Technology Evaluation of XYZ School

Submitted by Ron Gardiner Demographic Information XYZ Elementary School is a pre-kindergarten through 5th grade. It has the student population of approximately 730. Demographic breakdown is as follows: Asian 02 percent Black/African American 22 percent Hispanic/Latino 19 percent Native American 02 percent White/Caucasian 51 percent Multiracial 04 percent Male Female Limited English Proficiency Receives Special Education Services 48 percent 52 percent 3 percent 17 percent

Grade level breakdowns are as follows: Three Pre-Kindergarten classes Four Kindergarten classes Five 1st grade classes Four 2nd grade classes Five 3rd grade classes Four 4th grade classes Four 5th grade classes The average class size is 20-25 students. Pre-K and Kindergarten classes have one full time instructional assistant. First through fifth grades classes do not have instructional assistants. Each classroom was designed to have eight computers: one teacher machine, one display machine, and six student machines. Additionally, each classroom has an interactive whiteboard, digital projector, document camera, and a set of student response clickers.

Maturity Model Benchmark Summary Administrative Filter Policy

Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated There are comprehensive formal policies for the use of equipment, applications, bandwidth and peripherals. For example, before staff and students are eligible to receive a network account, they must read and sign and Internet use agreement. Parents of students in lower grades must also sign the Internet use agreement. The school system maintains an approved software list. The IT department will not install any hardware or software that is not on the approved list, and no personal hardware or software is authorized to be installed. The computers have been set up so that only the IT department, who possess administrator rights, can install hardware or software. A list is maintained at the system-level of approved web sites. A formal process exists to have websites reviewed if a teacher wants one unblocked for classroom use. Additionally a formal process exists for those employees who want to request new software or hardware be added to the school inventory. As a safeguard to avoid purchasing equipment or software that is not on the approved list, a supply request and an information technology requirements analysis must be completed and approved before any new computer equipment can be purchased by the school. One behavior that may be difficult to curtail other than relying on the benefit of training and personal integrity is when employees use the Internet for personal use during their working hours. The policy states that employees may check personal email, etc. during their lunch break as well as before and after school hours. With most social networking sites blocked, this has not been a significant area of concern to administration. Planning Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Much initial training resulting from system or district wide equipment acquisitions such as Interactive Whiteboards and student response clickers, or curriculum based software resulting from a recent adoption, is planned and organized at the district level. In these cases, the school coordinates the logistics such as for substitute coverage while teachers are out of their classrooms attending these trainings. The school has a Technology Committee that discusses training needs that are not directed by the system or district. This type of training is frequently a follow up to initial trainings, or refresher trainings about existing software and equipment. Also planned and coordinated locally is training for new employees to bring them up to speed on the equipment and systems they will be using on a daily basis in their classrooms. All training whether locally planned or organized by the district done to support the goals of the systems community strategic plan. Budget Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated

Our district replaces equipment based on a lifecycle replacement plan. Computers and other equipment must be on the approved list and have a five year extended warranty. With this district-level plan in place, equipment is rotated every five years. Funding for lifecycle equipment is controlled at the district level with individual schools not in the budgetary loop for this process. Equipment that the school purchases above and beyond the lifecycle plan must go through the same procedure as lifecycle equipment. The same is true for software. For example, this summer the school is scheduled to get a Windows 7 upgrade. All computers will be re-imaged on a district schedule. Other services that require a subscription, such as Study Island must have an approved supply request and information technology requirements analysis (ITRA), but the school principal has the responsibility of prioritizing his technology needs along with all his other budgetary expenses. There is no separate technology budget at the school level.

Administrative Information Behavioral: Intelligent Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent The school uses the Aspen student information system, which has the ability to communicate with other data platforms. For example, Aspen is used to take attendance in all grades and for kindergarten through third grade report cards. GradeSpeed is used to record grades for fourth and fifth grade students. GradeSpeed and Aspen sync daily. Additionally data from the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment system can be imported into Aspen. This export/import utility works for many of the other database systems the school uses. Staff can log on and obtain a wide variety of information while in school. Off campus access to Aspen is not permitted unless the user has been given a virtual private network (VPN) connection. Administrators have access to all student information, teachers have access to their classroom. Counselors, nurses, Special Ed. Staff, etc., have access to the the student information that their job requires. The school registrar sets classes and schedules. However, a specialist at the district office oversees the database and can troubleshoot and assist with glitches and irregularities for as needed. The student information system with its ability to import and export data from other systems, create classes and schedules, as well as transfer, promote, and place students has reduced many redundancies and helped to keep information current and correct.

Curricular Filter Electronic Information Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Most teachers access available curricular materials via the web and present lessons using these materials using an Interactive whiteboard and digital projector. The adopted reading and math programs both have student and teacher sections. Teachers can use online materials to create lesson plans and track progress. Students have access to

interactive learning games, review materials and enrichment activities. Our school lost its computer lab during the second semester due to increased student population, and time on computers is limited to center rotations in classrooms. The school will receive 10 equipped portable classrooms during the summer break, so the school will begin next year with a computer to provide students with more access to electronic information. Assessment Behavioral: Intelligent Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Many assessments are accomplished using technology. The reading and math programs have online assessments for many components of their curriculum including spot checks, weekly checks, and unit tests. Teachers are required by local policy to use these online assessments. Having synchronous data from students helps grade-level teams differentiate instruction, share best practices, and plan review and remediation. With the loss of the the computer lab for the rest of the school year, teachers must use classroom computers for assessments, limiting the time they could be used for enrichment and remediation. Curricular Integration Behavioral: Islands Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated This is the implementation year for math and social studies curriculum, and implementation+1 for reading curriculum. Each of these areas provides many online resources. Teachers frequently search for electronic information for science curriculum from sources such as BrainPOP and Discovery Education. They share these sources during grade-level planning sessions and Professional Learning Community meetings. Additionally each classroom was equipped with an interactive white board during the summer of 2011, and each classroom received a set of student response clickers in October 2011. There is an expectation of technology integration across the curriculum. Although it is increasing, technology integration remains inconsistent based on teacher familiarity with software, equipment and strategies to incorporate relevant technology into lessons. Teacher use Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated As mentioned earlier, interactive whiteboards, student response clickers, and new curriculum software are recent additions to the classrooms. While teachers have access to these materials not all are familiar enough using them to support lessons on a grand scale. Teachers do not have take-home laptops, although through home use agreements with many vendors, teachers can download a copy of numerous programs. The web-based curriculum software can be accessed from school or home and many teachers take advantage of this when planning. Student use

Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated One of the drawbacks to student use of technology at school was the loss of the computer lab where teachers could bring students for common assessments, work on technology projects, and other whole group technology activities. Classrooms have on average six computers for student use. These are frequently used for specific assignments as well as online assessments during group rotation time. Third, fourth, and fifth grade students are enrolled in an online self-adjusting keyboarding program. First grade students and above have online accounts for reading and math support, which can be accessed from school or home. All students and teachers have Gaggle accounts, but only a few fourth and fifth grade teachers have activated their students accounts. Support Filter Stakeholder Involvement Behavioral: Emergent Resource/Infrastructure: Islands In many respects, because of the top-down organizational structure of the school system, numerous decisions are made at levels above the individual school with limited input from local stakeholders. In an effort to ensure standards are being equitably taught to students regardless of their location, curriculum, standards, and textbooks with their associated electronic learning resources are all decided upon before local teachers and administrators have significant input to that process. Representative focus groups are the real decision makers in regards to system-wide initiatives.

Administrative Support Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The district schedule has been structured to allow for 90 minutes of training/admin time on Wednesday afternoons. Some of these sessions are used for mandatory training, but the principal routinely allows staff members to collaborate when there are no mandatory events on the Wednesday early-release schedule. Common uses of this time include, grade-level planning and projects, job-alike meetings. I frequently meet with small groups to help them plan technology projects. Training Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Technology training is an ongoing process.This year, for example we have conducted training on the Aspen Student Information System, interactive whiteboards, student response clickers, and new curriculum. Technology training on new curriculum has been

directed and hosted by district-level trainers with follow up sessions done by myself and other staff members who have received training. The district often uses the train-the trainer model when when training occurs with new equipment or curriculum materials. Individuals either volunteer or are selected to become trainers. Materials as well as information are provided to the trainers who are then responsible for sharing the training with the rest of the staff in their building. As the schools Edtech, I co-teach with classroom teachers who are using technology in their classroom. Usually this takes the form of some some of technology project. An example of this type of project is a family tree thats researched by students at home and online with a culminating project of making a multimedia presentation to represent data theyve collected. Technological & Infrastructure Support Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The school has several types and levels of technical and infrastructure support. We have a tiered help-desk system. On the desktop if each computer is a helpdesk link. If a problem or need arises, the user submits a helpdesk ticket. All help desk tickets submitted within the school are directed to me. I filter them. If I can help the teacher resolve the issue, I close the helpdesk ticket. If I am unable to assist, then I forward the helpdesk ticket to Level 2. Level 2 is district support. At the district informational technology office, a supervisor assigns tickets to various workers. Items routinely handled by Level 2 include installation of software, hardware repair, and network support including connectivity and domain issues. Connectivity Filter Local Area Networking (LAN) Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The Local Area Network includes common and private folders for staff as well as students. The private folders are password protected and associated with users login information. Shared student folders are a subset of the shared teacher folders. Teachers routinely create class or project folders in the student shared area and use them manage projects and other work. Due to bandwidth constraints video teleconferencing is restricted and streaming video is not highly encouraged.

District Area Networking (WAN) Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The district maintains numerous servers to house data and applications. E-mail for example is on its own dedicated server, as are network folders and common drive access. The common drive for all schools within the district is labeled the K:drive. Teachers only have access to their K drive, but can access it from any networked computer in the district. The same holds true for their My Documents folder. The WAN is set up so that My Documents in on a network drive. No user data is stored on a

machines local C drive. Additionally, the WAN includes many web-based applications that are available for all to use. Email, Gaggle, Aspen SIS, Excent, Type To Learn, Pearson SuccesssNet, Scholastic student and educator portals are among the applications carried on the wide area network. As with the local area network, bandwidth is a premium and heavy use slows the system down significantly. While and staff member or student can log in and have access from any networked computer in the district, only those with a school laptop and a virtual private network connection can can access files and folders from home. Internet Access Behavioral: Intelligent Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent All computers are networked and connected to the Internet. Access to the Internet is controlled by login and passwords. Teachers may have two network accounts; one for their personal use and a secondary or class account. The class accounts are predominantly used in the lower grades before students learn how to log themselves on to a computer. Usually students in 2nd grade and above have their own account and have little difficulty logging into the network. Most teachers incorporate web-based applications and other Internet resources into their lessons, and students frequently use computers during center rotations playing web-based learning games or conducting research for projects. Our building is currently undergoing a wireless upgrade. However this will only impact those with school laptops and future purchases of wifi capable devices. The wifi is password protected and access is only permitted on school owned devices. Communication System Behavioral: Intelligent Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent E-mail is available to all staff and students. Staff can access their Microsoft Outlook network on their school computers. It is also available on the web when they are away from school. The scheduling of many events is done and communicated through one of several shared calendars, which are also available to all staff members. A Gaggle account is created for all students upon enrollment, however it is up to the students homeroom teacher to activate the account. Additionally, the school uses the One Call Now notification system. This allows for individual, group, or mass communication via. email, text message, or recorded telephone message to any stakeholder whose contact information has been added to the database. One Call Now is frequently used to inform parents of student absences, school calendar events, and for distribution of the monthly school newsletter. Innovation Filter New Technologies Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated

New technologies are generally well accepted by most staff members. Initial training and time for exploration increases staff members comfortability with incorporating new technology into their lessons. This year the school has devoted substantial professional development time to using interactive whiteboards, and student response clickers into their lessons. Additionally, on early-release Wednesdays, the principal has scheduled at least one afternoon per month groups of teachers to increase their proficiency and create activities to use with their students. Comprehensive Technologies Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Many forms of technology are available to staff and students. Students are eager to use technology as part of their lessons. As staff members are trained and become comfortable with the technology that is available to them the see the benefit of using it not only to keep students highly interested and engaged, but for the data technology easily generates to help teachers better disaggregate data and differentiate instruction. Overall Summary Overall XYZ school falls within the integrated band for behavior and resource/infrastructure. The school, district, and system already have a lot of things in place that make it a technologically functioning school, but some outdated equipment, bandwidth issues, and an immature wifi structure are some areas that could be improved upon. Additionally, turnover of staff and an increasing number of mandated initiatives and programs make training a continuous and ongoing effort. As increasing numbers of staff are trained to a competency level, they will in turn feel more comfortable using technology in their classroom with their students resulting in more engaging lessons and growth to help meet the goals outlined in the school improvement plan and community strategic plan.