TECHNOLOGY MINI-GRANT PROPOSAL

Name of Applicant __Megan Ryall ____________________________________________________

Administrators Name ____Bill Daly ___________________________________________________
District/School ____Gwinnett County Public Schools/ GIVE Center East_____________________
District/School Address __723 Hi-Hope Road Lawrenceville, Ga 30045______________________
Applicants E-mail __mmille87@students.kennesaw.edu__________________________________
Date 4/11/2015

Total Cost of Project: ___$495.00_________

(up to $500.00)

Title of Project: _Designing Move on When Ready Math Courses__________________________

TITLE
I.

Why is this project important (describe the need)?

The teachers at GIVE Center East recognize that their students struggle significantly in the area
of mathematics. During the 2013 Spring administration of the Coordinate Algebra EOCT 97.8% of
GIVE East students did not meet the standard. In response to this data the math teachers began
implementing a blended learning environment in the math classrooms. As a result the 2014 Spring
administration of the Coordinate Algebra EOCT only 76.8% of students did not meet the standard.
In addition to several students performing below standard in Algebra many of our students are
all over the place in terms of what they have already learned and the material they still need to
master. This inconsistency in mathematical needs and abilities makes it difficult for the teacher to
meet the needs of the students in the classroom. The students at GIVE East would benefit from a
blended learning environment that allowed them to move at their own pace while still receiving
teacher support/instruction.
Through the use of Softchalk and a learning management system the teachers would design a
course that would give students a pre-test that would then unlock modules based on their
performance and ultimately give them the freedom to work through the course at their own pace in
order to restore academic standing in Math. Several of our students have taken the same math class 2
and 3 times just to fail it every time. This leads to continually being held back, which then leads to
frustration and ultimately a much larger risk of that student dropping out.

II.

What would you like to accomplish (describe the unit or lesson and list instructional objectives)?
Using the Softchalk license a series of math lessons would be developed and uploaded to a
learning management system. These lessons would all function in the same manner. The first page of
the lesson would be entitled Preview and would let students know what concept would be covered in
that lesson. Page two would be entitled Acquire, here students would be taught the math lesson via
previously recorded lessons by an instructor on campus. Page three would be entitled Summary and
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students will be asked to complete a series of homework assignments and practice quizzes to ensure
they have master the concept. Page four would be entitled Study and it would provide students with
links to more support or practice assignments on sites like Khan Academy and iXL.
III.

How will you complete the work?

A. Describe how the instructional objectives will be met.
Review the current math standards and the current county teacher resources
Develop a pacing guide aligned to the math standards and match county purchased teacher
resources to those standards
Create instructional videos that will teach students how to master the math standards
Use Softchalk to develop a template
Begin using the Softchalk template to create the lessons
Upload the lessons to Gwinnett Countys learning management system (D2L/eClass)
Train math teachers on how to implement a blended learning environment
Began assigning the course content to the students
B. Describe the time involved (project length including amount of time each day/week).
Length of the project: Three Months
Days per week: 5
Hours per day: 4
C. Describe the people involved (grade level/subject & # of students, teachers and/or staff).
Math Department Chair 1
Blended Learning Department Chair 1
Math teachers 2
Students involved: All students who opt to enroll or who are paneled and sent to GIVE
Center East
D. Describe the materials needed for the project.
1 SoftChalk License - $495.00
Laptop computers County Provided
Learning Management system County Provided
County purchased math teacher resources County Provided

IV.

What is the timeline for assessing accomplishments and objectives (describe program evaluation
procedure)?
Summer Vacation
o Pull together resources
o Develop course pacing guide/ instructional videos
o Develop digital math curriculum using SoftChalk
o Upload lessons to eClass (Learning Management System)
Pre/Planning and On-Going Professional Development
o Train Teachers on how to implement blended learning instruction
2015 2016 School Year
o Implement the new math curriculum
Evaluations
o Pre-Test Data
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o Midtems/Interims Data
o GA Milestones Student Performance Data
V.

How will the students be assessed (Include how student progress will be assessed and reported to
students, parents, teachers, and others)?
Students will be assess throughout their time in the course. They will begin with a pretest which
will identify their math abilities before completing our course work. As students work through the
course they will take module quizzes and unit tests that will allow us to monitor their progress as
they work through the course. Ultimately the success of the program will be determined based on a
decrease in the number of students who do not meet the standards on the GA Milestones exam.

VI.

What is the proposed budget? Include information on the following:

A. Materials/supplies Softchalk License $495.00
B. Equipment County already provides all teachers with a laptop, access to a learning
management system and teacher resources for teaching math (textbook, digital textbook and
online resources).
C. Total Cost of Proposed Project - $495.00
D. Additional Funding Sources County provided resources

TECHNOLOGY MINI-GRANT
EVALUATION FORM/Scoring Rubric
Total Points: __________
1.

Impacts a variety of skill levels and/or learning styles or impacts an important target population.
Possible number of points: 40 __________

2. Clearly identifies standards and learning objectives being addressed.

Possible number of points: 40 __________
3. Pedagogically sound, based on research and/or best practices.
Possible number of points: 40 __________
4. Clear plan for assessment of project and goals with examples of implementation methods.
Possible number of points: 40 __________
5. Impacts large number of students and/or can be recycled/reused.
Possible number of points: 40 __________
General Comments:

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Adapted from: The Education Foundation of Oconee County, Inc.

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