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Learning Technology Grant

2021-2024

#GC21-001

Program title/name

College Experiences, Career Exploration, and Civic Engagement (CEx3): Online with Personalized Support

Target population (students and/or adults)

Target audience is high school students with a special focus on students with IEPs or 504 Plans, English language learners/multilingual learners, and economically disadvantaged students. 

A description of the District or Consortium member districts/BOCES that includes demographic information, community type (e.g. urban, suburban, rural), and community information (e.g. strengths, challenges, supports, and pressures). Consortium leads should list all consortium members

Our consortium is made up of 17 rural and suburban districts, four private schools and one BOCES. Our consortium covers schools with high numbers of English Language Learners/Multilingual Learners, Students with Disabilities (ELL/MLL, SWD) and economically disadvantaged students. Three of our schools are TSI schools. The number of high school students completing early college courses in our region is very low. Our intention is to increase the participation in these courses. CEx3 is designed to provide experiences in early college coursework which is personalized to allow all high school students to participate and to break down barriers to early college course completion.

All 17 of our component districts and four of the private (religious and independent schools in the OU BOCES region have agreed to join the OU BOCES Learning Technology Grant Consortium. The districts are:

  1. Chester UFSD
  2. Cornwall CSD
  3. Florida UFSD
  4. Goshen CSD
  5. Greenwood Lake UFSD
  6. Highland Falls/Fort Montgomery CSD
  7. Kiryas Joel Village SD
  8. Marlboro CSD
  9. Enlarged City of Middletown SD
  10. Minisink Valley CSD
  11. Monroe-Woodbury CSD
  12. Port Jervis City SD
  13. Pine Bush CSD
  14. Valley Central SD
  15. Tuxedo UFSD
  16. Warwick Valley CSD
  17. Washingtonville CSD

The private schools are:

  1. Harmony Christian School
  2. John S. Burke Catholic High School
  3. Montgomery Montessori School
  4. New York Military Academy

The BOCES is:

  1. Orange-Ulster BOCES

A description of the program, highlighting the goals, major components, challenges that will be addressed, etc.

Orange-Ulster BOCES (OU BOCES) is putting technology at the forefront of learning with digital literacy, multilingual learning, and access to college, career, and civic readiness experiences and skills through online learning with an emphasis on personalization.  Educational research documents that strong digital literacy and early college experiences provide students with rich and varied opportunities to engage in rewarding and successful experiences in college, career, and the community. To that end, this program, entitled College Experiences, Career Exploration, and Civic Engagement (CEx3) Online with Personalized Support, opens the door to multilingual early college experiences (CE), career exploration (CE), and civic engagement (CE) by providing personalized learning supports to students and professional learning to the educators who are providing the personalization. Our program brings the three CE’s together in an online platform offering live synchronous and asynchronous experiences that allow students to meet three CE goals and to expand their digital literacy in all three areas.  Students participating in the CEx3 program will have access to early college courses with a special focus on multilingualism, live online career exploration seminars, and opportunities to serve the community through digital civic engagement projects. All of the CE areas benefit from our digital Personalized Virtual Learning Center, which supports students with live online tutoring and project specific drop-in help Monday through Friday afternoons after the school day is over as well as on Saturday and Sunday mornings. 

The consortium led by OU BOCES has developed two large goals for this program based upon regional needs. To summarize those needs: students in OU BOCES Consortium region are participating in and completing far fewer early college courses than the average in the state; multilingual learners, students of color, students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students experience early college at even lower rates than the overall population of students; our local economy has shifted and new careers, many of them technologically based, are emerging in this changing economy; and our districts have high percentages of ELLs, students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students. In view of these strong needs and the research cited above, we have developed the following goals and objectives:

Goal I.  To expand opportunities for OU BOCES Consortium students in grades 9-12 to gain college level experiences that are: personalized; welcome a wide range of learners; use digital resources; and connect college, career, and civic engagement to support the learning and cultivate persistence in college courses.


Goal II.  To expand the capacity of teachers, administrators, and teacher assistants to teach and support early college courses in a manner that is personalized; welcomes a wide range of learners; uses digital resources; and connects college, career, and civic engagement to support the learning of the college course objectives.

Contact information

For questions or additional information, please contact the Grant Lead, Dr. Diane E. Lang, Director of Instructional Support Services or Colleen Hamel, Executive Assistant of Instructional Support Services.

Telephone: (845) 781-4363, ext. 10715
E-mail: Diane Lang or Colleen Hamel

Year 1

Materials for Teachers of Early College Courses

Materials for Students in Early College Courses

Early College Course Syllabi

Digital Learning Resources for Early College Courses

Year 2

Materials for Teachers of Early College Courses

Materials for Students in Early College Courses

Early College Course Syllabi

Digital Learning Resources for Early College Courses

Year 3

Materials for Teachers of Early College Courses

Materials for Students in Early College Courses

Early College Course Syllabi

Digital Learning Resources for Early College Courses

College Experiences, Career Explorations, and Civic Engagement (CEx3) Program Overview “One-pager”

College Experiences, Career Explorations, and Civic Engagement (CEx3) Program Video