CK:P is a five year proposal for networking the Pittsburgh Public Schools. During the first year, the project was implemented at four sites: McCleary Elementary School, Schenley International Studies Program, Westinghouse Science and Mathematics Program, and Woolslair Elementary Gifted Center. Each school has a specific curriculum project that uses the Internet as a resource. Each site has a hardware configuration that is unique to that particular building and project. The project teachers at each site received training and ongoing support is being provided to aid in achieving the goals they set.
The second year of the project begins in January 1994. Six to eight additional sites will be added for year two. The number added will be contingent upon financial resources and the quality and number of proposals submitted. Proposals can be submitted by any combination of students, teachers, administrators, parents, and support staff. Proposals can be submitted from a team within a school, from the entire staff of a school, from a group of schools or as an expansion of existing sites. The timeline for the proposal process follows.
TIMELINE
October 28, 1993 Request for Proposals (RFP) Distributed October 28 - December 15, 1993 Proposal Writing December 15, 1993 Proposals Due to CK:P January 30, 1994 Second Year Sites Announced February 1 - June 15, 1994 Planning Process Provide Accounts Network Training Pilot Activities Evaluate Resources June 15 - September 1, 1994 One Week Summer Workshop September 1 - October 1,1994 Network Test Period October 1, 1994 Full Implementation
PRIORITIES FOR THE PROPOSALS: There are five overall goals for this project as stated in the original grant. Proposals should attempt to remain consistent with the stated goals:
Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh is aligned with the restructuring efforts of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Project participants should reflect a broad base of interest which moves beyond traditional classroom boundaries. Collaborative models that build on successful programs and help to implement school action plans will be given a high priority.
Activity on the net is research oriented. There are very few neat, well-organized resources that fit into traditional lesson plans. Skills promoted through network interaction are problem solving, communication, reasoning and connections. A sampling of network resources is included in Appendix C.
Purchasing new equipment is desirable, sometimes needed, but not always feasible. Proposals that utilize existing equipment are cost effective and provide increased access to students and teachers.
Projects should have a clear, concise focus whose goals are consistent with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PA DOE) Chapter 5 Guidelines. Outcomes for the project should be clearly stated and measurable.
In pursuing the development of the proposal, school teams must consider the challenges the School District faces in educating its culturally diverse population. The planning effort should include a thorough examination of effective programs that promote equitable practices in education and increase staff, student, parent and community understanding and acceptance of cultural diversity.
PHASE ONE: PROPOSAL WRITING
Potential sites are invited to submit curriculum/network proposals to Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh that follow the guidelines and selection criteria listed below. Each proposal will be read and scored by the RFP Review Committee. A list of committee members is found in Appendix B. The committee will select between six and eight proposals to fund for the 94-95 school year.
Guidelines
Proposals will be expected to define a curriculum project that will use network resources. The proposal may refer to a new curriculum initiative, or an expansion/enrichment of an existing curriculum activity.
The proposal will:
-define the curriculum/network activity,
-outline the transition to and infusion of network resources,
-develop a plan for staff support, and
-determine the desired outcomes.
Teams are asked to submit proposals that do not exceed 10 pages, double spaced, with one inch margins. An additional 5 page appendix may be added. One of the appendices must be a school profile. A template for this is included in Appendix D. The RFP Review Committee will use the following selection criteria to evaluate the proposals. The maximum score for all of these criteria is 100 points. The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in parentheses.
Narrative And Selection Criteria
Summary (5 points) 1. Identify proposal team members. 2. Summarize the curriculum/network project. 3. Describe number of teachers and students involved. 4. Overview the planning process. 5. Refer to the evaluation process. Problem Statement (15 points) 1. Define the problem that your curriculum/network project will address. In particular, what are the learning problems for which you are designing this curriculum/network project? 2. How will you evaluate success? The Curriculum Project (30 points) 1. Describe the curriculum/network project. -curriculum and network activities, -collaborations in your school, community and the network, -opportunities for expanding the project, -support you will need. 2. Describe the network resources you hope to use. (see Appendix C) 3. Develop a plan for evaluation. -outcomes for students and teachers, -timeline for planning and implementation and, -plan for formative and summative evaluation Planning Process (20 points) If you are selected as a second year site, you will begin planning during the period February 1, 1994 through September 1, 1994. 1. Develop a description of this planning period. 2. Who will manage the planning period? 3. How will the teachers involved engage in exploring the network and making the links between network resources and classroom activities? 4. How will CK:P staff help with this effort? Implementation Scenario (10 points) 1. Project an implementation scenario. This will probably change as the plan is put in place, but use this opportunity to briefly discuss philosophy and direction to consider as the project gets implemented. Personnel (10 points) 1. Describe the project personnel. Identify team members, describe their role in planning, implementing and evaluating the activity. Technical Architecture (10 points) 1. Refer to how you will use existing equipment. 2. Describe the network architecture that you would like to see in your classroom or school. 3. Link the network architecture to the education outcomes you would like to achieve. Note: CK:P technical staff will evaluate the technical feasibility of the proposed project and work with the school team if revisions are needed.
SUPPORT
In an effort to make our materials available to the school district and the general public, CK:P has placed the grant proposal, training materials, PA DOE Chapter 5 Guidelines and first year site information on the network. These are available to anyone with an account on the Internet. Hard copies of these resources are also available at the Common Knowledge office. CK:P staff will be available to help interested parties review these materials. In addition, CK:P staff - Education, Technical and Evaluation, will be glad to review any of the guidelines with the writing teams and assist in any way possible.
The CK:P office at Woolslair will be available for any school team that would like to see a network environment, the Common Knowledge gopher, and some of the net resources identified for use in the K-12 classroom.
School teams can visit the CK:P Beta Site office during our weekly -Come Visit- sessions. CK:P staff and teachers from the year one sites will be available during these sessions for training or consultation. Please see the attached schedule - Appendix A.
PHASE TWO: AWARD AND PLANNING PROCESS
The proposal will be read and scored by the RFP Review Committee. A list of the committee members is found in Appendix B. Announcement of the year two sites will be made January 31, 1994. At that point, second year sites will begin a planning process that will expedite the implementation of the network.
CK:P staff has put together a draft for this planning process
1. Begin exploring network resources. Common Knowledge staff can provide inservice, demonstrations, and arrange visits to the Beta site as well as the four year one sites. 2. Creates a site-based Network Team. This team may be larger than the group that wrote the original proposal. You may want to include the following people: -building administrator -Instructional Teacher Leader (ITL) or equivalent -librarian -grade level staff -content area staff -special subjects area staff 3. Select a member of the Network Team to act as the CK:P Site-coordinator. 4. Begin using the network for e-mail, communicating with CK:P staff, School Support Services, as well as other members of the Network Team. Tag network resources that can be used in the classroom. 5. Develop a plan for involving and training students and school staff who will participate in the project. 6. The school team will begin to meet with CK:P staff to start the planning and implementation of the proposal. CK:P will provide support during this phase.
FINAL NOTE
It is difficult to write a proposal using a resource that is only vaguely understood. It will be necessary for your project team to become aware of potential resources available through the net. The following are a list of resource people that can help to answer questions to facilitate your planning process:
Robert Carlitz Project Director 624-9027 Regine Fougeres Site Coordinator-Schenley 622-8200 Nancy Fralic Site Coordinator-McCleary 784-2273 Priscilla Franklin Project Teacher 622-5930 Louise Gage Site Coordinator-Woolslair 622-8470 Ed Henke Site Coordinator-Westinghouse 665-3940 Richard Wertheimer Education Project Manager 622-5930 Mario Zinga Curriculum - Trainer 622-5930
Appendix E includes a listing of teachers who participated in the summer workshop and are using the network at the first year sites.
APPENDIX A
COME VISIT SCHEDULE
Please call or send e-mail to let us know you are coming. If some other time would be more convenient, call and we can make other arrangements (622-5930).
Wednesday, November 3, 1993 2:30 - 4:30 Wednesday, November 10, 1993 2:30 - 4:30 Wednesday, November 17, 1993 2:30 - 4:30 Wednesday, December 1, 1993 2:30 - 4:30 Wednesday, December 8, 1993 2:30 - 4:30
Note: There will be a general reception, demonstration of network resources, and proposal planning seminar in November. Date and time for this event will be announced.
APPENDIX B
RFP REVIEW COMMITTEE
Chair: Richard Wertheimer Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh Facilitators: Priscilla Franklin Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh Mario Zinga Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh COMMITTEE Nancy Fralic Site Coordinator McCleary Elementary School Regine Fougeres Site Coordinator Schenley International Studies Louise Gage Site Coordinator Woolslair Elementary Gifted Center Ed Henke Site Coordinator Westinghouse SAM Janet Bell Supervisory Principal East Lloyd Briscoe Supervisory Principal North/West Anna McGuire Supervisory Principal East/Central Brian White Supervisory Principal South Representative PPS Public Affairs Representatives PPS Board Representative PPS Strategic Planning and Development Representatives Parent Groups Representative Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Representatives School Support Services Bob Carlitz Project Director Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh Wendy Huntoon Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Janet Schofield University of Pittsburgh
APPENDIX C
NETWORK RESOURCES (SAMPLE)
Library of Congress The Global Electronic Library (by subject) USA Data Bases Weather CNN newsroom classroom guide AskERIC - Education Resources Information Center) Newton Educational BBS The New Republic Magazine National Review Electronic Books Newspapers, Magazines, and Newsletters Reference Works Rome Reborn: The Vatican Library and Renaissance Culture NASA Goddard Space Flight Center African GIF Images US Government Today Art and Architecture The Stanley Collection of African Art Smithsonian Art Gallery African American Art in the NMAA (Photos) Images - Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit Art and Images AFRICA-N Africa News and Information Service Geology, Oceanography, and Climatology General Science Resources CIA World Fact Book 1991 Libraries Supreme Court Rulings White House Documents 3000 Bulletin Boards United Press International Pen Pages and Teacher Pages
APPENDIX D
SCHOOL PROFILE School: Address: Telephone Number: Fax: Principal: Secretary: Custodian: Physical Plant: Student Population: Staff: Teachers with e-mail addresses:
APPENDIX E
Year One Teachers
McCleary Team 784-2273 Brant, Chimene brant@pps.pgh.pa.us Caprara, Jennifer caprara@pps.pgh.pa.us Crawlye, Sandra crawley@pps.pgh.pa.us Dadowski, Andrea dadowski@pps.pgh.pa.us Fralic, Nancy fralic@pps.pgh.pa.us Musial, Susan musial@pps.pgh.pa.us Radkowski, Stephen radkowsk@pps.pgh.pa.us Schenley Team 622-8200 Book, Linda book@pps.pgh.pa.us Fougeres, Regine fougeres@pps.pgh.pa.us Huber, Oscar huber@pps.pgh.pa.us Olesak, Kathy olesak@pps.pgh.pa.us Pamphile, Leon pamphile@pps.pgh.pa.us Westinghouse Team 665-3940 Berty, Rudolph berty@pps.pgh.pa.us Katsuleris, Mary katsuler@pps.pgh.pa.us Lorinchak, Ed lorinchak@pps.pgh.pa.us Maccagnan, Angelo maccagnn@pps.pgh.pa.us Michael, Sharon smichael@pps.pgh.pa.us O'Donnell, Hugh odonnell@pps.pgh.pa.us Savido, Linda savido@pps.pgh.pa.us Sparvero, John sparvero@pps.pgh.pa.us Woolslair Team 622-8470 Baumbach, David baumbach@pps.pgh.pa.us Beccari, Gary beccari@pps.pgh.pa.us Bostjanick, Joanne bosha@pps.pgh.pa.us Gage, Louise lgage@pps.pgh.pa.us Hartz, MJ hartz@pps.pgh.pa.us Jencik, Joe jencik@pps.pgh.pa.us Ochs, Phyllis ochs@pps.pgh.pa.us Silvestri, Cathy silvestr@pps.pgh.pa.us Resource People Carlitz, Robert carlitz@pps.pgh.pa.us Franklin, Priscilla franklin@pps.pgh.pa.us Henke, Ed henke@pps.pgh.pa.us Wertheimer, Richard wertheim@pps.pgh.pa.us Zinga, Mario zinga@pps.pgh.pa.us