The Department of Defense Education Activity awarded Falcon School District 49 $2 million to fund Project Achievement in Math. D 49 was one of three Colorado Springs area school districts to receive funding.DoDEA awarded D 49 the grant based on the district’s high percentage of students whose families are stationed at one of the area’s many military installations.Brandy Gill, Fort Carson spokesman, said the grant funding will have a positive impact on children of military families, including the children of Fort Carson soldiers.”In the bigger picture though, it will benefit the whole community. In that respect, it’s a huge win for the district,” Gill said.Kathy Pickering, D 49 AIM project coordinator, said grade-level standards vary greatly between states because there are no national standards.”When military families move every three years, the kids have a lot of gaps in their education,” Pickering said. “We’ve recognized the problem for years, but we’ve lacked the resources to address it.”Pickering said 15 percent of D 49 students are from active-duty military families. The district identified six schools to receive Project AIM funding, chosen because they had the highest percentage of students with unsatisfactory and partially proficient math scores.The schools receiving grant funding are Falcon Elementary, Ridgeview Elementary, Sky View Middle School, Falcon Middle School, Falcon High School and Sand Creek High School.Project AIM will aid students through three areas – intervention, technology and professional development, Pickering said.Any student, military or non-military, with low achievement in math can take advantage of the small group instruction and tutoring. Technology purchases will enhance the learning and engagement of all students, Pickering said.She said the grant, funded over a three-year period, will help teachers identify the educational gaps in children of military families. Her goal for the program is to identify the most effective interventions and expand those key components of Project AIM district wide.Pickering said the Project AIM funding will be allocated as follows:
- Two math interventionists – one at each elementary school – to work with small groups of students: These teachers will also co-teach in the classroom and model instructional strategies to help struggling students.
- Stipends for current middle and high school teachers to co-teach with other math teachers, putting two math teachers in classrooms with high concentrations of low achieving math students
- Eduss Learning – a computerized assessment tool – purchased for all six schools: The program assesses math skills and provides tutorials to target education gaps.
- After-school tutoring at all targeted schools; Saturday morning tutors available at FHS and SCHS
- SMART Boards – interactive digital white boards – and document cameras purchased for all math teachers at the middle and high schools
- A math education consultant hired to visit each of the six schools four times a year to provide professional development for math teachers
- Math faculty will attend Colorado Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in October.
- Select teachers will attend the Developing Mathematical Ideas curriculum training and return to provide additional training and development.
