Through a grant from the Bush Foundation, University of South Dakota and a consortium of partners from across South Dakota, these organizations undertook a seven-year project of redesigning post-secondary programs and opportunities for young professionals entering the field, and mentor teachers with the ultimate goal of creating a corps of highly qualified teachers for South Dakota high needs Local Educational Agencies (LEA). The South Dakota Teacher Quality Partnership (SDTQP) is the nexus of a statewide collaboration between Higher Education and high need LEAs in rural communities. The ultimate goal of the project is to increase the preparedness of teachers to work in high needs schools, thereby increasing the academic performance of the students in those schools.

The 2014-2015 school year marks the start of a transformative partnership between the Reynoldsburg City School District and the PAST Foundation in working with the 5 STEM Schools within the district as a concerted K thru 12 effort to grow and strengthen the STEM work happening in the district. Courtney Heppner, the Director of Innovation for Reynoldsburg City Schools has been an integral advocate to support, strengthen, and continually develop the STEM possibilities within Reynoldsburg. The PAST Foundation team and various other community partners are committed to helping support this initiative and the schools.

The PAST Foundation stands for Partnering Anthropology with Science and Technology. Our motto, Access through Innovation keeps us focused on exploring and continuously considering ways to link learning to life. The PAST Foundation has more than a decade of experience working directly with schools and communities in transition, and has identified key benchmarks essential to successful school transformation to STEM and innovative educational models. PAST offers a team of experts, led by anthropologists working collaboratively with educators towards identifying the critical needs of educational systems in transition. Using an anthropological framework, we offer powerful analytical tools to understand both the visible diversity of communities associated with a particular educational system, as well as the hidden commonalities they all possess. Large or small, urban or rural, from whole districts to the one-room schoolhouse – the PAST Foundation has effectively partnered on all levels to outline consistent benchmarks that serve as critical levers in shaping successful school transformational outcomes.

The Math Matters Program was initiated in August 2014 by the MIND Research Institute, providing access to ST Math software for use in K-12 classrooms in over 100 buildings in Fairfield and Franklin county school districts. As of January 9, 2015, training in classroom use of ST Math is well underway. Implementation of ST Math for the 71 elementary schools selected by Fairfield Education Service Center (ESC) has been initiated in 80% of schools across Fairfield and Franklin counties (n=57). Of the 19 middle schools awarded a Math Matters grant, implementation of ST Math has been initiated in 84% of schools (n=16), and of the nine high schools across both counties, implementation has been initiated in 66% of schools selected for the ST Math program (n=6).

During the 2014-15 academic year, K-12 teachers in nine districts in Fairfield and Franklin counties in Ohio, and selected staff of the Fairfield County Educational Service Center participated in year-one implementation of the Math Matters Project. The Project was funded by the Ohio Department of Education Straight A Fund, providing support for transitioning to a blended learning model over a five-year period utilizing the ST Math® Program for math instruction in K-12 classrooms. The PAST Foundation Knowledge Capture Program (KC) conducted formative evaluation of the implementation process across the nine districts during the period beginning August 2014 through June 2015.

The Math Matters Program was initiated in August 2014 by the MIND Research Institute, providing access to ST Math software for use in K-12 classrooms in 100 buildings in ten districts and organizations across Fairfield and Franklin counties. As of the third quarter grant report (April 30, 2015), the ST Math implementation process continued to provide onsite Introduction to ST Math Part 1 and Part 2 training in three districts including Columbus City Schools, Hilliard, and Pickerington. Part 1 and Part 2 training was also conducted during summer sessions on June 9th and 17th at the June Academy. Additional support was provided within each district at specific school sites and is presented below in Table A: Math Matters Implementation Overview, April to June 2015. This continuing interaction with individual schools offers the districts a tailored approach responding to specific emerging needs identified by the ST Math team through ongoing communication with the districts, and with individual school leaders within each of the nine districts.

The Math Matters Program was initiated in August 2014 by the MIND Research Institute, providing access to ST Math software for use in K-12 classrooms in 100 buildings in ten districts and organizations across Fairfield and Franklin counties. As of the Mid-Year Grant report (January 30, 2015), the ST Math implementation process continued to provide on-site Part 1 and Part 2 training in four districts including Columbus City Schools, Hilliard, Worthington, Pickerington, and also for Fairfield County ESC staff. Additional support was provided within each district at specific school sites and is presented below in Table A: Math Matters Implementation Overview January to June 2015. This continuing interaction with individual schools offers the districts a tailored approach responding to specific emerging needs identified by the ST Math team through ongoing communication with the districts, and with individual school leaders within each of the nine districts.

The Knowledge Capture (KC) Program completed evaluation of the second quarter of implementation for the Growing SOIL Project in completing the following work. This report includes work conducted between October 26,, 2014 and January 10, 2015. The first section of the evaluation will provide an overview of work completed to support evaluation of the Growing SOIL Cohort 1 (9 School Districts) and the second section will address work completed for Cohort 2 (6 Districts).

Between January 2014 and September 2015 through the generous support of Ohio Straight A funds in rounds 1 and 2, SOIL (STEM Outdoor Learning Labs) was able to reach out across the state and dynamically utilize space that is traditionally under-utilized at schools to increase the planning and implementation of problem-based learning in grades 5 through 12. The program collectively partnered with 16 school districts, stretching from Lake Erie to the Kentucky border, the Fairfield ESC, COSI, Hocking College, and the PAST Foundation, along with numerous community businesses and organizations. Growing SOIL funded in Straight A Round 2 brought on the growth of the initial program by challenging the first cohort of 9 SOILabs to partner or “buddy” with other local programs in order to more fully utilize the modules and labs created in Round 1. Thus, another 9 buddy programs were established on top of the 15 anchor SOILabs by the culmination of the second grant growing the reach of the program to 24 schools.

This report includes formative evaluation conducted by the Knowledge Capture team during the second quarter of implementation of the FAST Forward Project. Formative evaluation includes program implementation activities conducted between October 26, 2014 and January 9, 2015. A complete chronology of all FAST project activities coordinated or lead by the Knowledge Capture Program appears in the Appendix and includes dates of evaluation meetings, briefings, as well as participants who engaged in evaluation planning and review.

During the 2014-15 academic year, The PAST Foundation Knowledge Capture Program (KC) conducted formative evaluation of the implementation process for eight school districts in Fairfield County participating in the FAST Forward Project during the period beginning August 2014 through June 2015, funded by an Ohio Department of Education Straight A Grant.

Fairfield County Advancing Students and Teachers (FAST) Forward is a consortium effort led by the Fairfield County ESC and funded by the Straight A Grant Fund. This is a network centric approach to transform the educational systems in Fairfield County. Multiple service providers will partner with the county and develop plans for transformation across a variety of levels within the existing structures of schools today. The ultimate goal will be to TRANSFORM TEACHING and LEARNING across the 8 districts to increase student engagement, personalize learning, and support college and career ready skills for ALL STUDENTS.