District/School Administration PK-16 Program Support
Educational Technology

Statewide Impact Grants 1997-1998

Statewide Impact Grants provide seed funding to school districts or collaboratives to create partnerships that foster statewide impact in the use of technology to support teaching and learning.

The Boston Public Schools

Student Technology Enterprise Program
(STEP East)

The Boston Public Schools in partnership with Citizen Schools, Private Industry Council, City Year, and Project F.I.R.S.T /AmeriCorps, will be training students to work with technology. The program will encompass grades four through fourteen. Citizen Schools will be working with students, grades 4 through 8, in an after school program. Students in grades 9 through 12 will be trained for two weeks in the summer, learning how to maintain and repair computers, wire and install local networks, and use desktop and web publishing. F.I.R.S.T. and City Year will work with post secondary students in grades 13 and 14 to provide technical support workers for schools.

Contact: Ann Grady

Brockton Public Schools

CyberWorks

The Metro South School to Career Partnership is a partnership of schools, businesses, community-based organizations, higher education institutions, and government agencies which are committed to prepare youth for the high skill/high wage jobs of the future. Through the Cyber Works Projects, the partnership will:

• create a regional bank of inquiry-based projects relating to the Curriculum Frameworks using new technologies, and
• create a regional system of professional development, using experts in the schools to assist colleagues in mastering various technological applications while addressing the skills identified in the Frameworks.

Contact: Maureen Murray

Douglas Public Schools

The Learning Network

The Douglas Public Schools has partnered with The Blackstone Valley Educational Collaborative and the New England Science Center to form the Learning Network. The focus of The Learning Network is the coordination of quality professional development through which teachers will create on line interactive curriculum resources based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. One major vehicle for this project is the development of a Virtual Museum depicting curriculum related to the Blackstone Valley. The museum will serve as a site for student exhibitions of all types of projects developed as well as a forum for sharing curriculum resources.

Contact: Laurie Keating

Hudson Public Schools

Science and Math Inquiry Through Portable Accessible Computing

The Hudson Public Schools is partnering with the Concord Consortium,PALMS, CESAME, TERC, the Eisenhower Regional Alliance, the University of Mass at Dartmouth, and the Audubon Society to develop, pilot, and field test a set of technology based math and science curricula. The project will involve twenty four , four through sixth grade classrooms, with each classroom receiving ten portable computers The result will be a set of curriculum materials that meet the new math and science frameworks and will be disseminated statewide.

Contact: Arthur Camins

Natick Public Schools

Assistive Technology for the Improvement of Learning for all Students

Thirty seven participating school districts in three collaboratives, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association, propose to provide all students, regardless of disabilities, the opportunity to participate in general education, employing state-of-the-art assistive technologies. The activities contained in this proposal will provide a model for school districts throughout the Commonwealth to identify, review and evaluate existing and emerging technologies, particularly assistive technologies.

Contact: Madalaine Pugliese
Website: http://www.mespa.org/AT/ATPROJECT.html

SouthEastern Regional School District

Tech Net

Tech Net, the Technical Network, is a consortium of all 60 Massachusetts Vocational Technical Schools plus other agencies, higher education institutions, members of business and industry community. The project will i) establish an electronic network for the exchange of information and resources; ii) institute mentoring relationships; iii) create a virtual teaching lab using distance technology for in-service training; iv) link federal, state and local agencies to achieve the goals of School to Career, Tech Prep, and the SCANS report.

Contact: Pam Barry

Springfield Public Schools

Implementing the Curriculum Frameworks Using Education Technology

The Springfield Public Schools in collaboration with MassCUE, Education Development Center, Lesley College, Northeast Regional Technology in Education Consortia (NetTech), Beacon Education Resources, and the Mass Networks Education Partnership (MNEP) are addressing issues of technology in the schools. These partners will be the impetus for forming 25 to 30 statewide district teams of four educators including classroom teachers and school/district leaders. All teams will participate in a professional development summer training institute with a focus on helping teams play a leadership role in their district's efforts to align instructional technology to the learning standards. Each team will be assigned a "coach" who has been identified as an expert in the field of classroom use of Information Technology. The "coach" will work with the teams during the academic year. It is expected that teams will develop District Action Plans for technology integration, engage in On-Line discussions, and be a catalyst for change with other districts in the state. Results of this project will lead to development of a workbook and a web site with district self assessment, strategic planning techniques, and curriculum integration tools.

Contact: Steve Miller

Watertown Public Schools

Information Technology/telecommunications Pathway

The Metropolitan School to Career Partnership, comprised of the communities of Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Somerville, Watertown, and Winthrop, and the Northeast Metropolitan Regional High School proposes to create an Information/Telecommunication(IT) Pathway. The IT Pathway will focus on the use of technology to create new learning opportunities for all students in the eight districts within the partnership. It is expected that an IT Pathway sequence of courses at grades six through twelve will be developed and will be used at each of the partner sites. In addition, the project will result in the development of technology competencies k-12, focusing on word processing, graphic design, and Internet use.

Contact: Deborah Boisvert