Rockville, Maryland District Receives First-Ever TEAM Award

Press Release: For Immediate Release

For more information contact:

Beth Cherry Adibi, Director of Marketing
Consortium for School Networking
202/861-2676, ext. 120
beth@cosn.org

Charlene Blohm
C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.
210/656-2324
charlene@cblohm.com

The Consortium for School Networking Honors Montgomery County Public Schools

Washington, DC (March 2, 2004) - The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) today awarded Montgomery County Public Schools in Rockville, Md., its 2004 TEAM Award, which recognizes the collaborative effort a group brings to the creation of the programs and services that will serve the needs of their K-12 community.

The award, sponsored by Inspiration Software, Inc. (www.inspiration.com) and Scholastic Administr@tor magazine (www.scholastic.com/administrator) was presented to Montgomery County Public Schools during CoSN's 9th Annual K-12 School Networking Conference. New in 2004, the TEAM Award was created to recognize those school districts that have begun to integrate the effective use of technology beyond the isolated classroom or school. The TEAM Award honors a district that can demonstrate how they are using technology to improve the educational experiences for students and teachers, parents and administrators, as well as the community.

"The team at Montgomery County Public Schools has used technology to develop an innovative tool that is already demonstrating student improvement," said Bob Moore, CoSN Board Chair and executive director, IT Services, Blue Valley Unified School District in Overland, Kan. "We're pleased to designate Montgomery County Public Schools as our first TEAM Award recipient and hope that other districts can benefit from learning about Montgomery County's achievements."

The vital tool developed by Montgomery County Public Schools is an Integrated Quality Management System that consists of a data warehouse and an instructional management system that enables school staff to use historical data in decision making. The data warehouse allows for storage of records and other pertinent student information, while teachers can use the instructional management system on a daily basis to manage their instruction and monitor student progress. In addition to individualizing education, the Integrated Quality Management system also improves staff productivity.

"Our main objective is to improve the work of teachers and principals by giving them timely access to the most up-to-date information available about their students," said Dr. Jerry D. Weast, Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent. "The technology team has succeeded in giving educators what they need most - more time for teaching and learning by making student data easier to find, easier to use, and easier to integrate into the instructional process."

"The team at Montgomery County Public Schools provides a model for the way district leaders can work together to use technology to improve student achievement across the curriculum," said Mona Westhaver, president and co-founder, Inspiration Software. "By collaborating to align curriculum and instruction with learning and assessment technology tools, the district leadership team has changed the way teachers teach and students learn."

With an enrollment of nearly 140,000, Montgomery County Public Schools is the largest district in Maryland and the 18th largest in the nation. It is also one of the fastest growing and most diverse. For more information, visit www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org.

"The 100,000 school leaders who read our magazine will certainly be inspired by the Montgomery County Public Schools story," noted Bernadette Grey, editor-in-chief of Scholastic Administr@tor. "It's extremely beneficial for other districts to learn that demonstrated results can be achieved by a cooperative and dedicated team."

About the Annual K-12 School Networking Conference

The K-12 School Networking Conference is the premier event for education leaders to examine the future of the Internet and education technologies in the classroom. More than 500 district, state and national education technology leaders will attend the conference.

The 9th Annual K-12 School Networking Conference, Personalization & Empowerment: No Child Left Behind and Technology, addresses the increasing emphasis on ensuring that classroom interventions impact achievement. Educators will analyze the capabilities of technological tools and how technology can be leveraged to meet the learning needs of all individual students.

Visit www.k12schoolnetworking.org for more detailed program and registration information.

About the Consortium for School Networking

Founded in 1992, CoSN, a national nonprofit organization, is the premier voice in educational technology leadership. Its mission is to advance the K-12 education community's capacity to effectively use technology to improve learning through advocacy, policy and leadership development. CoSN members represent school districts, state and local education agencies, nonprofits, companies and individuals who share this vision.

CoSN leadership initiatives include: Cyber Security for the Digital District (www.securedistrict.org); Data-Driven Decision Making (www.3d2know.org); Safeguarding the Wired Schoolhouse (www.safewiredschools.org); Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom (www.classroomtco.org); and the development of the Council of School District Chief Technology Officers (CTO).

Visit www.cosn.org or phone 202/861-2676 to find out more about CoSN's programs and activities that support leadership development to ensure that information technology has a direct and positive impact on student learning in elementary and secondary schools.

Editor's note: For additional information or to coordinate interviews, contact Charlene Blohm at 210/602-1444 (mobile).