Alpha Plus Systems, Inc.

PROJECT PURPOSE

?Learning Loss Solutions for Oklahoma Students? will provide ongoing, data-driven professional development for schools disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Given the drop in student performance in 2021, all schools need specialized training for educators, especially those who are new, emergency certified, or new to the content area. These essential employees were struggling to address ongoing challenges of poverty and trauma on students before the pandemic. Now they need focused support that includes short-term compensation for the work they will do as part of this program. Primary objectives are: ? train teachers how to use assessment data to plan instruction and intervention specifically addressing learning loss and gaps in relation to the Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS), ? build school teams to grow each student to their individual potential and toward grade-level expectations with tools used in class, virtually, and in tutoring and after-school programs, and ? develop the school?s continuous improvement process using the Alpha Plus ?Way to an A? Model. As proposed, more than 70 percent of the grant funding would go directly to Oklahoma classrooms and the local economy in the form of stipends to support program participants; 100 percent of the funding would stay in the state of Oklahoma.

EVIDENCE

None

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

In Sept. 2021, the State Department of Education released scores from state tests last spring showing Oklahoma students ?paid an alarming price for the multitude of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.? While 31.9% of students were proficient in math in 2019, only 22.1% were in 2021; ELA?(reading) scores declined?from?33.4%?in 2019 to 24.8%?proficient in 2021. Alpha Plus training helps educators statewide address unfinished learning and learning loss every year with curriculum, assessments and data aligned to the OAS. Learning Loss Solutions training could be transformative to student success in the state?s lowest-performing schools. Selected schools should be those in Qualified Census Tracts or areas otherwise most impacted by pandemic. Alpha Plus can provide training for up to 24 schools per year or about 432 more educators and 4,080 more students than in 2021-22. The Train-the-Trainers Model builds capacity for schools to continue data-driven improvement going forward.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Participation requires use of Alpha Plus Online assessments for three summative benchmarks annually and common formative assessments for each OAS objective. Results will measure student performance and growth. Participants will also complete assignments and reports using their own data during a summer academy and throughout the school year. Required data will be collected and monitored by an Alpha Plus Facilitator and local administrators with quarterly reports to school board and others as needed. The independent accountability measure is the annual state tests of the Oklahoma School Testing Program.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

One-time project will not need continued funding