BELLVILLE, Ohio – Bellville Elementary and Butler Elementary in the Clear Fork School District are among 86 schools from across the state that were recommended this week for $14.6 million in funding by the Straight A Fund Governing Board.
The recommendations now head to the Ohio Controlling Board for final approval on Feb. 22.
The Straight A Fund is designed to help schools from across the state that are looking to embrace innovative ideas to help improve student achievement, increase efficiency and tear down barriers to college.
According to Cindy Kochheiser, Director of Technology for Clear Fork Schools, the two grants ($68,000 for each school) will be used to purchase technology for students and teachers in grades 3-5. The district will purchase nine Chromebook carts and 225 Chromebooks for each school.
“Every classroom in the district for grades 3, 4 and 5 will have a cart with 25 Chromebooks to use in a program we named i-BASE,” Kochheiser said.
The i-BASE (implement Begin Academic Success Early) program will let students learn in a rotating schedule of blended learning, which includes students learning in a 1:1 self-paced online environment along with learning in a traditional classroom environment.
Kochheiser said the Chromebooks will be used to expand learning in group collaboration, small group instruction and online activities.
Specifially, i-BASE will target English Language Arts and Math to improve proficiency rates, provide personalized education and improve time spent on tasks.
“The desired outcome of our program will be targeted instruction that focuses on the individual student’s learning needs,” Kochheiser said.
Teachers from Bellville and Butler Elementary Schools will partner with student teachers from Ashland University and Mount Vernon Nazarene University to develop some of the online lessons that will be used in i-BASE.
Kochheiser said the program will expand existing 1:1 blended learning initiatives already being used in Clear Fork Middle School (i-BEAM or implement Blend Education Around Me) and Clear Fork High School (i-BUILD or implement Build Upon Individual Learning Daily).
“The Straight A Fund has unleashed a wave of creativity as educators look to bring innovation into their classrooms and to modernize their schools,” said Dr. Lonny J. Rivera, interim superintendent of public instruction, in a press release. “These grants will finance bold, new learning and cost-saving projects that will help teachers and administrators better equip their students for today’s global workplace.”
Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich created the Straight A Fund in 2013, and the state budget signed last summer included $30 million for a two-year continuation. The goals of the Straight A grants are to improve academic achievement, increase resources in the classroom, produce cost savings, and utilize shared resources.
More than 200 school districts applied for funding this year. Each grant application was reviewed by independent scorers for fiscal sustainability and also to determine if proposals were innovative, had substantial value and lasting impact before being recommended by the governing board.
