The purpose of the Blended Early Learning Innovation Pilot grant program is to provide school districts with the ability to design and pilot innovative blended early learning tablet based instructional models based on the goal of improving children's mastery of literacy and mathematics skills. Pilot programs assist students in Kindergarten (K) through third (3) grades in attaining skills necessary to meet the rigorous requirements of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. All proposed programs provide participating students with innovative blended early learning opportunities that incorporate the use of tablets as a means of helping students:
- Increase literacy and math proficiency through tablet-based ELA and math curricula.
- Improve mastery of math and literacy skills by selecting and piloting tablet-based literacy and math programs in select schools.
The programs incorporate the following innovative blended instructional models as a means of effectively achieving the outcomes listed above.
The goal is to provide high-quality early learning opportunities to all children in America so that they enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life. In conjunction with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Education will work to significantly expand and improve services for young children and their families.
To ensure that young children's English language arts and Mathematics competencies are maximized, the Blended Early Learning Innovation Pilot instructional programs may implement the following components:
- Project activities with blended learning instruction that encourage intentional innovative lesson planning and on-going communication among participating educators;
- Regularly scheduled tablet and/or software based professional development;
- Professional learning communities that support the use of the tablet or computer-based programs;
- Student-centered learning environments, including interdisciplinary planning with participating program staff to design learning experiences that are innovative, relevant and of interest to students;
- Innovative experiential learning, problem solving, self-direction (competency based/mastery learning), creativity, exploration, and expression, by using a blended guided-inquiry approach to promote curiosity, responsibility, and confidence in the use of technology in ways that are innovative.
- Early learning resources that directly benefit the Blended Early Learning Innovation Pilot program participants;
- Family access to information about early learning innovation literacy (this may include providing families with information about what innovative blended early learning models are and what the models may look like within their child's classroom; also tips on how they can help foster innovative blended early learning practices at home) and related educational content on innovative instructional practices that are conducive to student success;
- Research based student data collection methodologies to evaluate academic achievement, engagement in learning, social and communication skills;
- Plans for sustainability via the use of additional funding sources beyond year two; and
- Appropriate domains of early learning related to child outcome, such as social emotional development, approaches to learning, cognitive development, physical development and language.
The provision of innovative tablet-based early learning blended environment instructional models fostered through this grant program will:
- Increase young children's learning and development by offering high-quality tablet based innovative instruction in core academic areas such as language arts literacy and mathematics;
- Foster student engagement through innovative instructional approaches; this may be enhancements to the current curriculum or the use of pre-existing programs;
- Improve educator effectiveness by allowing for more personalized and innovative approaches to learning which foster student autonomy; and
- Build the DECE Community; all grantees will serve as active members in the Innovative Early Learner affinity group.