Innovations in Technology Through Partners In Learning

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Company/Organization: Microsoft Corporation
CEO/Board Chair: Steven A. Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer
Level of Involvement: National and State
States: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington
Type of Initiative: Expertise & Philanthropy
Target Education Priority: Prepare All Students for College and Careers

"Partnership and collaboration are at the center of how we do business and that's also how we work with governments and NGOs. It's central to our commitment to provide leadership in our industry, to create a safe and secure computing environment and to advance a worldwide knowledge economy that creates possibilities for hundreds of millions of people previously underserved by technology.” Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer

Overview
Microsoft launched Partners in Learning (PIL) in 2003 to partner with government and education leaders at the national, state and local levels to deliver a portfolio of curricula, tools and resources designed to advance 21st-century teaching, learning and digital inclusion. Recognizing that a country’s ability to compete in the global economy rests on its most important resource — an educated and skilled workforce—Microsoft’s decision to launch PIL was born from a desire to demonstrate good corporate citizenship while staying true to Microsoft’s core competencies as a technology company. Aware that many students still lack access to computers and software and that educators do not always receive training on how computers can make learning more exciting and rewarding, Microsoft designed PIL to address the challenges of digital inclusion and empower teachers and students to achieve their fullest potential.

Microsoft provides funding for PIL projects at the national, regional and state levels, which in 2006 represented over $250 million in contributions of cash, software and support along with 100 Microsoft staff dedicated to the initiative. The 2006 PIL State Innovation Projects represented a significant investment with programs in Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and the Gulf States region.

Over a five-year period, Microsoft will invest over $35 million and seven full time Academic Program Managers to assist these states and local governments and education communities to implement public-private partnerships. Through these entities, PIL will provide for ongoing curriculum development and leadership for K-12 administrators, teachers and students. The objective: Jumpstart and advance local information and communications technology goals, as well as create long term strategic models for improving the use of technology in teaching and learning that can serve as blueprints for other schools and educators across the U.S.

Strategies for Success
In 2004, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) announced The Michigan Partners in Learning (MPIL) partnership to strengthen the state’s capacity to develop successful 21st century educators and learners. Under this initiative, the Michigan Office of the Governor, Department of Education and Microsoft have committed to a long-term strategic alliance to develop and implement systemic programs addressing the state’s most critical education and economic needs

A key strategy of MPIL has been the development and engagement of a statewide MPIL Advisory Board. The members of this board understand current and future needs in the state, bring connections to various partners, allow for give and take among all partners and provide continuity throughout a series of projects.

This continuity of leadership and Microsoft’s long-term commitment to the state provide a decision making context in which partners take the time needed to select relevant multi-year projects that meet the state’s needs as well as to respond to new challenges as they arise.

In February 2006, Michigan adopted a new requirement that all students in the state have at least one online learning experience in order to graduate from high school. Within a month, MPIL agreed to allocate funds to create an online course, and within a year, MPIL and its partners in the state department of education, governor’s office, and the Virtual University made the course available to all Michigan school districts and secondary students.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to combine an innovative learning experience and the integration of technology advances into the classroom, the online course MPIL helped develop, “Career Forward: Career Development in a Global Economy,” incorporates multimedia to help Michigan students understand how to plan their work lives and career opportunities, emphasizing the impact of the changing global economy. At the same time, MPIL and its partners developed a blended in-person and online professional development course for teachers, demonstrating how a teacher facilitates learning for students taking an online course.

Another component of MPIL’s wide-ranging strategy is the development of the Michigan Improvement Leadership Framework for Endorsement (MI LIFE) program. Based on the assumption that the key to improving student achievement begins with exceptional school leadership, the goal is to build statewide capacity for improving leadership and ultimately improving teaching and student learning. The program is also intended to provide a replicable model for leadership professional learning that can serve as a blueprint for other school districts and educators throughout the U.S. Beta testing of the courses is expected in spring 2007.

Microsoft’s PIL and the Michigan partnership demonstrate several of the effective strategies recommended by Business Toolkit for Better Schools, including:

Lend corporate influence and prestige to key organizations and activities
Partner with school districts to upgrade educator professional development, in, for example, mathematics and science
Help nonprofit organizations and school districts with communications, public relations, marketing, branding and printing of materials
Focus on school districts or state-level organizations as the unit of change, rather than individual schools
Fund advocacy, research and evaluation efforts that may have a longer time horizon for results or may appear to be less tangible than school- or system-based programs
Understand the changing context in which schools and nonprofits sit and make grants that are sensitive to political and education realities
Be transparent: Share what you learn from charitable giving within your company and externally

Indicators of Success

In its first year, the MPIL partnership:

Developed new online materials providing training to meet Michigan’s Grade Level Content Expectation requirements to more than 2,700 teachers;
Enhanced its Web site to highlight 16 professional careers through video clip interviews;
Produced a highly innovative online course, CareerForward™, and made it available to all secondary school students in Michigan and soon to other states;
Provided classroom interactions to help students understand why they are in school and why they need to achieve, and to make clear that they have to take charge of their own learning as the path to the future.

MPIL is in its second year of a five-year commitment. Project evaluations are underway to determine the impact on student learning and on teacher and administrator practice. Formative evaluation data is being used throughout the life of the projects to inform decisions as the projects move forward. Summative evaluation results are expected in the future.

Related Content
Web sites

Materials for the Public

Marks, G. “Career development in a global economy addressed by unique online course,” MACUL Journal, Winter 06/07.
Marks, G., “Unique online course addresses career development in a global economy,” Leading Change, Fall 2006, Vol. 4, No. 10.
Steptoe, Sonja. Time Magazine, “Building a new student in Michigan: How one state is re-engineering its schools for the new century.” Dec. 12 2006

Updated: March 2007