Federal Funds to Enhance Education Through Technology FY 2009-10

Cover Page

APPLICATION

Federal Funds to Enhance Education Through Technology FY 2009-10.

Local Competitive – Title II, Part D of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Name of Applicant
District/Agency: / Windham Public Schools
Town Code: / 163
Fiscal Agent (if other than applicant): / Windham Public Schools
Grant Contact: / Dr. Ana Maria Olezza, Dir. Of Grants & Developmental Programs
Phone: / (860) 465-2315
Fax: / (860) 465-2576
E-mail: /
Address: / 322 Prospect Street, Willimantic, CT 06226
Name of
Superintendent/Director: / Dr. Doreen Fuller, Superintendent of Schools
E-mail: /
Signature of Superintendent/Director: / Date: 2/6/09

Application Preparation Check-off Sheet

The submitted application has the following:

ü  Cover Page

ü  Application Preparation Check-off Sheet

ü  Application Abstract

ü  Grant Elements

ü  Fiscal Information

ü  Appendix A: Statement of Assurances

ü  Appendix B: Debarment and Suspension

ü  Appendix C: Affirmative Action Packet is on File

ü  Appendix D: Supplement not Supplant Assurance

ü  Appendix E: Using the Template “Elements for Assured Experiences”, LEAs must submit three sample Assured Experiences

ü  A written guarantee from the superintendent or executive director that the AEs developed as part of this project will be instituted (at least as a pilot project) for a minimum of one year. – See attached letter from Doreen Fuller, Superintendent of Windham Public Schools and Sections 19-22 on pages 27 & 28 in this proposal.

Proposals must format their narrative in the order as detailed in the scoring rubric. (see Appendix G, page 24) If the order of the rubric is not followed or if Assured Experiences are not included, then the proposal may be disqualified.

Grant Preparer: _ Dr. Ana Maria Olezza, Dir. Of Grants & Developmental Programs & Jane Cook, EASTCONN Literacy & Technology Specialist______Date: __2/6/09______

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Application Abstract (limit abstract to one page)

1)  An Application Abstract that explains the proposed project that uses assured experiences (AEs) to integrate the use of technology/21st Century Skills into core subject areas in Grades 4-8.

Technology Experiences Assured for Middle School (TEAMS)

“We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t exist yet…using technologies that haven’t yet been invented…to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”

- Attributed to Richard Riley, former Secretary of Education

This is the challenge for teachers in the 21st century. This is the challenge that the TEAMS proposal aims to address. TEAMS is more than an acronym; TEAMS is a concept that involves teachers working together collaboratively to develop high quality standards-based lesson plans and curriculum units that use technology as a tool and a motivator to engage students in meaningful learning activities to prepare them for the 21st century. Through TEAMS, Windham Middle School, a large middle school with nearly 1,000 students and 100 teachers, proposes to train teams of teachers who represent grades 5 through 8 and all content areas, to embed technology as a tool for teaching and learning across all of the core curriculum areas. TEAMS participating teachers will develop interdisciplinary projects that teach their students how to learn and apply such 21st Century Skills as “using information and communications technology (ICT) to gather and assess information, collaborate, innovate, think critically, and solve problems”. (Source: eSchool News archive on Measuring 21st Century Skills at: http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/measuring-21st-century-skills/ )

Teachers will receive intensive professional development during the 2009 TEAMS Summer Institute working with Jane Cook, EASTCONN Staff Development Specialist/Literacy and Educational Technology Coach and part-time Windham Middle School Literacy and Technology Coach. Participating TEAMS teachers will receive “hands on” training in using a variety of technology tools and topics including: wireless laptops and peripherals, Internet search strategies, MY Access online writing tools and Web 2.0 tools. During and after the training, teachers will write lesson plans and curriculum units which embed 21st Century Skills and technology as tools for teaching and learning. During the 2009-2010 school year, Jane will provide twenty-two days of coaching support working with individuals and teams of teachers and their students, planning, offering demonstration lessons, team teaching and assisting with development of assured experiences. “Just-in-Time” training will be provided through a series of after-school sessions on additional technology tools that support teaching and learning based on the participants’ needs. An online Wikispace created by Jane Cook will ensure 24/7 virtual support with electronic resources, materials and threaded discussions, serving not only as a resource but as a model of effective use of technology to support learning.

Each team of TEAMS teachers will be responsible for developing at least one Assured Technology Experience, a lesson plan or curriculum unit which embeds technology tools and 21st Century Skills across the core content areas of English/Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. TEAMS teachers will pilot their Assured Technology Experiences with their students during the 2009-2010 school year and will write up their final reflections so that other districts can easily adapt these Assured Technology Experiences to implement with their middle school students. During the 2010 TEAMS Summer Institute, teachers will share their Assured Technology Experiences with each other and plan for how and when to train their colleagues in how to use these technology tools with their students.

Throughout the grant period, data will be collected to inform the grant activities. This grant data will provide the information needed to assess student progress and determine the impact that these technology tools are making on student achievement. Through their participation in TEAMS, teachers will learn how to use and recognize the value of technology tools to enhance teaching and learning. Students will develop their proficiency in applying and 21st Century Skills and strategies while becoming technologically literate consumers who will know what technology tools can best support their learning.

Grant Elements

Project Description

Technology Experiences Assured for Middle School (TEAMS)

Grant Objective:

To develop a project at Windham Middle School that uses assured experiences (AEs) to integrate technology/21st Century Skills into core subject areas in grades five through eight that can be easily replicated by other districts.

Windham Middle School is a large middle school in a small urban city in northeastern Connecticut with 100 certified staff and approximately 1,000 students. Windham Middle School is the only middle school in Windham, one of the “top 12” priority districts in the State of Connecticut. In their 4th year of not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), Windham Middle School is under the state’s microscope. Staff are working hard to implement research-based strategies to enhance student motivation, engagement and performance. Thus the idea for the Technology Experiences Assured for Middle School (TEAMS) project was born.

TEAMS is not just an acronym; it’s a concept of working together collaboratively to promote student achievement using technology as a tool and a motivator. The current issue of the Association of Curriculum and Development’s journal, Educational Leadership, is entitled “Reaching the Reluctant Learner”. It focuses on finding ways to engage and motivate students who are living in a very different world than their teachers grew up in. Marc Prensky, internationally known “speaker, writer, consultant and game designer in the areas of education and learning” who coined the terms “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” states in his article Turning On the Lights:

“To make education relevant to students' lives and truly prepare kids for the future, we need to bring these after-school attractions into our schools. Four important practices can help.

·  Give students the opportunity to use technology in school.

·  Find out how students want to be taught.

·  Connect students to the world.

·  Understand where kids are going—that is, into the future—and help them get there.

By engaging in these four practices, schools have a shot at being part of the ‘creatively preparing students for the future’ process rather than just giving it up to after-school programs. To participate meaningfully in our kids' futures, schools must be willing, finally, to turn on the lights.” (Educational Leadership, Turning on the Lights, March 2008, Volume 65, Number 6, p. 45)

The TEAMS grant project is designed to “turn on the lights” for Windham Middle School students by providing them with tech-savvy teachers who can design and deliver integrated technology units that assure that their students are acquiring 21st Century Skills and achieving success across the curriculum and who can serve as role models for their colleagues, helping “turn on the lights” throughout the school building.

The project must develop a series of assured technology rich experiences for Grades 4-8 that:
2)  Are keyed both to local curriculum, as well as state standards.

During the past four years, Windham Public Schools has been revising their curriculum guides in all content areas. Art, English/Language Arts, Math, Music, Physical Education and Science are completed for Windham Middle School and are available on the Windham Public Schools Web site at http://www.windham.k12.ct.us/co/curriculum.htm. Social Studies is in process, awaiting the final revisions to the CT State Social Studies Curriculum Framework. Jane Cook, TEAMS Project Coordinator facilitated the revision of the English/Language Arts Curriculum Guide and assisted teams of Windham teachers in aligning their newly revised Windham English/Language Arts Curriculum Guide with the Connecticut Frameworks, the standards that all students are expected to meet across the State of Connecticut. This same process was used during the curriculum revision process for all other Windham Curriculum Guides to ensure that Windham’s curriculum is aligned with the CT State Frameworks. All Assured Technology Experiences that are developed under the TEAMS grant project will be aligned with the school’s curriculum which are already aligned with the State of Connecticut’s content area curriculum standards.

During the TEAMS Summer Institute, the process of designing the assured technology experiences will begin with the Windham Curriculum Guides and the CT State Curriculum Frameworks. Teachers will be encouraged to develop assured technology experiences based on what they are currently teaching within their curriculum areas. By learning how to use the technology tools that are being provided through the TEAMS grant project, teachers can then incorporate these technology tools to add value to the curriculum and to support their students’ learning. Though final assured technology experiences have not been determined and will be chosen during the TEAMS Summer Institute, ideas that TEAMS teachers are considering as possible projects include:

·  Participate in online threaded discussions related to Great Books in Grades 7 and 8 - Aligned with Windham English/Language Arts Curriculum and CT English/LA Curriculum Frameworks

Standard 1: Reading and Responding

Standard 1.2 Students interpret, analyze and evaluate text in order to extend understanding and appreciation:

a. Generate and respond to questions.

b. Interpret information that is implied in a text.

c. Distinguish between fact and opinion

d. Make and support judgments about texts.

·  Create your own adventure story using PowerPoint, including animations and graphics with each button sending the reader to a different story line; may be interactive with SmartBoard for Grades 5-8 - Aligned with Windham English/Language Arts Curriculum and CT English/LA Curriculum Frameworks

Standard 3: Communicating with Others

Standard 3.2: Students prepare, publish and/or present work appropriate to audience, purpose and task

f. Publish and/or present final products in a myriad of ways, including the use of the arts and technology

·  Create brochures and displays to present student learning from their research on the Internet in Social Studies in Grades 5 and 6 - Aligned with Windham Social Studies Curriculum and CT Social Studies Curriculum Framework, draft 11/25/08

Standard 2 - History/Social Studies Literacy

Standard 2.5 – Create relevant social studies materials such as maps, charts or displays

§  Create maps of the United States (e.g., physical features, immigration, settlement, historical events) (Grade 5)

§  Create a timeline of significant events of a historical period (Grade 5)

§  Prepare a descriptive report on a social studies topic and use visual forms of evidence (e.g., maps, pictures, portraits, graphs) (Grade 6)

·  Design and conduct Science experiments to test hypotheses in Grades 6-8 - Aligned with Windham Science Curriculum and CT Core Science Framework

Grades 6-8 Core Scientific Inquiry, Literacy and Numeracy Standards, including:

C INQ.1 Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigation

C INQ.3 Design and conduct appropriate types of scientific investigations to answer different questions

C INQ.4 Identify independent and dependent variables, and those variables that are kept constant, when designing an experiment.

C INQ.5 Use appropriate tools and techniques to make observations and gather data.

C INQ.6 Use mathematical operations to analyze and interpret data.

·  Gather and analyze data and represent it through an appropriate type of chart or graph in Math for Grade 8 - Aligned with Windham Math Curriculum and CT Math Curriculum Framework

Standard 4: Working with Data: Probability and Statistics

Standard 4.1 - Collect, organize and display data using appropriate statistical and graphical methods:

§  Construct appropriate representations of data based on the size and kind of data set and the purpose for their use.

·  Build Five Themes of Geography Wikispaces for Grade 6 to share resources and materials and to design virtual learning environments for students - Aligned with Windham Social Studies curriculum and CT Social Studies Framework, draft 11/25/08

Standard 1: Content Knowledge

Standard 1.4 – Demonstrate an understanding of geographical space and place:

§  Using latitude and longitude, locate and describe specific places on a map.

§  Analyze geographic factors that help explain historical events or contemporary issues.

·  Create Web site for posting student work – This Web site will be a forum for presenting student learning, displaying student projects and providing students with an authentic audience and purpose for their writing across all curriculum areas for Grades 5-8 - Aligned with Windham English/Language Arts Curriculum and CT English/LA Curriculum Framework

Standard 3: Communicating with Others

Standard 3.2: Students prepare, publish and/or present work appropriate to audience, purpose and task

§  Determine purpose, point of view and audience, and choose an appropriate written, oral or visual format. (Grades 7 & 8)