| State: Washington | Number of Students: 419,954 |
| School Type: Education Service Agency | Free and Reduced Lunch: 37.4% |
| Grade Level: PK-12 | English Language Learners: 10.6% |
School Context
Funding: $40 million from the federal Race to the Top grant in 2012 and awarded to a consortium of regional districts (Auburn, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Renton, Seattle and Tukwila school districts). Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD) is managing the grant. It works with the seven districts to coordinate efforts and support them to implement related programs. In addition, they received $247,465 from the Gates Foundation to support implementation of Common Core State Standards.
Education: Puget Sound’s goal is to help improve the effectiveness of educational programs within the areas it serves.
Assistance: The agency hopes to deliver specialized services otherwise unavailable in districts.
Moving Districts Forward: Puget Sound wants to do more than just support districts. It hopes to provide leadership for innovative and effective educational practices.
Collaboration: The agency will build networks and partnerships among districts and other agencies to get people and projects to connect and collaborate.
Bigger Picture: The agency also plans to help link schools with regional, state and national educational resources.
State of Technology
BlendEd: PSESD is managing the implementation and funding of BlendEd, a partnership between Pacific Lutheran University and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative is focused on integrating blended learning in six schools from three different districts--Bethel, Franklin Pierce and Highline. These districts are designing models that give students a degree of control over time, place, path and pace of their learning. As they develop their models, districts will also create systems-level practices and policies as they document the best practices in their districts.
Super Superintendents: PSESD also convenes Superintendents Advocating for and Valuing Education (SAVE), an active group of regional superintendents focused on improving student outcomes. College and Career: Another PSESD group, the Puget Sound Coalition for College and Career Readiness, has also been working since 2010 to create a more seamless transition for students moving from high school to college. To do this, it will work to utilize Smarter Balanced assessments to support better prepared students, work to build a college-going culture, implement the Early Warning Indicator project and share best practices.
Tech Review: PSESD will support districts with a technology review to evaluate anything from infrastructure to curriculum integration. PSESD uses surveys, interviews, and onsite visits to provide objective evaluation and research-based recommendations.
Collective Purchasing: PSESD connects its districts’ collective purchasing opportunities with the Washington Learning Source (WLS). WLS works with software providers, online learning providers and hardware providers to provide the best possible prices.
Tech Needs & Requirements
PSESD needs tools to share student data across districts.