RUNNING HEADER: Innovation Grant Proposal

Innovation Grant Proposal Template

based off of the
Arizona Technology in Education Association (AzTEA) and CenturyLink
Innovation in Classroom Technology Integration (ICTI) Grant
2016 Project Proposal Template
Katie Rupper
Arizona State University

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Abstract

Altadena is a technology infused school within the Kyrene school district that has a range
of student achievement. The classes at Altadena have a diverse population and this project would
connect that populations personal history to the history of the U.S. The teacher, Katie Rupper,
has started teaching this year seeks further education to allow her to reach her students better
than before. This project will help students learn how to use technology to accomplish every day
and academic tasks such as learning about U.S immigration. This project will impact 120 8th
graders in its first year and reach across multiple academic disciplines. The goal of this project is
for students to learn of the motivation for immigration as well as look at historical and current
issues that face immigrants. This project will use a range of activities and assessments to cover
multiple educational and technology standards and be used and updated in years to come.

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School Environment Narrative

The Kyrene school district is centered in the Maricopa county area but had locations
across Phoenix. Currently there are 19 Kyrene elementary schools and 6 Kyrene middle schools
that serve about 18,000 students in 1,000 classrooms and employ 2,000 employees (Interesting
Facts About Kyrene, 2016). Roughly 58% of the students are non-Caucasian and about 49% of
the students are female (Arizona Department of Education, 2016). Also currently the Kyrene
school district has 196 homeless children and 93 refugee children attending (Interesting Facts
About Kyrene, 2016).
I am an 8th grade social studies teacher at the Kyrene Altadena Middle School in Phoenix.
Altadena is a grade 6th-8th middle school that has 1,080 students currently enrolled with 52 full
time teachers (Interesting Facts About Kyrene, 2016). Our school has wonderful students,
teachers, and families who are greatly involved with our students academic experiences and
growth. Altadena has embraced a technology infused educational system and has started using
technology in more areas such as testing to get more accurate information about our students
testing rates. Although there are three computer labs on campus and most classrooms have about
12 laptops each, our 8th grade classrooms tend to have a 30:1 student teacher ratio and there are
not enough for each student to be using a laptop at the same time which causes issues with gradewide testing. Also our teachers have started to infuse the flipped classroom model as much as
possible with this limited technology but cannot fully make the switch.
Currently our school has scored 86% proficient on math assessments and 96% on
language arts and reading assessments. 5% of the student population at Altadena is currently
enrolled in high school geometry and travels to the local high school to attend class there each
morning however 10% of the student population has a learning disability. The students at

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Altadena also come to school more often with only 6% of the school who were chronically
absent (Kyrene Altadena Middle School in Phoenix, Arizona; 2016).
Each grade level is broken into pods with one teacher per main subject within the three
pods. This allows the teachers to meet up with each other to plan out the curriculum schedule so
that it is constant across the grade level. This method allows us to have our students take the
same test within days of each other using laptops and we can see how the entire grade did on a
test and what were the students strengths and weaknesses. This technology-infused method
allows for our teachers to adjust the curriculum to best meet our objectives and standards. Some
teachers like myself have course material such as notes on our class websites so that students can
have resources available to them. Sadly, not all students have the ability to access the internet at
home or have much technology at home besides the basics which prevents the school from
switching to a flipped classroom model.
In my classroom the notes are available online but we still go over them during class as
well as use other resources to teach. Other tools that I have at my disposal including educational
games, online museum exhibits, online biographies, documentaries, ect. By having a 1:1 laptop
to student ratio students could more easily access technological resources at school and at home.
My accessing the base course material at home the students would be able to go at their own
pace and class time would be spent going into greater detail and increase our students
understanding of course material greater than they can currently.

Introduction
My class is a culturally diverse class with a range of experiences in topics such as
immigration. Many students have experience traveling internationally or have experience coming

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to America themselves and this project would tie in with those experiences. For many students,
U.S history is not an extremely interesting topic and they are not at a level where they can
understand the complex details of history. But with this project it would connect U.S history with
other countries that my students have connections with and it would have them focus on people
and their culture which my students have shown more interest in.
During this project students will learn about the experiences of immigrants during the late
19th century to early 20th century and the struggles they faced. To build a personal connection to
this history students will look at the immigration on both a national and local scale by
researching primary and secondary sources as well as local history and family members. They
will interview family members and local community members for their experiences, personal
opinions, and knowledge of immigration and the problems that people faced during that time
period and in the modern day. They will show their understanding by creating a wikispaces that
tells the experience and struggles that an immigrant that they created faced and they will present
this to their classmates.
This project will have an impact on the 120 8th graders this year and 480 future 8th
graders over the next 4 years that the current project will be used.
This project will make students use reading, writing, researching, and technology skills as
well as practice presentation skills in this project-based learning.

Applicant Bio
Katie Rupper has just started her first year of teaching with Altadena being her first
school. She received her bachelors degree in Secondary Education in History from Arizona
State University. She is planning on attaining further education in a masters program to allow

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her to become a better teacher for her students. She seeks to connect every student with history
in a personal way and to individualize learning so that it is meaningful to every student.

Project Narrative
Need for the project
The ACCR standards and ISTE standards make up the curriculum at my school and lead
to teachers needing to find ways to incorporate research, literacy, and technology skills into their
lessons. While Altadena does score 96% on reading and language arts assignments the students
need to learn how to use technology to accomplish these tasks. Many of the students have access
and use technology such as laptops in their daily lives but there are still some students without
homes, let alone access to laptops outside of school. This is a challenge for the students of
Altadena because of the increased integration of technology in their content classes. In my social
studies class I will help my students learn to use the internet to research for reliable and
trustworthy sources, read primary source documents, and use technology to create a digital
portfolio to understand and show the experiences of a fictional immigrant during specific periods
in American history.

Project Impact
The impact that this project will have goes beyond the students, it will impact their
families and their community. The 120 students enrolled in this education pod will take part in
project-based learning by connecting with their family and communitys history as they look for
examples of immigration from the specific time period. This will connect across different classes
as teachers collaborate to share skills such as researching, writing, and reading in the students

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language arts and social studies classes. In addition, the students will use local resources for help
such as technology assistance in their school library and help at the local genealogy library to
research records of immigration. For this project I will be guiding my students through how to
create a wikispaces portfolio and will see how this will help their researching, collaboration,
reading, and writing skills grow.

Learning Goals and Outcomes

Students will ask a range of questions in this project from what was it like for immigrants
as they traveled to, arrived at, and lived in a new country to the main question of why take the
risk of immigration? Students will focus on European immigration in the late 19th century to
early 20th century and find the answer to these questions as they expand on their research and
understanding skills. They also will learn of how early immigration has impacted immigration
today and will see if the immigrants of today faced similar problems in their journey.
Students will use collaboration, research, writing, and communication skills as they
research records and interview friends and family about their views and experiences with
immigration. By creating a complex wikispaces portfolio students will learn and practice
important technology skills that are required in the 21st century.

Standards covered include:

Common Core

Strand 1,Concept 1, PO 1: Construct charts, graphs and narratives using historical data.

Strand 1, Concept 1, PO 3: Construct timelines (e.g., presidents/ world leaders, key

events, people) of the historical era being studied.

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Strand 1, Concept 1, PO 7: Analyze cause and effect relationships between and among
individuals and/or historical events.

Strand 4, Concept 4, PO 1. Identify the push and pull factors (e.g., economic conditions,
human rights conditions, famines, political strife/wars, natural disasters, changes in
technology) that drive human migrations.

Strand 4, Concept 4, PO 2. Describe the effects (e.g., economic, environmental, cultural,

political) of human migrations on places and regions.

ISTE Standards

ISTE Standard 1b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

ISTE Standard 1c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.

ISTE Standard 2b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences
using a variety of media and formats.

ISTE 3b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethnically use information
from a variety of sources and media.

Activities
Students will engage in the following activities:

Research primary and secondary sources about European immigration from the late 19th
century too early 20th century.

Research the local community's/citys history with immigration.

Use genealogy through a genealogy library or websites if applicable for sources and
community/personal history with immigration.

Frequent class discussion focusing on the driving questions of the project and other
activities.

Read Seymour Rechtzeits primary source experience with immigration.

Use websites such as Historypin.org or Scholastic.com to research immigrants

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experiences.

Create a digital portfolio of their made up person that includes basic life information, job,
family, immigration experience, issues faced, and end result of their immigration.

Interview friends and family about immigration such as their personal/familys history
with it, their viewpoint on immigration, what they know of the experience, ect.

Assessment
During this project students will be evaluated through a series of methods and
observations. Starting off, after the students learn how to research there will be a quiz to test for
understanding. Students will also answer document based questions on primary and secondary
sources that we go over in class. A copy of their notes will be turned in and graded by a rubric
for organization, having the required material, and relevance to their topic at hand. There will be
additional worksheets they will turn in such as their interview questions that they will do
throughout the project. The last assessment will be their digital portfolio and their presentation of
their portfolio. This will be graded on two rubrics: one for the portfolio itself and another for the
presentation.

Technology Support
Altadena has technology assistance at the school library that will be available to students
before, during, and after school hours during designated times. Also if the students use family
history the local genealogy library staff has agreed to assist the students with researching for this
project.

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Sustaining the Project After the Proposal Period

This project will be continued for at least the next 4 years. Immigration is taught every
year and the standards will be adapted for the current standards each year, at the end of this time
period the project will be updated to be continued in the future. In addition to the laptops being
used for this project, they will be used in a variety of ways in a range of subject matter due to the
gradual implementation of flipped classrooms at Altadena.

Innovation
This project pushes innovation in the classroom. During my first school year students
have shown that they understand the events that occur in history but not the motivation that
pushes people to make a change. This project flips the traditional approach to learning about
immigration and instead focuses on the motives of this group of people, with the added bonus of
using technology and researching the year range of their choice within the time period the project
looks at.
This project also brings the community into the school and allows students to claim
history for themselves. By creating this portfolio students will be practicing a range of skills
from research to outlining and learning how to put together a portfolio. They will learn how to
find trustworthy sources and practice finding and citing sources for research as well as learning
how to tell a narrative as they create and tell the experience of their immigrant. This project has
them work in groups, individually, and with the community.

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Budget Table and Narrative

Item and Quantity

Individual Item Cost

Item Cost

(60) HP 14 Snow

$280

$16,800

$45

$2,700

White/Turbo Silver 14Ak050Nr Chromebook PC

(60) 2-year protection plan

Total Cost = $19,500

Appendix:
Teachers: Katie Rupper

Subject: History

Standard:
Strand 1,Concept 1, PO 1: Construct charts, graphs and narratives using historical data.
Strand 1, Concept 1, PO 3: Construct timelines (e.g., presidents/ world leaders, key events, people)
of the historical era being studied.
Strand 1, Concept 1, PO 7: Analyze cause and effect relationships between and among individuals
and/or historical events.
Strand 4, Concept 4, PO 1. Identify the push and pull factors (e.g., economic conditions, human
rights conditions, famines, political strife/wars, natural disasters, changes in technology) that drive
human migrations.
Strand 4, Concept 4, PO 2. Describe the effects (e.g., economic, environmental, cultural, political) of
human migrations on places and regions.
ISTE Standard 1b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
ISTE Standard 1c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
ISTE Standard 2b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a
variety of media and formats.
ISTE 3b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethnically use information from a
variety of sources and media.
Objective (Explicit):
Students will summarize real life experiences of immigrants and analyze what information they will
use when they create a portfolio for an imaginary immigrant and explain their rational for the
experiences and problems that the created immigrant faced.
Students will demonstrate technology skills as they locate, analyze, and categorize primary and
secondary source information and create a digital portfolio of a created immigrant.

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Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):

Students will turn in a completed digital portfolio of their imaginary immigrant. I will use a rubric to grade
each section of their project for completeness and accuracy. Also I will use the rubric to check their
reasoning for choosing the experiences and outcomes that they did for their immigrant as well as their
explanation of what problems current immigrants face when immigrating to the United States. This rubric
score will be combined with the rubric for their presentation of their digital portfolio.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):
SWBAT research and take notes about real life experiences of immigrants.
SWBAT create a digital portfolio for an imaginary immigrant that follows them through the process
of immigration.
Students will write notes about real immigrants from information in primary and secondary sources,
and other sources.
Students will discuss former and current challenges that immigrants faced when coming into the U.S.
Key vocabulary:
Materials/Technology Resources to be used:
Ellis Island, Immigration, Emigration
Laptops
Wikispaces
Census Records/Immigration records
Historypin.org
Scholastic.com

Explain

Explore

Engage (Make content and learning relevant to real life and connect to student interest)
The students will read a scholastic article about the child actor Seymour Rechtzeits experience with
immigrating to America. Then the class will discuss his experiences and how it would have been like for
them to immigrate when they were 8 years old.
Teacher Will:
Student Will:
Begin the project by leading the class through
Follow along and participate in the Seymour
the Seymour readings. Then present the project reading and discussion. Take notes about the
idea and show students how to do the research
research and participate in practice activities for
that they will do. This will include showing
research and reading the primary/secondary
them how to read the primary and secondary
sources.
sources as well as access data.
Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation
Having the article read aloud so the student will not need to read it alone.
Having assistance in researching information or having research already done and the student can
go through the data.
Having an alternate assignment where the student creates either a whole familys experience or
two different individuals from each end of the timeline (For increased challenge)
Teacher Will:
Student Will:
Lead students through researching and
Research the period to find and collect the
analyzing their notes. Then working with the
information they need from national and local
students as they start their digital portfolio.
resources. Participate in class discussions about
Helping the students access genealogy
the different questions of the project and follow
information at a local genealogy library or
along with the teacher in creating their
interview local people about immigration.
portfolio. Once the research is ended they will
Provide questions and prompts for class
provide a copy/show their teacher their notes to
discussion about past and present problems.

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Elaborate

show that they are understanding the project and

completing what they need.
Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation
For a challenge students will turn their notes into a research essay to turn in instead of just a copy
of their notes.
Have the option of working with a partner to do a two person/ family (married, siblings,ect) project
that is as detailed as the main project.
Teacher Will:
Student Will:
Lead discussion about the students narratives
Finish their research. Compile and decide what
and help them to workshop their portfolios.
will be used in their persons history. Complete
Provide assistance in the different elements of
the digital portfolio including the narrative, art
the project. Give examples of each element of
(drawings, photos, ect), and resources. They
the project and arrange for a class fieldtrip to a
will present their digital portfolio to the class.
genealogy library or bring in a guest speaker
Participate in class discussions about the
who knows about the communitys immigration modern day issues and how they can make a
history (if available).
change.
Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation
Same as the above section.

Evaluate
The students will present their digital portfolio to the class and explain some of the problems immigrants
faced during that time and what they face in our current day. Then the students will use their knowledge of
the issues that immigrants faced during the late 19th century and early 20th century to discuss what issues
current immigrants face. Then they will work together to figure out solutions to these problems that they
could do individually and as a community.

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Citations

Arizona Department of Education. (2016). Arizona October 1 Enrollment Figures. [Data File]
Retrieved from http://www.azed.gov/research-evaluation/arizona-enrollment-figures/
N.A. (2016). Kyrene Altadena Middle School in Phoenix, Arizona. Retrieved from http://publicschools.startclass.com/l/3314/Kyrene-Altadena-Middle-School.
N.A (2016). Interesting Facts About Kyrene. Retrieved from
http://www.kyrene.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=1375&ViewID=7b97f
7ed-8e5e-4120-848f-a8b4987d588f&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=1247&PageID=1363