Grant Funds are impacting student learning:

Silverton ISD will provide additional elective courses they are otherwise unable to offer. This could include credit recovery, possibly a third (3^rd) year of Spanish, and other foreign languages besides Spanish for students to receive their required two (2) foreign language credits. Because of the small population and rural setting, Silverton ISD is limited in the courses they are able to offer. They would be able to use grant funds to broaden their course offerings for their students. With the professional development for the administration and facilitator, they will gain knowledge of how to support their students taking these online courses.

Highland Park ISD plans to use grant funds to help their students meet the 4 X 4 graduation requirements, dual credit courses, Advanced Placement, Foreign Language, Credit Recovery, and any other courses that they do not have the personnel to teach. Highland Park ISD has implemented a one-to-one (1:1) laptop initiative for several years, but desire to use this grant funding to expand the learning opportunities for their students.

As a provider district, Highland Park ISD is moving towards offering online courses to their students as well as other students across the state.

Grant funding would purchase Silverton ISD a set of seventeen (17) laptops for their students to use and provide 24/7 access to their courses. Additionally, they would receive the Microsoft Office Suite, a laptop cart to house the laptops, a printer, and a set of twenty (20) jump drives for student use. With the hardware and software they receive, they will also receive training.

Highland Park ISD, because they already have a 1:1 initiative, will not receive a set of twenty (20) laptops; however, they will receive the printer and set of twenty (20) jump drives for student use. Because they are a provider district, the eight (8) provider treachers will all receive a printer and a jump drive as well as a screen capture program. These provider teachers will receive training in Effective Online Instruction, Blackboard Instructor Training, and grant funds will pay for those provider teachers to take the required professional development offered through the TxVSN.

Both districts, through offering their students additional learning opportunities through online courses and administrator and teacher professional development, will be encouraging technology literacy in their students.

Type of technologies acquired by grant funds:

Receiving Districts (Silverton ISD and Highland Park ISD)

•  Laptop and appropriate software for all juniors and seniors (Silverton ISD)
•  Laptop cart to charge and house all of the laptops (Silverton ISD)
•  Printer
•  Noise-cancelling headphones
•  Jump drives
•  Course cost reimbursement (up to $400) for online courses
•  Professional development for district/campus administrators and facilitators
•  Professional development for parents

Provider District (Highland Park ISD eight (8) provider teachers)

•  Printer (HPISD chose not to have a printer for each teacher so an amendment was written to purchase Flip Video cameras for each teacher.)
•  Web Camera
•  Noise-cancelling headsets
•  Jump drives
•  Professional development for provider teachers in online course facilitation,  course creation, and required TxVSN training

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