Budget DQ
The project aims at organizing a small-scale computer science club in Granby Elementary school. The school’s computers are rather old, and there is no computer science program running. The students have only computer literacy classes using outdated software and hardware. The program includes developing a special computer science course for anyone who is willing to join and purchasing new computers and software for the computers. The project also requires a coordinator and two teachers who will help to run the program. The budget for the program is provided in Table 1 below.
Table 1. Budget
The narrative for the budget is provided below:
Salaries
(Total: $26,000)
The coordinator will spend 100% of his time controlling the quality of the provided services and provided classes to students 10 hours a week (2 hours per day after finishing the classes). The total requested salary is $10,000 per annum.
The teachers will spend 100% of their time giving classes to students 10 hours a week (2 hours per day after finishing the classes). The total requested salary is $8,000 per annum.
Fringes
(Total: $4,329)
FICA will be paid for all salaries: $26,000 x.0765 = $1,989.
Unemployment cost is $26,000 x.03 = $780.
Retirement for full-time employees: $26,000 x.06 =$1,560.
Staff Training
(Total: $6,000)
Training will be provided for the teachers and the coordinator. The estimated cost of training is $2,000 per person.
Computers and software
(Total: 12,800)
The estimated cost of every computer is $1,000, with $600 additional spent on software. The program is expected to need eight computers in total.
Needs Statement
Granby Elementary school needs to establish a computer science program for PreK-4 students to increase the level of involvement in computer science and improve computer literacy. Granby Elementary School, located in Norfolk, VA, was the educational site for this study. The mission of Granby Elementary School is to “ensure that all families and students are engaged in purposeful learning, students are using metacognition and comprehension strategies across all curriculum areas to ensure life-long learning” (Granby Elementary School, n.d., para. 1). The school currently has 581 students, among which 59.2% are African American, 22.7% are white, and 8.1% are Hispanic (Virginia Department of Education [VDoE], 2020). Almost 97% of the students qualify for free or discounted lunch, which demonstrates that the majority of students are from financially disadvantaged families (VDoE, 2020). The students in the school do not have the opportunity to learn computer science at an appropriate level since many families do not have enough money to afford a computer. Moreover, the computers at school are only 12 in the count, and all of them were purchased more than ten years ago.
The importance of computer science in elementary schools is difficult to overstate. Prottsman (2014) claims that teachers see increased benefits in introducing computer science classes in elementary schools. Computers can be used for a wide variety of activities, including self-education (Prottsman, 2014). Thus, it is crucial for students to become familiar with computer science as early as possible. After conducting longitudinal research, Weintrop et al. (2018) concluded that elementary school students could benefit from learning basic programming skills. Currently, Granby Elementary does not have enough modern computers to provide computer science classes. Moreover, teachers do not have the required knowledge and skills to provide the much-needed computer science education.
The analysis of needs demonstrated that Granby Elementary needs to establish a comprehensive computer science program for its students. The name of the program was chosen to be “Computer Science for All.” The program should include after-school classes for small groups of children interested in computer science. This can be achieved by organizing a small computer science club open to any student of Granby Elementary. The project requires funds for two major aspects, which are reflected in the goals and objectives provided below. In particular, a comprehensive course for all knowledge levels needs to be developed for the club, teachers need to be trained, and new computers need to be purchased. In particular, three teachers need to be trained, and at least six computers need to be purchased.
It was decided to apply for the grant of the National Science Foundation (2021), as the aims of the organization are similar to those of the project. The program conducted by National Science Foundation (2021) aims to provide all U.S. students with the opportunity to participate in computer science and computational thinking education in their schools at the PreK-12 levels. The goals and objectives of the program in Granby elementary listed below demonstrate how they align with the aims of the National Science Foundation.
Goals and Objectives
Goal #1: Improve the level of computer science competence among teachers in Granby Elementary through training for the proposed Computer Science for All project.
- Objective 1A: By August 2021, develop a training program for teachers that can help to improve the current level of knowledge about computer literacy by 10% to 20% among involved students.
- Objective 1B: By September 2021, have three teachers complete the developed training course.
- Objective 1C: By September 10th, 2021, assess the skill level of all the teachers involved in the program.
- Measure 1A: The program is developed and assessed by a board of experts in Norfolk County, VA. The approval rate of at least 90% of the board of experts will be considered a success.
- Measure 1B: Three teachers from Granby Elementary receive a certificate of completion of the course.
- Measure 1C: The teachers show a level of knowledge of the material of at least 85% demonstrated during the formal assessment procedure.
Goal #2: Increase the number of modern computers in Granby Elementary for the proposed Computer Science for All project.
- Objective 2A: By July 2021, select all the needed computers and software needed to run the program.
- Objective 2B: By August 2021, acquire sufficient funding to buy six to eight new computers and software needed at Granby Elementary.
- Objective 2C: By September 2021, buy and set up six to eight new computers and the needed software for Granby Elementary to start the program.
- Measure 2A: A list of computer specifications and needed software is developed with a rationale.
- Measure 2B: The required fund are transferred to the school’s account.
- Measure 2C: The computers are purchased and set up in the school with all the required software installed and ready for utilization.
References
Granby Elementary School. (n.d.). School history. Web.
National Science Foundation. (2021). Computer science for all. Web.
Prottsman, K. (2014). Computer science for the elementary classroom. ACM Inroads, 5(4), 60-63.
Virginia Department of Education. (2020). Granby Elementary. Web.
Weintrop, D., Hansen, A., Harlow, D., & Franklin, D. (2018). Bringing computer science into elementary school classrooms. American Educational Research Association. Web.