Students at Muldrow Middle School will soon be equipped with the knowledge needed for the global marketplace thanks to $65,000 grants for new technology equipment and educator training from the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust (OETT).
Established in 2001 by a $30 million contribution from AT&T Oklahoma to Oklahoma public schools, the trust has distributed $9 million to date.
Muldrow Middle School will provide interactive whiteboards and LCD projectors to all classroom teachers so that teachers can find new and innovative ways for students to learn. The overall goal is to prepare students for an ever-changing world by improving how instruction is delivered to all students.
Principal Montea Wight said, "We are excited about our OETT grant. We believe that it will enhance the technological opportunities of our staff and students to become more proficient in connecting with our growing global economy."
Muldrow Middle School was one of 18 Oklahoma schools to receive $1.2 million in OETT grants to schools this year. It joins 96 other schools in Oklahoma that have received the OETT grants since 2003.
"The trust does not want to make random acts of improvement in Oklahoma classrooms," Bob Stafford, OETT chairman and AT&T representative, said. "OETT grant schools have seen many changes in the equipment available to students, teaching methods used by educators, and most of all, the enhancement of the learning process. In fact, the 2005 OETT schools earned Academic Performance Index scores 217 percent higher than the state's average increase."
He said OETT also has contributed another $1.6 million for leadership training and laptops. Through the leadership of Oklahoma Achievement Through Collaboration and Technology Support, a project of the K20 Center at the University of Oklahoma that seeks to develop leadership for school change through the use of technology, more than 2,600 teachers and 1,000 superintendents and principals have received professional development training to assist their students with the new technology.
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said, "The success of the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust will benefit more than just our public schools. These students will matriculate into our career tech centers, universities and colleges enhancing our education system from kindergarten to post-secondary education. OETT is helping create better schools, better communities and therefore, a better Oklahoma."
OETT was established in 2001 as a result of an agreement between Edmondson and AT&T Oklahoma, relating to the company's transition to a modernized form of regulation. The final regulatory plan was finalized by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and approved by the state legislature. As part of the agreement, AT&T contributed $30 million to OETT.
