The greatest strength of the Northern Arizona Technology Integration Coaching Consortium is its partnerships. Established to bring each partner's expertise to bear in making the project a success for students, each partner commits to a specific role in the consortium, in-kind contributions to the grant project, and expresses specific needs to be met as the project moves forward.

Roles
Grand Canyon Unified School District currently has over 100 student-accessible computers deployed within its schools. In grades six through 8 technology is a distinct and required daily subject. The district is able to provide the consortium with a great opportunity to explore the impact of teaching methods related to technology and investigate the factors affecting technology integration.

As a previous grant recipient, in partnership with Tuba City Unified School District, Flagstaff Unified School District is able to provide consortium members with three years of experience in developing and maintaining technology-enhanced classrooms and planning and implementation of a highly-effective EETT grant. In addition, the current project director and facilitators have successfully completed training in the Puget Sound Peer Coaching Program, allowing our consortium to train all coaches during the summers of 2007 or 2008. This will enable consortium districts to begin peer coaching efforts at the school level at the start of the new year.

Flagstaff serves the consortium as the fiscal agent, maintaining all finance-related grant documentation while facilitating entries into the ADE Grants Management System.

Shonto Preparatory Technology High School will provide the consortium with a great deal of expertise in the effective integration of technology. The principal, Dr. Thomas Yazzie, has extensive experience working with low SES schools on the Navajo reservation and has developed this high school to implement a vision of using technology to improve student achievement.

STAR School, part of the Painted Desert Demonstration Project, has received EETT grant funds for three years and received outstanding on-site evaluations. Staff members excel in demonstrating the value of technology integration throughout the school, which has received recognition for these efforts, including several Governor's Awards and Navajo Nation Science Fair awards. The school is a model of how cutting-edge educational technology can be integrated with academic achievement, cultural traditions, service learning, and Native science.

Tuba City Unified School District, has worked together with Flagstaff Unified School District for the past three years in a highly successful EETT grant project. Mike Nelson, Director of Technology, has created over thirty technology-enhanced classrooms in the district and intends to establish over twenty more by the end of 2008. Tuba City's role as a partner is to provide new consortium members with four years of experience in establishing technology-enhanced classrooms, planning and implementing an EETT grant, technical and network advice, and outcome data from the previous grant project.

As a rural district, Winslow Unified School District will bring valuable input to the consortium in order for the grant project to be successful for every student and teacher being served. Winslow's existing computer labs at each school site and district office are available for grant-related trainings and professional development offered by the County Technology Integration Specialist.

Needs
Needs vary by partner, but revolve around using 21st Century Skills Standards to meet school and district goals in reading or math. Technology coaches will assist collaborating teachers in integrating technology to address these goals. For all partners, increasing technology professional development is a high priority and project facilitators will work to address individual site and district needs, in collaboration with the County Technology Integration Specialist.

In-Kind Contributions
Each partner is required to commit to providing 50% of its total services and equipment received in matching in-kind contributions. This has taken the form of staff time that will be devoted to supporting the grant goals, costs of travel and substitutes, pre-existing or newly-acquired technology equipment and computer labs, infrastructure costs, as well as stipends for some staff participating in the grant project.