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Coming Soon...
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These topics will be among those included in upcoming issues of the Action Bulletin:
· August release of 2011-12 curriculum
· Year-end assessment reports
· Counselor conferences
· Master Teacher training
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Action Bulletin Archive
| Past issues of the Action Bulletin are available on the PLTW Web site.
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Welcome to the latest edition of the Action Bulletin, your source for up-to-date information and reminders to successfully implement and sustain your PLTW program.
There are a number of updates and new information in this issue that require your attention:
- Information for schools that would like to return fischertechnik (FT) kits.
- Spring EoC Cycle has ended and data is being compiled.
- A select group of partner candidates were interviewed as part of PLTW's i3 Grant application process.
- The VEX/ROBOTC Instructional Video Series is now online.
- Updated overviews for the newly released Aerospace Engineering and Computer Integrated Manufacturing curricula will be available.
If you haven't been following the Action Bulletin and the summer brings you some well-deserved "down time," we encourage you to visit our past issues to catch up on new information and reminders about the program.
An Action Bulletin archive is available in the Virtual Academy under the Welcome section as well as in the Program Support section of the PLTW Web site.
As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome. Please email them to Action Bulletin Editor Trevor Sparks. |
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Notifications for FT Kit Returns Due Next Week
| | We're pleased to announce that the transition for schools moving to the VEX Robotics equipment platform is going smoothly and the number of schools that are returning fischertechnik (FT) kits in order to receive credit towards VEX Robotics kits has exceeded our expectations.
We'd like to thank all of the schools that participated and helped make this transition a positive experience.
This equipment return option, however, will end on Friday, July 15, 2011.
If you wish to return your FT kits that were purchased after June 1, 2010 and are unused and opened, then:
As a reminder, PLTW is no longer accepting returns of FT equipment purchased before June 1, 2010.
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Assessment Data Being Compiled
| | The End of Course Assessment's spring cycle closed at the end of June, marking the end of the 2010-11 testing season.
- A total of 193,887 assessments were given to students this past academic year.
- That represents an increase of more than 72,000 assessments (or 59.5%) over last year.
The data is being compiled and, in August, PLTW will provide aggregated reports to state departments of education and affiliate colleges and universities.
Included in the reports will be:
- Pass/fail cut-scores by test.
- Percentage of students that have met the pass/fail cut-scores.
- Percentage of students that have met assessment college credit eligibility standards.
The PLTW Assessment Team is in the process of developing new assessments for AE, CEA and POE. These will be available along with all other course assessments when the 2011-12 Fall/Winter End of Course Assessment Cycle opens on November 7, 2011.
Any additional changes to the assessment system will be based on network suggestions and a full description of the 2011-12 assessment system will be provided to the PLTW Network no later than September 1, 2011.
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PLTW Moves Forward with i3 Grant Application
| | PLTW received interest from more than 500 Local Education Agencies (LEAs) as we identified partners for our upcoming i3 Grant application. We appreciate all of the thoughtful responses and the time and resources needed to complete the Pre-Qualification Survey.
As you know, we can only choose a limited number of LEAs as our partners in this grant pursuit. Our third-party, independent evaluator interviewed a select group of candidates with survey responses that were best aligned with the i3 Grant requirements for the five-year research project.
Our LEA partners for the grant application will be finalized shortly and we'll continue to update you on the process. More information can be found on the i3 page on the PLTW Web site.
We will keep all other submissions on file for consideration in future endeavors. We may reach out to these LEAs to assess their interest in growing their PLTW programs when other opportunities arise.
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VEX/ROBOTC Instructional Video Series Launched
| | To provide instructional support and professional development opportunities to teachers who are transitioning to the VEX Robotics platform, the PLTW Professional Development Team is excited to announce the launch of the VEX/ROBOTC Instructional Video Series.
- The series is available in the Robotics Platform Resources section on the Virtual Academy.
- The initial videos of the series are currently available.
- The complete set will be online by Friday, July 15.
- More videos will be added to the series based on network needs.
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Updated AE, EDD Course Overviews Available Soon
| | To assist Aerospace Engineering (AE) and Engineering Design & Development (EDD) teachers with the transition to the newly released curricula for those courses, the PLTW Curriculum Team has created overviews for these courses.
The overviews will be:
- An opportunity for teachers to hear directly from the curriculum teams for these courses about changes and enhancements to the curricula.
- Available starting Friday, July 15
- Located on the Virtual Academy in the respective course section.
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Reminders: Parts Lists & Curriculum
| | PLTW VEX Parts Lists
Parts lists for the PLTW VEX kits (AE, DE, POE and GTT) as well as the VEX Classroom Lab Kit upgrades (for GTT and POE) are now available on the Purchasing Manual Web page and Virtual Academy.
Core Training Curriculum
Core Training Curriculum is now available to the PLTW network through the Virtual Academy (VA).
- It is imperative and required that all Core Training Instructors and participants use the updated Core Training curriculum.
- All teachers, regardless of their participation in Core Training, are encouraged to review this release as they prepare for the upcoming school year.
- All curriculum CHM files have been updated from the previously posted 2010-11 academic year version and most have undergone slight revisions since Core Training Prep in April.
- On August 1, the 2011-12 academic school year curriculum CHM files will be released to the PLTW Network through the VA.
- To ensure program quality, including exam alignment, all PLTW teachers are required to use the August release for course instruction at their schools throughout the 2011-12 academic year.
- If you are offering GTT, POE, CIM, DE and/or AE -- or plan to for the first time in the 2011-12 school year -- it is imperative that you closely review the VEX Robotics Equipment and ROBOTC Software Transition Fact Sheet to understand equipment and software options.
- If you are offering courses from the Biomedical Sciences (BMS) program -- or plan to for the first time in the 2011-12 school year -- closely review the Biomedical Sciences Software Update Fact Sheet to understand your software options.
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