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eMINTS historyMINTs projectDuring the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 school years a historical partnership between the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the University of Missouri – Columbia College of Education, the Missouri Department of Higher Education and MOREnet was formed. The partnership wrote a grant proposal and obtained funding from the Southwest Bell Foundation to initiate the Multimedia Interactive Networked Technologies (MINTs) project. MINTs delivered a high-speed Internet connection to the classroom and placed technology on the teacher’s and students’ desks while trying to determine whether eliminating technology barriers traditionally experienced by schools could change teaching styles and strategies and improve student performance. Six school districts in St. Louis County were involved in the MINTs project: Affton, Bayless, Jennings, Normandy, Riverview Gardens and University City. Test scores in the MINTs classrooms improved, but even more important, attitudes and styles of teaching and learning also changed. The technology encouraged a new way of educating students – a way that engaged them in their education by making resources available in a learning environment that fosters cooperation, collaboration, problem solving and higher order thinking skills. The connections to parents were also strengthened as they showed more interest in the positive stories their children were bringing home. The preliminary results of MINTs were so successful it prompted then Missouri Commissioner of Education Robert Bartman to launch a statewide initiative to change the way Missouri educates its K-12 students. The initiative, known as the enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies (eMINTS) project was launched in 1999-2000. Highlights2009-2010eMINTS implementations in the 2009-2010 school year were augmented by the availability of federal funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) both in Missouri and across the U.S. In addition to implementations funded by the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, projects funded by ARRA allowed four additional projects to be funded. The special education pilot program on assistive technology was expanded once again to offer eMINTS4All classrooms equipped with assistive technology to special education teachers in six districts. eMINTS earned recognition as a Professional Development Affiliate of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills in January 2009. eMINTS was featured once again at an international seminar in London, England. The presentation featured speakers from around the globe, including the Executive Director of eMINTS and the Regional Director in Australia where eMINTS professional development is being used. e-Learning for Educators completed its fourth year of operation and is now a mature organization that provides many services to educators across Missouri, e-Learning provides courses to help schools, districts and others create their own online courses using content they have developed. It also houses the Administrator Mentoring Program (AMP) for DESE, contributing to the overall quality of school administrators in the state. 2008-2009Outside of Missouri and international eMINTS implementations exploded in 2008-2009 with the addition of programs in Delaware, New Jersey and New South Wales, Australia. Schools and districts became of aware of eMINTS through presentations at national conferences and networking with organizations such as the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA). In-state eMINTS implementations continued to grow with the addition of nine more school-wide implementations. Eight were funded using EETT competitive grants and state funds for eMINTS/METS classrooms and one was added through a district using a bond issue to build a new elementary school that was fully ready and equipped for eMINTS classrooms. An additional set of schools was added to the special education pilot program that began in 2007-2008; professional development materials were refined and a webcast about assistive technology was created and published. Some of the first graduates of pre-service eMINTS teacher education programs at Lincoln University and Missouri State University completed their student teaching and were rewarded with positions in eMINTS classrooms. More graduates are expected in the coming years. EDC prepared the first of two reports about the program evaluation they completed on eMINTS. The reports provided verification that when implemented as intended, eMINTS professional development can change and improve teachers’ knowledge and effective uses of technology which in turn result in improved student achievement. eMINTS professional development program went through the second Alignment Review with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and received another very favorable outcome. Keeping the new and refreshed National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) in mind, the program has been continually updated and improved. e-Learning for Educators continued into its third year of operation and began rapidly expanding from the provision of online professional development courses to the creation of a high-quality online support system for several state-wide programs such as certification for First Steps providers. Courses developed by Missouri educators on additional topics were added to the course catalog. 2007-2008eMINTS in Missouri expanded with the addition of six new school-wide implementations. The program engaged in a new pilot with special education personnel at DESE to see if assistive technology and speech-to-text/text-to-speech software could improve outcomes for students with print disabilities. eMINTS classrooms in three schools were equipped with the software and additional hardware needed to use the software. Teachers were provided with professional development and classroom support. View results of this pilot program .... The Missouri General Assembly provided funding for 100 model eMINTS/METS classrooms focused on mathematics and science across the state. These outstanding teachers received the full suite of hardware and software for an eMINTS classroom along with the two-year professional development program to become official eMINTS classrooms. The goal is to show how eMINTS can improve instruction in science and mathematics by adding the necessary technology to truly transform the classroom. Out-of-state implementations began in Alabama with the addition of the Ballwin County program. Five trainers from the district came to St. Louis to begin their participation in the PD4ETS program. e-Learning for Educators continued into its third year of growth and development. The partnership with our PBS station, KETC–Channel 9 in St. Louis, provided additional video resources and learning objects for use in some courses as well as technical support for video editing. 2006-2007Throughout the 2006-2007 school year, eMINTS implementations continued to expand high quality strategies for teaching and learning to more than 25,000 students in nine states. eMINTS program evaluation and research results were presented at numerous conferences, seminars and meetings in the US and in England. Visitors from across the U.S. and Australia toured eMINTS classrooms and observed the changes in students engagement and motivation brought by eMINTS professional development for teachers. Larger scale school- or district-wide implementations continued in Missouri and other states. Custom professional development options using long-term e-conferencing support were provided to Oklahoma and Texas districts. eMINTS programs, such as eMINTS4All, introduced in 2005-2006 were refined and polished based on formative evaluation data collected in 2005-2006. The eMINTS staff grew with the addition of three more instructional specialists and a Program Coordinator for Evaluation and Research. The eMINTS organization was also reconfigured to better reflect its growing mission to support educators at all levels with the professional development experiences needed to prepare all learners to become intrepid explorers, active team members, independent thinkers, problem solvers, effective communicators and creators of knowledge. e-Learning for Educators moved into its second year of operation offering more online courses for teachers. Six teams of Missouri educators completed six Missouri-specific online professional development courses that were offered in summer 2006-and fall 2007. eMINTS participated in the Missouri Mathematics, Engineering. Technology and Science (METS) Coalition along with other education, business and governmental representatives. In May 2007, Governor Blunt signed the state budget that included $2.9 million in funding for 100 eMINTS/METS classrooms. The classrooms will serve as model classrooms across Missouri where eMINTS and research-based mathematics and/or science curriculum have been implemented together to demonstrate best practices in METS education. eMINTS and DESE will collect student and teacher data for proof-of-concept evaluation to establish the basis for a major state-wide implementation to create new eMINTS/METS classrooms in the future. 2005-2006The 2005-2006 school year marked the beginning of the implementation of school-wide eMINTS implementations. Due to changes in the administration of the Title II.D. (Enhancing Education Through Technology) program, DESE and eMINTS revised the focus of the eMINTS grant awards from two or three classrooms per district to larger, more systemic school or district implementations. eMINTS also announced the designation of the Education Development Center as the program’s external evaluation consultant beginning March 1, 2006. EDC consultants developed a new program evaluation design for the eMINTS National Center. The three components of the design will eventually be used to measure the authenticity and fidelity of eMINTS program implementations. The influence of eMINTS National Center's philosophy of high-quality teaching powered by technology continues to expand. In 2005-2006 the demographics included
eMINTS continued to expand its professional development program offerings while refining its core philosophies. In 2005, eMINTS4All (a supplemental program) as well as eMINTS4Administrators were added to the multiple professional development programs that supported implementation of the eMINTS instructional model. In late fall 2005, a new project, e-Learning for Educators: Missouri, was funded in cooperation with DESE. e-Learning provides online professional development to educators across Missouri and the U.S. The first e-Learning courses were offered in summer 2006. 2004-2005In the 2004-2005 school year eMINTS programs reached thousands of students in Missouri and Utah. In Missouri classrooms in 229 districts (of 524) joined the eMINTS experience with 5 districts (out of 40) in Utah. eMINTS instructional practices influenced 20,000 students in 1,000 classrooms in grades 3-8. And, for the first time, eMINTS was growing into middle and high school settings. Additional states sought information about implementing eMINTS in their locales. Custom professional development was provided to teachers in Minnesota through TIES. eMINTS completed the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Product Alignment Review Process with the eMINTS Comprehensive Professional Development Program. In February 2005, the ISTE Seal of Alignment was awarded to the program. the ISTE Seal of Alignment demonstrating full alignment with all of ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers ( NETS•T™). eMINTS is the first professional development program in the world to achieve this degree of full alignment. ISTE issued press release announcing this alignment on April 15, 2005, 2003-2004On Feb. 24, 2004, the eMINTS program moved to a new level when the eMINTS National Center was approved by the General Officers of the University of Missouri System. The eMINTS National Center became a collaborative education program providing professional development to schools and districts across Missouri and the U.S. The eMINTS National Center is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the Missouri Department of Higher Education and is an independent unit within the University of Missouri System Office of Academic Affairs. The eMINTS National Center serves as a resource base for schools and districts in Missouri and nationally that wish to collaborate with eMINTS staff and with one another to replicate the eMINTS instructional model (high quality teaching powered by technology) within their educational systems. Thirty-one new districts were added to the eMINTS participant list along with one charter school and the Greenwood School (independent) on the campus of Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State University). eMINTS demographics for 2003-2004 included the following totals:
2002-2003Thirty-nine new districts across Missouri began their eMINTS implementations with two to three new classrooms while thirty-eight districts continued their second year of eMINTS professional development. The twenty-five established districts that were provided with resources to add two additional eMINTS classrooms also continued into Year 2 of the eMINTS professional development program. In an effort to begin scaling eMINTS to more schools and districts in Missouri, the Professional Development for Educational Technology Specialists (PD4ETS) program was introduced. Ten participants formed the first cohort group to begin the two-year program. Districts that expect to maintain or expand the eMINTS program were able to obtain eMINTS certification for one or more of their district employees through the PD4ETS program. The program was conceived as a way to meet the challenge of providing eMINTS professional development for teachers who replace eMINTS teachers that retire or leave the district and for teachers in additional district-funded eMINTS classrooms. In spring 2003, the first outside-of-Missouri replication of eMINTS was begun in Utah. Educational specialists from five Utah districts traveled to Missouri and spent one week learning how to implement eMINTS in their districts. In fall 2003, more than 70 new eMINTS classrooms were opened in Salt Lake City, Granite City, Tintic, Duschene and Ogden. 2001-2002The third generation of eMINTS teachers represents 63 school districts spread across Missouri. Thirty-eight new districts launched eMINTS classrooms while 25 current districts added two more eMINTS classrooms. The districts in the expansion portion of the program worked on leadership issues and mentoring teachers to improve technology integration. Student success, teacher enthusiasm and local support led 36 of the eMINTS districts in the state to add 64 eMINTS classrooms equipped by the district or sponsoring organizations to the roster. As the 2001-2002 school year began, 126 new eMINTS teachers (FY02) joined the program. Supplying Internet connectivity, learning technologies and technical support to Missouri classrooms remains important to the success and growth of eMINTS. Support for teachers who change their teaching styles to empower students' success through inquiry-based learning continues to be the focus of professional development for teachers in all eMINTS classrooms. But most important, evaluation of eMINTS classes continues to reveal positive trends. See reports from the OSEDA evaluation team .... 2000-2001During the 2000-2001 school year eMINTS added teachers from 38 new school districts to the group of 88 teachers who started in 1999. The new teachers (FY01) joined the existing clusters and one additional cluster was created for a total of ten clusters. eMINTS staff grew to include 13 Cluster Instructional Specialists (CIS - some clusters had two CIS because of their size), three Area Instructional Specialists (AIS) and a full-time Instructional Program Leader. FY01 teachers completed 100 hours and four release days of professional development while FY00 teachers completed a second year of training that included 75 hours and two release days. Dr. Bernie Dodge, San Diego State University, spent a day with the FY00 eMINTS teachers as they learned about WebQuests. 1999-2000eMINTS involved 88 teachers in 44 school districts throughout Missouri. The schools were organized into nine regional clusters representing all areas of the state. Equipment was delivered throughout the 1999-2000 school year and eMINTS teachers received 100 hours and four release days of professional development. Evaluation reports that tell the experiences of this group of eMINTS teachers (FY00) can be found at eMINTS evaluation. MINTs project |
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Reviewed February 8, 2010. |
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