Technology Evaluation of ABC Elementary School

Submitted by: Tonya Grant ABC Elementary School is a pre-kindergarten through fourth grade school. There are approximately 557 students

-Limited English Proficiency- <20 students Breakdown of classes: Pre-Kindergarten- 3 classes Kindergarten- 5 classes First Grade- 6 classes Second Grade- 3 classes Third Grade- 4 classes Fourth Grade- 4 classes Information retrieved from: https://webapps.dodea.edu/SRC/src.cfm?Type=school&SY=20102011&School_Code=81501&selAREA=All&selDISTRICT=All The average class size is 18-20 students. All pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes have a full time instructional aid with the classroom teacher. Each classroom has 8 computers to include: one teacher computer, one C.O.W. (computer on wheels, this is the computer used for smart boards), and six student machines. Each classroom also has a SMART board, document camera, digital projector, and a classroom set of SMART responders.

Maturity Model Benchmark Summary

Administrative Filter:
Policy Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated There are formal policies for the use of technology to include the use of equipment, applications, and bandwidth. Students and staff must read and sign an internet usage agreement. This must be completed before receiving network accounts. Students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade have their sponsor/parents sign the agreement. The school system has a list of software that is approved for use. Software can be requested to add to the list through formal paperwork. Software is not allowed to be put onto the computers unless it is approved. No personal hardware or software is allowed to be installed. You must have administrative rights to install software. Teachers are allowed to check personal email before and after school and on lunch breaks. Most social networking sites are blocked from use. Planning Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated With every classroom having a SMART board, there was quite a bit of initial training. There has also been initial trainings on SMART responders, and curriculum integration. Almost all of the trainings are mandated from headquarters. There is also a school wide technology committee. The technology committee is responsible for hosting in school trainings on continuous school improvement (CSI) days. They also give refresher trainings to new staff members and those needing the extra tips. All trainings support the goals of the community strategic plan.

Budget: Behavioral- Integrated

Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated My district has whats called a lifecycle replacement plan. There is not a separate budget for technology at our school level. All equipment must be on the approved list and has to have a five year extended warranty. This district level plan states that equipment is rotated every five years. With the lifecycle replacement plan, the budget is set on a district level. The local schools are not included in this process. Any other equipment that is purchased outside of the lifecycle replacement plan still follow the five year extended warranty. This also applies to software that we receive. Equipment that is purchased outside of the plan is funded through the school administrators school budget. Services that require a subscription such as Brainpopjr must have an approved supply request. It is the administrators responsibility to prioritize and fund these subscriptions. Administrative Information: Behavioral- Intelligent Resource/ Infrastructure: Intelligent The school uses a system called Aspen for almost all documentation. Attendance, parent contact information, emergency contacts, behavior, grading/report cards, medical alerts, special education/I.E.Ps, etc. Each classroom teacher can log into the system and view a plethora of information on the students in their classroom. Since this system contains so much information, there is no access outside of school unless they have been given a VPN (virtual private network) connection. Each teacher has access to their classroom. Special educators have access to the students they service. The administrators, secretary, and receptionist have access to all students. The nurse and school counselors also have access to all students, since they work will all students. This system has allowed the school to keep information updated regularly and easily.

Curricular Filter:Behavioral- Intelligent

Resource/ Infrastructure: Intelligent Electronic Information

Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated There are many teachers who use information accessed from the web in their lessons. These lessons often use interactive whiteboards and digital projectors. The math and reading curriculum are both accessible online and include teacher and student editions. Through online accessibility, the students have access to learning games, and enrichment activities for both reading and math. Our school also has a computer lab that is shared with the Read 180 classroom. Teachers can schedule their class to go to the computer lab on the school calendar. The lab can be used for assessing, enrichment activities, or TTL4 (Type To Learn 4). Students also have access to computers for center based learning in the classrooms. Assessment Behavioral- Intelligent Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated There are many assessments that are given through the use of technology. The adopted reading and math programs have online assessments that are required to be used. This requirement is based on an individual school policy. For instance, the school is mandated by the administrator with recommendations from the CSI (continuous school improvement) team to use common assessments school wide. The easiest way for this to occur is to use the provided assessments from the curriculum.

Curricular Integration Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated The school has been using the adopted reading program for three years and the adopted math program for two years. Each program provides many online resources for both the teachers and students. Teachers also use additional subscriptions

such as BrainPop and BrainPop Jr. to enhance the curriculum. During team/staff meetings the teachers are able to share resources with other educators. Each classroom also has a class set of SMART responders. Technology integration is expected across the curriculum. At this point, integration seems to be based on each teachers comfort level in using the software, equipment, and strategies. Teacher Use Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated As previously discussed, a SMART board, smart responders, and curriculum software has been in place in each classroom. All teachers have access to these materials. Through licensing agreements, teachers are also able to download a copy of many of the programs that are used. Internet based curriculum materials are also accessible from school as well as home. These resources can be used for planning purposes. Student Use Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated The school is lucky to have a computer lab where teachers can schedule their classes for assessing, projects, enrichment, etc. Each classroom has six student computers for student use. The classroom computers are typically used for assignments during center based instruction. Third and fourth grade use software program called TTL4 (Type to Learn 4). This is used to meet the typing standards in the district. Each student also has gaggle accounts, however not many teachers have activated them for their students.

Support Filter
Stakeholder Involvement Behavioral- Emergent Resource/ Infrastructure: Islands

Because of the type of school system, many of the decisions are made at the district level and do not involve the schools. Most of the decisions are made by headquarters. Groups involving stakeholders make decisions about the curriculum. Since the school district is spread out all over the world, this is one way to make sure things are consistent within all schools. Administrative Support Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated Monday through Friday, teachers are given a 45 minute planning period daily. On Wednesdays, the students are released early and the teachers have an additional 90 minutes for team planning, staff meetings, working in classrooms, mandatory trainings, and job-alike meetings. Training Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated This year we have had many trainings. The trainings include SMART board training, SMART response training, reading curriculum training, math curriculum training, and technology trainings. I have participated in and helped give SMART board trainings. These trainings typically start with a district level person, and then go to our school EdTech. Once the school EdTech has all of the materials, he is able to do follow up/ refresher trainings. Often times, teachers who are using the particular technology effectively in their classroom, help administer these follow up trainings. Technical/Infrastructure Support Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated The school has many types of technical support. One of the main types of support is a help desk option that all staff has access to. It is a link on the desktop of all of the machines in the school. If there is a problem, then a help desk ticket can be

reported. This then goes to the EdTech in the building. If he is unable to fix the problem, then it goes to a tier 2 district support. Tier 2 typically handles hardware issues, software issues, and network support.

Connectivity Filter
Local Area Networking (LAN) Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated The LAN has many different folders. Teachers have their own folders that are password protected and associated with computer login. Students also have their own folders that are attached to their login as well. Teachers also have class logins and the student folders are sub folders within this account. Due to limited bandwidth, video streaming is not recommended. District Area Networking (WAN) Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated The staff email is on its own separate server as are network folders and common drive folders. Each teacher has access to the common drive folders or K: drive. They only have access to their own schools K: drive, however it can be accessed on any machine on the network. The only way that they have access at home is if they have a laptop that has a virtual private network connection. Internet Access Behavioral- Intelligent Resource/ Infrastructure: Intelligent Teachers/students must login with a user name and id to any computer in the district. All computers have access to the internet. As I have previously noted, teachers also have a class account available to them. Typically, students in 2-3 grade are able to log themselves in and they use their own accounts rather than the class account to login. Computer use is typically used for web based applications for use during center based instruction. The school does not currently

have wifi access, however they are working on making the school wifi capable. This will only be accessible by the people who use laptops (which are not many). The wifi is going to be strictly used for only school devices. It will be password protected and monitored closely. Communication System Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated Email is a major source of communication within the school and district. Email can be accessed from any district computer and is also available on the internet when they are not at school. Another major source of communication with parents is a One Call system. This system allows for phone calls and emails to go out to all parents and staff. It is used to let parents know about absences, events, and newsletters. This system is used daily for student absences, weekly for events, and monthly for newsletters.

Innovation Filter
New Technologies Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated New technologies are accepted by many staff members. Training helps the teachers who are hesitant to explore new technology. The district has been generous with professional development time as well as training time for the new technologies the school is receiving. As previously noted, early release days on Wednesdays can also be used for additional training on new products as well as follow up trainings on current technologies. Comprehensive Technologies Behavioral- Integrated Resource/ Infrastructure: Integrated There is plenty of technology available to teachers and students. Students are excited to use technology in the lessons they are being taught. As the teachers

become more comfortable with using the technology, then they will begin to create more integrated lessons. In summary, ABC Elementary school has many good things happening in the school. They fall within the integrated innovation filter for behavioral and resource/infrastructure based on the Maturity Model Benchmark assessment. The school is doing many things right with technology, however there is room for improvement in areas. For instance, the school has done does really well with assessment through technology. There are things that need changed as far as older equipment, however that seems to be out of their hands. There are many decisions that are made in the school system that do not include the stakeholders, but again, this seems out of the individual schools hands.