Monthly update, 2018 February

February 2018 Monthly Update
Governor Deal Announces Innovation Fund Tiny Grant Award Winners
On February 23, Gov. Nathan Deal announced six award winners for the Innovation Fund Tiny Grant program, a competitive grant opportunity that provides funding to traditional public schools, charter schools, and school districts to implement small-scale programs that directly engage students. Programs funded by Tiny Grants must align with one of the three following priority areas: applied learning with a focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education, development and replication of blended learning school models, and birth to age eight language and literacy development. Grantees will evaluate the impact of the programs on student engagement and achievement and submit their findings to the Governor's Office of Student Achievement at the end of the grant period.
The grant award winners are listed below: Applied Learning with a Focus on STEAM: Metter High School (Candler County School District) Metter High School Algebra I Graphic Design Logo Project Paulding County School District STEAM Resource and Development Innovation Lab Statesboro High School (Bulloch County Schools) Using Virtual Reality to Teach Blueprint Reading & Design Woodland Middle School (Bartow County School District) Engaging and Achieving through Maker Lab Birth to Age Eight Language and Literacy Development: Esther Jackson Elementary School (Fulton County Schools) Project SOAR Furlow Charter School (Sumter County Schools) Bilingual Book Project To view the full press release, click here. To read summaries of the award winners, click here.
GOSA Announces an Additional $778,000 in Round 5 Connections for Classrooms Grants On February 22, GOSA announced seven additional Round 5 Connections for Classrooms (CFC) Grant award winners. CFC joins multiple state agencies around the common goal of ensuring Georgia schools and classrooms have the high-speed broadband access required for digital and blended learning. Six school districts and one state charter school will receive grants totaling more than $778,000 to upgrade their school networks or purchase laptops or tablets to enable digital learning. These grants are in addition to the $7 million in Round 5 CFC grants that GOSA awarded in January. The seven new award winners revised and resubmitted their original Round 5 applications enabling them to receive funding. Round 5 builds on the $81 million in grants that CFC has provided to districts and schools for network upgrades and devices over the last three years. As a result of these grants and federal ERate funds, many schools now have or will soon have wireless internet access in their classrooms. To view the full press release, click here.
GOSA Announces Winners of the Innovation in Teaching Competition
On January 30, GOSA announced five winners of the 2017-2018 Innovation in Teaching Competition, a recognition and reward opportunity for teachers who utilize innovative instructional strategies to advance student achievement. This year's competition rewarded teachers focused on one of the following priority areas: applied learning with a focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education, blended and personalized learning, innovative practices to close the achievement gap, and birth through age eight language and literacy. The competition is available through Georgia's Innovation Fund, a competitive grant program. "The winners of the Innovation in Teaching Competition are exemplar educators for teachers both in Georgia and across the country," said Rebecca Ellis, Director of Innovation at GOSA. "We are excited to honor them for their hard work and dedication to students, as well as share their resources with educators across the state." The videos, unit plans, and supplementary materials from former rounds of the competition are currently available on Georgia Public Broadcasting's website. To view the full press release, click here.
Job Opportunities Music/Jazz Faculty Instructor, Governor's Honors Program Program Counselor, Governor's Honors Program Mathematics Faculty Instructor, Governor's Honors Program Engineering Faculty Instructor, Governor's Honors Program Computer Technician, Governor's Honors Program GHP Male Resident Assistant GHP Female Resident Assistant Georgia Education Data and Dashboards Georgia School Reports Interactive Education Data Map Downloadable Education Data Files Georgia Higher Learning and Earnings Dashboard High School Graduate Outcomes Dashboard Schools Like Mine Dashboard Strategic Waiver School Systems Evaluation Dashboard
As the state's P-20 education agency, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (G.OSA) strives to increase student achievement, school completion, and life opportunities for all Georgia students. GOSA provides policy support to the Governor and ultimately the citizens of Georgia through:
Communicating meaningful education data to stakeholders; Providing research support and data analysis on various education programs in Georgia to inform the GovernorTMs policy, budget, and legislative efforts; Auditing education programs to ensure fidelity at the district and school-level to performance and accountability requirements; and Identifying, supporting, and sustaining educational innovations that align with the GovernorTMs education priorities
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