Race To The Top-District Application Information Meeting

1. Race To The Top-District Application Information Meeting Pipestone Area Schools

2. 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

3. 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

4. Free and Reduced Numbers

5. Grant Specifications • Personal Learning Plan for all students • Incorporate 21st Century Skills into the curriculum • Evaluation processes for teachers, principals, and superintendents

6. 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.

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

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Expert Training for Staff Alternative Pathways E.L.O and Tech

11. 21st Century Learning Experience • Collaboration • Cooperation • Communication • Creativity • Organization • Problem Solving • Self Direction and Social Responsibility • Technology Fluency

12. 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).

13. Where Does the Money Go? • Technology and technology-based resources • Staff Development and training • Continued supports

14. 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)

15. 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

16. 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.)

17. Year 4 • Individual Learning Plan fully implemented

18. 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

20. 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.

22. How do 21st Century Skills fit? 21st Century Learning Experience

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. Do we have a name? • The coalition is called the Buffalo Ridge Education Alliance (BREA)

27. 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

28. 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.

29. Contact Information Jim Lentz, Superintendent of Schools 1401 7th Street, SW Pipestone, MN 56164 Jim.lentz@pas.k12.mn.us