In order to promote understanding of Hmong students and their families within the school district, a professional development resource will be developed. Interviews will be video-taped with a variety of Hmong individuals including students at all educational levels from elementary through college, adults, community representatives, and school staff members. The project will explore life before and after arriving in the US, adapting to life in the US, day-to-day home and school experiences, challenges and issues. The project will seek to determine how to best facilitate home-to-school connections with families. A study guide will accompany the video that will also be available on the district website as an on-line course.

While the MMSD Social Studies focus for grade three is Madison and Communities Around the World, no material about Madison is written at a third grade reading level. Grade three teachers were surveyed and strongly supported the need for age-appropriate, social studies standards-based curricular materials relating to instruction on Madison as a community. This project will create a booklet on the history of Madison and a web-based teachers' curriculum guide. Copies of the booklet will be distributed to elementary schools. The project is a collaboration among the social studies instructional resource teacher, language arts/reading resource teacher, Madison historian, Wisconsin Historical Society Consultant, and third grade teachers and students.

The Personal Education Plan is an internet-based tool designed by West students, staff, parents and community members to help students succeed in school and customize their educational experience to meet broader life interests and future goals. The program will increase student engagement by creating a connection between school coursework, extra-curricular activities, volunteer and internship opportunities, careers and post high school education opportunities, and students' personal interests and goals. All work that students complete on the system remains with them until graduation and is accessible through any computer with Internet capability.

The document projector allows students to display their work in class without any delay. Students receive immediate feedback and teachers may more easily establish work expectations. A document projector is a camera that projects work from a student's paper to a screen, allowing work to be shared with the entire class instantaneously. The project supports the East Math Department's move to student centered classrooms, enabling student to receive timely feedback and discussion of their work. Teaching will be enhanced as teachers may project everything from book pages, articles, and pictures to student homework and class work.