COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 50
September 22, 2000

ADMINISTRATIVE

TO: Division Superintendents
FROM: Jo Lynne DeMary
             Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT: Submission of Plan for the Use of Funds for the Web-based Standards of Learning Technology                   Initiative

All school divisions participating in the Web-based Standards of Learning Technology Initiative are required by the appropriation act approved by the Virginia General Assembly this year to submit initial plans for the use of funds to the Department of Education by November 1, 2000. Information contained in these plans will form the basis of Virginia’s plan to commence statewide Web-based student assessment, remediation, and instruction in the spring of 2003. Information provided by school divisions in the initial plan and subsequent reports will be used by state agencies to assess Virginia’s progress toward meeting the technology initiative objectives. Additionally, the Department of Education will include this information in monthly status reports for the Governor, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Technology and members of the General Assembly.

To facilitate planning and reporting, a Microsoft Excel workbook was developed for use by school divisions in submitting the required plan, subsequent revisions, and monthly progress reports. This workbook should be downloaded from DOE’s Web site at the following location: http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Technology/soltech/soltech.html.

Instructions for using the workbook are also available on the above-referenced Web site.

Due to the nature and scope of this statewide initiative and its required reporting schedule, school divisions are encouraged to review this workbook immediately. The initial plan that is due on November 1 will include divisionwide budget projections, and anticipated completion dates for all high schools to be equipped for Web-based student assessment and instruction. The time required to provide this information is estimated at 5 hours. This includes time to review the instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collected.

The responses represent a preliminary estimate only. Subsequent updates to the plan will reflect changes in estimated completion dates based on newly acquired information.

School divisions will provide regular reports on progress in each high school toward meeting initiative objectives and will submit updated divisionwide plans using the same workbook format in May 2001 and May 2002.

The tasks included in the workbook, as well as the order in which they are presented, generally conform to standard project management activities and expectations for an initiative of this scope and duration. We hope you find the workbook useful in this regard and encourage you to develop your own detailed plans to meet local objectives and project management needs.

The Department of Education will provide a training program via GE2 satellite broadcast (Channel 6), on Wednesday, October 11, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The purpose of this program is provide an overview of the technology initiative, assist school division project managers in developing their local plans and answer questions relating to the initiative. Test time for this broadcast will be 1:45 p.m. GE2 is the Virginia Satellite Educational Network (VSEN) satellite and is located at 85 degrees west. Schools may test their systems by tuning in VSEN courses Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m., on GE2 channel 24. The designation for satellite GE2 in receiver memory is W2.

Videocassette copies of this program will also be available by contacting Robert Traylor at rtraylor@mail.vak12ed.edu or (804) 225-2980.

Questions about funding for this initiative should be directed to Brian Logwood in the Department of Education’s Budget Office at (804) 225-2025. Questions concerning the technological and software portions of this initiative should be directed to Lan Neugent, assistant superintendent for technology at :lneugent@mail.vak12ed.edu or (804) 225-2757. Cam Harris, assistant superintendent for assessment and reporting, will provide assessment assistance if it is needed. She may be reached at charris@mail.vak12ed.edu or (804) 225-2102.

JLD/LN/jm

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