Technology Plan Evaluation FRIT 8132 - Administration of Technology Resources Dr.

Charles Hodges Amy Womack & Rachel Stewart Fall 2012

Part 1:Technology Planning Analysis Rubric

Criteria 1 2 3 Identifies clearly and concisely for the reader the vision, mission, goals and objectives, background, findings, issues, conclusions, and recommendations of the technology plan.

Executiv e Summar y

Executive Provides summary is absent adequate and or incomplete. accurate (Missing 2 or more information components of in Executive information) Summary. General learning goals are not clear or are absent. Goals are broad and comprehensi ve but are not completely clear. They are linked to objectives, but are not readily obtainable or measurable. Goals are loosely tied to the state or district documents.

Goals and Objectiv es

Goals are broad and comprehensive, addressing teaching and learning needs. The goals are clear, attainable, and measurable. Objectives are delineated from goals, further defining how they will be met.

Professio nal /Staff Develop ment

Staff Development Provides a Clearly describes current and needed is absent or general technology competencies; Describes how provides only overview (not plan will take teachers and other staff from minimal detailed) of present level of technology competency and information on current & knowledge to the level of skill required in current and needed the plan; describes staff development needed technology technology resources. competencies or competencies. how the plan will Describes a help staff achieve few strategies the needed and

competencies.

recommendat ions for incentives and resources. Technology Assessment is comprehensive and contains has been detailed information from hardware assessed and resources, technology needs assessment and analyzed, but Maturity Model Benchmark surveys; may not identifies use by students and staff, and include training received and desired. summaries of information from all elements in the technology surveys. The inventory moves beyond computers only (phone, TV), but does not address infrastructur e or vintage of equipment. An evaluation process is described, but lacks detail and comprehensi veness. It A comprehensive equipment inventory was provided, including computers, infrastructure, access, ITV, Telephone and other equipment.

Needs Assessme nt

Needs Assessment is absent, incomplete.

Needs Assessme nt Equipme nt

An inventory exists, but is limited to computers only and does not represent vintage.

Evaluati on

No formal evaluation is described.

An evaluation process and instrument are described in detail, and is comprehensive in nature. Assessment is timely, and tied to the objectives.

does not refer to learning outcomes. Vision statement is Vision Vision is comprehensive and deals with Vision not included or statement learning outcomes, not just technology Statemen does not address provides outcomes. Clearly and concisely states t learning outcomes; adequate your teams vision for using technology to is difficult to description of improve learning; identifies who will be the understand. how users of technology and how it will be used technology to enhance learning; indicates the benefits will improve that you envision will result from the use of learning but technology by students, teachers, instructional administrators or others. outcomes not fully addressed. Mission statement is missing or does not address instructional outcomes. Provides incomplete and/or is difficult to understand. Mission statement addresses learning outcomes but provides limited information about what, why, and for whom the school or district is doing the plan. Adequately addresses most, but not all, of the most significant Mission statement is focused on instructional outcomes and indicates clearly what the school or district will do to make its technology vision a reality; why the school or district wants to do this; and for whom the school or district is doing this.

Mission Statemen t

General Issues

General Issues missing or very incomplete; difficult to understand.

Clearly addresses issues if: staff development, technical support, technology standards; student access to computers,; integrating new with old technologies; capacity of present facilities to accommodate new technologies; how

issues specified in Excellent column.

technology resources and budget will be distributed among schools for equitable access; now needs of students with disabilities or limited English proficiency will be addressed; student access to computers; integrating new with old technologies; capacity of present facilities to accept new technologies, etc. Clearly identifies the most important needs and challenges confronting the school and recommends the projects and steps to be taken to achieve the vision. Conclusions are strong and relevant.

Conclusi ons and Recomm endation s

Conclusions and recommendations are missing or are not adequately justified based on the information gathered in planning process.

Conclusions and recommendat ions are adequately justifies although the basis of some conclusions not entirely clear.

Policy issues are Acceptan absent, incomplete, ce Use or difficult to Policy understand.

Provides an Describes policies that are needed to ensure adequate proper use of the technology resources description of (e.g., guidelines, software, and facilities use the most policies, parental consent for Internet use, relevant etc.). Includes well-written draft of policy issues. Acceptable Use Policy. Provides clear and strong description of how technology is currently used in learning environment and ways it will be used to achieve instructional outcomes; describes how technology will enhance curriculum and teaching and learning strategies; is tightly coupled to other reform efforts.

Technology and Provides Technolo Learning overview of gy and statement absent the current Learning or provides and future Statemen incomplete use of t information on the technology in current use or enhancing future role of the teachingtechnology in the learning school district and process for how it will enhance students. learning. Little detail

on how technology will be integrated into learning and curriculum. Technology Technica support and l Support maintenance are and absent or provides Mainten vague or little ance information on technical support requirements for plan. Provides Provides clear and comprehensive adequate but requirements and plans for services not available and needed to support technology comprehensi use (network, computer, and software ve support). This plan includes the repair and description of replacement of equipment and staff technical development. support requirements and services. Provides Provides clear and comprehensive general description of the capabilities of hardware description of and learning environments. It identifies hardware, minimum standards and requirements for software and computer hardware, software, and connectivity connectivity; describes the types of learning standards environments that currently exist and those and to be created by the plan. requirements . Although clear, may miss some information elements. Membership list is provided and describes constituencie s Membership list has complete description of constituencies/stakeholders groups. All areas are equitably represented.

Technolo gy Standard s, Require ments, and Models for Technolo gy and Learning

Technology standards and requirements are missing or incomplete.

Membership is not Identifies listed or is Contribu inadequate to tors and determine Stakehol representation of der stakeholder Groups

groups. Projects, Budgets, or timelines missing; provides vague information on project, budgets, or timelines; project appear not relevant to plan goals; budget estimates appear incongruent with plan or unrealistic. A timeline is not mentioned.

represented. Provides most but not all of the project, timelines, and budget estimate inforamtion. Appears to be generally consistent with plan goals. The plan only covers one academic year or project. Provides a prioritized list of major tech plan projects, tasks and timelines. Provides budget summary estimate of captial expenses(hardware, software, facilities, infrastructure, staff development, tech support, etc.). Identifies possible alternative funding resources. Projects, timelines, and budgets are realistic and consistent with plan goals and objectives.

Projects, Budgets, and Timeline s

MultiYear Planning

The plan is multi-year and references multi-year funding, support, and planning activities.

Specific support plans are articulated. This included the process for specific support issues and on-going equipment replacement, staff development, and repair. Writing is difficult to understand. Evidence of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Writing is Writing is concise and clear; uses active clear but voice when appropriate. No misspelling, unnecessary grammar, or punctuation mistakes evident. words are used. Meaning is not clear in some instances. Few errors in spelling/gram mar.

Clarity of Writing

Technology Plan Evaluation

Introduction
A Technology Plan within a school district is vital when desiring to integrate technology successfully into the curriculum. The Technology Plan is a guide for teachers, administrators, and parents on how to effectively implement technology in the learning process. A plan is needed to describe the current uses of technology taking place in the school system, the needs of the system, the goals of the system, and also includes the budget of technology resources within the district. It is the Technology Plan that describes ways to successfully plan long-term technology integration, describes professional learning opportunities for educators, and the plan also highlights the use of technology resources available within the county. On July 1, 2011 a Three-Year Technology Plan was approved by the Burke County Board of Education. The Technology Plan will be effective through June 30, 2014. The plan is very accurate in illustrating current access to technology and the uses of technology within the schools. The plan breaks the software down by each school and administrative uses also. We believe the plan does well identifying the gap in achievement and the goals and benchmarks of the plan describe ways in detail on how to improve academics through the use of technology. There are nineteen components listed in the rubric. Each component of Burke Countys Technology Plan will be evaluated using a 1-3 scale.

Executive Summary
The first component to be rated in the Burke County School System Technology Plan is the executive summary. This component scored a three because it clearly identifies the vision, mission, goals and objectives, background, findings, issues, conclusions, and recommendations of the plan.

Goals and Objective

The goals and objectives in this Technology Plan are directly related and linked together so we decided to evaluate the two together as one component in the rubric. Each goal that is listed is very specific in what is to be expected and of whom and what it is to benefit. The goals also have a timeline of when it should be met including the person who will be in charge of making sure the goal is achieved. A funding analysis of what the projected cost will be to achieve each goal is also included in the table. The objectives in Burke Countys Technology Plan are called benchmarks and they describe the ways in which each goal will be achieved through the use of technology equipment. The objectives(benchmarks) are very specific in the ways that technology resources will be improved to meet the goals that have been set. We gave the goal and objectives component of this Technology Plan a rating of score of three.

Professional /Staff Development

Professional development for staff in Burke County is very important because it plays a major role in the success of the students in the county. The Burke County School District believes that technology is a major part of instruction and the district is dedicated in seeing that teachers are comfortable and familiar with technology resources. The district believes that technology is a necessity and should be implemented into classroom instruction. The Burke County Technology Plan makes it very clear how technology is placed within the schools and how training sessions are scheduled to meet the needs of the staff on how to use the technology. We scored the staff development component with a score of three because of this very reason. Training sessions take place after hours, during the summer months and on teacher work days if needed. After the first training there is always a follow up session where teachers can ask questions about new technology. Burke County keeps teachers updated and trained on new technology and programs that are being implemented in the county.

Needs Assessment
The next component to be rated is the needs assessment component. The Burke County Technology Plan identifies this as the gap analysis. The gap analysis is complete and detailed in the list of the technology needs in the county. Based on the plan for the next three years the county lists the needs as additional technology integration in all content areas by advancing teacher training, a need for professional learning that will target utilizing technology to assess student learning, and the greatest need is to narrow the achievement gap between the subgroups of students. The main use of technology use is the Promethean Board in the classroom but in many cases it used as a fancy chalkboard so it is desired that teachers use hands-on individualized technology to be most effective. The needs were identified by conducting school inventories and teacher and administrator surveys. We scored this component with a rating of two because the gap analysis did not specifically address, in this component, the training received.

Needs Assessment Equipment

In the Technology Plan for the Burke County school district, there is a comprehensive equipment inventory list that includes the computers, infrastructure, access, ITV, telephone and other equipment. This list is provided by each school and is used in the assessment of the needs the school has for the goals and objectives for the next three years. With this list the plan provides information on the services the students receive in the classroom.

Evaluation
An evaluation process is provided in the goals, benchmarks, and strategies table that is part of this Technology Plan. For every goal in the table there is an evaluation plan included along with it. The way it is set up is very easy to follow. The only thing we think could use some work is the description of the evaluation process. Instead of it being listed we feel it

should have a better description of how the evaluation process will be conducted. We gave this a rating score of two.

Vision Statement
Burke County Public School System is committed to offering the students the latest educational technologies. Burke Countys Technology Plan does a great job at describing exactly what the district envisions for the county to be successful academically through the use of technology. The plan is specific in describing how students, teachers, administrators, and parents will access and benefit from the use of technology resources and programs. We scored the vision statement with a rating score of three.

Mission Statement
The mission of the Burke County School District Technology Plan was not clearly identified in the document. It did not have its own section in the plan but in our opinion was still easily identifiable. The plan states that the district will become a learning environment where all administrators, teachers, students, parents, and school staff will use technology daily to effectively help students attain high academic standards and prepare for their future. Although the plan did not have a separate section for the mission it is clearly stated above. We scored this component with a two only because it was not easily found within the document.

General Issues
The Burke County School Districts Technology Plan address general issues throughout the document. Staff Development is addressed in two different sections. In the area of Technology plans and existing programs and in the needs of the staff such as trainings. The plan lays out the existing technology in the classroom and the needs in each grade levels by schools. With the need for new equipment and software, the need for Staff trainings on the new equipment is stated. The issue of technology support is address throughout the document. In the section with Budget and timeline, the document addresses the need for new funding sources and examples of new fund resources. All of the issues that the Technology Plan addresses are consistent with the Technology Goals and Objectives for the Burke County School System.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The needs of the Burke County School District are clearly stated. The need for wireless mobile stations in each classroom. The need for advance teacher training on how to effectively use technology in the classroom, and on how to provide safe and productive experiences for students using the Internet continues to be an ongoing need. Another need is for further professional learning and staff utilizing technology to assess student learning. More training for
staff is need in the area of utilizing existing system such as Longitudinal Data System and Data Director to monitor student achievement in order to design interventions in a strategic and timely manner or

maximize instructional time. In order to meet the needs of all students, more flexible grouping and differentiated instruction is needed. The recommendations are clear and precise about the needs of the Burke County School District. The plans in this document over the next three years reflect the act of the school board to act on these needs.

Acceptance Use Policy

The Acceptance Use Policy of the Burke County District Technology Plan describes the policies that are needed to ensure proper use of the technology resources. This includes the guidelines for software and facility use and parental consent for internet use. The plan also included a well-written draft of Acceptance Use for Teachers and students for internet use. The plan shares the purpose of use and describes the activities the students and teachers should use the equipment for. The plan is clear about consequences for misuse and the fact that a students files are open for parents review at any time.

Technology and Learning Statement

In the Technology Plan of the Burke County Schools, the use of technology in the curriculum is listed by grade level. The plan is clear on the technology integration in the curriculum with detail for each grade level but does not have a Technology and Learning Statement. Current programs are laid out to match with instructional outcomes. Current uses of technology used in the county are mentioned in sections broken down by students, teachers, parents, and administrators. The table included in the Technology Plan breaks down how many computers and other additional technology equipment will be used at each school within the school system. Students will have access to software such as iPass, Reading Plus, and Waterford Early Reading Program. These are just software programs that students have access to not to mention Activboards, digital cameras, laptops with wireless capabilities etc. The plan goes on to mention what administrators and parents will have access to when it comes to the use of technology. We gave this component a rating score of two because it failed have a component that mentioned Technology and Learning specifically. Although it did not mention a Technology and Learning Statement it is clear to the anyone reading the plan what is desired and in place.

Technical Support and Maintenance

Technical Support is found within the goals, benchmarks, and strategies table in the Technology Plan. This component receives a rating of three. For each goal/strategy listed the person responsible is also listed. The table states which strategies the technology coordinator will be responsible for and it also states how it will be evaluated. The Technology Director for the most part is responsible for access to technology, the administrative uses of technology, and the parent and community uses. This goes to show how much responsibility a Technology Director has in the implementation of a strong technology plan.

Technology Standards, Requirements, and Models for Technology and Learning

Within the Burke County Technology Plan the description of the hardware and software is very general and it discusses the variety of capabilities that the county would like to have in place by the end of the three year plan. The plan discusses the numerous software programs offered by the county to assist with test scores, reading and math skills, and other student data software. The only thing it does not do is describe the software programs in great detail.. The technology standards are not mentioned in the plan that we can tell so this is why we only rated this portion a score of two. We would suggest to directly relate the goals with a technology standard.

Identifies Contributors and Stakeholder Groups

Contributors and stakeholders in the Technology Plan are somewhat mentioned in the Communications and Marketing portion of the document. The plan mentions that parents, community members, and stakeholders are important when considering how to meet student achievement. The document also says that planning meetings occur monthly to evaluate the needs of the system. The meeting is an opportunity for stakeholders to develop strategies to include all stakeholders successfully in the development of technology development for the county. Although the plan does state the opportunity for stakeholders the opportunity to help in the building of strategies it fails to be specific in naming the the stakeholders directly. It is important, in our opinion, that stakeholders and contributors to be mentioned and that is why we gave this component a rating of two.

Projects, Budgets, and Timelines

The Technology Plan for the Burke County School systems documents a prioritized list of major technology plan projects for the coming three years. These plans are well document in a chart format to resource tasks and a timeline for accomplishing the goals set. This chart provides a budget summary that includes existing hardware, software, facilities, infrastructure, staff development and technology support. This chart also identifies new possible alternative funding resources. The projects identified and the budget and timeline for these projects are consistent with the goals and objectives for the Districts Technology Plan.

Multi-Year Planning
The Technology Plan for the Burke County District School Systems is for the 2011 through 2014 years. This plan is a three year plan. This document supports the plans for the upcoming three years. A chart is in the document that shows funding, support, and planned activities to achieve the objectives for the coming three year projection.

Clarity of Writing

We scored this component of the Technology Plan with a three. It is very easy to understand and is very well organized. The document is descriptive in the needs, goals, and visions of the system. We did not find any grammar or punctuation errors.

Summary
I am actually a teacher in the Burke County School System and I see the majority of the programs that are mentioned in this plan on a daily basis. The Burke County School System is very fortunate because we have an extra funding source that many counties do not have the luxury of having access to. Burke County is the home of Plant Vogtle. I can speak from experience that the technology resources mentioned in the Technology Plan are being implemented and teachers are encouraged to use them on a daily basis. The faculty and staff receives adequate training in the the newest technology being implemented by the county. The Technology Plan mentioned that Promethean Boards are the main use of technology that is being used and this holds true. Many times teachers use the Promethean Smart Boards for their own use, like a fancy chalkboard as the Technology Plan mentions, but the school administrators are very clear that they are for student use just as much. My partner for this project was very impressed at the Technology Plan for the Burke County School System. She scored each component based on an external evaluator and they seem to match my scores and I am what is considered an internal evaluator. We both went back through the rubric to be sure we carefully reviewed each component taking into consideration the requirements for each. After careful review of the Technology Plan we both agreed that Burke County is well on its way to meeting the goals it set out to accomplish in 2011. The plan is up for re-evaluation in 2014.