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NetDay AmeriCorps Bridge | TESS | Community Impact
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NetDay Community Initiatives
TESS - Technology Enhancing Student Success
Mission
The TESS Initiative (Technology Enhancing Student Success) aims to help select schools and school districts meet student achievement goals through teacher training focused on technology integration strategies as well as the use of technology for the assessment of school data. The purpose of the TESS Initiative is to help schools better leverage technology resources to enhance teaching and learning at all levels.
Overview
The TESS Initiative launched in the 2002-2003 school year. For its first program year, TESS will be piloted with educators and students in the West Bolivar School District in Rosedale, MS, a community that is part of the Mississippi Delta Region Empowerment Zone and has been part of NetDay Teaching, Learning and Technology Initiative for 3 years.
Useful Links
Mississippi Delta, Mississippi
Santa Ana, California
Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Oakland, California
Detroit, Michigan
Community Impact

Program Description
  As part of the TESS model, teachers in West Bolivar are participating in a mandatory, project-based teacher training through-out the school year, with customization based on the technology skills of the teacher as well as the teacher and student needs. The delivery of this teacher training includes mentoring, study groups, workshops, and independent learning included online tutorials and courses. Content components of the TESS Teacher Training include:

  • The Technology and Learning Paradigm
  • Hardware and Software Use
  • Personal Productivity and Classroom Use
  • Instructional Delivery
  • Technology and Curriculum Standards
  • The Internet and Learning
  • Technology and the Home to School Connection
TESS Management
At the center of NetDay's involvement with the schools is a NetDay Project Director who is recruited from the local community to be the project's resource broker, information facilitator and relentless coach for effective technology usage. The NetDay Project Director is the link for the school or community to outside resources, partners and ideas on how to impact learning through technology. For the TESS Initiative, the NetDay Project Director, Audrey Pearson, is responsible for locating, scheduling, evaluating and finding funding sources for the TESS training sessions.

TESS Evaluation
The TESS Initiative may be evaluated through assessment of school data, including:

  • Teacher ability to successfully integrated technology into the curriculum
  • The attitude of teachers, students and parents toward teaching, learning and the quality of education in the school district Student attitude toward learning
  • Student behavior, including attitude toward learning, absenteeism, and behavior
  • Curriculum test score comparisons
  • Technology skills tests
  • Number of student or teacher projects created by using technology
  • Anecdotal stories of successes
 
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