Emerging Technology Grant Kathleen Reilly 1

Emerging Technology Grant

Many organizations such as the Maryland Society of Educational Technology (MSET) offer educators an
opportunity to apply for grants to encourage the effective use of technology in teaching and learning.
These organizations participate in a competitive grant process awarding funds to proposals
demonstrating innovative uses of instructional technology and address 21st Century learning skills to
improve student achievement. The award amount will be $1,000.00.

What are the criteria for the grant application?

A. States the title of the proposal. The title should relate to the proposal.
B. Includes a clear and brief description or abstract of the grant proposal. (Maximum of 75 words.
This description would be published if the grant proposal were selected for an award.)
C. Clearly states the goals and objectives of the proposed program. These goals should be clear,
understandable, and observable.
D. Includes a list or table of the item(s) being requested including the product name and model
numbers and the cost of the item(s). If the total cost exceeds the amount requested, indicates how
additional funding will be obtained.
E. Clearly describes how the program will be assessed in both content and technology literacy.
Indicate how you will observe if the program is having an impact on student learning. What data
will be collected? How will it be determined if the program was a success or if it needs revised?
F. Clearly indicates Content Standard(s), Topic(s), and Indicator(s) that will be addressed by the
implementation of this program. Please indicate the content standards being used. Include a link if
possible.
G. Clearly indicates the International Society of Technology Educations National Educational
Technology Standards for students (NETS-S) being addressed during this program.
H. Clearly indicates the International Society of Technology Educations National Educational
Technology Standards for teachers (NETS-T) being addressed during this program.
ISTE NETS-S and ISTE NETS-T can be found here: http://www.iste.org/STANDARDS
I. Includes a realistic timeline that outlines the implementation plan of the proposal and includes the
following: Activity, Person Responsible, Start Date, Completion Date, and Evidence of
Successful Completion.
J. Clearly describes how implementation of the proposed program will improve student
achievement, address an instructional need in a new and creative way, and promote 21st Century
Learning.
K. Includes a brief statement of the qualifications of the applicant(s) administering the program.

How may grant funds by used?

Grant funds may be used for software, hardware, or peripherals needed to complete the program.
Grant funds may not be used for salaries, curriculum development, student prizes, scholarships,
conference attendance, field trips, consumables, or the technology infrastructure of a school.
Software purchases must comply with copyright law and reflect a site license or the number of
copies equal to the number of computers available. Software and hardware must be approved for
use by the local school/school district.

(See template below)

Emerging Technology Grant Kathleen Reilly 2

A. Title:

I-am-Ready for Middle School: Providing Adaptive Diagnostics and Instruction to Meet
Personal Reading Goals

B. Description of the Grant:

49% of the incoming 5th graders at Milbrook Elementary did not meet their projected target
growth in reading last year. Milbrook is seeking a grant for $1,000 for I-Ready Diagnostic and
Instruction Reading software to provide interventions for students before they enter middle
school. The goal of this project is to increase student outcomes and close the achievement gap of
the targeted subgroup by providing remediation and targeted skill interventions.

C. Goals and Objectives for the Grant Program:

The overarching goal of the implementation of I-Ready Diagnostic and Instruction, is to provide
data and tools for instruction to address the specific needs of students to improve performance
and increase student outcomes in reading for 5th graders at Milbrook Elementary School. I-Ready
will provide specific and personalized lessons, applications, and assessments that are rigorous
and aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Online lessons will efficiently deliver
differentiated instruction to individuals and will also provide teachers with data allowing them to
identify gaps, reading levels, and group students with similar abilities for targeted interventions.
This blended learning approach will develop 21st century skills for teachers and students by
integrating technology into the classroom. In creation of these technology-rich learning
environments, students will take charge of their own learning by playing an active role in
monitoring their growth. In doing so, student performance in reading will increase and
achievement gaps will close.

Objectives: Through the implementation of I-Ready:

1. At least 62.5% of 5th graders will meet or exceed MAP Target Growth Rate goals
a 12% increase that will close the gap between the current 5th grade and the rest
of the school.
2. Students will track their progress in reading to set personal learning goals in order
to improve foundational reading skills.
3. Students will develop 21st century skills by taking an active role in their learning
by using technology to seek feedback to guide future practice and application.
4. Teachers will use data from assessments to monitor progress and provide
customized additional supports for students.
5. Teachers and students will develop 21st century learning skills, through a blended
learning approach that implements the daily use of I-Ready in small group
instruction rotations.
Emerging Technology Grant Kathleen Reilly 3

D. Budget:

There are 82 students entering the 5th grade at Milbrook this year. Of these 82 students, 40
did not meet their targeted growth in reading. The grant amount of $1,000 will provide
enough funding for 33 subscriptions to I-Ready Diagnostic and Instruction in Reading. Each
subscription is $30 per 1-year student license. The total cost is $990 for 33 subscriptions,
leaving $10 remaining from the grant. The additional 7 subscriptions required totals $210.00.
Title 1 will fund $200.00 to the initiative and the $10.00 balance will be covered by the
remaining funds from the grant. Notably, I-Ready charges a 150-subscription minimum for
new customers. Milbrooks 1st-3rd graders have individual licenses that were purchased by
the district; therefore this minimum is not a factor for this project, as Milbrook is not a new
customer.

Item Model Number Quantity Price Total Cost

I-Ready
WS13089 $30
Diagnostic and
978-0-7609- 33 per 1 year student $990.00
Instruction
7263-2 license
Reading

E. Program Assessment:

I-Readys easy to use software will provide standards aligned data that is simple and concise for
teachers, the School Leadership Team, and Administration to use. I-Readys initial diagnostic
assessment determines the mastery of grade-level standards and assesses skills across multiple
grade levels for each individual student. As the student answers the questions, they get
progressively harder or easier based on if the answer are correct or not. Once gaps are identified,
online lessons are personalized and assigned to individual learners. After completion of online
lessons, students partake in a 6-10 question assessment. The assessments will provide teachers
with specific data that can be used to guide instruction and provide differentiated instructional
supports. Teachers and Administration can view the data of particular students and subgroups, as
well as, search by subject, grade, domain, or standard. Administration is able to view standards
mastery by creating and monitoring assessments. Students are provided with assessment data as
well. Not only are they given the correct answer in real time when taking online assessments, but
also thorough explanations are provided for correct and incorrect answers. These strong
interactive assessments will create reflective learners that will be encouraged to set goals. MAP
(Measures of Academic Progress) Assessments will be used to measure the success of this
project. All students in Baltimore County Public Schools are required to take the MAP
Assessment twice a year to measure growth. Students will take the Fall Assessment in September
and then take the Spring Assessment in May- 8 months later. The initial MAP Assessment will
be treated as a pre-assessment for this project. Using the scores from the MAP testing, we will be
able to determine the success of the project in the 2016-2017 school year. If formative and
summative assessments using I-Ready reflect that students are not growing, the Reading
Specialist will begin pulling the targeted students and we will begin looking at additional
intervention programs. Should the project increase student achievement as it has shown to do in
many other districts across the country, our school will need to plan a budget for additional
licenses for the following school year.
Emerging Technology Grant Kathleen Reilly 4

F. Common Core Content Standards:

I-Ready was built for the Common Core and aligns with Reading Grades 2-8. The adaptive
Diagnostic covers the main Common Core domains: Phonics, Phonological Awareness, High
Frequency Words, Vocabulary, Comprehension of Literature, and Comprehension of
Informational Text. As students work through the instruction and assessments, the software is
able to identify learning gaps down to the specific Common Core standard. Because I-Ready was
built for Common Core State Standards, it will insure rigorous instruction, remediation,
applications, and assessments.
For this particular subgroup, I-Ready will address the following standards:
Reading: Literature: CCSS.ELA-Literacy: RL5.1, RL5.2, RL5.3, RL5.4, RL5.5, RL5.6, RL5.7,
RL5.8, RL5.9, RL5.10
Reading Informational Text: CCSS. ELA-Literacy: RI5.1, RI5.2, RI5.3, RI5.4, RI5.5, RI5.6,
RI5.7, RI5.8, RI5.9, RI5.10
Reading: Foundational Skills CCSS. ELA-Literacy: RF5.3.A, RF5.4.A, RF5.4B, RF5.4.C
Language: CCSS.ELA-Literacy: L5.1, L5.2, L5.3, L5.4, L5.5, L5.6

G. ISTE NETS-S (Technology Standards) http://www.iste.org/STANDARDS :

The use of I-Ready software, provided by this grant, will address the following ISTE Standards
for Students:
1. Leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating
competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.
o a. Articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging
technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to
improve learning outcomes
o c. Use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice
and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.

H. ISTE NETS-T (Technology Standards) http://www.iste.org/STANDARDS :

The use of I-Ready software, provided by this grant, will address the following ISTE Standards
for Teachers:
2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments Teachers design,
develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating
contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop
the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the Standards-S.
o b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to
pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their
own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own
progress
o c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students diverse
learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
 Emerging Technology Grant Kathleen Reilly 5

o d. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative

assessments aligned with content and technology standards, and use resulting data
to inform learning and teaching

I. Timeline and Implementation Plan:

Activity Person Start Date Completion Evidence of Successful
Responsible Date Completion
Submit Grant Proposal Kathleen Reilly August 22nd, August 22nd, Submission
I-Ready Project 2016 2016
Leader
Contact local Administration and Upon Receiving September Software available on
Educational I-Ready Project Grant 7th, 2016 BCPS One accounts for
Consultant for Leader September 5th, the targeted subgroup
Purchase of I-Ready 2016
software
Prepare teachers for I-Ready Project September 12th, September Teachers will understand
software through an Leader and I-Ready 2016 12th, 2016 how to access I-Ready and
initial training session Professional use the Online Instruction
where they will learn Development to guide their teaching
how to access the site Representative
All 5th graders take 5th Grade Teachers September 13th, September Fall 2016 scores are
MAP Assessment 2016 16th, 2016 available for all students
on shared drive at
Milbrook
Introduce subgroup of School Progress September 19th, September Students will be able to
5th graders to I-Ready Plan Team and 5th 2016 19th, 2016 access I-Ready through
and provide step-by- Gr BCPS One login
step login information
through BCPS One.
Targeted students take I-Ready Project September 20th, September Data is gathered from
Adaptive Diagnostic Leader 2016 23rd, 2016 diagnostic assessment and
Assessment specific gaps and strengths
for each individual student
are recognized to the
specific standard
Begin Using I-Ready 5th Grade Teachers September 26th, Ongoing Subgroup will have 15-20
in small group rotation 2016 minutes time to use I-
groups Ready during small group
rotations in their Reading
and English Language
Arts block
Track and monitor 5th grade teachers, September 26th, Ongoing Data reports are collected
student growth I-Ready Project 2016 from I-Ready
Leader and School
Progress Plan Team
MAP Assessment 5th Grade Teachers May 24th, 2017 May 28th, Spring 2017 growth scores
2017 are available for all
students on shared drive at
Milbrook
Emerging Technology Grant Kathleen Reilly 6

J. Program Rationale: (Clearly describes how implementation of the proposed program will
improve student achievement, address an instructional need in a new and creative way,
and promote 21st Century Learning.)

Milbrook Elementary is a Title 1 school in the Baltimore County Public Schools system. Using
data from the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Assessment, there is a discrepancy
between the overall school results in comparison to the incoming 5th graders. 49.3% of incoming
5th grade students met their growth rate on the Reading MAP Assessment compared to the 62.5%
students who met or exceeded their MAP Target Growth Rate school-wide. This data measures
reading growth from the beginning to the end of the school year. Throughout Baltimore County,
certain schools, including Milbrook, have implemented the software I-Ready for grades 1-3.
Because of the gap seen in the incoming 5th grade class, it is essential that Milbrook find a way
to intervene with these students before they advance to middle school next year.

At Milbrook, each 5th grade teacher has 7 devices in their classroom for student use. Class sizes
are typically around 18-22 students and reading instruction is taught in small groups (about 7-8
students per group). This intervention project would allow for the blended classroom approach to
21st Century Learning. The teacher would use I-Ready during small group rotations. As the
students who are in the targeted subgroup work on I-Ready during class, the teacher can get real
time data and results from their online lessons. When students then meet with the teacher, he or
she is already aware of the specific areas this student is either struggling or excelling in. This
immediate and specific feedback provided by I-Ready provides students with the utmost
personalized and differentiated instruction from the software and teacher.

Immediate and specific feedback is incredibly beneficial for the students as well. Students using
I-ready set personal learning goals after taking their Diagnostic Assessment. They are able to
self-monitor their own learning. Lessons administered through I-Ready are engaging,
motivational, and new to students each time. Lessons are catered to relate to real world situations
and students can personalize avatars. Because the lessons are tailored to individual needs,
students will not perform mindless tasks. I-Ready is rigorous and is intended to challenge
students with Common Core aligned lessons, guided practice, and assessments. Lessons vary
from 10 minutes to 25 minutes depending on the skill being addressed. After the student has
achieved success with the skill, they engage in extended practice through interactive games.

The data at Milbrook suggests that there is a true need for more tailored reading instruction for
our older students. Although it is easy to assume that reading interventions are most relevant for
younger students, this project focuses on the later interventions. I-Ready is designed to intervene
meaningfully, intensifying instruction and ensuring that instruction is personalized.

K. Applicants Qualifications:

Kathleen Reilly obtained her Bachelors degree from Loyola University Maryland, with a major
in Elementary Education and a minor in Special Education. She is currently working toward a
Masters Degree in Technology for Educators from Johns Hopkins University. Kathleen is
entering her third year as a 5th grade Reading and English Language Arts teacher at Milbrook
Elementary School. Kathleen is a member of the Milbrooks School Leadership Team. In this
Emerging Technology Grant Kathleen Reilly 7

role, she collaborates with other staff leaders to develop the School Progress Plan, determine
disparities and gaps in data, and develop key actions for improvement for the coming year. As a
5th grade teacher, she would be working directly with the targeted subgroup and would be a
representative to share findings with the School Leadership Team.