Casey Smith - Middle School

Review first, the school profile report you prepared; then provide the input for your institution as the following required topics. This week, we will focus on the “Need” objectives in each area of Technology, Funding, and management. Refer CSTE5337 course of how to develop the instructional goal statement. You should write the objectives based on the same requirement: target population, subject, and deliver method/s for assessment.

1. Recognize the related legislatures and regulations to support the needs from your institution.

As with any public school, CFISD has many legislatures and regulation in place that control and must be followed by our institution. One of the most important legislation in place is the No Child Left Behind Act. In this act, the focus of technology integration is on improving student achievement with the use of technology (Learning Point, 2007). The No Child Left Behind Act concentrated on student achievement on standardized testing and raising every child to high achievement levels by 2014.

Another regulation that is a feature of CFISD technology integration is the Texas STaR chart, or School Technology and Readiness, which is in line with the Long Range Plan for Technology 1996 - 2020. This requires teachers to evaluate their own level of technology readiness each year, as well as have the district evaluate their technology needs, priorities, and progress (Texas STaR Chart, 2003).

Lastly, of note, but definitely not a final legislation over the district, is the NETS or National Education and Technology standards. These standards are in place for both students and teachers, to help achieve technology integration in the curriculum and in teacher knowledge (ISTE, 2008).

In Report 1, I outlined some basic needs of CFISD, as I see it through Hopper Middle School. While Hoppe Middle School has few needs in the sections of funding and infrastructure, there are many areas that need improvement. These needs include more relevant training for teachers, more support in the instructional use of technology, and upheld requirements for the use of technology in the classroom.

These needs fall under the following standards of NCLB, StAR charts, and ISTE.

No Child Left Behind:

SEC. 2402. PURPOSES AND GOALS.

(a) PURPOSES- The purposes of this part are the following:
(1) To provide assistance to States and localities for the implementation and support of a comprehensive system that effectively uses technology in elementary schools and secondary schools to improve student academic achievement.

(4) To promote initiatives that provide school teachers, principals, and administrators with the capacity to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction that are aligned with challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards, through such means as high-quality professional development programs.

(5) To enhance the ongoing professional development of teachers, principals, and administrators by providing constant access to training and updated research in teaching and learning through electronic means.

STaR Chart and State Board of Education Requirements:

Standard III. All teachers use task-appropriate tools to synthesize knowledge, create and modify solutions and evaluate results in a way that supports the work of individuals and groups in problem-solving situations.

Standard V. All teachers know how to plan, organize, deliver and evaluate instruction for all students that incorporates the effective use of current technology for teaching and integrating the Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) into the curriculum.

ISTE NETS for Teachers:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual
understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues,
and others in face-to-face and virtual environments
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S.
a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles,
working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
d. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching
3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools
and resources to support student success and innovation

c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using

a variety of digital age media and formats

d. Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit
leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating
the effective use of digital tools and resources.
a. Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
b. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others
c. Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make
effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
d. Contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and selfrenewal of the teaching profession and of their
school and community

2. Develop the objectives for the school technology plan based on the needs from your institution.

I outlined several needs for my district in Report 1. The first was the need for teacher trainings and use of technology in the classroom on a more regular basis. Teachers do not change easily, and providing them with some push and pull motivations to grow in the area of technology use could be just what is needed to help increase technology integration. I see this commonly at Hopper Middle School and want to adjust this problem in my technology profile.

Another need I see in CFISD is for Instructional Technology Specialists to be more hands on with the teachers in the district, more visible, and more accessible in the classroom. Perhaps making this a part of the Instructional Technology duties on a monthly basis could increase the relationship between teachers and technology specialists in the districts so that the teachers will feel like they are supported and have access to help in the classroom. More specifically, perhaps Hopper Middle School should have someone on staff for the sole purpose of technology support and integration - whose full time job would be to help teachers integrate instructional technology.

3. Identify the objective for each area of Technology, Funding, and Management. Provide the needed elements for each objective to make sure that it’s measurable.

Professional Development:

Goal 1: Teachers will attend professional development to enhance their use of technology in the classroom to support and increase student achievement.

Objective 1.1 Provide technology training for teachers on the daily use of technology in curriculum.
Evidence: Trainings for technology will be held on the Hopper Middle School campus to increase teacher ease of access to trainings.

Cost: cost of holding training on campus instead of at central office, sometimes $$, sometimes no cost

Objective 1.2 Provide an incentive for teachers to attend trainings.

Evidence: Teachers will sign in to trainings and receive their choice of $50 per professional development hour or upon completion of 8 hours, the exchange of one day of paid vacation.

Cost: $50 per hour or the cost of a substitute

Objective 1.3 Require teachers to integrate technology into their curriculum on a weekly basis.

Evidence: Teachers will be required to show proof of technology integration in their weekly lesson plans.

Cost: None

Goal 2: Teachers will be supported by a technology liaison full-time on campus for instructional technology support

Objective 2.1: Hire a full-time instructional technology specialist to serve at Hopper Middle School.

Evidence: Hiring committee will search out a new hire for this position or will investigate the interests and abilities of the current faculty to fill the position.

Cost: Yearly teacher salary schedule

Objective 2.2 Encourage teachers to communicate with the instructional technology specialist to support their classroom needs.

Evidence: Instructional Technology specialist will keep a log of teacher interactions, and teachers will receive reward currency in exchange for their initiation of conversation.

Cost: little - potential cost of rewards from currency system

Goal 3: Find potential sources of funding for technology improvement at Hopper Middle School.

Objective 3.1 Have newly hired instructional technology specialist write 4 technology grant requests a year.

Evidence: Engage in grant writing training for the instructional technology specialist.

Cost: cost of classes or other grant writing training

Objective 3.2 Contact local businesses to support Hopper Middle School's technology improvement efforts.

Evidence: Log of contacts made by instructional technology specialist and others requesting funding and support.

Cost: little.

References:

Learning Point Associates (2007). Quick key 3: understanding the no child left behind act - technology integration. Retrieved February 27, 2012 from http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/qkey3.pdf.

Texas Education Agency. Texas StaR Chart. Retrieved Febrary 29, 2012 from http://starchart.epsilen.com/standards.html.

Texas STaR Chart (2003). A tool for planning and assessing. Retrieved February 27, 2012 from http://www.harlingen.isd.tenet.edu/forms/txstarfull.pdf.

U.S. Department of Education (2004). No Child Left Behind. Retrieved February 29, 2012 from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg34.html.

International Society for Technology in Education (2008). NETS for teachers. Retrieved February 27, 2012 from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx.