Race To The Top-District Application Information

Meeting

Pipestone Area Schools

RTTT-D Grant Opportunity Round 2 Overview of Key Dates

• Optional Intent to Apply Due: August 23, 2013 • Application Due: October 3, 2013 • Grant Award Announcement: December 2013

Grant Thresholds

• Apply as district or consortium of districts• 40% of students qualify for Free or Reduced

lunches

• Must have a minimum of 5,000 students

• $400 Million will be distributed

Free and Reduced NumbersDISTRICT

NAMEFREE/REDUCED

POPULATIONTOTAL

POPULATIONOVERALL PERCENTAGE

OF FREE/REDUCEDMarshall 886 2269 39.05%Minneota 186 438 42.47%Lakeview 226 612 36.93%Windom 446 976 45.70%Pipestone 542 1147 47.25%Jackson 437 1212 36.06% GRAND TOTALS 2723 6654 40.92%

Grant Specifications

• Personal Learning Plan for all students• Incorporate 21st Century Skills into the

curriculum • Evaluation processes for teachers, principals,

and superintendents

Amount of Grant

• We have approximately 6,655 students in PK-12 served among the six school districts.

• The amount of the grant would be $20,000,000.00. The grant would be utilized over a four year period.

Project IGNITE!• Individual• Growth• Nurtured by• Innovation• Through • Education!

Mission and Vision . . .• The mission of BREA in Project IGNITE! is

to create personalized learning environments and experiences that prepare students for career and college success in an ever-changing world.

• The vision of BREA schools through Project IGNITE! is to create a future where all students in our care can pursue their individual passions and goals in the 21st Century and beyond.

Overall Goals

Provide students with a quality, 21st Century Learning Experience.

Focus on three key areas: career/college readiness, personalized learning, and high quality educators.

Preparing students for the future by embedding 21st century skills throughout the learning experiences.

Personalized Learning

Cultivate High

Quality Educators

Career & College

Readiness

Expert

Training for

Staff

AlternativePathways

E.L.O and Tech

21st Century Learning Experience

• Collaboration• Cooperation• Communication• Creativity• Organization• Problem Solving• Self Direction and Social Responsibility• Technology Fluency

Essential Items• Competency rather than TIME.• Individual Learning Plans.• Student and parent engagement.• Students are only bound by their own ambition.• Learning is on a continuum: 24-7-365 and students

will receive credit for it.• Rich technology.• Extensive professional development.• Curriculum will incorporate project based learning

and extended learning opportunities (ELO’s) (solving problems in the real world).

Where Does the Money Go?

• Technology and technology-based resources

• Staff Development and training

• Continued supports

Year 1• Formation of PLC’s within the district and

cross districts.• Train on essential learning skills• Train on formative assessments• Train on 21st century standards• Roll out the personal learning devices (one to

one initiative)

Year 2• Complete training on formative assessment

and differentiated instruction

• Fully embed data systems per State and Federal requirements

• Fully embed individual learning plan elements

Year 3• Project Based Learning Training and Extended

Learning Opportunities Training

• Development and implementation of E-portfolio (a digital record of a child’s achievements, projects, etc.)

Year 4• Individual Learning Plan fully implemented

Year 5 and beyond . . .

• Ongoing strategies for consortium sustainability

• Focus on continued training and implementation

• Begin sharing success with other rural districts across Minnesota, the upper Midwest, and national venues

What is a PLP?• A plan to guide a child’s learning experience

focused on essential skills and elements guided by the child’s personal interests and aptitudes.

How do 21st Century Skills fit?

21st Century Learning Experience

Has this been done before?

• Yes . . . – Chugach, AK– Westminster, CO (Adams West School District)

– Last round of Race to the Top – 16 applicants received awards to complete this work.

What about teacher evaluations?

• From visiting with the Commissioner of Education, we will meet the requirements from the state mandated evaluation processes. This will happen even if we do not receive the grant since it is a requirement of State law.

What happens when the grant is finished?

• Each district would commit to sustaining the effort through $10 per child to the consortium efforts. Collaboration, best-practice sharing, and staff development would continue among the partner districts.

Do we have a name?• The coalition is called the Buffalo Ridge

Education Alliance (BREA)

Is this just a fad?• “The emerging integration of technology in

teaching and learning in our classrooms is as significant a disruptive force in education as it is in other industries.”

• “Time and place will be the variables and achievement will be the constant.”

From “Off the Clock: Moving Education from Time to Competency” by Fred Bramante and Rose Colby

Acknowledgement

Thank-you to the faculty, board of education, and the entire community for their support

and commitment to ongoing improvement in the Pipestone Area Schools. Without a deeply

embedded commitment to improve and a willingness to change, this conversation would

not be possible.

Contact Information

Jim Lentz, Superintendent of Schools1401 7th Street, SW

Pipestone, MN 56164Jim.lentz@pas.k12.mn.us