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SchoolKiT Case Study
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West Virginia SUCCESS Story: Transforming Teaching and Learning for the 21st Century Student
SchoolKiT is helping teachers across the state of West Virginia prepare students to live and
work productively in the 21st century.
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| Customer Profile |
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| District: | West Virginia's SUCCESS Program |
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| State: | West Virginia |
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| Districts: | 55 |
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| Challenge |
Solution |
Results |
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Find resources and professional development that align with the end goals of technology use to support
the West Virginia Content Standards and Objectives. |
The state has included the edClass curriculum resource library for student learning and technology
integration on the SUCCESS contract list.
pd21 is included on the SUCCESS contract list to provide county schools with ongoing
professional development in the area of quality teaching and learning and technology integration. |
- High quality resources for student Learning
- Embedded professional ICT Literacy skills taught in a contextual learning experience
- ICT Literacy skills taught in contextual learning experience
- Meeting of NCLB requirements
- Increased professional development participation
- Effective low cost professional development
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In 1996, forward-thinking West Virginia legislators drafted landmark educational reform legislation
which sought to ensure sustainable technology integration across the secondary curriculum. That
legislation authorized the allocation of approximately $8 million per year to create the West
Virginia SUCCESS program (Student Utilization of Computers in Curriculum for the Enhancement of
Scholastic Skills).
The planning and implementation of SUCCESS was based on a ‘turnkey’ approach. Kathy Boone,
Assistant Director of the Office of Technology, said recently, “We started this process by clearly
articulating our end goals for technology use with our student learning objectives [the West Virginia
Content Standards and Objectives]. We envisioned all of the resources needed to support our county
schools from hardware and network infrastructure to professional development, instructional resources
and administrative and technical support, and then worked backwards from that point to systematically
implement our plan.”
Kathy added, “We want students to achieve the learning objectives in our CSOs by using technology
tools to gather, analyze and evaluate information and construct new knowledge in a real-life context.
These are new skills that can and must be learned if students are going to be successful. What
technology can do is open up this whole process by introducing a dimension of interactivity that can
enhance the development of those skills for each student. Our teachers must also gain these skills
themselves, supporting each other as contributing members of professional communities of practice that
reach across classrooms, schools and counties in our state.”
Kathy went on to say, "The SchoolKiT staff and their solutions are strongly aligned with our
objectives and can help us to realize our goal of preparing every student in West Virginia with the
skills, competencies, and attributes necessary to succeed in school, become lifelong learners, and to
attain economic self-sufficiency."
| 'To live and work productively in the 21st century,
our students must be able to think creatively, solve problems, communicate well, and make
effective use of technology. By providing technology tools that support West Virginia's demanding
curriculum, such as SchoolKiT's professional development and instructional materials, the
WV SUCCESS Initiative helps prepare students to achieve at ever-increasing levels, to leave
school prepared to lead successful, productive lives in the workplace, and to continue learning
throughout their lifetimes.' |
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| - Brenda Williams |
| Executive Director, Office of Technology |
| West Virginia Department of Education |
| 2004 SETDA Leader of the Year |
The West Virginia vision for sustaining the continuous improvement of teaching and learning has
been meeting the needs of students and teachers ever since its inception. So much so that Brenda
Williams, Executive Director of the Office of Technology, was recently bestowed the honor
“Leader of the Year,” the first-ever such accolade presented by her colleagues from the State
Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), and an honor she readily shares among her
team of committed educators.
Brenda said recently, "To live and work productively in the 21st century, our students must
be able to think creatively, solve problems, communicate well, and make effective use of technology.
By providing technology tools that support West Virginia's demanding curriculum, such as SchoolKiT's
edClass activBooks, the WV SUCCESS Initiative helps prepare students to achieve at ever-increasing
levels, to leave school prepared to lead successful, productive lives in the workplace, and to
continue learning throughout their lifetimes."
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About SchoolKiT Solutions
edClass is a complete library of classroom-ready integration activities that improve student achievement.
edClass activities are presented as small, interactive electronic books - called activBooks - that open on
students' and teachers' computers to guide them successfully through effective curriculum-based lessons.
pd21 enables an enterprise-level approach to professional development by equipping administrators
with the online content and tools they need to provide for and manage the learning of many teachers across
multiple schools in a cohesive and systematic manner. With
pd21's ongoing professional development
resources and classroom-ready 'best-practice' curriculum activities, districts realize an immediate increase
in the amount and quality of technology infusion in their schools, while achieving continuous school improvement
and institutional change.
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© 1997-2010 SchoolKiT. All Rights Reserved. |
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