Getting Past "You can't get there from here."

It is amazing how many ways this concept is communicated on a daily basis.  "You can't get there from here" seems to be a theme song of today's economy in the United States.

One thing is certain, we need help to navigate how to achieve our goals and "get there from here."  I love the Global Positioning System (GPS).  I have a GPS on my iPod Touch (2nd Generation) (which works when I am on a WiFi network) and another portable one I use for my car.  One of the things I like best about a truly portable GPS is that, when you don't follow its directions, it recalculates a new set of directions from where it finds your car and tells you how to get where you told it you're going even when you go your own way.
Now, if we could get more people to do with the "thinking" GPS gadgets do, we could really accomplish our goals!!

In my work with English language learners (ELLs) in the K-12 school systems in Illinois, I have discovered that introducing students to unabridged eAudiobooks with their companion books in print is a great way to motivate reading and to improve academic performance.  I have published a research paper on this idea and am working to turn it into a pilot project for use in schools.  Along the way I would like to receive some grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to test the concept and to assure that the innovations we develop will be available throughout the USA.

Unfortunately, the way these grants seem to work, to gain funding to develop an idea, the "proof of concept" seems to need to be already tested.  Grant funding is not for the first stage in development--putting the idea into practice.  Instead it seems to be for a second stage--improving on the idea and developing materials to clone it.

At this stage in our development as a nation, we need to step "out of the box" and find out how to get there (helping ELLs learn to read and improve their academic performance by working with unabridged eAudio books and companion books) from where we are today--with or without federal grant funding.

Anyone want to help?  Contact me via my Wiki project page.