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Vision and Rationale
















Sally Jackson
ITEC 7410
Sherri Booker, Ed. S.
May 1, 2013
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Vision
Hollydale Elementary School will support the integration and utilization of research
based technologies in authentic learning experiences; promoting creative higher order thinking
skills that allows students to collaborate with each other and the global community. This will
enable our students to be successful with 21
st
century critical thinking skills and lead to jobs in a
highly qualified work force.
Students will use technology to:
Engage in higher order thinking skills; analyze, synthesize, and evaluate

Share information, knowledge, and collaborate on their work with peers and the global
community

Communicate with parents regarding school and learning

Complete technology literacy skill development at each grade level to promote critical
thinking skills and analysis
Teachers will use technology to:
Promote higher order thinking skills in student learning; analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation through the integration of instructional technology in daily lessons

Promote professional learning of new technology and skill development

Communicate with parents and stakeholders for school activities, resources, and engaged
learning experiences

Monitor the progress and assess the needs of students through test data

Communicate with students, educators, and parents regarding classroom activities,
learning links and routinely updated blogs and wikis

Differentiate instruction for all students
Parents will use technology to:
Communicate with classroom teachers, local school staff regarding administrative
assistance (forms)

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Monitor student progress

Monitor learning activities in student classrooms, classroom learning links, blogs and
wikis
Creighton (2003) indicates the Strategic School Improvement (SSI) plan should link
student achievement to technology, staff development, parent involvement, teacher workloads
and instructional delivery. This same positive model is embedded in Hollydale Elementary
Schools Technology Plan (Hollydale SSI, 2012). In fact, technology is infused throughout
Hollydales SSI plan; it is not relegated to a stand-alone plan. From the surface, Hollydale seems
to have developed its technology plan in a way that one would believe student achievement
would be at least average, because technology would surround the student throughout their
instructional day. However, this is not true. On the 5
th
grade writing test, Hollydale scored the
lowest of all 194 schools in Cobb County (Hollydale SSI, 2012). On the 5
th
grade CRCT, 45 %
scored at or above Lexile 850 (Hollydale SSI, 2012).
To positively impact student achievement, there needs to be a shift in staff beliefs about
technology use. Teachers should foster student centered learning where planning, teaching,
and assessments center on the needs of the student (ISTE 2012). Using technology in the
classroom will make students more engaged in classroom activities; help them to think creatively
and be more independent (Downey, 2006). Presently the staff is not especially compelled to
use technology in student driven instruction to focus on the higher order thinking skills of
analysis, synthesis and evaluation (Creighton 2003). This is apparent from a technology survey
taken by the staff last year where the staff scored themselves at a LoTi Level 2 (Hollydale SSI,
2012). This mindset has definitely had a ripple effect that is noted in many areas of standardized
testing. In order to encourage student achievement, staff beliefs about technology use will need
to shift from inflexibility to the notion that technology use by students is a minimal requirement
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for all lessons. It is only through consistent engagement and problem solving use with
technology that students will be encouraged to creatively apply higher order thinking skills. The
other important factor that will positively impact teacher beliefs about technology use is strong
school leadership (Creighton 2003). By having strong school leadership, it will clearly articulate
the schools technology vision and help teachers realize the repercussions if technology plans are
not implemented. Hollydales SSI addresses a variety of recommendations to improve the
students performance on the standardized writing test. The recommendations are all appropriate-
teachers have monthly writers workshops, daily journaling for students and writing across the
curriculum. An item not mentioned in the plan which is already available on the school server is
the use of writing software with scaffolded supports. These resources can differentiate
instruction, aiding students with writing difficulties that are identified by Response to
Intervention (RTI), have an Individual Education Plan (IEP), are English Language Learners
(ELL), or are students who struggle to write, spell, and edit their written work. In this instance,
teachers would benefit from professional development regarding the purpose of this software, its
use, and how to integrate it into daily classroom lessons to enhance students writing skills. Use
of the software would help struggling writers increase writing output, enhance the quality of
written work, and decrease frustration with writing activities. Research has shown that even
though students may not be able to use these supports during testing, the software has acted as a
scaffold to the student with repeated use. If it is removed while testing, some of these scaffolds
will be internalized (Edyburn, 2006). Using this software with struggling writers could have a
significant beneficial effect not only on student writing skills, but the ability to edit their work,
and overall confidence with writing (Fennema-Jansen, 2001). This would also help the students
to feel more confident and less frustrated with their writing; they would be more enthusiastic to
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communicate their thoughts, knowledge and experiences with other students in the building and
the global community.
To effect changes in student achievement, how teachers deliver lessons to students will
need to change, and it will have to start immediately. Presently, standardized testing shows such
low scores in areas that involve all curriculum: writing, reading, and math. In view of this, for
the short term, leadership should look at utilizing the items that are readily available in the
school to help improve student achievement (Hollydale SSI, 2012). Skills Tutor provides
students prescriptive skills and tutorial lessons aligned with Georgia Performance Standards
(GPS), targeting all academic areas: reading, math, science, reading, and language arts. An
individualized profile is created for a student in Skills Tutor.
Skills Tutor provides students needing remediation in a particular area can be
customized with a profile that is individualized and tailored to their specific needs, maximizing
students abilities. Students have the right to access this software at home and complete
activities, so they do not take academic time from classroom instruction. However, many
Hollydale students do not have home computers, or Internet access, but have access on a mobile
device. For students who do not have Internet access, there are alternate ways for students to
access this software. This can be done by having the students come to participate in Skills Tutor
remediation before school, during lunch, or after school.
The staff vision of the technology plan is critical to changing beliefs in addition to the
implementation of the technology plan. Although the school does receive Title I funding and has
purchased a wide range of technology tools, staff members do not seem to have a full
understanding of all the available technology resources. Possibly, the software resources are too
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numerous for staff to know in a reasonable amount of time. To some extent, the staff simply
seems unaware of the purpose of many technology items in the school, how it can benefit the
students, or how it works. By making staff aware of these resources, they can choose to
implement these resources to increase student achievement when they feel confident with their
knowledge of the technology tool (Creighton 2003). Staff development training will assure the
staff develops a shared technology vision and will help make the staff current in research based
technology practices.
However, the current SSI does not take into account whether implementation strategies
are included in the trainings. . Leadership has provided 3 days of Science and Social Studies
technology training for the entire school staff this year. This is a sizable investment of resources
by leadership, yet no follow-up, implementation skills, strategies or minimum proficiencies were
mentioned in the SSI. Beyond trainings, professional development does not provide for any type
of mentorship or follow-up training to assure that strategies are being implemented properly. In
order for teachers to fully implement a newly learned technology integration skill following a
training, they need on-going mentorship and follow-up. It is only with this level of support that
technology integration techniques can be fostered and fully integrated into daily classroom use.
When this is accomplished, Hollydale should hope to see student achievement improve.




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References
Creighton, T. (2003). The principal as technology leader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Downey, G. (2006). Special Report: eSchools that work, Parts 1 and 2. eSchool News.
Retrieved from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/special-reports/special-reports-
articles/index.cfm?i=51194
Edyburn, D.L. (2006). Assistive technology and mild disabilities. Special Education
Technology Practice, 8(4), 22-27.
Fennema-Jansen, S. (2001). Measuring effectiveness: technology to support writing. Special
Education Practice, January/February, p.18-19.
Hollydale Elementary School, Title I Schoolwide Plan. Retrieved from
http://www.cobbk12.org/hollydale/Hollydale_Title_I_SWP_09232012_%282%29.pdf
International Society of Technology in Education. (2012). Essential Conditions. Retrieved from
http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-for-students-essential-conditions