The following success stories and state initiatives give you a peek into what is being done around the country to address the needs and challenges of today’s education system. Click on the links to access the full story.
ECS East Program
Zane and Winship Middle Schools, Eureka City Schools Unified District
Eureka, CA
Eureka City Schools (ECS) Unified District has the qualities and infrastructure necessary for expanding an excellent Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) program. The innovative program combines technology and service learning to advance project-based activities that connect students to their community and to academic content standards. Read more about ECS East Program.
Faulkton Professional Development
Faulkton School District 24-2
Faulkton, SD
Using research-driven statistics, the Faulkton School District 24-2 created a partnership with the University of South Dakota to offer reading and writing professional development to the district's staff. The Faulkton staff will be trained online by the university's TTD staff in the areas of Instructional Design and Advanced Instructional Design. Instruction will be delivered via the Internet, Web CT, and the statewide Digital Dakota Network. Read more about Faulkton Professional Development.
Blazing Learning Trails
Franklin/Williamson Regional Office of Education #21
Benton, IL
Blazing Learning Trails is a professional development project that uses an innovative three-tiered, three-strand professional development model to marry the best current research in effective professional development with high-quality course curriculum and teaching methodologies. Read more about Blazing Learning Trails.
FIRSTTech
Louisiana Department of Education
Baton Rouge, LA
FIRSTTech (Framework for Inducting, Retaining, and Supporting Teachers with Technology) is an innovative approach to new teacher assistance. It provides a mechanism for restructuring components of Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program to allow for increased time for mentoring and higher quality interaction among mentors and new teachers. Read more about FIRSTTech.
Effective Instructional Technology (EIT) online course series
Louisiana Department of Education
Baton Rouge, LA
The Effective Instructional Technology (EIT) online course series is designed to support teacher technology proficiency and knowledge. The courses are aligned to the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers and the Louisiana K–12 Educational Technology Standards. Read more about EIT.
SCHOOLTech
Louisiana Department of Education
Baton Rouge, LA
SCHOOLTech is an EETT Competitive Grant offered to high need Louisiana schools. Districts receive between $105,000 and $150,000. SCHOOLTech schools are served by a school-based instructional technology facilitator. Read more about SCHOOLTech.
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Centers
Louisiana Department of Education
Baton Rouge, LA
The Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Centers are designed to serve as extensions of the Louisiana Center for Educational Technology. They provide technology training services to educators in the immediate and surrounding parishes and support the efforts of the Regional Service Center in the area of the TLT Center. Read more about Teaching, Learning, and Technology Centers.
Students Using Technology To Achieve Reading – Writing
New Jersey Department of Education
Trenton, NJ
The Office of Educational and Informational Technology developed this discretionary grant program in response to a federal and state identified need to increase student achievement in the area of Language Arts Literacy. The Students Using Technology To Achieve Reading – Writing (STAR-W) grant program is designed to increase student achievement in language arts literacy in grades 3–5 by providing classroom teachers with ongoing professional development and in-class support that focuses on integrating technology into the curriculum and instruction. Read more about Students Using Technology To Achieve Reading – Writing.
Technology Competency Certification Plan
San Antonio Independent School District
San Antonio, TX
The San Antonio Independent School District has more than 5,000 professional staff members who service more than 90 campuses districtwide. The Technology Competency Certification Plan (TCCP) was devised to provide staff members with a recommended path for professional development. TCCP provides a progression of courses based on core content subject areas, creating a natural flow of staff development opportunities designed to enrich classroom teaching and learning. Read more about the Technology Competency Certification Plan.
DIALing into Reading
DIAL/Mid-Central Educational Cooperative
Platte, SD
DIALing into Reading is a professional development plan designed to build the capacity of K–12 teachers in the area of reading comprehension. Read more about DIALing into Reading.
The Teach Louisiana Web Site
Louisiana State Department of Education
Baton Rouge, LA
Teach Louisiana is an established online career development Web site that provides educators with recruitment, certification, teacher preparation, and professional development resources. The site also allows both new and veteran teachers the opportunity to search for job openings and submit online applications for positions in Louisiana’s public school system. Read more about The Teach Louisiana Web Site.
Technology Baseline Standard Initiative
Klein Independent School District
Spring, TX
After years of placing technology equipment in the classrooms of teachers who requested it, the district discovered that it was facing an equity issue in providing all teachers with access to technology for the instruction of all students. Based on what was learned over the past 7 years about the most impactful technology tools, the district established a technology baseline standard for all core content classrooms, starting with grades 5 and 6. The distribution of the technology tools is tied to an ongoing professional development plan for the teachers. Read more about the Technology Baseline Standard Initiative.
The SELECT (Supporting Engaged Learning by Enhancing Curriculum with Technology) Math Project
Boston Public Schools
Boston, MA
The SELECT (Supporting Engaged Learning by Enhancing Curriculum with Technology) Math Project is a collaborative effort among the Boston Public Schools' Office of Instructional Technology, Middle and Secondary Mathematics Departments, and Special Education Department. This project provides professional development in the use of Web-based virtual manipulatives to support mathematics instruction in middle and high school classrooms throughout Boston and allows participants to expand their knowledge and use of online tools. Read more about the SELECT Math Project.
enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies (eMINTS)
eMINTS National Center
Columbia, MO
eMINTS transforms schools into places for learning where teachers and students use multimedia tools to better understand the world, work together, and achieve at new and higher levels. The eMINTS National Center serves as a resource base for Missouri's schools and districts and for educators across the United States who wish to collaborate with eMINTS staff and with each other to replicate the eMINTS instructional model in their educational systems. Read more about eMINTS.
The Keystones Program
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Harrisburg, PA
Keystones is a new program sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Information and Educational Technology. It celebrates teachers throughout Pennsylvania who incorporate model technology practices into their classrooms. The primary goals of the Keystones Program include recognizing teachers who are successfully infusing technology into their instructional practices for the purpose of improving student learning; sharing the model lessons, strategies, and practices these teachers have developed; and cultivating the expertise, knowledge, and creativity these teachers possess to help state and local agencies develop professional development programs and initiatives to support all teachers. Keystones is a relatively inexpensive initiative in which program expenses can be largely offset through corporate donations. Read more about The Keystones Program.
The Charleston County School District Online Management System
Charleston County School District
Charleston, SC
The Charleston County School District (CCSD) Online Management System is breaking new ground because it offers both diagnostic and prescriptive information to meet the technology needs of individual teachers. The diagnostic component provides teachers with the ability to assess their own technology skills. Read more about the CCSD Online Management System.
Ohio’s eLearning–Online Professional Development
Ohio SchoolNet Commission/Ohio Department of Education
Columbus, OH
The goal of the Ohio’s eLearning–Online Professional Development program is to provide high-quality online professional development for educators throughout the state of Ohio. Courses are designed and developed according to customer needs through feedback, technology planning, and continuous improvement planning. In addition, the courses are created based upon a variety of research and best practices. Read more about Ohio's eLearning—Online Professional Development.
COSA Technology Assessment
Chicago Public Schools District #299
Chicago, IL
The primary purpose of COSA is to assess the current level of technical skills related to basic personal computer operations and to identify any knowledge gaps that can be enhanced through targeted training. As such, COSA will serve as a critical step in developing the foundation of a skill set required to use a wide range of computer programs in the classroom and in school administration. Read more about COSA Technology Assessment.
Assessing Technology for School Improvement
Chicago Public Schools District #299
Chicago, IL
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is collaborating with national experts in technology integration to develop and administer large-scale cognitive assessments of student technology literacy and teacher technology integration based on the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS). CPS is currently piloting the first 8 of 12 professional development courses designed to cover the NETS for Teachers. Read more about Assessing Technology for School Improvement.
Integrating Digital Media
Anderson School District 3
Iva, SC
The primary emphasis of the project is to integrate digital media (audio recording, photo capture and manipulation and video editing) into instruction to improve student achievement by allowing teachers to address various learning styles and modalities. Project participants held strongly to the belief that technical training of teachers must be supported and enhanced by the availability of equipment and ongoing onsite training to ensure continuous transfer into the instructional environment. Read more about Integrating Digital Media.
CESA 5 - Project Big6™ Consortium
Portage, WI
Twenty-one school districts and private schools in central Wisconsin collaborate with CESA 5 to provide a comprehensive professional development program. Professional development activities combine face-to-face trainings with online courses and online discussion groups using BlackBoard. Read more about Portage's CESA 5 professional development program.
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