Abstract. The Northeast Service Cooperative (NESC) respectfully submits this application for RUS-DLT funding to increase distance learning opportunities for 13,605 students in six (6) rural school districts and two (2) community colleges spanning a large geographic region in northeast Minnesota. The proposed project will decrease the disparity between our rural and urban students, and provide equitable opportunities through the expansion of educational distance learning to every grade level and every curricular area at each of our school sites. The goals and objectives of the project will be accomplished through the acquisition of new, portable, video conferencing equipment and associated curricular enhancements
The State of Minnesota created the Northeast Service Cooperative to provide regional planning, programs and services better suited to regional rather than local delivery. In effect, NESC leverages local resources to help ensure effective stewardship of public funds and regional resources. Over the years, the mission of the Northeast Service Cooperative has evolved to the simple phrase: “Collaborating to meet your changing needs.” Being member led and market driven are among the core values that will help NESC, on behalf of its members and the people in Northeast Minnesota, address the challenges and opportunities of the future. Established by the legislature in 1976 as a nonprofit public corporation, the Northeast Service Cooperative has met the needs of its regional membership for more than twenty-five years. Today, the Northeast Service Cooperative serves 32 school districts and 79 cities, counties and other governmental agencies throughout Northeast Minnesota. NESC maintains a regional network (NENET) that interconnects our members along with peering relationships with both the State of Minnesota and various regional healthcare networks. In addition to its members, NESC has built a number of strategic partnerships with key public and private corporations such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, CISCO Systems, Gateway, Office Max, ProModel Corporation, IRRRA do I.T., the North Central Regional Education Laboratory, the Minnesota Regional Service Agency and the Minnesota Department of Education.
Although there are 32 school districts in our consortium, funding from the RUS-DLT program will benefit only six districts. The purpose of the project is to 1) implement the State of Minnesota’s World-Class Students initiative designed to create rigorous courses through the development of quality real time, web-based distance learning and video-conferencing opportunities to improve and supplement the existing curricula which will prepare students for higher education and careers in the new global economy, 2) improve literacy and math instruction through the effective teaching of reading in our elementary schools, and 3) provide professional development opportunities for the instructional staff to attract and maintain NCLB mandated highly qualified teachers.
For our rural students to have equitable learning opportunities as their urban and suburban peers, their districts would need to provide long distance transportation. The travel time and additional costs put most such experiences out of reach. Furthermore, our member rural districts are small enough that they do not have specialized programs for groups of students, e.g. gifted and talented programs. It is critical to meeting NCLB and state requirements that we provide rural students with distance learning opportunities to meet curricular gaps. Director of Information Services and DLT project manager, Mr. Lyle MacVey, believes that the time is right for our economically strapped region to request assistance for critical infrastructure that will sustain our regional services for the next decade.
The following chart identifies all the sites included in this grant project. A total of 13,605 students will be impacted by the expanded distance learning programs cited in the project.