17 Oklahoma Schools Receive $75,000 Grants for Technology

17 Oklahoma Schools Receive $75,000 Grants for Technology

By Amy Klinge, Advancement Director
Communities Foundation of Oklahoma

The teaching of science, math, history and more will soon get a boost at 17 Oklahoma schools because of $75,000 grants for new technology equipment from the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust. The OETT was established in 2001 by a $30 million contribution from AT&T Oklahoma to Oklahoma public schools.

Each school will use the funds to purchase items such as a SMART board interactive whiteboard, wireless laptops and digital cameras. The new technology will be integrated into the daily curriculum to enhance learning opportunities.

The grants were presented to representatives from each school on Aug. 26 during a special presentation at the annual conference of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association and Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration in Oklahoma City.

The 17 schools receiving grants are:

Alcott Middle School, Norman
Bridge Creek School District, Bridge Creek
Byng Elementary School, Byng
Crescent High School, Crescent
Deer Creek Elementary School, Deer Creek
Drumright High School, Drumright
El Reno Alternative Academy, El Reno
Grissom Elementary School, Tulsa
Idabel High School, Idabel

Irving Middle School, Norman
Laverne Elementary School, Laverne
Tryon Junior High School, Perkins
Tuttle High School, Tuttle
Vanoss 6th – 9th grades, Vanoss
Wagoner Central Intermediate, Wagoner
Western Oaks Middle School, Putnam City
Westville Lower Elementary School, Westville

“Focusing on improving student achievement by integrating technology in the classroom has changed the shift from small pockets of improvement to widespread change across Oklahoma,” said Bob Stafford, OETT chairman and AT&T representative. “Nearly 32,000 students have been affected by these grants and since 2004, our OETT schools indicate an 81 percent larger increase in our Academic Performance Index scores than the state average … bottom line, our students are succeeding.”

Since 2003, 79 schools in Oklahoma that have been awarded an OETT grant. To date, more than $7.55 million in technology grants have been distributed. OETT also has contributed another $1.4 million for leadership training and laptops. Through the leadership of Oklahoma Achievement Through Collaboration and Technology Support (OK-ACTS), a project of the K20 Center at the University of Oklahoma that seeks to develop leadership for school change through the use of technology, more than 2,000 teachers and 900 superintendents and principals have received professional development training to assist their students with the new technology.

The mission of the OETT is to equip Oklahoma common schools and CareerTech students with the technology and technological skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. The trust provides funds for computer and telecommunications equipment, infrastructure, leadership, and professional development to implement and advance the integration of technology into classroom instruction.

“The Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust does not just put computers in schools,” said Attorney General DrewEdmondson. “Computers do little good if teachers and students don’t know how to use them. The Trust is unique in that we train educators to incorporate technology into the everyday classroom experience. The goal is to enhance the learning experiences of Oklahoma children.”

OETT was established in 2001 as a result of an agreement between Edmondson and AT&T Oklahoma, relating to the company’s transition to a modernized form of regulation. The final regulatory plan was finalized by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and approved by the state legislature. As part of the agreement, AT&T contributed $30 million to OETT.

Trustees of OETT are Stafford (representing AT&T and OETT Chair), OSSBA Executive Director Keith Ballard, Career TechState Director Phil Berkenbile, OEA Executive Director Lela Odom, state Senator Susan Paddack, and CCOSA Executive Director Randall Raburn.

OETT is administered by Communities Foundation of Oklahoma and the OK-ACTS Phase II Grants-to-School development team is administered through the University of Oklahoma’s K20 Center directed by Dr. Mary John O’Hair. Additional information on OK-ACTS can be found at www.k20center.org.

For additional information on OETT and Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, please contact Executive Director Susan Graves at 1-877-689-7726 or visit the OETT website at www.oett.org.

OETT Delivers Future to State Classrooms
By OETT Chairman, Bob Stafford

Bob Stafford I didn’t grow up attending a one-room schoolhouse where we used charcoal for pencils and made our own notebook paper. Still, about the highest technological tools we had in our classrooms in the 1950s and 60s were chalk, blackboards and filmstrips that the teacher advanced in sync with beeps from scratchy record albums.

Classroom technology has rocketed well ahead of those days, thank goodness. Yet today, even with the abundance of devices available, our schools struggle to provide the latest and greatest to help produce our best and brightest.

It’s not that our schools don’t know what they need – most good teachers have long “wish lists” of new tools – they’re just not sure how to pay for it. Certainly, money for public education is not a new problem.

That’s why I’m so proud to be part of a quiet organization called the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust. If you haven’t heard about it, don’t feel bad. The OETT wasn’t established to grab headlines, but to help our teachers and children use and benefit from the latest high-tech teaching tools.

The OETT was established five years ago as a result of an agreement between Attorney General Drew Edmondson and AT&T Oklahoma (then SBC) during the company’s transition to a modernized form of regulation. As part of the agreement, which was finalized by the state Corporation Commission and approved by the Legislature, AT&T contributed $30 million to establish the OETT.

In the last three years, the OETT has given out technology grants totaling more than $7.55 million to 79 Oklahoma elementary, middle and high schools. Just a few weeks ago, the OETT gave checks of $75,000 each to 17 schools, from elementary schools in Byng and Westville to high schools in Tuttle and Drumright. The funds will go to equip teachers, students and classrooms with new laptops, digital cameras, graphing calculators, projectors and more.

Proof of the grant successes is seen in the statistics. These 79 schools indicate an 81 percent larger increase in Academic Performance Index scores than the state average. Over 2000 teachers and 900 superintendents have received professional development training to begin integrating technology in curriculum using best practices of other high achieving schools across the nation. These students and teachers are helping launch their school districts well into the technology age.

The equipment, and the professional development opportunities for educators, meet the dire need our students have in order to compete in an increasingly technology driven world. Former U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige, writing in the 2004 National Education Technology Plan, said “technology ignites opportunities for learning, engages today’s students as active learners and participants in decision-making on their own educational futures and prepares our nation for the demands of a global society in the 21st century.”

Certainly, some education issues need to be addressed by the state Legislature. But the business community, which far outpaces our schools in its use and understanding of new technology, can play an important role in ensuring our children and teachers receive that same level of high-tech opportunity. Together, the OETT and AT&T are helping move our schools out of the age of the filmstrip and into the future.