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West Virginia

The West Virginia Department of Education and partners from foundations, other agencies, and educational associations were pleased to announce on October 31, 2000 that West Virginia had received a $1.2 million State Challenge Grant for Leadership Development from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will launch the Learning Educational Administration from a Distance (LEAD) project. Details may be found at http://wvde.state.wv.us/LEAD

Through the work of school and district technology leaders, the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) Office of Technology released the comprehensive School Technology Planning Guide. The guide is intended for use by the School Technology Team to address the school needs as well as local, state and federal policies and regulations. The district will compile the school needs for the comprehensive district plan. Training and planning time to complete the documents are being provided through a grant partnership with the West Virginia High Tech Consortium Foundation.

The Reinventing Education Project, through a partnership with IBM, has expanded the focus of juried lesson plans via the Internet and the electronic curriculum environment. With a PT3 grant, the program has been expanded to include higher education, pre-inservice and elementary teachers. The portal is also being utilized to develop best practices for technology integration into the secondary classrooms in the state.

In addition to the advancement of these three special projects, the WVDE is continuing the statewide implementation of the Basic Skills/Computer Education program in the K-6 grades and the SUCCESS technology initiative in the 7-12 grades as well as Internet curriculum integration in K-12. IT projects have begun in secondary schools with 30+ Cisco academies.

Contact
Brenda Williams
Executive Director, Office of Technology & Info. Systems
West Virginia Department of Education
Capitol Complex, Bldg. 6, Room B346
1900 Kanawha Boulevard
Charleston, WV 25305-0330
304-558-7880 (p)  304-558-2584 (f)
E-mail: brendaw@access.k12.wv.us

Organized by the Northeast and Islands Regional Technology in Education Consortium (NEIRTEC) in collaboration with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)