Begin forwarded message:
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From:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date:Sun, 28 Mar 2004 18:47:10 -0600
To:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:RE: CSIP Technology Requirements
Jeanette,
My name is Bob Furino, and I am a technology integration consultant at Grant Wood AEA 10 in Cedar Rapids.
I am doing technology planning with a number of our districts this year, and am also serving on our CSIP Seminar team working with all of our districts as they develop their new CSIPs.
I have a couple of questions that I hope you can answer for me.
First, in the CSIP Rules Interpretation Matrix, under the Rule/Statute Interpretation column for each of the technology requirements, it lists the following notes: "Note: This requirement applies only to school districts applying for federal technology funds (either individually or as part of a consortium) under Title II, Part D and E-rate.." or "Note: This requirement applies only to school districts applying for federal technology funds."
Does this mean that any district that is not seeking tech funds under Title II, Part D and E-Rate does not have to meet these requirements for their CSIP?
<<Correct--state technology dollars are gone. Iowa 295.3 was repealed with the technology funding.If a school district does not "check" Title II, Part D on its web-based CSIP web site, the requirements will not appear nor will it get the federal funds. Most schools apply for these federal technology dollars through a consortium--but have to show integration into local CSIPs.>>
Also, as I work with the district CSIP teams, what should I share with them as far as expectations for the inclusion of technology in their CSIPs? Right now, I am generally encouraging them to include the integration of technology in some of their curriculum goals. I am not clear on what the state is requiring, beyond what I talked about above, as far as the new CSIPs go.
<<I strongly encourage you to look at the Westlake teaching document--see CSIP goal #4. School districts should be focusing on use of technology to assist students in improving academic achievement in their areas of CSIP focus. This focus includes professional development for teachers--new instructional strategies with technology assistance, data management--student effect and teacher implementation data, and use of technology by students to help them improve in achievement. Keep the technology incorporation focused on instruction and learning.>>
Lastly, a number of our districts are having concerns about character limits in the online CSIP form where they will submit their CSIP text. They are worried, as are we, that they may be too lengthy in the elements of the CSIP that must be submitted via the online form. They are using applications such as Microsoft Word as they develop their CSIPs, and plan on doing a copy and paste into the online form. It would be a shame if the form has limits as to the number of characters each form element can accept, and the districts would find out, at that time, that they couldn't post their text because it was too long, or worse yet, they thought they had posted their text, but the form had actually truncated it due to character limits. In a case like that, they would never realize that a problem existed.
Could you please let me know if there will be any character limits in the form fields for the CSIP online form, and if so, what are those limits? This seems to me to be critical information for the district CSIP teams around the state.
<<Right now the limit is 5,000 characters per "box." We are going to see if we can get that up to 6,000. If school districts choose to use the sub-question format for input of CSIP text, that is X number of boxes. The Westlake teaching document is pretty close to character limit targets. We intend to demonstrate with Westlake by putting it in the system so that people can see what it is like.We indicated in October that schools are not submitting a voluminous CSIP--the focus (on purpose) has been to encourage schools to have the "conversations"--create a plan that is usable, real, and doable. I hope that within the next month, we will have Westlake ready to "show" in the system.>>
Thanks a bunch for your time, and your kind assistance, Jeanette. I will look forward to your response.
Take care.
Bob
Nancy Movall
School Improvement & Instructional Technology Consultant
Prairie Lakes AEA 8
Storm Lake Regional Office
824 Flindt Drive, Suite 105
Storm Lake, IA 50588
866-503-4636 (IA)
712-732-2257 x52
Van: Bldg#117, Rt. 4
