Educators

STUART Grant Program

The Arkansas Science & Technology Authority (the Authority) will award 12 STUART (Science Teaching Using Audience Response Technology) awards in the 2009-2010 school year.  Funded by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, these awards will equip 12 teams of teachers with student response systems.  The $6000 STUART award includes eInstruction's® Classroom Performance System™ (CPS™) and an Interwrite® Mobi tablet.  Remaining award funds can be used for a laptop, projector or additional CPS items.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants will be teams of middle school teachers in Arkansas schools. The lead teacher must be a middle school science teacher and teach at least one classroom section of science in grades 5 through 8. The STUART equipment must be utilized at least 50% of the time to improve science curriculum.  Although the team’s focus must center on science instruction, other curriculum fields may be components of the project plan.  Team members may teach  science or another subject. Teams should consist of three to five members, and one team member may have technical support responsibilities. The technical support team member may be involved in teaching/curriculum or may be a media/technical support specialist.

Application Procedure

Online Application is now available.  The deadline is November 30, 2009.

Proposal Review Process

All proposals will be evaluated and scored by a review committee using an evaluation matrix.   There will be one application selected from each of the twelve regions of the state served by a university math and science center.  More than one award from a region will only occur if acceptable applications are not submitted from other regions.

Guidelines for Admnistration Grants

The STUART grant award is based on the understanding that all state and local rules, regulations, and procedures governing this project have been and will be followed. The grant recipients are responsible for any violations of such requirements. The STUART award should be kept in a separate account for audit purposes.  Site visits to the STUART grant awarded schools may be made by the Authority staff.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated on the criteria below:

1. The application must include accurate school and teacher contact information, the number of classroom sections, grade level and/or total number of students benefiting from the award.

2. The application must include a list of team members and a plan for utilizing the technology throughout the school year.

3. The application should describe how the technology will benefit student learning.

4. The application should effectively describe the project as a collaborative coordinated team effort that enhances curriculum goals by targeting specific Arkansas curriculum standards and meets specific learning needs of the students.

5. The application should describe how the project can result in a measurable change in the students’ knowledge base, and interest in science.

6. The application should describe a project with teaching methods that will effectively incorporate the student response systems.

7. he application must include an itemized budget for the award of $6000.  It must include a Classroom Performance System™ and INTERWRITEMOBI™.  If the application does not indicate that each project classroom is equipped with a computer and a projector, these items must be included in the budget. 

For more information on how the Classroom Performance System may enhance the classroom curriculum, go to the eInstruction website at http://www.einstruction.com.

Training Workshop

The grant requires that two awarded teachers (one lead teacher and one team member) from each STUART awarded school attend a two-day training workshop to learn how to use the equipment. The training workshop expenses (including travel, food, and hotel costs) will be covered by the Authority.  This training is not optional and receipt of the award is contingent on attendance to the workshop.  (Scheduled April 27 and 28, 2010)

Project Reporting

The grant requires that every awarded teacher submit an online final report by December 31, 2010. The final report should summarize all instructional units supported by the STUART grant funding, student and classroom demographics, and the strengths and weaknesses of the project.