Implementing A K-12 Consortium School Improvement Plan
The Need:
Five K-12 urban school districts with small student enrollments located in the New York State Capital District Region required funding for providing their teachers with sustained professional development opportunities focused on technology integration and curriculum alignment.
The Solution:
From 1996-2002, Writing Grants supported the schools in their development of a five-district Consortium which successfully won ten grants totaling $1,450,423 from the U.S.Department of Education and State Education Department.
The grant funds helped the Consortium implement its school improvement plan and provide staff development programs for teachers, administrators, and the community:
Technology-Enriched Curriculum Workshops, or WebQuests: technology integration specialists supported teachers in developing curriculum units enabling students to attain high learning standards.
Curriculum Alignment Workshops: postsecondary faculty content experts helped teachers and curriculum directors align instructional practices to learning standards, curriculum key ideas, student performance indicators, and State Assessment items.
Technology Integrationists: Masters-level graduate students with teaching and technology experience assisted teachers in their classrooms integrate technology within aligned curriculum.
Assessment Workshops: focused on State Assessments and ongoing curriculum-embedded Student Performance Assessments.
Technology Applications Workshops: Microsoft Office software applications (e.g., word processing and spreadsheets); presentations (e.g., PowerPoint and HyperStudio); and, special technology applications (e.g., digital portfolios).
Community Workshops: Consortium staff and students presented their projects to community members.
Grant funds also paid for substitutes, teacher stipends, development
of training materials, hiring of instructors, computers, printers, scanners,
networking hardware, video equipment, software, evaluation, and more.
More Grant Information:
More Free Grants
