Cover Letter

12/02/2009

Mrs. Wright Executive Director ABC Foundation 13 Hill Street Winter Haven, Fl 33884 RE: FCAT ACHIEVER’S

Dear Mrs. Wright,

Winter Haven High School is pleased to present this proposal for your review. We look forward to partnering with you to provide a reading intervention program for our students with poor FCAT scores called FCAT Achiever’s! Winter Haven High School has over 50 at risk students with a FCAT performance of at least two years behind their current grade level. The objective of the FCAT Achiever’s program is to help all students with poor reading, science, math, & language skills learn to function at grade level and increase their reading speed, science comprehension, math, language comprehension and reading attention span. FCAT Achiever’s program will provides students with access to assistive reading, math, & language systems, along with training for classroom teachers and FCAT specialists.

We will like to see measurable success and we are now seeking to implement our FCAT Achiever’s to address the needs of all the at risk students in the Winter Haven High School. Our proposal requests $17,869 in funding to obtain the software, hardware, and training necessary to equip the Winter Haven High School resource room with five assistive FCAT systems, each including a computer, scanner and assistive FCAT software.

We appreciate ABC Foundation taking an interest in helping our students develop their FCAT skills through our FCAT Achiever’s program. Please give me a call at 863 123-1234 if you require any further information or have any questions concerning this proposal.

Thank you,

Anthony C. GrantVocational InstructorPolk Correctional Institution10800 Evans Road Polk City, Fl 33884

Cover Page

FCAT Achiever’s! Improving FCAT

Performance for At Risk Students

Submitted to: ABC Foundation

Date: December 02, 2009

Anthony C. GrantVocational InstructorPolk Correctional Institution10800 Evans RoadPolk City, Fl. 33868863 123-1234

FCAT Achiever’s! Improving FCAT Performance for At Risk Students

Project Abstract

The Winter Haven Schools, in Winter Haven, FL is seeking a grant to expand our FCAT Achiever’s program with the objective of helping all of our at risk students increase their over all FCAT skills and to function at grade level using the same classroom textbooks and materials as their peers. The objective is that by the end of the year the students will have at least doubled their reading speed, math comprehension, science comprehension, language comprehension, and will have improved their FCAT skills by one to two grade levels. The FCAT Achiever’s program is based on the latest research on effective FCAT instruction. Funding in the amount of $17,869 is requested for staff training and to purchase the required software and hardware for the school’s resource room.

Statement of Need

Winter Haven Schools has 342 students, of which 59 have been determined to be at risk in their FCAT performance for a variety of reasons including learning disabilities, such as attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dyslexia, or other economic and language-based difficulties. Winter Haven Schools is eligible for Title 1 funds and if these students are not given an opportunity to improve their FCAT skills they are, as studies show, more likely to be truant and drop out of school.

Program Description

The Winter Haven FCAT Achiever’s project will enable at risk students to improve their FCAT skills through utilization of five computers equipped with scanners and assistive FCAT software. Students using this innovative FCAT system will be able to utilize all their classroom materials, including textbooks providing them access to the general curriculum. The students will increase their reading speed, math comprehension, & language comprehension which will help them obtain classroom subject proficiency. Included in the FCAT Achiever’s project will be a day of training for the FCAT specialist and classroom teachers on the features and use of the Sunshine State Standards Mastery Program.

Sunshine State Standards Mastery Program

The Study Island Sunshine State Standards Mastery Program is specifically designed to help students master the content specified in the Sunshine State Standards. Study Island’s focus on the Sunshine State Standards enables students to improve their performance in all skill areas tested on the FCAT in grades 3 through 12. Study Island also offers Math and Reading Skills for Kindergarten through 2nd Grade, Fine Arts, Health, and Technology for Elementary and Middle School, and High School Algebra II Skills Mastery products.

The user-friendly interface allows students to move through the program step-by-step. Each section has a pre-test and a post-test, as well as topics that cover each of the Sunshine State

Standards. Topics consist of questions, answers, explanations, and lessons that address the specific skills required in order mastering the Sunshine State Standards.

Self-Paced or Teacher-Guided

Study Island allows students to learn at their own pace. The amount of time a student spends on a skill depends on that student’s performance. The custom teacher page gives teachers the option of guiding students through the program by communicating their expectations to students and creating class assignments.

Real-Time Reporting and RTI

The Study Island program records statistics for each user session in a real-time report card. These statistics measure progress, streamline the learning process, and can be customized by student, subject, class, grade, and school.

Teachers and administrators can have access to a private page where they are able to view student, class, grade-level, or school-wide usage statistics and results. Real-time reports, including graphs, help teachers to measure progress and identify areas of student weaknesses and deficiencies as they relate to the Sunshine State Standards. With this knowledge, teachers can promptly respond with appropriate intervention and remediation.

Standard Test Mode or Fun, Interactive Games

Study Island enables students to choose their style of learning. Students can work using a standard test format or several interactive games. As with many of Study Island’s features, your school has the option to restrict access to the games. Printable worksheets are also available.

Study Island Statistics

98% of teachers feel that Study Island is helping their students. 91% of teachers and 89% of students say that the students can use Study Island without any

additional help. 95% of teachers say their students enjoy using Study Island.

Statistics gathered from a recent Study Island survey.

Parent-School Connection

Educators know that the more a parent is involved in their child’s education, the more successful a child’s educational career will be. Study Island creates a positive entry point for parental access to student activities and progress measurement.

Since Study Island is Web-based, students can log in from home and work through exercises or homework assignments. In addition, parents can automatically receive email reports on their student’s progress directly from the Study Island program.

Unlimited school and home usage for students and teachers.

We encourage you to use Study Island as much as possible from anywhere you can access the Internet.

Unlimited free tech support via toll-free phone, live chat, and email.

We rank in the top 1% for quality customer service in our industry!

Implementation consultations.

Implementation specialists are on staff to provide an introduction of the Study Island program for up to three staff members via conference call. Specialized usage guidance is also available year-round!

References:

Florida - Sunshine State Standards Mastery Program

Study Island is built from the Sunshine State Standards.

http://www.studyisland.com/demoAsk.cfm?action=G&myState=FL

Kurzweil Educational Systems www.kurzweiledu.com

Goals & Objectives

The goal of the FCAT Achiever’s Project is to enable at risk students and students with learning and reading disabilities to improve their reading, math, science comprehension, & language skills to the point where they can succeed in school and develop the reading, math, science comprehension, & language skills that will prepare them for high school and post secondary education.

Studies have shown that poor readers, who are reading at a grade level or more behind, are more likely to be disruptive in the classroom, truant from school, and at risk of dropping out of high school.

The main objectives include:

1. Providing a measurable increase in reading speed, math comprehension, science comprehension, and reading attention span. The objective is that the students will double their reading speed, math comprehension, science comprehension, and increase their reading skills by one to two grade levels by the end of the school year.

2. Enabling poor readers, poor math comprehension, & science comprehension to access the general curriculum through the use of assertive FCAT technology to scan and read their textbooks and other classroom materials.

3. Providing learning-disabled students with a multi-sensory FCAT alternative that will help them increase there reading speed, science comprehension, math comprehension, & language difficulties to the point they can read on their own.

4. Helping learning and reading disabled students stay in their regular classroom with their peers, so they can continue learning in a least restrictive environment.

Timeline

Activates

Submit Grant Proposal December 2009

Expected Grant Notification February 2010

Obtain Hardware and Software March 2010

Set up Study Island Sunshine State Standards Mastery Program

March 2010

Training Session for Teachers April 2010

Student Introduction April 2010

Test Initial Reading Speed April 2010

Begin First 12-week Phase March, 2003-May, 2003

Test Reading Improvement June, 2003

Prepare Results Report June, 2003

Budget

The budget includes funds for a Lab Pack containing five copies of Study Island Sunshine State Standards Mastery Program, along with five computers and scanners. This will provide five independent FCAT workstations. This will give students the greatest flexibility in using their textbooks and other classroom materials.

Price Quantity Total

Study Island Sunshine State Standards Mastery Program (complete high school product)

$1692 5 $8,460

Software Maintenance Agreement (SMA)

$709 1 (5-pack) $709

Epson 300 Scanner $300 5 $1,500

Dell PC with Monitor $1200 5 $6,000

Training $1200 1 Day $1,200

$17,869 Total

Evaluation

Standardized reading tests will be conducted at the start of the FCAT Achiever’s program and again at the end of the school year to determine increases in FCAT scores. Additionally, those students with ADD will be tested to determine increased FCAT score rates.

Appendix

Manufacture’s Brochure