The RITTI 2000 program is sponsoring 4 new programs for educators in Rhode Island. These are:
RITTI/SLI. The School Leadership Initiative is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rhode Island Department of Education, and the Rhode Island Foundation. This summer, 65 principals, 10 superintendents, and 5 heads of private schools are engaged in an intensive seven-day program focusing on school and district improvement plans. Development of these leaders' technology skills is embedded throughout the training. The training will extend during the 2000-01 school year through a series of afternoon, evening and Saturday sessions. The program is expected to continue for two more years and has a goal of reaching every head of school in Rhode Island.
RITTI/MCI. The Model Classroom Initiative is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rhode Island Department of Education, 56 local school districts and the Rhode Island Foundation. This summer, 112 technology-using teachers from 56 schools (that have RITTI-trained principals) will participate in an intensive 10 day training session designed to explore the various pedagogy to incorporate in classrooms that have one computer for every four students. This Model Classroom Initiative, which is also creating these technology rich learning environments in the 112 classrooms, is being seen as a Pilot, which should lead to a massive investment of public dollars in the next few years.
RITTI/ISS. The Intensive School Support program was developed by the Rhode Island Department of Education to provide computers, network access and training for middle and high school teachers who did not have these resources available to them. Twenty-two schools are providing training to approximately 20 teachers each this summer through this program. Additional support to serve schools in northern Rhode Island has been provided by Fidelity.
RITTI/NLI. The Network Leadership Initiative is designed to bring technology resources to leaders in educational organizations. This summer, 18 teachers from the Foreign Language Association are engaged in a ten day workshop to explore how foreign language teaching in Rhode Island can be enhanced by the use of technology.
