Technology Plan
2007-2011
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Community Education |
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Contact Information |
Amy Tonsager |
INDEX/CHECKLIST
OFFICIAL SUBMISSION
CERTIFICATION
This 2008-2011 Technology Plan is the official submission of the
______________________________________________________________________(name of school, school district, regional public library system, or public library).
Signature of Superintendent, School
____________________________________
DATE
Technology Plan
Technology Plan
ISD 518
I. Planning and Needs Assessment
A. Organization Leadership and Technology Planning Committee
The Technology Planning Steering
Committee is comprised of the District Technology Committee. Representatives include faculty
representatives from Prairie Elementary,
B. Partnerships: District 518 has several partnership programs in place. The school to work program, in conjunction with the school district, allows students to have diverse exposure to the various technological components necessary to compete in the workplace today. The District also includes partners from the community in the technology committee. These technological leaders in the community provide feedback, ideas and technical expertise to the district.
Community Education is an integral
part of educating all ages, infants through adults. The school district works hand in hand with
Community Education. Community Education
offers many technology classes to the members of the community at large and
uses much of the district’s equipment.
The district, in turn, supplies instructors for these classes. Adult Basic Education also works closely with
the school district to educate the over 21 population of the diverse culture in
District 518. The district partners with
both the city of
Community Education is currently
administering the 21st Century Grant which is designed to help the school
district meet the special needs of students who have limited language
proficiency, attendance issues with school, are failing, or just getting by in
school. The grant is designed to help
the students gain confidence in their ability to become successful in school,
to work with the families and help the families understand the need to get
students to school daily, bridging school and home. One goa
C.
Demographics of
District 518 is an educationa
District 518 currently consists of
3 traditional educational buildings including Prairie Elementary, PreK-5;
Technology for these organizations
is procured from the district’s yearly capita
The district services a large minority and special needs population. 402 of the students at Prairie Elementary qualify for Title funding. The following is the breakdown of Title students at Prairie Elementary.
391 students district wide receive Special Education services.
The District offers Special
Services to a large percentage of the population. The English Language Learners Program serves
161 students though out the school district.
Sixty-three percent of the students at Prairie Elementary qualify for free and reduced lunches. 52% of the students qualify for free lunches and another 11 % qualify for reduced lunches.
D. Needs
Assessment Method and Results
The assessment of Worthington District 518’s technology program is ongoing using the following instruments to gather information from stakeholders: surveys, questionnaires, observations, and anecdotal stories.
Critical components of the assessment include teacher self-assessment of their technology skills, professional development needs, student self-assessment and their ideas for improvement.
The results in general showed us the need for hardware, software and staff development. Specifically, it showed need in the following areas:
o A district wide, uniform system of student management that generates reports and provides for the sharing of information among schools and parents.
o Staff Development in technology, telecommunications and video technology to insure that staff will be adequately skilled in the use of new technologies and applications of existing installations.
o Regularly review bandwidth between buildings and to Internet for adequate throughput.
o Enhance connectivity between buildings.
o Increase school/home communication.
o Increase use of video network
o Maintain an annual software budget to meet the needs of the curriculum
o Provide wireless access throughout district
o Provide specialized mini labs/pods (up to 15 workstations per lab/pod) for small group instruction
o Provide adequate data storage space with servers running at no more than at 80% capacity.
o Encourage teachers and students to move up Bloom’s Taxonomy to analysis, synthesis and evaluation in the use of technology.
o Maintain updated presence on Web
o Enhance English Language Learners Curriculum through technology
o Enhance Reading Scores with the aid of technology
o Improve Math scores with the aid of technology
o Improve Science scores with the aid of technology
o Continue appropriate assistive technology for students with special needs.
o Implement new delivery systems for video and virtual classrooms. (ie. Streaming video, online courses)
o Teacher workstations need to be tailored to meet the specific requirements of individuals.
o Networked labs at each site to facilitate technology support for the curriculum and to provide access to Internet resources for large group instruction.
o TIC – Technology Integration Carts for classroom use. These carts include a computer, scanner, video projection system, Smartboard and a document camera. These need to be available on a 1:6 room ratio.
o Smartboard for every classroom
o
Enhance research and production resources.
o
Maintain the current leve
o
Investigate and apply for additional funding
through alternative sources.
o
Provide necessary technology to aid students in
achieving skills necessary for graduation and life.
o
An adequate number of systems trained
technicians in each building to support the networks, hardware, and software
installations currently in the district and planned for future.
o
Add an additional district wide technology
position.
o
Interactive television facilities to provide
additiona
o
A Voice over IP phone system for the district.
o
Centralized library program district wide (one
database)
o
Utilize existing student management system for
lunch program (one database)
The district currently provides equal access to technology to all students before, during and after school. Students with exceptional needs have the necessary adaptations specific to their needs. Our special needs department continually reviews these needs for each individual. The technology personnel work closely with the special needs department to address the requirements.
II. Vision, Goals, Objectives and Strategies for Technology
Our mission at District 518 is to equip ALL learners with skills for life today…and tomorrow.
Technology
Vision:
Technology is key to learners’ achievement of world-class standards. There is a critical need for learners … staff, students, and community… to be able to access information, manipulate data, synthesize concepts, and creatively express ideas to others using voice, visual, and print media.
A. Technology Integration with Curriculum and
Instruction
The primary goal of all technology integration is to support district-adopted curricular goals and academic content standards in order to improve student achievement and enhance the teaching and learning environment within District 518. District 518 believes that technology is key to a learners’ achievement of world class standards. There is a need for all stakeholders… students, staff, community… to be able to access information, manipulate data, synthesize concepts, and creatively express ideas using voice, visual and print media. It is District 518’s goal to integrate technology into the curriculum in order to aid the community’s diverse student population in the achievement of the skills they can use today and in life tomorrow.
Teachers and students are transforming what can be done in school through the use of technology to access resources, to expose students to diverse perspectives and to offer enhanced learning experiences through multimedia resources, simulations and interactive software. With the way technology is so dramatically changing the outside world, our school needs to now change the teaching and learning environment. Students are expected to competently use technology to work efficiently and complete tasks assigned. As a school district, we also recognize that students will sometimes drive the use of technology due to the fact that they were born in and are comfortable with this age of technology. A student’s skill level is expected to increase and become more complex as he/she moves through District 518.
District 518 has developed technology benchmarks for students in grades K-8. These benchmarks start with very basic computer skills at the kindergarten level, and then build on and reinforce these skills as students advance through the grade levels. These benchmarks were developed within the district are reviewed annually to enhance achievement from all students.
Technologically related curriculum is constantly being reviewed for grades 9-12 to meet the needs of individuals. As technical literacy becomes basic life skills for many students today, advanced classes are being offered to those who can demonstrate baseline technical literacy, whereas, basic skills are still being offered to those who need reinforcement.
Many of the technology applications
used throughout the school district directly align with the Minnesota Academic
Standards. When purchasing software for
the district, the software is evaluated to assure it aligns with benchmarks set
by the district and state. Renaissance Learning’s Progress-Monitoring
Assessment Systems, a computer based program for both reading and math, are
supported by scientific research in the areas of school improvement, reading,
math and assessment. These systems are directly aligned to
The Houghton Mifflin Math series, adopted by grades kindergarten though five, and the McDougal Little Math series, adopted by grades six through twelve, is modified to specifically highlight the objectives which aligned with the Minnesota Math Standards, indicating to teachers the areas that need to be covered to meet these objectives. To reinforce and expand upon concepts learned in class, the district also purchased the Way to Success software for grades kindergarten through fifth grade which allows student to work on a computer in a lab or individual setting. The Houghton Mifflin Math Texts books are also available online for each of the students. This allows the student to access assignments from home. Individual CD’s of the text book were purchased to go along with the McDougal series, allowing students to access the text book from any computer with a CD Rom drive. The McDougal series also comes with a new testing scoring and reporting system supporting teacher or company created tests, electronic scoring, reporting on students, classes or buildings for AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) and an intervene and extend module which can individually prescribe the program’s resources for individual students or classes.
B.
Increase/Improve Technology Access
Worthington District 518 sees the value of technology in education so we
may prepare students to be competent, responsible users of technology in their
academic studies and in their future career choices. We must capitalize on the opportunities that
technology offers to broaden the educational experience of our students with resources
not available with textbooks, labs or other existing medium. In addition, we intend to develop and nurture
information literacy as a goal for our students. Our goal is to integrate technology into the
curriculum so technology is viewed as another tool to accomplish the objectives
laid out, verses using technology in addition to the curriculum in the
classroom.
It is District 518’s objective to integrate technology into the curriculum in order to aid the diverse student population in the learning process and assist in the achievement of state and national academic standards.
Technology leaders in each educational building work closely with the teachers to determine the needs of students in the areas of technology. Staff Development and technology committees from each building are developing and implementing benchmarks for all teachers and students in the district.
Technology for these organizations
is procured from the district’s yearly capital outlay money, grants, and
special funding sources for specific services.
The technology integrations program objectives for reference and
information services are met by encouraging students and staff to use reputable
online resources for research.
Based on the needs
assessment, specific objectives to be accomplished include:
o Continually evaluate bandwidth capabilities for optimal performance.
o Maintain up-to-date teacher workstations with current software and provide appropriate teacher education in use of both hardware and software.
o Update video production equipment and expand use of video network
o Provide adequate technical support for envisioning, researching, installation and maintenance of both existing and new technology.
o Provide adequate access to technology for all students and staff.
o Expansion of World Wide Web Development – Both by students and staff.
o Regularly upgrade and replace technology equipment.
o Maintain an annual software budget.
o Educate teachers to become confident in using technology as an integrated tool for instruction and learning.
o Administrative System upgrades.
o Provide ongoing, relevant training for technology support personnel.
o Provide educational support for parents and community to enhance communication between school and home.
o Increase access to resources through the installation of wireless access points throughout the district.
o Develop specialized mini labs for small group instruction.
o Educate the staff and students on the availability of video and virtual classrooms.
o Provide adequate access to Technology Integration Carts for students and teachers to use to deliver content and projects in a convenient and efficient method.
o Lobby for increased funding on both state and federal level for funding in technology.
o Continue to move to one database for all student information.
o Provide adequate funding to meet these objectives
o Implement Classroom Response systems in the Middle School Science Department.
District 518 has a curriculum cycle for all of its subject areas. As each subject area comes up to cycle, the new curriculum that is purchased comes with online or technology related resources. Offering the option of online or digital resources to students will allow the learners to easily access the resources from a variety of locations, as well as supplement the materials covered in class.
Many of the curricular areas in the school district are currently addressed with technology through out the school district. Students who have been identified as at risk in reading at the elementary school have the opportunity to work in mini labs on SuccessMaker software. This software is geared toward students who have either limited language skills, or are behind in learning to read. My Skills Tutor is an online software program available for grades four through twelve and is used by individuals, small groups and whole classes on various subjects throughout the curriculum. English language learners from kindergarten through adult use the Rosetta Stone software program to gain vocabulary and acquire grammar skills as they learn the English language. A course at the high school obtains its entire curriculum online, assuring that the information is always up to date with the most current and multimedia enhanced delivery.
Technology in general and computers more specifically are needed for job efficiency in all areas of the district. It is the district’s goal to incorporate all student information into one centralized database to allow for one login to access all resources. The concept of the importance of technology for students today to make them successful in society is vital for parents and community members to realize. The goal is also to move toward a paperless district in all possible areas.
Teaching staff are expected to use
technology to take attendance and record grades via computer.
District administration is looking into the use of SmartPhones to enhance communications with district stakeholders.
With today’s students of all ages being born into the information age, and with the student’s comfort level with technology, many students are ahead of their teachers in computer literacy, often preferring to access information and subject matter online where it is more accessible, up-to-date and abundant. Working in an environment such as this gives teachers no choice but to continually work toward becoming more technically literate and comfortable with the use of technology.
For success in integrating instruction and curriculum with appropriate, effective technology, teachers must be proficient in the use of the tools needed to achieve such integration. The professional development component of this plan provides staff with opportunities to increase their proficiencies through a variety of initiatives.
The district will further evaluate the use of online learning by staff members as a means to meet their continuing education requirements. Teachers can now track all continuing education credits and teaching certificate status online. Forms, guidelines and procedures are also available on this website.
District 518’s District Staff Development Committee provides leadership in the coordination of staff development and curriculum alignment for district employees. Staff development in the area of technology is offered on an ongoing basis. Formal classes are offered throughout the school year after school, and during in-service days as well as during the summer months. Staff members are given opportunities to integrate new technology skills into classroom instruction with their new knowledge.
Online courses are available to community members and students on various technology related topics through the Community Education program. These online classes include: Teaching with Technology and a variety of classes in these broad subjects: The Internet, Web Page Design, Web Graphics and Multimedia, Web Programming, Basic Computer Literacy, Computer Applications, Desktop Publishing and Imaging, Computer Troubleshooting and Networking, Computer Programming and Database Management, Certification Prep, Palm Pilot and Pocket PC, Digital Photography and Digital Video, as well as a host of other non – technical related topics.
The district’s
Administrators and grant writers for the district use statistics and reports generated from our student management system which runs an SQL database queried through Microsoft Access and modified with Microsoft Excel. Data based decision data is also collected from the Minnesota Department of Education.
Various assessments are given to students both on the computer and paper and pencil. Assessments include the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA), NWEA MAP testing, Star Reading, Star Math, and classroom assessment tools. Staff members are given time to get together and participate in data retreats by grade level or subject area to analyze the data collected. This concentrated time allows the staff members to analyze the data and look at what areas are weak, what is working, and what strategies are needed to the areas that need to be addressed. Workshops on data analysis are held to assist staff members in interpretation of data.
More and more curriculum areas are utilizing computerized assessments. The Middle School is implementing Classroom Performance Systems (CPS) which provides immediate assessment feedback to both students and teachers. The CPS can be used to check for understanding of a topic just covered in class or can be used to administer a graded quiz, unit test, or chapter test. Feedback is given immediately on a per student or per class ratio, depending upon the parameters set. This type of assessment tool will help improve student achievement and meet key performance measures.
The state’s plan to conduct state testing via computer is a concern in the area of lab usage. Every day the labs are occupied with testing is one less day for academic instruction for students. District 518’s computers at the current time are technologically capable of handling the applications currently being offered by the state. Another concern is the bandwidth requirements for testing from the site hosting the state required tests. Experience has shown that, although the district has adequate capacity, the connection to the host site has latency issues when many districts are utilizing resources simultaneously.
Physical and
philosophical walls can be broken down and creativity and innovation can take
their place when online learning takes place in the learning environment. The wealth of information available online,
as well as the convenience and flexibility, allow for a world of education for
all learners and instructors. Educating
both instructors and students on the benefits and strategies of effective
online learning is key to achieving the full benefit from this type of learning
and delivery method. The district is now
in the process of creating some online classes for students who are homebound
or have been academically relocated.
Research and evaluation of available online courseware which will allow
teachers to develop this courseware is currently taking place. The district has an Online Learning Policy with
the purpose recognizing and governing on-line
learning options of students enrolled in the school district for purposes of
compulsory attendance (Appendix A).
Two-way communication between the school, students, parents
and community is vital to maintaining an optimal and safe learning environment
for all involved. District 518 is
continually evaluating the means of communication and enhancing both
communication and involvement of all stakeholders. A web portal has been established to allow
access to the student management system so parents, students and teachers can
see grades, attendance, discipline and other vital student information. This up to date means of communication allows
parents to know on a daily basis, how their child is doing in school. Links to email address from the portal, allow
for easy communication between parents and the school. To further facilitate communication, every
teacher and administrator in the District has access to voicemail and e-mail
and immediate access to phones and computers to respond to parents in a timely
manner.
Communication between the school and community is also enhanced through the use of the district web site. Many of the teachers are trained in basic web development with the skills necessary to put class schedules, assignments, newsletters, online newspapers, special projects, and email links on the web for parents and the community to access. The district also has a link for Accelerated Reader books, lunch menu’s, the school calendar, employment opportunities, district policies and information from administrators to keep everyone current.
III. Policies and Procedures
Policy and Procedure Development and Revision:
The following policies are in place and followed by the staff and students at District 518. The Technology Steering Committee will review on an annual basis the following plans and policies and make recommendations for revisions and changes.
Technology Plan – Review annually
Internet Acceptable Use and Safety, and Electronic Communications Policy (Appendix B) –