OSMTECHFUTURES
Folks:
This is the NSF Grant Letter of Intent that I believe has been sent this morning by Oakland Schools. Comments please.
[ Wed Mar 31, 08:10:07 AM | Edward Stanulis | edit ]
From: Ed Stanulis
The letter of intent is being sent by LaMoine Motz. Please note that this is subject to modification as we develop the proposal. Following is the text:
Letter of Intent
Interagency Education Research Initiative (EIRI), NSF 04-553)
Title of Project: Transformational Learning: Exploring the Feasibility of Scaling Up Non-traditional Learning Environments That Integrate Math, Science and Technology Into the Typical High School Curriculum.
Principal Investigator: LaMoine Motz, Ph.D., Director, Oakland Schools Science, Mathematics and Technology Center.
Co-Principal Investigators:
Lindson Feun, Ph.D., Consultant, Research and Evaluation, Oakland Schools.
Kyle Hughes, Presidential Awardee Mathematics Teacher, Oakland Science, Mathematics and Technology Academy (OSMTech).
David Housel, Ph.D., Science Consultant, Oakland Schools Science, Mathematics and Technology Center.
The proposal is contextual project to study the underlying data to explore the feasibility of scaling up the integrated approach of the Oakland Science, Mathematics and Technology Academy (OSMTech). The next cycle of innovation requires understanding the elements of small scale successful math and science programs to find ways that these programs can be successfully implemented in a typical high school environment and engage a broader range of students for success in math and science. OSMTech is a shared time program for students, grades 9-12, who have exceptional passion and interest for advanced science, mathematics and technology. This academic year (2003-2004), 116 junior and senior students attend OSMTech for half a day and return to their home high school for the remaining half-day. OSMTech emphasizes the integration of math, science and technology, applied within a “real world” context in non-traditional learning environments. The curriculum is designed so those subjects are learned in more depth and at an accelerated pace. In the junior and senior years, many OSMTech students work with mentor scientists, mathematicians and technologists from local businesses, universities and industry.
Levels and fields of mathematics and science:
· Integrated mathematics course offerings include geometry, algebra, trigonometry, probability, statistics and problem solving.
· Integrated science course offerings that unify concepts in earth science, physics, chemistry and biology in a laboratory setting.
· Integrated technology that incorporates concepts and themes in mathematics, science and technology.
· Integrated emphasis on teamwork, problem solving, investigation and leadership development and enhancement throughout the core curriculums.
Oakland Schools is one of 57 intermediate school districts in Michigan serving 28 Oakland County school districts with more than 228,000 students (203,718 from public schools and 24,307 from non-public schools).
Hi folks:
I just got off of a conference call with Sherry Kuchon and Ed Stanulis. With reference to the NSF Grant 2004 proposal we had been discussing several weeks ago, it appears they have finally recieved the "green light" at Oakland Schools and are filing the letter of intent prior to the due date of April 1, 2004. This may be a "shot in the dark" or a needed shot in the arm for OSMTech. We shall see. I will share the letter of intent with everyone when I recieve it.
That "ringing" in your ears folks is the call for Hyper-speed! Aye, Aye, Captain.....fullspeed ahead! Ding! Ding!
Best,
Jim
Folks:
You are extraordinarily courageous and are incredible role-models for your children. Perhaps the observatory can find some way to make a contribution to your ongoing efforts also.
This just in. The Michigan Attoroney General has just announced that he will seek charges of embezzelment against Mr. James Redmond.
Beth: You might want to contact the Oakland Tech News to run an article regarding OSMTech. I believe it would be the right forum. Contact: 586-939-6800 Ext: 213 / Deadline: Wednesday 12:00PM
Has anything further developed with the Convergence Foundation initiative?
Much continued success!
Best,
Jim
Folks: (FYI)
American Leadership Institute
americanleadershipinstitute.com
blogger
Craig Lamiman
http://www.americanleadershipinstitute.com/lamiman.htm
blogger
Learning Institute or Leadership Institute?
Best,
Jim
Beth:
Sounds like a good "Plan Z" to me. Keep us "posted" and let me know if I can be of any help and/or provide any insights.
Best,
Jim
Beth:
Deft touch this morning on WJR. Don't know anything of American Learning Institute.
Best,
Jim
Folks:
Technology-based school faces closing
Web-posted Mar 25, 2004
By DAVE GROVES and SVEN GUSTAFSON
Of The Daily Oakland Press
Unless the widely popular Oakland Science, Math and Technology Academy can find more students or grant funding to support programs, it will close next year.
The Oakland Schools Board of Education has voted to no longer subsidize the academically-based technology program for high school students in northern Oakland County.
"What we're talking about is having it be self-sufficient," said Board Secretary Pan Godchaux.
"If they're able to come up with 120 students or get some of the grant funding they're seeking, we won't pull the plug on it."
Finding students to add to the current enrollment of 105 presents a formidable challenge, however.
Welcoming students from the Lake Orion, Holly, Brandon and Clarkston school districts, OSMTech receives half of the state funding the districts receive for each student.
Facing considerable budget challenges of their own, Lake Orion and Clarkston school officials have begun bowing out of the consortium. These districts will allow current OSMTech students to complete their high school educations there, but are not sending new students.
Holly schools Superintendent R. Kent Barnes said he, too, has recommended to the school board that it stop sending new pupils to the program while allowing those currently enrolled to finish.
Barnes said the district spends roughly $80,000 per year to send about 25 students to OSMTech - enough to hire a teacher to work with 150 kids in Holly, where the district intends to develop more technologically-based curriculum.
Regis Jacobs, assistant superintendent of career-focused education and regional services for Oakland Schools, said that the funding the center would have received with new students is critical to maintaining services.
"You have to have so many teachers to provide the breadth of curriculum we offer at OSMTech," he said. "We've already pretty much stripped away all of our indirect costs."
Despite administrators' attempts to explain the budgetary considerations OSMTech is facing, parents of students in the program were less than pleased with the board's decision forcing the school to become self-sufficient.
Beth Nuccio, president of the Brandon Board of Education and parent of two OSMTech students, said parents had proposed a restructuring plan that seemed to please intermediate district officials. "It was a win-win-win, as Dr. Jacobs called it," she said.
"I don't know what happened between the first part of March and the 22nd of March, but it died. I've gotta' believe there's some politics going on there that probably aren't for kids."
Parents and OSMTech staff had submitted proposals to make the program eligible for vocational education funds provided by the state.
Jacobs said, however, the proposals failed to meet necessary criteria, primarily because OSMTech has long provided primarily academic rather than vocational curriculum.
"The more we looked at the details of it, the more the proposal did not have integrity," he said. "They're just very different approaches to educating."
The Oakland Schools Board of Education plans to decide the fate of OSMTech in June, based on whether proponents can demonstrate financial self-sufficiency.
Nuccio said parents will look for corporate or foundation funding to keep the program afloat.
"I guess we're looking for somebody who understands the value of this program, and Oakland Schools is not it," she said.
Beth:
Congratulations on bringing the issue to the forefront of the news publishers. I concur that there is funding available and with the direction (targets) you are proposing. We will need a well articulated "strong statement " of intent to deliver our message. Automation Alley would be the strongest candidate since there mission so closely parallels our objective. I work with the Oakland County Quality Council (OCQC) and was present when Ken Rogers outlined a vision for Collaboration, K-12 Education, Community Colleges and Technological Initiatives in an OCQC meeting in the Oakland County Executives Office board room in December of last year. This cold be a natural outgrowth of that vision statement. It would also resonate as an all Oakland team initiative.
Perhaps we should have a "face to face" meeting of the individuals interested to discuss the strategic possibilities.
Additionally, the NSF Grant intitiatives we have been developing continue. This could well serve as the narrative.
Best,
Jim
Plan to salvage Clarkston academy voted down
March 24, 2004
BY TERESA MASK
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER
A plan to save the Oakland Science, Math & Technology Academy in Clarkston collapsed Tuesday when the Oakland Intermediate School Board rejected a proposal to use vocational dollars to keep it afloat.
The board also voted to end the program June 30 unless local school districts promise to boost enrollment to 120 students for the next academic year.
"It was sincere and heartfelt, but it just doesn't hold water," said Regis Jacobs, assistant superintendent for career-focused education for Oakland Schools, which oversees the academy at its Northwest Technical Campus. "It sounds good in concept, but in application, it falls short."
The program does not meet state guidelines to receive vocational education dollars partly because it doesn't prepare students directly for employment.
OIS Interim Superintendent Bill Keane warned the board about using county-wide millage dollars for OSM-Tech. He reminded them that the board recently had to return $9 million in special education funds it had inappropriately spent.
"No one has given us encouragement that this would be an acceptable expenditure," Keane said.
District officials estimated that it would lose between $24,000 and $60,000 a year subsidizing the program.
It is funded by local districts, which send students to the half-day, four-year program. Half of the state-allotted amount for each student, plus $100, goes to the academy.
But the academy is in financial trouble because several districts have pulled out of the program and others are threatening to stop sending new students as well. This semester, enrollment is down to 105 students, Jacobs said.
Supporters packed the boardroom Tuesday evening, saying they were caught off guard by the board's decision.
I FEEL THE PAIN>>>>>>>>BUT WHAT'S NEXT TEAM?
Best,
Jim
Hello:
Blog-site's as Learning Wheels / Ref: The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter Senge
A place to reflect, build shared meaning and joint planning which in turn turns the action into a polished initiative.
http://www.fieldbook.com/
blogger
Best,
Jim
Hi folks:
Something good to help us "shape" our understanding of the job at hand.
http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/eisd5_20040305.htm
blogger
Best,
Jim
Hello!
Now about that Lake Orion School district...........participation issue.
http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0403/04/c04-78092.htm
blogger
Best,
Jim
Hi folks:
This just in;
-----Original Message-----
From: James Ross [mailto:jross2@earthlink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 10:17 AM
To: 'Kuchon, Sherry'
Subject: RE: Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI) NSF 04-553
Hi Sherry:
I have been soliciting various "team members" during the past several weeks to help facilitate the grant initiative. Ed seems to have gotten his arms around the initial idea regarding OSMTech as a "proof of concept" for the grant initiative. Additionally, he has done an excellent job of outlining the educational elements with respect to the "contextual project" objective and the scalability opportunity via the Science and Math Corp mentoring aspect of the grant initiative.
PEOPLE (I BELIEVE CAN HELP US SUCCEED)
Lamoine Motz, Oakland Schools Math, Science, and Technology Center / Principal Investigator
David Downing / Oakland University / Dean of Arts & Sciences (If higher education is necessary)
Dwight Sieggreen / Northville Teacher and former President of the MSTA / Secondary Principal Investigator (NSF Connections)
John Iras / Principal, Filmore Elementary / Warren Consolidated Schools / Curriculum Consultant
Paul Briercheck / Formerly of the Oakland Schools Technology Center/Southeast / Math and Science Co-ordinator
Kyle Hughes / OSMTech Science Teacher
Mel Drumm / Formerly director of the Detroit Science Center
Jim Fitzgerald / NASA-Glen Center, Ohio
Kevin Grazier / JPL, Pasadena, California
George Andrews / GM Knowledge Center / Director, World-wide Engineering Web-based Learning Pat Thornberry / JASON Project Bert Okma / Principal, International Academy, Bloomfield Hills Ed Hendry / Formerly GM Telecommunications Engineer Tony Gallucci / CEO, MetroTel Communications
Additionally, many other people have committed to helping behind the scenes.
I've also been working on the development of various "pilot programs" and leverage opportunities to facilitate the sustainability of the initial grant initiative.
Please let me know what your thoughts might be regarding the above and next steps.
Best,
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: Kuchon, Sherry [mailto:Sherry.Kuchon@oakland.k12.mi.us]
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 9:10 AM
To: Jim Ross (E-mail)
Subject: FW: Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI) NSF 04-553
We have a green light from NSF to go forward as the lead agency for the IERI grant. This is good as I am familiar with the electronic submission process. Ed crafted some text that we can build on if you agree with the basic concepts he laid out. Now, who are our team members to assist in the development of this grant?
Sherry
Sherry Kuchon
Coordinator, Fund Development
2111 Pontiac Lake Road
Waterford MI 48328-2736
Phone: 248.209.2567
FAX: 248.209.2206
-----Original Message-----
From: Stanulis, Edward
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 8:57 AM
To: Kuchon, Sherry
Subject: FW: Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI) NSF 04-553
Sherry, it looks like we can proceed with the NSF IERI.I've outlined a concept -- now we need someone to buy off on the idea. At what point do we bring in either/both Regis and Mary Kaye? Ed Stanulis Consultant, Fund Development Oakland Schools 2111 Pontiac Lake Road Waterford, MI 48328-2736 (248)209-2568
-----Original Message-----
From: Sloane, Finbarr [mailto:fsloane@nsf.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 6:28 PM
To: 'Stanulis, Edward '
Subject: RE: Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI) NSF 04-553
Your school district is eligible. But keep in mind that you will along with your partner group have to show that the intervention has been effective with the group you already used it with. Best wishes, Barry
-----Original Message-----
From: Stanulis, Edward
To: 'fsloane@nsf.gov'
Sent: 2/03/04 10:47
Subject: Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI) NSF 04-553
Dear Mr. Sloane:
Oakland Schools is an Intermediate School District serving 28 public school districts and 16 public school academies in Oakland County, Michigan. Would an Intermediate School District be considered eligible for NSF 04-553 as fiscal agent and partner with a higher education institution to develop a proposal for a contextual project? Our proposed research is to examine if the integrated science and math initiatives developed for the Oakland Science, Mathematics and Technology Academy (OSMTech) can be scaled for utilization in a broader context to attract non-traditional students in middle and high school to STEM education and careers. OSMTech is a shared time program for students, grades 9-12, who have exceptional passion and interest for advanced science, mathematics and technology. Students attend OSMTech for half a day and return to their sending high school for the remaining half-day. OSMTech emphasizes the integration of math, science and technology, applied within a "real world" context in non-traditional learning environments. The curriculum is designed so those subjects are learned in more depth and at an accelerated pace. In the junior and senior years, many OSMTech students work with mentor scientists, mathematicians and technologists from local businesses, universities and industry. A component of the proposal is the development of a "Science and Math Corp composed of students at OSMTech to peer mentor other students to show how "cool" math and science can be and to mentor students at other schools to become more proficient in math and science.
Thank you for your advice and assistance.
Ed Stanulis
Consultant, Fund Development
Oakland Schools
2111 Pontiac Lake Road
Waterford, MI 48328-2736
(248)209-2568
Hi folks:
Great meeting on Saturday. Could someone help me out with "posting" some minutes from the meeting and identifying the "things to do" that were determined?
Interesting site to vist:
High Tech High in San Diego
http://www.hightechhigh.org
blogger
Check out the Digital Portfolios section.
Interesting Reading:
The Fifth Discipline
Schools that Learn (Schools within Schools)
The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
The Dance of Change
http://www.fieldbook.com/FDF/FDF.html
blogger
Best,
Jim
