Evaluation Planning for Action

In our district, we run on a nine week schedule, which consists of four quarters that make up our school year. If we are going to provide the professional development needed in order to make sure all staff is following the required technology TEKS and integrating technology into the curriculum, there must be some sort of evaluation process in order to measure our success as a campus.

As part of evaluating the action plan, we could create surveys through Survey Monkey that would be administered to teachers on campus every nine weeks. This survey will be used to monitor the teachers and campus' progress. Also instead of just administrators being the people that observe teachers and their use of technology, our campus facilitator and campus instructional technologist can administer walkthroughs as well to observe teachers and their progress with integrating technology into curriculum and instruction.

Overall the principal's observation reports, campus instructional technologist's observation reports, the teacher's surveys that are given each nine weeks, and surveys to students and parents at the end of the year can be used to evaluate the trends of technology use on campus and with teachers. All of these evaluations will be used to determine the campus' successes and failures in the integration of technology with organizational and instructional leadership. This will all be done at the end of the year, therefore making administrators and staff aware of changes that need to be made for the following year. With these evaluations, professional development changes can be made, trainings can be administered for specific areas, and the proper resources can be made available for staff in time for the upcoming school year. Changes are always needed for a campus to become better and the only way to move forward is to work together and share the same visions. Administrators are the leaders and are responsible for making sure that their campus follows all TEKS, analyzes all the data, and makes changes necessary for their campus in order to be successful.

Professional Development Planning

Every summer right before the new school year starts, our campus instructional technologist, staff, and administration work together to discuss our previous year's STaR chart and complete the upcoming year STaR chart. Based on the teacher's surveys, we can determine what technology is available, what trainings teachers may have already had towards technology, and what technology and training still may be required for the campus to move forward with the integration of technology. We also have the opportunity to discuss any obstacles we may have come across in using the technology and gain insight from each other on how to overcome those obstacles.

After the interviews, assessing the AEIS data for my campus and looking at areas of weakness, analyzing the campus' STaR chart, and the tech survey, it has been determined that more support and better professional development is needed for the campus. Professional development is available each year for many areas, including technology, and is appropriate for technology training, but changes need to be made. After my interview with an administrator, Dr. Joe Rodriguez, I was very surprised to hear how he felt that although professional development may be good in the sense that teachers are trained how to use technology, teachers are not shown how to integrate it in the classroom curriculum. I felt that was a well made point and all professional development should be done in depth, teaching educators how to use the technology towards their specific curriculum. Professional development can be done through analyzing all the necessary data from AEIS, STaR chart, and teacher technology surveys, to see where technology is needed; therefore professional development can be broken up into specific areas of need. It is hard having training for all staff in a large group setting when some staff may not need that specific training for technology use, but instead may need training in another specific area.

Some professional development that can be used to better my campus with technology use would be using a new form of professional development where teachers can actually have trainings within their classroom setting, using only resources that are available to teachers on a regular daily basis. It is very frustrating when you go to training and the presenter has everything imaginable for the training, but you go back to your classroom and don't have any of those resources available. In this situation where professional development is made available to teachers in a realistic classroom setting, teachers can learn firsthand how to integrate the technology to the best of their abilities with the available resources. Also I do not think that any of the teachers on my campus are truly aware of the tech TEKS that we are supposed to be following daily/yearly. I honestly was not until taking this class. There needs to be a professional development training that guides teachers on how to address these TEKS using specific strategies and shows teachers how to properly implement them. Another professional development that would be useful to our campus would be Atomic Learning. I was made aware of this program through other teachers that use this on-line tutorial program in other districts. It is a neat concept because there are so many tutorials for technology use that teachers would have access to 24/7. An administrator can purchase the license use for their campus and give access to all their staff. I will make this aware for my administrator and hope to have access to it as soon as possible.

When I started my teaching career, I was given a mentor that helped me on a daily basis and it was the best experience I could have ever had. I learned how to do my job right and I made a great friend. We both learned from each other. This may not be part of professional development, but our district does believe in every new teacher having a mentor on their campus. It is the principal's job to assign a mentor for the new hires. There needs to be a strong mentor support system on campus where new technology savvy educators are paired with veteran teachers whose strengths are not in technology. In this situation, the new teachers can offer support to veteran teachers in technology, while veteran teachers can offer support in curriculum and instruction. If mentors and mentees are paired up in this situation, both can benefit by collaborating on how to integrate technology into the curriculum and instruction. In the process they can share their ideas with other teachers, therefore the entire campus moves forward. One last idea to help my campus in the area of technology would be to have our campus instructional technologist attend an annual instructional technology conference or other training and bring back ideas on how to train the staff with the newest uses of technology. Our CIT needs to always be up-to-date with the latest technology changes in order for our campus to meet state standards with technology and to make sure our students are receiving the proper education in order to assure their success for the future. Based on project tomorrow surveys, students have access to many mobile devices and use technology for many things such as online testing, online classes, collaboration, and communication. We as campuses have to stop looking at certain types of technology as roadblocks and start integrating them into our curriculum in order to maintain our students’ enthusiasm for learning and keep them intrigued.

Ultimately, the success of a campus depends on the leaders. Administrators have to gain support from central office and be willing to make any changes necessary to help their campus achieve success. They must constantly analyze data, find areas of weakness, require proper trainings for staff, make necessary resources available, and promote the integration of technology in the classroom.

Week 2 Part 3 Blog Posting # 3

The aim of the 2010 NETP is to boldly assert a goal to bring our educational system up to speed with the current technological advances. Just as technology is at the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and work, we must leverage it to provide engaging and powerful learning experiences, content, and resources and assessments that measure student achievement in more complete, authentic, and meaningful ways. Technology-based learning and assessment systems will be pivotal in improving student learning and generating data that can be used to continuously improve the education system at all levels (NETP, 5).
The plan lists five essential areas ripe for improvement assisted by technology: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity.
Goal 1.0: Learning
All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and outside of school that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society.
Goal 2.0 Assessment
Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use assessment data for continuous improvement.
Goal 3.0 Teaching
Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that enable and inspire more effective teaching for all learners.
Goal 4.0 Infrastructure
All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where they need it.
Goal 5.0 Productivity
Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.
The 2010 NETP asserts that students are not engaged in their learning and do not see the relevance in what they are learning. They are exposed to so much immediate information outside of the classroom via the technology, that there exists a disconnect when they sit in a classroom and have to slow down their learning when they have to sit through a lecture or read from an antiquated textbook. We are called upon to provide a more ‘on-demand’ learning experience for our students to mirror what they already are already familiar with outside of the classroom.

Week 2 Part 3 Blog Posting #1

The STaR Chart is an online resource tool used for self-assessment of a campus' and district's efforts to effectively integrate technology across the curriculum. The area of the chart that I choose to reflect on is Educator Preparation and Development. This area consistently received the lowest ratings on the STaR Chart survey.

Teachers must prepare students to thrive in the world in the future. Continuous professional learning is essential for all educators. Technology can impact curriculum and instruction, but for this to occur, teachers need to learn to incorporate technology appropriately to support the curriculum. They must also bring about learning opportunities that would not be possible without technology. It is required of all beginning teachers to meet Technology Application educator standards. Ongoing job-embedded professional development must be provided to assure mastery of the standards by veteran teachers. Some challenges to the state and nation is securing time, resources, and effective models for educator professional development.

To promote 21st Century learning, educators must be competent in 21st Century skills. Texas must prepare teachers for significantly diverse roles, students, and technologies. Professional development should include new ways to teach that lead to improvements in student academic achievement and use instructional strategies that reflect current research, modern contexts to engage students in learning, and classroom assessments that effectively measure what students are learning. This professional learning should emphasize technology infusion that helps educators visualize, internalize and create technology-enhanced learning environments. Professional development must recognize the need to change the way teachers are teaching if instruction and the tools used for learning are to be relevant and meaningful to today's students.


http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/lrpt_lrpt.html
http://starchart.esc12.net/

Week 2 Part 3 Blog Posting # 2

After reading the different parts of the Long-Range Plan, I discovered how many parts are involved within this plan. The vision for 2020 is that all students will be able to access digital tools 24/7 and be prepared to thrive in a global workforce. Parents and educators will also have 24/7 access to communication and resource tools. There are three phases to the plan and the four parts include: learners, leaders, educators, and infrastructure. Technology savvy students are the future of our economy and we must be able to provide the technology needs of the 21st Century for these students within the educational system. Learning must be tailored to the students' individual needs and the only way for that to truly be done is through technology. Lack of knowledge towards technology and time constraints were barriers teacher faced when trying to integrate technology within the classroom. Curriculum that ensures the use of technology, flexibility to try new things, and more opportunities to visit classrooms, are all challenges that impact teaching and learning. Professional development must be provided to assure mastery of the technology standards by all educators. It should include new ways to teach that lead to improvements in student academic achievement.

Administrators need to be the true supporters of integrating technology in the curriculum and classroom. Administrators must make technology an integral part of their professional activities and assure others do as well. Appropriate instructional support is needed by administrators to ensure teachers fully integrate technology into the curriculum and maximize educational benefits from the investment of technology. Texas must plan for a 21st Century educational environment and will need a truly high-performance infrastructure to take advantage of new technologies that can significantly reduce costs, increase student access, and improve communication with stakeholders. A safe, secure, flexible, and reliable infrastructure must be required by all districts. The ETAC will help the state of Texas overcome barriers within the plan. The new long-range plan will guide districts in Texas in the effective use of technology in a way that will prepare students to learn and work in the 21st Century.

This new learning can assist me as an instructional leader who is guiding technology use in the fact that it needs to be a main priority. I have to work with administrators and staff to push technology as a main focus in the classroom. I must learn to integrate technology use with the core curriculum. The integration of technology and curriculum should be a main focus with all subjects and grade levels on campus. Students must be provided with a profound amount of technology use to meet their own individual needs. I must learn to assess students, not just on what they can do on paper, but how they can integrate technology use with their own personal learning styles and the curriculum being taught.

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/lrpt/lrpt_lrpt.html

Week 2 Part 4 STaR Powerpoint

School technology and readiness powerpoint

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