COPPERAS COVE, Texas — Copperas Cove ISD was awarded $225,000 to help junior high students with their math lessons by incorporating technology.
The funds will be provided via two grants, the school district said. The first one is $125,000 and the second grant is $100,000 spread out over the next three years.
Sixth grade math students are the first in the district to incorporate the new program, with seventh graders joining in the next school year and eighth grade students in the 2023-2024 school year, the district said.
CCISD Director of Digital Learning & Innovation Dani Patterson said the funding has provided an opportunity to build the district's framework for blended learning, which includes face-to-face instruction combined with technology.
“Blended learning provides teachers with ways to incorporate technology into their current lessons,” Patterson said. “This allows students to receive personalized learning on their individual levels, dive deeper into their learning, learn the material in a different way, and provides immediate feedback on virtual assessments.”
Patterson said the framework also provides support to teachers which included professional development from the Schoology Professional Learning Team. Schoology is the learning management system that CCISD has used for the last five years.
The funding also purchased iXL, a computer-based program that has comprehensive curriculum, actionable analytics, real-time diagnostic, and personalized guidance to support personalized learning in math and meet the unique needs of each learner, the district said.
“As we know from TEA, COVID has caused learning gaps for some students. Blended learning supports teachers with ways to personalize learning for each individual student to help each one progress at different paces based on his or her ability,” Patterson said. “With the increase of technology devices for students, the different levels of learning for students are now equitable.”
The school district said it expected an additional funding opportunity next year to acquire an additional $100,000 to further use blended learning.