Posts Tagged ‘ARRA’

Grace Wilday - student support of laptop initiative in the news

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

This past summer we ran a fabulous student tech leader bootcamp for Grace Wilday Jr. High School (See post: GenYES students assist in laptop rollout in New Jersey). Grace Widay is in Roselle, New Jersey, and a new program called TALENT21 will start up this year funded by federal stimulus dollars (ARRA EETT). This year, every sixth grader will get a laptop, plus other classroom technology and lots of professional development.

The student tech leaders at Grace Wilday are a big part of this project. They are using the GenYES online tools and curriculum to learn the new technology and assist teachers and other students. These GenYES student tech leaders mean more support and more student ownership as everyone at Grace Wilday takes a big step forward into the 21st century.

Check out this video! (Click here if YouTube is blocked or you do not see the embedded video below)

The student who says the teachers will “TAP” the student tech team for help is talking about the GenYES online tool called the Technology Assistance Project (TAP) system. This is a Web 2.0 tool that schools use to track GenYES projects from start to finish. It also tracks help requests from teachers and offers blogs and wikis to make sure that all projects are documented and that all teachers are satisfied with the results. (More about the TAP tools.)

We are proud to be part of Grace Wilday’s learning adventure!

Sylvia

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$71.6 million in California stimulus funds for educational technology (ARRA EETT)

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

States are starting to distribute the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding, better known as “Stimulus Funds”. Much of the Title 1 funding has already found its way to schools, and now, the portion allocated to improve technology use (EETT) in schools is starting to trickle out.

California has released their guidelines and RFP here. 50% of the money will be distributed by formula, 50% will be distributed via a competitive grant process. This money is over and above the annual EETT funds from the federal government. It’s a LOT of money, but is a one-time only grant. This isn’t going to happen every year!

GenYES has been a very popular component of many California EETT grants in previous rounds, and we hope this continues! Over 40 schools in California are currently running GenYES programs funded by the EETT grants. These GenYES students are helping their teachers implement technology throughout the curriculum and assisting with tech support.

Here are a couple of great examples:

  • GenYES Students Shine in California. GenYES students at B. Gale Wilson school in Fairfield, California, were featured in their local paper with a story about their leadership and technology skills.
  • Kids Use — and Teach — Digital Storytelling. At Parkview Elementary in Chico, CA, students assist teachers on digital storytelling projects that support the technology plan and content standards.
  • Technology Success Story. In San Juan, California, test scores and student self-esteem rise as students find their voice and show what they know using technology.

A relatively new goal for the EETT is to address the NCLB mandate for technology literacy by 8th grade. The TechYES Student Technology Literacy Certification program is a project-based way to do just that. Plus, the new TechYES TLC - Technology Literacy Curriculum is a great way to move your technology classes beyond word processing and keyboarding.

These funds MUST be used for programs that will be sustainable in the long run. All Generation YES programs are permanent licenses, with no renewal fees.

Find out more about how Generation YES programs meet the goals of the California EETT.

Sylvia

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The New Teacher Project Analyzes Race to the Top

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

The New Teacher Project Analyzes Race to the Top. from Converge Magazine.

In case you don’t want to sift through all the Education Department guidelines for Race to the Top, you can check out an easy-to-read summary and analysis [PDF] that The New Teacher Project released this month.

The national nonprofit group spells out the race guidelines, gives states and districts checklists to see whether they’re meeting the criteria, and shows how competitive the states are when they’re matched up the standards.

As of this month, four states are not eligible to compete. California, New York and Wisconsin do not allow teachers to be evaluated by student performance data, according to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, though the states don’t agree with his assessment. Pennsylvania’s not eligible either, but for a different reason: It has not been approved for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act fiscal stabilization funds.

More from the Converge article here…

or download the full report in PDF format.

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