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Q: What is Reinventing Education?
A: The Reinventing Education grant program forms
the centerpiece of IBM's global commitment to improving
education. Through Reinventing Education, IBM is working
in collaboration with school systems throughout the
world to develop cutting-edge applications to help solve
some of education's toughest problems. Rather than creating
a model school or enriching a few classrooms with technology,
our goal is to use technology to jumpstart comprehensive
and lasting school reforms that result in higher student
achievement and enhanced academic productivity. Our
contributions include research, technology, and technical
expertise.
Reinventing Education was launched in the U.S. in 1994,
in an effort to help spur and support fundamental, systemic
change in the nation's public schools. In the U.S.,
Reinventing Education has evolved into a $35 million
initiative encompassing 21 sites -- 15 school districts
and six states. The program is now being expanded internationally.
Each of our projects is working to overcome a specific
barrier to school reform, such as the length and structure
of the school day and year, how learning is measured,
and how language, math and science are taught. Collectively,
the projects address nearly every aspect of the education
agenda -- from home-school communications, to data management
and analysis, classroom instruction, teacher training,
and student assessment.
Q:
Which school districts and states in the U.S. and which
countries internationally are receiving Reinventing
Education grants?
A: In the U.S., IBM's first round of Reinventing
Education partnerships include Broward
County (Florida), Charlotte-Mecklenburg
(North Carolina), Chicago,
Cincinnati, Philadelphia,
San Francisco, San
Jose, Vermont, and West
Virginia.
In October, 1997, IBM announced 12 new U.S. Reinventing
Education grants to school districts and states. Each
of these sites will replicate one of five technological
solutions that have been developed through our first
ten partnerships. These sites include: Atlanta
Public Schools, Boston
Public Schools, Detroit
Public Schools, Durham
(North Carolina) Public Schools, Houston
Independent School District, Maryland
State Department of Education, Memphis
City Schools, New York
City Public Schools, New York
State Education Department, Rochester
(Minnesota) Public Schools, South
Carolina Department of Education, and the Texas
Education Agency.
Based
on our success in the U.S., Reinventing Education is
now being brought to countries throughout the world,
including Ireland,
Italy, Vietnam,
and the State of Rio in
Brazil.
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