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 2008 represented over $500 million commitment 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 has invested 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 developed, “Career Forward: Career Development in a Global Economy.” The course 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.

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

The two courses constitute the key results of this successful partnership: Career Forward (cFWD) and the Michigan Improvement Leadership Framework for Endorsement (MI-LIFE).

cFWD
On December 2, 2008 the Michigan Partners made the “Career Forward: Career Development in a Global Economy” (cFWD) course free for any student, classroom, school district or state in the United States.
Michigan Virtual University is the state’s leader on this project and works with education leaders to contextualize the course in a variety of learning environments. For the student, the course is about their taking charge of their future. To yield that result, the learning objectives are that the student: (1) understands the broad characteristics of taking charge of their career path; (2) is motivated to take charge of that path; and (3) is aware of key tools and methods for pursuing their career path and refining it over time. Complementing a base of career planning materials, the course includes personal budgeting, entrepreneurship, and the impact of the global economy. The core course is approximately 20 hours, of which part is spent online and part engaging each student in personal reflection, writing, and interacting with other students and their local teacher.

MI-LIFE
The Michigan Leadership Improvement Framework Endorsement is a professional learning program for Michigan Educational Administrators. MI-LIFE is stimulating, inspiring and challenging and causes school leaders to confront and question their current assumptions about leading, teaching and learning. The courses in the MI-LIFE curriculum have been developed by a core faculty comprised of Michigan educators who have had practical experience in the "real" world of school leadership and understand the day-to-day workings of schools. While the courses are research based, they are practical and applicable to the busy leader's daily life. The MI-LIFE executive committee is comprised of the state’s leading education associations and is an active champion and partner of the program. Today 500 Michigan education leaders are engaged with this year long program and by the spring of 2009 MI-LIFE course modules will be available to school leaders throughout the United States.

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: December 2008