Commodore Sloat Innovation Grant

Commodore Sloat Innovation Grant December 7th, 2017

49% of families come from Socio-Economically Disadvantaged (SED) households

26.5% of English Language Learners at Sloat are at or above proficient based on Reading Inventory scores for 3rd-5th grade (Balanced Score Card) compared to 59.6% of the whole school.

55.3% of English Language Learners at Sloat are at or above proficient based on the Math Benchmark scores for 3rd-5th grade (Balanced Score Card) compared to 70.1% of the whole school.

Innovation team meets to discuss ways to gather user-centered data

First, 5th grade student council candidates were asked to meet with as many 2nd-5th graders as possible. Our goal was to collect data about technology usage.

Interesting discovery: Almost all students surveyed were using technology at home via phone, computer, or tablet. Our English language learners had a higher amount of usage than non-ELLs but most were not using technology for educational purposes.

Notes from our 2nd-5th grade fishbowl about using technology in school

Students participating in the fishbowl agreed that they were not learning about all of the available technology features to enhance their reading, writing, math and science skills.

Then our librarian, Jennifer, took an inventory of 2nd-5th grade students digital skills (Fresno COE technology skills 3rd-5th graders) with Chromebooks and used the form above to see what students already know.

Interesting discovery: The majority of 3rd-5th graders are unaware of all of the features and abilities of Chromebooks but were motivated to quickly learn new skills that would follow them through their education.

SOLUTIONS

A weekend retreat for staff of Sloat to incentivize to become digitally literate- $20,000

2 Chrome carts with 35 chromebooks each- $25,854

On-site digital professional development for staff at Sloat- in-kind from Department of Technology

Digital parent/family workshops with school-wide apps and digital educational activities- in-kind from Department of Technology

Providing increased guided access to technology...

Providing access to Chromebooks for students will help redefine the learning experiences in all subject areas. Students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes also have equitable opportunity in the classroom with digital literacy.

Fifth grade is the only grade with a 1-1 ratio of Chromebooks to students. Achieved through a donor choose.

The Vision for all students: Like Leon, we want other students to feel confident, successful and become motivated learners in all aspects.

Think of the all the possibilities if students are able to create stop motion videos, and podcasts/tutorials in math. Do you want to be a part of it?

Outcomes

With increased access, educating the educators is VITAL to motivate students to explore learning curriculum in many different ways and provide differentiations otherwise unavailable.

Appreciate