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SETDA published a series of case studies from 28 states to showcase examples of how ARRA EETT grant funds have impacted teaching and learning. SETDA collected data for the case studies through a variety of mechanisms, including a detailed survey of the participating Local Education Agencies (LEAs), personal interviews with grant managers and teachers, and reviews of state and local program evaluations. The case studies highlight powerful examples of innovations resulting from the federal state/local partnerships created by the EETT program. They illustrate what can happen when "seed money" in the form of federal grants is leveraged by states, local school districts, and individual schools. Teachers and students across the country continue to bene t from these innovative programs as shown by higher formative and standardized test scores, increased technology literacy and technology integration, improved access to both digital curriculum resources and project-based learning initiatives, and increased student engagement. Access the case studies at .

Featured States:

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas Connecticut Delaware Georgia Iowa Louisiana Maine

Maryland Michigan Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio

Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin

GadsdenCitySchools

Background

TheAmericanRecoveryandReinvestmentActof2009(ARRA)includeda$650 millionallocationinESEATitleII,PartD,commonlyreferredtoastheEnhancing EducationThroughTechnologyprogram(EETT).Thiscasestudywaspreparedby theStateEducationalTechnologyDirectorsAssociation(SETDA)?theprincipal associationrepresentingthetechnologyleadershipofstateandterritorial departmentsofeducation?toprovideanexampleofARRAfundsworkingatthe districtandclassroomlevelthatcreateseffective,viable,androbustreformin education,andimprovesthewayteachersteachandstudentslearn.

Alabama'sEETTCompetitiveGrants

ThegoaloftheAlabamaDepartmentofEducation'sARRAEETTCompetitiveGrant programwastoincreasegraduationrates.Thegrantprogramprovidedthe equipmentandprofessionaldevelopmentsupporttoestablish21stcentury classroomsingrades7to12.Thefocuswastomodel21stcenturyclassroom instructionandtohelpincreasestudentachievementstatewide.

Alabama21

GadsdenCitySchools,Alabama

November2009-September2011

ThepurposeoftheAlabama21projectwastoimmersethe9thGradeAcademystudentsof GadsdenCityHighSchoolintoatechnology-richlearningenvironmenttostimulateinterest, promotelearning,andimproveachievement.Alabama21reformedtraditionalclassroom instructionandlearningopportunitiesbyintegrating21stcenturytechnologytools.

Demographics

Gadsden,AlabamaislocatedinEtowahCounty,inthefoothillsoftheAppalachian Mountainsand65milesnortheastofBirmingham.Gadsdenhasbeenaffectedbytherecent economicdownturn.Inthelastdecade,amajorindustry,GulfStateSteel,wentoutof business.Thereisnowonemajoremployerinthearea,theGoodyearTireplant.Witha decreaseinjobopportunities,thepopulationhasalsodeclinedsignificantly.GadsdenCity Schoolsishometoeightelementaryschools,threemiddleschools,andonehighschool. The9thGradeAcademyishousedinGadsdenCityHighSchool.Highschoolenrollmentis approximately1,600withafreeandreducedlunchrateof71%.The2011-2012AYPreport fortheschoolindicatesa"Clear"statusforall17indicatorsanda92%graduationrate.The schoolfeaturesagrowingadvancedplacement(AP)program,offering10-creditAPcourses and9pre-APcourses.

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ProjectDescription

Alabama21focusedon

ARRAEETTGrantDetails

providingtechnologytoolsand professionaldevelopmentto participatingninthgrade teacherstoincreaseaccessto technology,student achievement,andtechnology literacy.Ninthgradeisapivotal year.Historically,ithadthe highestretentionrateand lowestattendancerate.Also, grades9and10hadthehighest dropoutrates.TheAlabama21 projectcenteredeffortsand fundsonthe9thGrade Academytoengagestudents, increaseachievement,and improvethegraduationrate. BeforetheAlabama21 programwasimplemented,the 9thGradeAcademyclassrooms eachhadoneortwodesktop computerswithhardwire

GrantFocus

Beginning/EndDate ofGrant Locale

Funding

GradeLevel(s)

NumberofTeachers Impacted Numberof Administrators Impacted NumberofStudents Impacted

HighAccess,Technology-Rich LearningEnvironment, OngoingProfessional Development November1,2009? September30,2011 Rural $250,000FederalFunds $25,000LocalFunds 9-12 10

1

945(overtwoyears)

internetaccess.Inanefforttosupportthisgrantprogram,localfundswereusedtoprovide

wirelessaccessfortheAcademy.Alabama21provideddevices,atathree-to-onestudent-

to-laptopratio,responsesystems,documentcameras,digitalcameras,projectionsystems,

andinteractivewhiteboards.Tentechnology-richclassroomswereestablishedinthecore

subjectareasofEnglish,socialstudies,andscience.Thelaptopswerehousedinfive30-

stationlaptopcartsandsharedamongthe478ninthgradestudents.Tenninthgrade

teachersreceivedprofessionaldevelopmentviaMoodleindesigningproject-based

learningactivitiesandcross-curricularactivities,developingAlabamaLearningExchange

(ALEX)lessons,andincorporatingonlineresources.

ProjectImplementation

Duringthe2009-2010schoolyear,thefocuswas onacquiringandinstallingequipment,orienting students,andprovidinginitialprofessional developmentontheuseofthehardware.Inthe springof2010,ninthgradestudentsandtheir parentswereprovidedanorientationofthe program,andfullimplementationbeganinthefall of2010.

Alabama21granttechnology--it hasbroughtlifetomyclassroomfor mystudentsaswellasmyself.

-AlexisWise,EnglishTeacher,

GadsdenCityHighSchool

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Professionaldevelopmentwasongoingforthe10Academyteachers,occurringonaformal andinformalbasis.Teachersinitiallyworkedwithvendor-providedinstructorstolearnto usethenewclassroomtools.Theschooltechnologyteam,positionsfundedthrough formulaEETTgrantfunds,providedongoingsupportthroughcoaching.Academyteachers alsohadtheopportunitytoworkwithvisitingtechnologyprofessionals,suchasWesley FryerandChrisLehmann.Overall,teachersreceivedapproximatelyonedaypermonthof in-personprofessionaldevelopmentsessions.ThreeoftheAcademyteachersattendedthe ISTE2011conferenceandreturnedtosharebestpracticeswiththeircolleagues.These teachersplayedakeyroleinthedistrict-widein-serviceday,EduTech.DuringEduTech,all instructionalstafffromthedistrictattendedtrainingsessionsconductedbyoutside facilitatorsaswellasbyAcademyteachers.Inaddition,theAcademyteachers,andother schooltechnologyleaders,providedvaluablepeer-to-peertrainingincorporatingmanyof thetechnologytoolsandstrategiesfromthisgrantproject.Manyoftheteachersalsohad lessonsacceptedtoAlabama'sstateportal,ALEX,whichrequiresastringentapproval processbeforelessonsaremadeavailabletoteachersstatewide.Theprojectculminatedin aTechSaturdayeventinthefallof2011,duringwhichAcademyteachershadan opportunitytopresenttheirtechnologybestpractices.

ClassroomExamples

? Inahistoryclassroom,beforethisgrant,

theclasswastaughtusingmany

Ibelieveonehastorelatestudent

handouts,textbooks,andteacher lectures.Withthetechnologyand professionaldevelopment,thehistory classbecamemoreproject-based.The teacheruseswebquestsasawayto introduceupcomingerasorthemes.A webquestisaprojectwherestudents areguidedthroughresearch,working

learningtostudentexperiencesand byincorporatingtechnology, studentsaremoreeagertolearndue tothefactthattheyareusing technologyeverydayoftheirlives.

-JeffColegrove,HistoryTeacher, GadsdenCityHighSchool

independentlyorcollaboratively.Studentsorganizetheirresearchintoafinal

productthatmaybeintheformofaletter,presentation,orgame.Webquestshelp

buildbackgroundinformationandsetafoundationformorefocusedclassroom

activities.Forexample,instudyingWorldWarII,studentscompletedawebqueston

thewar.Studentslearnedaboutthewarthroughindependentresearchandused

thatbackgroundinformationtotacklethenextactivity,interviewingaWorldWarII

veteranandproducingavideo.Theywereabletocreatemoreinformedquestions

andpresentwarinformationintheirvideo.Studentsworkedinsmallgroupstoplan

theirinterview,recorditusingaFlipcamera,andeditandproducethevideousinga

laptop.DVDswerecreatedofallthefinalproductsandissuedtostudents,

interviewees,andotherteachersinthehistorydepartmenttoshareintheirclasses.

? Beforetheintegrationoftechnology,onehighschoolEnglishteachertaughtpartsof

speechbyverballyexplainingrules,havingstudentsworkinthetextbook,and

completemultipleworksheets.Withthetechnology,theteacherpresented

informationtoherstudentswithaPowerPointpresentation,andengagedthe

studentswithamobileinteractivewhiteboard.Studentstookturnsidentifying

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ARRACaseStudies2012|GadsdenCitySchools

whichwordsinasentencebelongedtodifferentpartsofspeech,thendiscussedand checkedeachother'swork.Theyalsousedastudentresponsesystemtopractice identifyingthepartsofspeechofsharedwords.Theimmediatefeedbackenabled studentstolearnfromerrorsandtakeamoreactiveroleinmasteringtheconcept.

EvaluatingEffectiveness

StateBenchmarkindicatorsforstudentandstafftechnologyskillsandutilizationincreased,

inalmostallcases,beyondthegoallevelsoftheproject.Teacherswereassessedusingan

onlinesurveyeachspring,theIMPACTTeacherSurvey.

BenchmarkData

? Benchmark1.2:Percentageofstudentsthatmakeuseofcurrentand

emergingtechnologyinthelearningprocess.

2008--18%

TargetGoal--25%

Spring,2011--33.8%

? Benchmark1.6:Percentageofteachersthatmodeltheappropriateuse

oftechnologytoolsandresources.

2008--42%

TargetGoal--45%

Spring,2011--59.6%

? Benchmark1.8:Percentageofeducatorsthatusetechnologyto

communicatewithstakeholdersatthelocal,district,andstatelevel. 2008--53% TargetGoal--60% Spring,2011--67.18%

? Benchmark2.1:Percentageofeducatorsthatfosterandnurturean

environmentthatsupportsinnovativeusesoftechnology. 2008--36% TargetGoal--40% Spring,2011--52.3%

? Benchmark2.2:Aretechnologyresourcesprovidedtosupportthe

learningandtechnologyneedsoftheschoolandcommunity?

2008--33% TargetGoal--37% Spring,2011--53.1%

? Benchmark3.1:Teachers,administrators,andschoolstaffareprovided

highquality,research-based,job-embedded,technologyprofessional

developmentthatisalignedwithlocal,state,andnationalstandards

andcourseofstudycontentstandards. 2008--29% TargetGoal--33% Spring,2011--30.8%

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ARRACaseStudies2012|GadsdenCitySchools

Althoughtheeffectontheschoolgraduationratewillnotberealizedfor2moreyears,itis noteworthythatofthe31studentswhodroppedoutofthehighschoolduringthe2010- 2011schoolyear,only3(9.7%)werefromthe9thGradeAcademy.Historically,the majorityofourhighschooldropoutsleaveschoolduringtheirninthandtenthgradeyears.

MovingForward

Thetechnologytoolsthatwereacquiredforthisprojectwillservethe9thGradeAcademy formanyyearstocome.Localfundsprovidedthroughcitygovernmentwillbeusedto maintainequipmentandprovideperiodicrefreshertrainingforteachers.Expandingthe programtoafull1-to-1initiativeisagoalofthedistrict.Fundingisbeingsoughtand considerationbeinggiventolowercostoptions,suchasnetbooksortablets.TheAcademy teacherswillcontinuetoreceivesupportfromtheschool'stechnologyteamandthe statewideprogram,TechnologyinMotion,fundedbythestateofAlabama.Aswell,the Academyteacherswillcontinuetoconducttheirownpeertrainingandmentoringwithin thedistrict.

Resources

GadsdenCitySchools gcs.k12.al.us GadsdenCityHighSchool Alabama'sStatePortal,ALEX AlabamaDepartmentofEducation SETDAARRAInformationandResources

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