Running head: GRANT PROPOSAL 1

Grant Proposal

Lauren E.H. Gurley

University of West Georgia

July 18, 2018

GRANT PROPOSAL 2

Abstract

Grants provide people with the opportunity to implement new initiatives that could make a big

difference for them. When considering what is needed for my school I felt it would be best to

add additional technology to the fifth grade team to increase student achievement. When

analyzing the given data of the school it seems that the fifth grade team needs the most support

and they have the most testing of all grades. Considering that all county and state testing is

online this year, fifth grade will need additional time to work with technology. Technology also

provides all subgroups at the school with differentiation opportunities.

GRANT PROPOSAL 3

Introduction and Statement of Need

In Gwinnett County there are about 80 elementary schools. Of those 80 schools only 20%

of those elementary schools are considered Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools are at an immediate

economic disadvantage every school year. The students that come into the school do not have the

same resources readily available to them as other schools may. I currently work at Corley

Elementary school which is a title 1 school that is made up of 88% students receiving free and

reduced lunch. The makeup of the school also includes 53% English language Learners.

Although my school already has technology in the school, I believe that it would benefit

for the upper grades to receive more Chromebooks in the classroom. I am asking Educators of

America for a grant to support me in this initiative. This upcoming school year, all of Gwinnett

County will be giving their district assessment as well as Milestones 100% online. It is important

that we adequately prepare our students to be better prepared for the online testing environment.

With these additional Chromebooks students will have more opportunities to use technology to

support their learning in classrooms and close the achievement gap that is evident between title

schools and non-title schools.

With the $5000 grant each fifth grade classroom will be able to get three additional

Chromebooks to utilize in their classroom. These Chromebooks could contribute to more Project

Based Learning in the classroom which has been proven to benefit English language learners.

Also students will have more opportunities to get more acclimated with using technology. The

goal is for students to have more opportunities to use technology so that they will perform better

on the county and state assessments. Also, long-term, these students need opportunities to set

them up to be more college and career ready.

Goals and Objectives

GRANT PROPOSAL 4

With the additional Chromebooks in the fifth grade classrooms, the uprising fifth grade

cohort will close the achievement gap between them and non-title schools. The data used to

evaluate this will be the beginning of the year district assessment and the end of the year district

assessment. The fifth grade cohort will meet or exceed the district average at the end of the year

district assessment. The past two years the fifth grade team has fallen short of reaching this goal.

It is my hope that with the additional technology teachers will have more opportunities for

differentiated instruction, project-based learning, and collaboration. Throughout the school year

teachers will use the Chromebooks to integrate technology more frequently and differentiate

instruction for all learners.

Methods

There are two ways I am going to assess the effectiveness of the project. The first way is

to conduct surveys with the fifth grade teachers monthly. In the survey I will ask the teachers

about the frequency they use 100% of the technology in their classroom. I will ask about how

they are specifically utilizing the technology. In addition, I will ask teachers in the survey how I

can further support them with their technology implementation. Using this survey method

monthly throughout the year will help me monitor the technology use and the support teachers

need from me.

In order to ensure that we are on track throughout the school year we will use the district

assessments to monitor the progress of the 5th grade cohort. District assessments are given

quarterly throughout the year. I will look at the data for Language Arts specifically this year.

Each quarter, it will be expected that fifth grade first semester is performing within five points of

the county average. Since this project will take time to truly impact the students, the first

semester will be more lenient. Second semester it will be expected that the students are
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performing within two points of the county average. I will look at each teachers’ data

individually throughout the year and provide support to those teachers who are performing the

lowest.

Evaluation Plan

In order to evaluate my plan, I will use the survey and district assessments to closely

monitor the progress in two different ways. By closely monitoring these two data, I will be able

to make adjustments along the way as needed. The technology provided should be used daily in

the classrooms to support student learning. I will also serve as a resource throughout the year for

these teachers to address any questions or concerns they may have along the way. All technology

use should be directly aligned to instruction and used to leverage student achievement.

My evaluator for this school year will be my principal, Ruth Tomlinson. Some questions

she may ask me this year to monitor the progress of my technology initiative are:

How frequently are the teachers using the additional technology? How do you know?

How have the Chromebooks directly impacted instruction?

What is an example of the way the Chromebooks are being used?

How have you directly changed instruction with the Chromebooks?

How have you supported teachers with the new technology?

Is 5th grade on track to reach their goal? How do you know?

Budget

For this grant I am asking for additional Chromebooks for the fifth grade teachers. Each

Chromebook costs about $200 which means that fifth grade would be receiving 24 additional

Chromebooks. I am asking for a $5,000 grant to cover the cost for these additional

Chromebooks. My hope is that these Chromebooks will provide additional support in the
GRANT PROPOSAL 6

classroom from differentiated instruction and collaboration. I want Corley Elementary students

to have opportunities to perform better on the district assessments. It is important that we close

the achievement gap between our title students and the students at other schools.

Conclusion

With this grant I am hoping that I can make a difference at Corley Elementary. The

school is already at a disadvantage economically and would benefit greatly from additional

technology. Students having more time to use technology would benefit them short-term as well

as long-term. Throughout this year I hope that the Chromebooks allow for more differentiation

and project-based learning in the classroom. I will closely monitor the use of the technology

provided to teachers to ensure that we are maximizing the intended use of the extra technology.

2 minute elevator pitch

https://youtu.be/4b8AdBuRm-A