| FOR RELEASE June 24,1997 | Contact: Jim Bradshaw (202) 401-1576 |
Vice President Gore said, "High school students who perform agricultural work in more than one state during the harvest months will be able to accumulate the credits they need to graduate by continuing their coursework at home over the Internet."
The vice president added, "Parents will be able to access information through the advanced technologies that make them stronger partners in their children's education. Teachers will be able to use the technologies to help tailor curricula to the unique needs of migrant students and make it available when they move from one school district to another."
The U.S. Department of Education's Migrant Education Program will provide a total of $3.4 million per year for five years shared among the following organizations:
Riley said the activities will give migrant children, their families and teachers "hands on" use of technologies to gain direct access to curricula, professional development and other information that will help migrant families stay connected with their educational programs as they travel across the country.
Each grant recipient has formed partnerships among school districts that share migrant students. Most alliances cross state boundaries.
Schools will collaborate with public television, software developers, telecommunication firms, the agriculture industry and others to leverage resources for the projects and strengthen collaborative efforts on behalf of the migrant population.
A typical migrant family participating in one of the efforts will be able to use advanced technologies in their "home away from home" to communicate with teachers, family and friends from whom they've temporarily separated to follow the cycle of agricultural work.
Many projects will transform homes into true learning centers for the entire family, where a family member can quickly access educational materials related to coursework or find a broad range of information that will help the family during its transitions.
"This first of its kind venture will use cutting edge technology to educate migrant students in a way that leverages broad support from public and private sectors"
Gore said. "These projects complement the president's Technology Literacy Challenge Initiative, which is designed to help all children become technologically literate by the dawn of the 21st century."
An electronic copy of the notice announcing the awards is available on the department's World Wide Web home page at http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/finrule/1996 -4/122496b.html.
Barry University Miami Shores, FL
The Migrant Education Consortium for Higher Achievement (MECHA) is a collaboration between Barry University, the Dade County Public Schools Migrant Education Program, public television, telecommunications and software publishing industry partners, and school districts serving migrant children and youth in five States (Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.)
The project will use WebTV as the primary means to deliver supplemental instruction to migrant students as they are served in different school districts and to assess their progress. Other forms of technology that will be used include: one and two way interactive video, instructional TV, laptop computers, and the World Wide Web. Students will have their own individualized learning plan which they will be able to access via the internet. The curriculum will implement best practice in education, including authentic project based learning, thematic units and collaborative learning groups. Five migrant teachers, in conjunction with instructional aides, will work with 100 migrant families (students and parents) each year. The project will also have a 1 800 number which will provide families with technical assistance.
Illinois Migrant Council Chicago, IL
Project ESTRELLA (Encouraging Students Through Technology to Reach High Expectations in Learning, Lifeskills, and Achievement) builds on a distance learning project for migrant students called The Lone Star to the Big Sky II that was piloted in Montana and Texas during the summer of 1996.
The project will use the pilot's evaluation results and coordinate with two key distance learning initiatives currently underway in Texas: United Star Schools and NovaNET. Students will be issued laptop computers and will receive training on how to use them. Cybercounselors will provide technical support and will also act as mentors to these students. Professional development via distance learning and resource support will be provided to migrant educators in order to increase their knowledge about emerging technologies. ESTRELLA will serve approximately 150 students per year and 250 migrant educators. A variety of agencies and school districts in Texas, Illinois, Montana and New York will participate in the project.
Michigan Department of Education, MEP Lansing, MI
The Michigan Department of Education's "Project Synergy" will use a variety of technologies to ensure continuity of instruction for migratory students served in districts in Michigan, Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas.
The project uses computer based assessment, electronic portfolios, website conferencing, staff /teacher training via Internet and technology enhanced parent involvement to deliver educational services to this highly mobile population. The educational partners, including Eastern Michigan University, will align curriculum through technology. Keyboard pals will be used to enhance students' English language skills as well as to provide second language enhancement for English monolingual students. Parents will also receive live on site training (Bowdoin Parenting Series) supplemented by live interactive broadcasts of parent training segments in both English and Spanish.
Project Synergy will serve approximately 4,140 elementary and middle school students. Ohio Valley Education Cooperative (OVEC) LaGrange, KY The Ohio Valley Education Cooperative, in cooperation with the Kentucky Department of Education, the University of Louisville, curriculum and software developers, the Kentucky Tobacco Growers Association, and school districts in Kentucky and Florida (that will eventually include several neighboring States), developed "The Kentucky Migrant Technology Project" that will serve migrant students who move within a 27 district area in Kentucky and participating States.
The project is intended to increase migrant students' academic achievement in core subject areas; increase their comfort level and skills in using technology; decrease the dropout rate and increase the GED completion. OVEC will offer interactive, multi media, computer based curriculum software adapted for use by migrant students and used in conjunction with a companion assessment tool. Students will be able to download curriculum units through the Internet when they move from one State or school district to another. A number of community sites within the State have been identified which will house computers.
The project also features a Web based migrant registry, including a migrant student locator, condensed electronic cumulative folder, and electronic student portfolio. OVEC will employ professional development activities through the use of interactive video conferencing. Paraprofessionals will also make home visits in order to incorporate the family into the technology learning process.
Oregon Department of Education Salem, OR
The Oregon Department of Education, in conjunction with the University of Oregon and Western Oregon State College, LocalTec software company, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores of Mexico, RMC Research Corporation, and Jackson Education Service District and Salem Keizer School District 24J school districts serving high numbers of migrant students, designed a project that makes use of a number of technologies to ensure continuity of instruction when migrant students move between school districts in Oregon. Approximately 22,000 migrant students reside in Oregon, many of whom will be able to participate in this project.
The project relies on multi media resources broadcast over public television that can reach students in participating school districts. Some of the television programming that will be used include materials developed and used in rural Mexico for secondary students, since many of Oregon's migrant students come directly from Mexico. Oregon's project features a homework hotline, a video series for English instruction for adults, outreach workshop broadcasts for migrant families, a migrant needs assessment, and a native language assessment.
Their professional development component includes programming designed for teachers to use in the classroom, as well as an electronically linked network of teachers who are able to discuss best practices for migrant students via the Internet. South Eastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) Greensboro, NC The Anchor School will primarily serve students whose home base is Immokalee, Florida and who migrate during the summer months. SERVE, Florida Department of Education, Lee and Collier Counties (FL), the University of South Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Garguilo, Inc., ESCORT and NASA are partners in the project.
The Anchor School will provide migrant families a "lifeline as they travel throughout the United States..." that includes: (1) a rigorous curriculum aligned with high state standards; (2) well trained teachers with time to learn and practice new skills, (3) parents who become lifelong learners involved in their children's education; and (4) collaboration with business and others to leverage additional resources. Project components include a help line/voice mail system, portable local area network, intranet, interactive CD ROMs, individualized instructional planning and assessment, and electronic portfolios.
An Instructional Support Team (IST), made up of a project coordinator, teachers, migrant college students and Americorps volunteers, will travel with students to the receiving States. ISTs will act as a liaison between sending and receives schools, provide support for students and parents when they arrive at a new site, moderate on line chats and provide training for teachers and parents. Parents will also be issued an email address. The Anchor School will use Florida's curriculum framework and state content and performance standards. Receiving States will align their K through 12 summer curriculum to Florida's curriculum.
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