Harford County Public Schools, Maryland
STEM and Technology Initiatives for Military-Connected Students, 2018-2021
In fall 2014, Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) received a federal grant to ensure the delivery of STEM-based academic support to a population of targeted military-connected children enrolled in two elementary, one middle, and one high school near Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Maryland. The project, Eagles Soar initiative, supported regular and extended-day interventions in STEM and included professional development to teachers in technology, math, and science, and world languages (Arabic). SEG prepared the report for the 2017-2018 school year and a final report spanning all years of the grant, 2014-2019, demonstrating how project strategies achieved the program goal of increasing student academic performance in STEM subjects.
In 2016, Harford County Public Schools received a five-year grant to convert Reading, English, Language Arts (RELA) classrooms into blended learning environments through increasing students’ use of technology at five military-connected schools. SEG worked with the Project Director to assess the impact of the Digital Conversion Initiative on improving military-connected students’ scores on the state standardized assessment in English Language Arts (ELA) and the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI). SEG activities included development of an evaluation plan, bi-annual site visits, observations of professional development and classroom instruction, and data analysis and reporting.
Both projects were supported by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).