GRANT PROPOSAL L.EVERLEY

Grant Proposal

Lyndall Everley

April 29, 2013

Fairmont State University

Evidence of needs

The needs of the students in my classroom are great. Every student is one to two grades behind grade level. The use of Ipads will help the students gain a better understanding of the material being presented in the classroom and technology integration.

There is a population of 16,649 people in the city of Clarksburg. With only 82% of them being high school graduates. The average income is 33, 618. The poverty level of residence is 24.7%. (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/54/5415628.html ). Of the students in Harrison County 47% of them free lunch.

Harrison County like many counties in our area have been forced to cut back on staffing and extracurricular activities for students due to funding from the public. Therefore, I feel that the possibility for funding for Ipads from the school would be impossible.

Cost Benefit Analysis

Estimated  Cost

Cost of Ipads from Apple.com	10 students	329.00 each plus 0.06% sales tax	3290.00
Internet services for the school year	August – June	30.00 month	300.00
Printer for projects		99.99	99.99
Paper supplies			300.00
Ink			1000.00
		Total cost: For one School Year	4989.99

The Ipads would be used in the following ways

Twenty First Century Tools (CSO for 11 grade Reading and Language)

RLA.O.11.1.01

research, analyze, and evaluate the historical, cultural, political and biographical influences on literary works

RLA.O.11.1.11

Research literary criticism related to the genre being studied.

1.     Students could use Ipads to look up information on readings or authors being studied

2.     Students could read the text online

3.     Students could type papers online using spell checkers for more effective writings

August	Teacher training seminar on how to use ipads in the classroom.
September	Teach students how to use ipads and the different features
October-November	Test students learning of ipads
December-January	Begin using ipads in lesson plans, letting students use them as a research tool.
February-March	Continue use of ipads
April	Continue use of ipads during professional development programs to keep teachers up with no innovations.
May	Interview students to discuss what they thougth they learned by having the ipads in class.
June	Reflect on planning for next school year

In closing

In a classroom of ten students each student will receive an Ipad mini and use of it daily. This proposal will be used in a Special Education Classroom.

References

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/54/5415628.html

http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bystate/Rankings.aspx?state=WV&ind=3412

 http://www.harcoboe.com/

Technology Initiative (Heather Summers)

Rationale

            Farmington, West Virginia is a rural community with a majority of its students going to vocational schools. By law, in order for students to graduate, they must have four math credits. If we combine 2 of those four credits into one classroom, and award them with dual credit, then those students, who drudge through mathematics because they have to, will have more opportunities to take electives that excite them. Moreover, combining Geometry and Algebra II will prepare students for the new West Virginia Next Generation Standards. These standards will be taking effect in 2014.

            In addition to preparing for the WV Next Gen. Standards, the collaborative Geometry-Algebra II course will engage students in learning of mathematics through technology. We want to captivate and inspire all students by using multi-media outlets, some of which they already use outside of the classroom. This approach will prepare them for the global career market that is ever expanding with technology and efficiency. Our students need to be able to survive and succeed in this fast pace economy. Therefore, technologically integrated projects will be the lessons to motivate instruction and comprehension.

            In doing this initiative, teachers will be able to collaborate with one another to design and implement research-based instructional strategies, as well as create innovative projects and resources with supplemental technology. Collaboration will promote morale and cooperation among peers.

Cost Benefits Analysis

 

The following is the estimated budget:

Description	Quantity	Price
Student Laptop Computers	40	$14288
LCD Projector	2	$1408
Printer/Scanner/Copier	1	$329
Project Coordinator (full-time)	1	$50,000
Program Evaluator (part-time)	1	$12,000
Professional Development	6	$2,210
Substitute Teachers	42	$5040
Curriculum Supplies		$2,000
Stipend		$2,000
Indirect	15%	13391
Total		$102666

 

Each participating teacher will receive a Notebook/Tablet PC (offered by the Marion County Board of Education) along with a class set of laptop computers for the students. In the collaborative classroom, there will be a multimedia projector and a printer/scanner/copier. One full-time project coordinator will be hired and one part-time program evaluator. All math teachers will be provided with six all-day professional development trainings—one in the summer before the school year begins, one each nine weeks, and one in the following summer at the end of the school year. Substitute teachers will be provided for each teacher for the in-service. A stipend of $1,000 will be granted to each teacher to use at his/her discretion and another $1,000 for supplies. Fifteen percent will go towards the school district for facility and administrative costs.

 

Technology Implementation Plan

 

Program Coordinator will conduct a survey to assess prior technical knowledge	2013-2015   Professional development will be created based on the results of the survey and any other needs during the implementation years
Professional Development	Beginning of Each School Year   Created on the basis of needs for teacher knowledge of technology and implementation
First Year Training	Fall 2013   Collaboratively develop curriculum and  learn to use in-class equipment for participating teachers
Follow-up Training/ In-service days	One day 1st and 4th Nine Weeks and Two days 2nd and 3rd Nine Weeks   If any training or professional development is needed by participating teachers, the Program Coordinator will set-up the appropriate courses   In-service days will allow the math department to collaborate and reflect on instruction and technology
Second Year Training	Fall 2014   Participating teachers train other educators in the district on collaboration and technology implementation with project based learning
Survey students	Spring 2014   Participating students will answer questions that reflect on their opinion of the program as well as their interest in continuing the program the following year
Track progress of “guinea pig” class	Summer 2014   Use data and observation to track progress of first round of implementation, as well as compare the results with the previous year’s non-participating students.
Collect Evidence	Summer 2015   Collect data and analyze the progress and effect of all participating students (1st and 2nd cohorts) Decide the effectiveness of the program and whether to implement this style of instruction in continuing years

 

 

Research and Resource Archives

 

City-Data. (2011, June). North Marion High School in Farmington, West Virginia (WV). Retrieved April 23, 2013, from City-Data.com: http://www.city-data.com/school/north-marion-high-school-wv.html

Gerald, D. E., & Hussar, W. J. (2002, August 21). Projections of Education Statisitics to 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2013, from Naitonal Center for Education Statistics: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002030.pdf

Green, A. (2012, October 10). What Employees are Looking For When They Hire. Retrieved from US News: Money: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/10/10/what-employers-are-looking-for-when-they-hire

Naional Governors Association. (2012). Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved from Mathematics >> Home >> Mathematics: http://www.corestandards.org/Math

SchoolDigger. (2013). North Marion High School. Retrieved April 23, 2013, from SchoolDigger: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/WV/schools/0072001282/school.aspx

Vega, V. (2012, December 3). Project Based Learning Research Review. Retrieved from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-learning-outcomes

 

Grant Proposal - Vclay

NEA  - Learning & Leadership Grant Proposal

http://www.neafoundation.org/pages/learning-leadership-grants/#

Summary

This project is to support a group of adult basic educators to establish a virtual Professional Learning Community (vPLC). Adult basic educators in rural counties in West Virginia work in isolation. They are beholden to the same program goals, expectations, and curriculum as larger programs, but work without the advantage of peers to “bounce ideas off of” and co-teach. A virtual Professional Learning community would present opportunities for collaboration and innovation to happen online. This proposal is to fund travel costs associated with initial face-to-face meetings to establish the project, costs to fund substitutes for the instructors and software costs.

Goals 
Describe the professional development plan. What are your goals in this learning? What learning resources do you plan to use? How does the proposed professional development advance your professional goals? How does it advance your workplace goals?

The main goal of this project is to establish an online, virtual Professional Learning Community of rural, isolated Adult Basic Educators. This project will allow a small group of 3-5 instructors to collectively brainstorm, create, experiment, and revise lesson plans and teaching strategies and support each other in implementing new program goals, in order to create a better way to serve our students.

Goals for the first phase of this project would include an initial face-to-face meeting with teacher participants to share ideas, establish goals and guidelines with the objective of establishing a collaborative vPLC.  A teacher leader will also attend a conference that includes discussion of vPLCs (TBD), or visiting another community of educators who are successfully engaged in a vPLC to discover best practices. The initial phase would include identifying several software programs and formats that have been successfully used in vPLCs, or have the potential to be successful. In a second Face-to-Face meeting between teacher participants, best practices learned by the PD activity will be shared with the group; guidelines, goals and ideas will be revisited and revised if necessary; and software will be presented and demonstrated. After allowing the participants adequate time to “play” with the various software/platform (demos might have to be arranged?), the group will decide which software will best serve their vPLC needs and the software will be purchased.

In the second (implementation) phase of the project, a two-day meeting will be held in order to install software, collaborate on initial set-up of systems for use of software in order to address needs of participants, train participants to use platform/software. A weekly virtual meeting time will be negotiated, and rules (with consequences) will be established for compliance. Also, meeting dates and locations for face-to-face meetings will be determined for the year. It is the intention of this project that meetings take place in a different site/classroom every month on a rotating basis. An ongoing evaluation method to determine effectiveness and participant satisfaction of the project will also be created.

In the third (“working out all the kinks”) phase of the project, monthly face-to-face check-in meetings will be held in order to address any issues with usability, compliance or collaboration issues. Troubleshooting software and rethinking systems will also take place during these meetings if necessary.

The fourth phase (locking it in and planning ahead) will consist of face-to-face meetings held every other month and two-day end of year meeting to evaluate effectiveness, revise goals and/or guidelines and plan for the following year. It is the intention of this project that these meetings will continue for the life of the vPLC and are crucial to the sustainability of the project. It is also the intention that the goals, guidelines, methods, software and meetings will be re-evaluated and revised to reflect the needs and concerns of participants on a yearly basis.

Sustainability
How will this project continue beyond the grant period? How will you continue sharing the knowledge gained in this project? Describe sharing in relation to your colleagues, students, and administrators.

It is the intention of this project that every other month, face-to-face meetings and a year -end meeting will continue for the life of the vPLC.  These meetings are critical to the sustainability of the project, and alternate funding sources will have to be found to cover transportation and substitute costs. It is the hope of the teacher/grantee that this could be used as a model for other isolated teacher groups across the state, and that funding on the department level (which already covers the cost of professional development trainings) will be able to cover these costs. Proper evaluation methods will need to be established early on in this project in order to prove it’s effectiveness. Future funding requests will hinge on this evaluation. Furthermore, all face-to-face and virtual meetings, will be documented by recording audio and note-taking. This documentation will be made available via the online platform for participants’ reference and can be used to help evaluate the project.

Professional Needs
What is the need for this professional development? How did you and your colleagues assess the need? Please define need in terms of both student need and professional need by the applicant(s).

West Virginia has a lot of new changes happening in adult basic education, including a new high school equivalency assessment starting in January 2014, that will incorporate 21st Century Skills. The past year has also brought a new focus on career awareness for our Adult learners, and a Technology Innovation grant that equipped all our classrooms with Smartboards, I-Pads, Document Camera’s, Kindles and other technological advances to integrate into our instruction. With these changes, teachers are struggling to catch up and keep up. In larger counties in the state, the instructors have the benefit of a team of educators to supplement their deficiencies (whether that’s technological or otherwise), in rural counties it is not unusual to find only one full time (or one half-time) instructor. This project is meant to meet the professional needs of those isolated educators.

Activities

How, when, and where will the learning be accomplished? (Please be aware of the date of grant announcement. Any project taking place prior to the announcement will automatically be removed from consideration. Grant announcement dates can be found here.)

	Action & Goal	Resources needed
June 2013	Initial meeting with teacher/participants to decide on guidelines and group goals for vPLC. Identify professional development activity for teacher leader to learn about other vPLCs.	funds to travel to central location. funds to cover substitute costs. Conference fees & Travel costs (if appropriate).
July 2013 (beginning of fiscal year	Face-to-Face meeting to share best practices for establishing a vPLC, including a presentation of possible software that could be utilized (to be presented by teacher leader who received the PD). Group chooses software to act as online platform for the vPLC. -Software purchase	funds to travel to central location. funds to cover substitute costs. software costs.
August 2013	2 day meeting to: install software collaborate on initial set-up of online platform to most accurately address the needs of all participants train on software establish guidelines for use - including designating weekly meeting times. Create an evaluation method to determine effectiveness.	funds to cover travel/hotel costs, substitute costs.
September 2013	Initial Face to Face check-in meeting to troubleshoot and address any issues with the software and/or instructor compliance with collaboration via vPLC	funds to travel to central location. funds to cover substitute costs.
October 2013 - February 2014	Monthly, Face to Face check-in meetings (at least for the first 6 months) to troubleshoot and address any issues with the software and/or instructor compliance with collaboration via vPLC	funds to travel to central location. funds to cover substitute costs.
April 2014	Face to Face check-in meeting (every other month), re-establish and re-visit goals for vPLC.	funds to travel to central location. funds to cover substitute costs.
June 2014	Face to Face check-in meeting (every other month). Create/revise plan for new fiscal year for  vPLC (as determined by needs or concerns of participants)	funds to travel to central location. funds to cover substitute costs.