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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | 2025 -- S 0654 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC002249 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO EDUCATION -- PILOT PROGRAM FOR VIRTUAL REALITY LEARNING |
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| 16 | 16 | | PLATFORM |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Senators Gallo, Lawson, Tikoian, DiPalma, LaMountain, and Zurier |
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| 18 | 18 | | Date Introduced: March 07, 2025 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Referred To: Senate Finance |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended by 1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | adding thereto the following chapter: 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | CHAPTER 117 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | PILOT PROGRAM FOR VIRTUAL REALITY LEARNING PLATFORM 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | 16-117-1. Establishment of virtual reality learning platform pilot program. 5 |
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| 28 | 28 | | (a) Beginning with fiscal year 2026, the general assembly shall appropriate funds for 6 |
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| 29 | 29 | | elementary and secondary education in the amount of two million dollars ($2,000,000), specifically 7 |
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| 30 | 30 | | to be used to fund a pilot program to implement transformative and innovative instructional 8 |
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| 31 | 31 | | strategies, aligned to the appropriate standards, for math and science courses through use of virtual 9 |
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| 32 | 32 | | reality technology. 10 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (b) The department of education shall issue a request for proposal for an experiential 11 |
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| 34 | 34 | | learning platform that has demonstrated significant improvement in algebra 1 benchmark verified 12 |
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| 35 | 35 | | by a third-party evaluation. The selected program shall offer tactile, multimodal learning 13 |
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| 36 | 36 | | experiences that derive and teach standards-aligned math concepts and skills for grades six (6) 14 |
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| 37 | 37 | | through twelve (12) STEM education. The program should immerse students in real world 15 |
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| 38 | 38 | | problems in the economy to build career exposure and relevance, utilizing three (3) dimensional 16 |
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| 39 | 39 | | models and interactives that visualize and manipulate abstract mathematical and scientific 17 |
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| 40 | 40 | | concepts. 18 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | LC002249 - Page 2 of 3 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (c) The funds appropriated shall be used to train and coach middle school and high school 1 |
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| 45 | 45 | | mathematics teachers to utilize virtual reality technology to deliver efficacious problem and 2 |
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| 46 | 46 | | student-centered lessons in their classrooms, including the use of virtual reality headsets, in districts 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | selected by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education throughout the state where 4 |
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| 48 | 48 | | there is a demonstrated need for increased student engagement and achievement in mathematics. 5 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (d) The request for proposal process shall be completed no later than August 1, 2025. The 6 |
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| 50 | 50 | | selected provider shall provide a third party written report to the commissioner of elementary and 7 |
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| 51 | 51 | | secondary education prior to the start of the next full school year following the beginning of the 8 |
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| 52 | 52 | | pilot program demonstrating the impact of the program on student engagement and achievement. 9 |
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| 53 | 53 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 10 |
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| 54 | 54 | | ======== |
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| 55 | 55 | | LC002249 |
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| 56 | 56 | | ======== |
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| 57 | 57 | | |
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| 58 | 58 | | |
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| 59 | 59 | | LC002249 - Page 3 of 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 61 | 61 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 62 | 62 | | OF |
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| 63 | 63 | | A N A C T |
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| 64 | 64 | | RELATING TO EDUCATION -- PILOT PROGRAM FOR VIRTUAL REALITY LEARNING |
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| 65 | 65 | | PLATFORM |
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| 66 | 66 | | *** |
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| 67 | 67 | | This act would establish a pilot program for a virtual reality learning platform to improve 1 |
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| 68 | 68 | | mathematic skills for grades six (6) through twelve (12) STEM education and would appropriate 2 |
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| 69 | 69 | | the sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) for the program. 3 |
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| 70 | 70 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 4 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ======== |
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| 72 | 72 | | LC002249 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ======== |
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| 74 | 74 | | |
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