and maybe eventually after a while when they wok some things out, there may be no need to do these extra tests, or at least maybe not as frequently.
Now, of course this doesn't simply apply to the iPad or anything Apple specific, but to any device in this category that can be considered to be at least of the same quality as the iPad. But, for $500 plus the discount Apple is sure to give the school, it'll prolly be hard to find a good "Pad" to replace the iPad with. I just hope some of that money listed in the above report is going towards some sort of rubber bumper case-like protective thing to at least allow it to survive several drops from a desk.
I'll leave you with my thought of the fact that things are going this way whether we like it or not, and we are the cause of this effect. We buy these things cuz they are cool and they help us do things. It's only natural that after these things become such a part of our lives that they will need to become a part of our children's lives as well. I mean, my 1st graders had to sit through a typing class 3 times a week for the first half of the school year. Not a fun filled hey lets go play on this weird crazy thing called a computer once or twice a week. This was a full on typing class that assumed your child already knew how the basics of a computer worked. (how to use a mouse, how to open and close programs, how to navigate to different websites, what Microsoft Word is, etc.)
So there you have it, my two cents... lol