HCPSSHCPSS to Apply for $20-30 Million Federal Grant to Support Personalized Learning
October 31st, 2012
The HCPSS is applying for a $20-30 million competitive federal grant to support personalized student learning, to provide teachers with flexible options for delivering instruction through digital media, and to connect student learning to college and high wage workforce development.
The learning environment in twenty participating schools will be transformed to create seamless connections between school and future careers. Through digital technology and blended learning models, students will actively engage in relevant instruction that is connected to their interests, personalized to their needs and strengths, and accessible anytime and anywhere.
The project, which would be funded through the Race to the Top District grant, would impact more than 10,000 students in 13 elementary and 7 secondary HCPSS schools. The school system will apply for this highly competitive federal grant by the submission deadline, November 2, 2012. The grant will be awarded to approximately 25 districts nationwide in December.
The BOE agreed to submit the application today at a special meeting. Board Chairman Sandra H. French lauded the proposed project for its student centered approach: “This grant would personalize instruction for students in our schools that are most impacted by poverty. Students would have access to advanced technology, virtual internships and mentors, and a level of individualized attention that otherwise would not be possible.”
Students in the selected schools would experience transformed learning environments where technology frees teachers from one-size-fits-all instruction and students are provided the tools, motivation, and ownership to pursue learning at their own pace. With adaptive software in the classroom, the use of dynamic technologies (e.g., augmented reality for project-based STEM challenges), and supported learning at home, students can both accelerate learning in areas of strength and personal interest and receive additional resources to master subjects and skills which they find more challenging.
Superintendent Renee A. Foose noted that this grant would change the culture of teaching and learning to better match the world in which we live. “This is about student engagement, teacher flexibility, and reinvigorating the classroom with the passionate pursuit of excellence. This new model of teaching will take cutting technologies that are now being used by the world’s most successful businesses and bring them into our classrooms. It will enable our students to be nurtured and mentored by some of our community’s most talented professionals in careers across the spectrum.”
Howard County’s Inter-County Broadband Network, when completed, will provide the infrastructure needed to bring world class technologies and virtual experiences into every classroom in the county. Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said he is “thrilled to see the school system leveraging broadband to bring innovation into the classroom. This is an exciting initiative that will deliver education to our students through the technologies that will prepare them to become our next generation of leaders.”
Ulman said he supported the district’s efforts to close the achievement gap and prepare students to take on leadership roles in our digital world.
The grant will be submitted with 47 letters of support from business and community partners, local, state and federal elected officials, and the selected schools.
Sean Martin, Principal of Phelps Luck Elementary School, noted: “I am excited about exploring the possibilities, specifically related to professional development and technological opportunities that would become available for students, staff and families associated with our grant proposal. Our high leverage strategies, in association with improved learning and teaching, would be enhanced through the personalization of strategies, tools, and supports provided to our students and educators.”
Of the 435 teachers in the selected schools who provided feedback, nearly all of them expressed interest in the goals of the grant and 71 indicated they would like to serve on steering committees to oversee implementation.
One teacher noted: “Personalized instruction makes sense. Students come to us with varying levels of understanding and we need to be able to teach to those levels in order to see fluid progress throughout their careers as students and to reach their full potential.”
Similarly, of the 765 family members who provided feedback, 97 percent expressed support for all of the initiatives’ goals and 147 volunteered to serve on implementation steering committees.
One family member noted: “I do not have the income for getting Internet access using a computer at home. If getting a computer from my son’s school would be possible, I would be able to connect with his teacher on Edmodo, connect skills via the Inernet, etc. This grant will …. increase children’s abilities to succeed.”
The use of collaborative online communities and technologies will bring students, parents, teachers and system leaders together in partnership to prepare students for successful entry into college and careers. Based upon past successes in utilizing technology to maximize student outcomes, the HCPSS is confident that it can successfully implement a substantial, but necessary, shift in how it instructs students, and in doing so, serve as a model to many other diverse school systems across the nation.