Six partnerships involving 71 Iowa school districts and other educational institutions will receive a total of $1.123- million for technology-based curriculum projects. The six recipients were chosen from among 39 applicants statewide.

"These are collaborative projects involving several area education agencies, higher education, as well as local school districts and some private agencies," according to Rich Gross, Office of Educational Technology.

"The major purpose is to develop technology-based curriculum that can be disseminated to schools and teachers to help students throughout Iowa," says Gross.

The six partnerships and their proposals awarded technology grants are as follows:

• Des Moines Area Community College: G.E.D.: The Next Generation, $192,740
  
  This project will result in the development of curricula and a support system for delivering high school equivalency and career planning to students using both the ICN and the World Wide Web. The project includes 33 LEA partners and the Des Moines Workforce Development Center.

• Northern Trails AEA 2: Mathematics Project, $192,740
  
  This project will result in the development of "peformance-based, technologically-rich" interactive products in mathematics. The project is geared toward middle school grades (i.e. 6-7-8). The project includes 10 LEA partners as well as UNI, NCREL and the Exemplars Program located in Vermont.

• Kirkwood Community College: Careers: Pathways for Success, $176,479
  
  This project would result in the development of a foundations course "Career: Pathways for Success" for a proposed Career Academy. This would be geared for high school students and include components involving workplace skills, technology, teamwork, problem solving and self-management. The course would utilize the ICN. The project includes 5 LEA partners as well as Grant Wood AEA.

• Iowa State University: Iowa Chemistry Education Alliance, $178,670
  
  The Alliance project proposes to develop concept-oriented units for chemistry to be used by high school teachers. Teachers and students would collaborate with others around the state. The project would utilize the ICN as well as other technologies. The project includes 4 LEA partners as well as Heartland AEA and several ISU departments.

• Dubuque Community Schools: Environmental Science Curriculum, $192,740
  
  The project centers around the development of instructional units in environmental science. The units will utilize a variety of technologies and will be developed by student and teacher teams. Additionally, the goals include both involving the local communities in the development and a curriculum integration component. Both students and teachers will gain understanding in both content and the design process. The project includes 3 LEA partners as well as John Deere, Times-Mirror and the Finley Hospital.

• Area Education Agency 6: Instructional Unit Development, $190,119
  
  The project involves the development, testing, publishing and disseminating of 10 instructional units which are adapted from existing curriculum. The adapted units will involve a variety of technologies including the ICN, and will be geared toward elementary, middle and high school students. The units are drawn from 145 project submissions from area 6 teachers, and will be developed by teacher-led teams. The project includes 16 LEA partners as well as UNI, Iowa Valley Community College, and various local businesses.

"Most of the technology-based curriculum product that is available was developed elsewhere," says Gross, "and we wanted to take the opportunity to develop Iowa-specific projects that can have an impact in our own state."

Gross says this is the first time that federal Star Schools funding has been used for curriculum development. He says a variety of public and private revenue sources may be pursued to fund the technology-based curriculum project in future years.

For more information, contact: Rich Gross, Office of Educational Technology, 515-281-5295; Klark Jessen, Communications Specialist, Iowa Department of Education, 515-281-5651.