Monday, March 19, 2012

Carol Taylor - Fairfield ISD - Week 8, Step 6


Week 8
Due by 3/19
Discussion STEP 6: 

Goal 1:  Train teachers in emerging 21st century technology to enhance Curriculum and increase educator preparation and development to enable them to integrate successful technology applications

“Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative
professional in a global and digital society” (ISTE, 2011).

Strategies for Funding:
  • ·         Budget the salary of a campus technology facilitator to be shared with all campuses – eventually to hire one for each campus
  • ·         Staff  (i.e. teachers, administrators, Technology Coordinator) volunteer for training
  • ·         Utilized Region XII for training
  • ·         Research for free training
  • ·         Team with other school districts – trade training
  • ·         Research grants for training

Strategies for Management
  • ·         Hire a technology facilitator for each campus to assist the Technology Director
  • ·         Technology Coordinator recruits staff to volunteer for training
  • ·         Technology Coordinator plans and schedules technology professional development training for staff
  • ·         Require teachers to attend 36 hours of technology training every 3 years
  • ·         Incentives are offered for teachers to attend technology professional development
  • ·         Technology Coordinator and Administrator for accountability of training
  • ·         Establish team to research and write grants
  • ·         Technology Coordinator and Administrators team with surrounding school districts to trade training

Describe the Required Procedures for Proposed Strategies
  1. 1.      2011-2012 School Year – Administrators, Technology Coordinator and Staff Members document all trainings they attended and those they would like to have attended.  The presenter of the training is documented.  The cost of the presenter is documented as well. “A comprehensive needs assessment utilizing teacher/student surveys, interviews, focus group sessions, inventories, and the Texas Campus STaR Chart will also be conducted as it has been in previous years to analyze the current status of technology in the district and determine future needs. Items analyzed included: infrastructure, hardware, software, programs, courses, student achievement, technology resources, staff development, and technical support” (Fairfield ISD Technology Plan, 2010). The purpose of these documentations is to support the need of a Technology Facilitator. 
  2.      Review and evaluate budgets of each campus to share the expense of a campus technology facilitator to be shared between campuses until each can have their own.  Funding can be provided by the budgets of each campus, the consideration of using a existing qualified teacher whose salary is already in the budget, or hiring a part-time facilitator.  
  3.  Technology Coordinator and Campus Administrators request the hiring of a campus Technology Facilitator to assist the district Technology Coordinator to the Superintendent and School Board Members. 
  4. The Technology Coordinator will make a request to the Superintendent and School Board to offer incentives to the staff as stated in Objective 2.1.3 of the 2010-2013 FISD Technology Plan (FISD Technology Plan, 2010). 
  5.  The district Technology Coordinator and Assistant Superintendent will recruit staff members to present technology trainings.  Incentives of comp days or professional development hours will be rewarded to volunteer trainers.    
  6.  The Technology Coordinator and Assistant Superintendent will schedule technology professional developments based on the surveys and STAR results, Region XII training, and nearby districts availability of training and new persons hired.  
  7.  Campus Administrators and Technology Coordinator will document technology professional development and report it to the Assistant Superintendent.  
  8.  The District Technology Coordinator and campus coordinator will establish a grant research and writing team to assist in the funding of technology for the district.  In addition, local corporations will also be asked to fund technology. 
  9.    The District Technology Coordinator will continue to apply for E-Rate,  “a FCC program administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co. that supports schools and libraries with discounts on telecommunications and networking equipment based on the district’s needs ("E-Rate Applications Surge in 2011," 2011, p. 6). 

Goal 2:  Fairfield ISD will provide sufficient budget to acquire and support all elements of the technology program.
Mark Schneiderman, director of education policy at the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), feels “we need to begin with schools' needs and objectives and work back to how technology fits in." Where technology solutions can add efficiency and effectiveness to program objectives, there are myriad opportunities for schools to find support” (Mclester, 2010)

Strategies for Funding:  
  •  ·         Research grants for training
  • ·         Support and prioritize technology purchases between campuses
  • ·         Apply for E-Rate
Strategies for Management: 
  •   ·         Establish team to research and write grants
  • ·         Oversee research of grants and outside sources
  • ·         Budget technology needs and wants
  • ·         Research newest technology hardware and software and compare prices
  • ·         Oversee E-Rate application

Describe the Required Procedures for Proposed Strategies

1.    The District Technology Coordinator and campus coordinator will establish a grant           research and writing team to assist in the funding of technology for the district.  In   addition, local corporations will also be asked to fund technology.

2.    The District Technology Coordinator, Campus Administrators, Campus Technology         Team will prioritize needs and assessments based on surveys to create a budget for the        next school year.

3.  The District Technology Coordinator will continue to apply for E-Rate,  “a FCC program   administered by the Universal Service Administrative Co. that supports schools and       libraries with discounts on telecommunications and networking equipment based on the     district’s needs ("E-Rate Applications Surge in 2011," 2011, p. 6). 

Goal 3:  Fairfield ISD will expand and improve existing technology hardware and infrastructure.

“All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where they need it” (TEA, 2006).

Strategies for Funding:
  • ·         Prioritize needs and wants per campus
  • ·         Cycle  5 + year old computers to create new labs
  • ·         Cycle teacher computers to student computers
  • ·         Trade in old computers on the purchase of new ones
  • ·         Research and write grants
  • ·         Seek support from local corporations and private donors
  • ·         Apply for E-Rate
  • ·         Funded by district/campus budget
  • ·         Require campuses to use their campus budget to fund software programs for their campus

Strategies for Management
  • ·         Campus technology committee and campus administrator prioritize technology campus needs and wants
  • ·         Tech Department documents the age of computers and informs Technology Coordinator of need of new one.
  • ·         Tech Department completes routine maintenance on computers to keep these functioning at optimal performance
  • ·         Teacher computers are cycled to students to use in computer labs or classrooms
  • ·         The need of new computers will be reviewed by the District Technology Committee and each need will be prioritized
  • ·         Technology Coordinator researches companies that participate in accepting old computers to fray the cost of new ones
  • ·         New Technology Software will be reviewed by the District Technology Coordinator
  • ·         Campuses may prioritize the need for software on the list their needs and wants requests to Campus Administrators
  • ·         Technology Coordinator and Campus Administrator creates a grant research and writing team
  • ·         Grant Team will apply for grants for various technology
  • ·         Grant Team will inquire local corporations and private donors for technology support
  • ·         The Technology Director will do follow up on grants if needed
  • ·         The Technology Coordinator will apply for E-Rate assistance
  • ·         Campus Administrator will survey campus members for technology needs and wants
  • ·         The District Technology Coordinator, Campus Administrators and selected members from the campus will prioritize the needs and wants of the campus
  • ·         The District Technology Coordinator and District Technology Team will prioritize the needs of the districts wants and needs
  • ·         The District Technology Coordinator and Finance Director will create a technology budget for prioritized technology needs and wants which include those items purchased by the district’s budgets and those purchased by the campuses

Describe the Procedures for Proposed Strategies

  1. The District Technology Coordinator, Campus Administrators and selected members from the campus will prioritize the needs and wants of the campus.  The District Technology Coordinator and Finance Director will create a technology budget for selected prioritized technology needs and wants.  The E-Rate assistance will be considered for those items applicable.  Each item will then placed on either the district’s budget or a campus budget.  Other items will remain prioritized and placed on a list to be funded by outside resources, such as grants, local corporations, and private donors which will be written and requested by the selected grant writing team.   
  2.  The Tech Department, including the District Technology Coordinator, will be evaluated documentation of computers and consider which should be completely replaced, maintenance, and cycled to another location such as a student computer.  
  3.   The installation of new computer hardware and software will be completed by a member of the tech team and the District Technology Coordinator will oversee the process

References:

Fairfield ISD Technology Plan. (2010, August 27). Retrieved January 20, 2012, from Fairfield Independent School District: http://www.fairfield.k12.tx.us/dl/Tech%20Plan.pdf

E-Rate Applications Surge in 2011. (2011). T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education), 38(6), 6. Retrieved February 6, 2012, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5049644130

ISTE. (2011). The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T). Retrieved February 26, 2012, from: http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS-T_Standards.sflb.ash

Mclester, S. (2010). Where's the Money? the Obama Administration Has Moved Things around, but Tech Funding Options Still Abound-If You Know Where to Look. T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education), 37(9), 13+. Retrieved February 12, 2012, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5046024871

Texas Education Agency, (2006). Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020: A Report to the 80th Legislature from the Texas Education Agency. Retrieved February 26, 2012, from: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5082&menu_id=2147483665










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7 comments:

  1. CaseyMarch 19, 2012 at 3:44 PM

    Hi Carol,

    I love your idea of having a Grant Team. How would you choose the members of the team? Would it be a volunteer position? I am writing about implementing a technology coordinator at the campus level and having them responsible for grant writing, but a team would be such a better idea to really bring together ideas from all subjects and across the campus.

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    1. Carol TaylorMarch 19, 2012 at 9:25 PM

      Casey, Thank you for your question. Eighteen years ago I worked for a small 1A district. Even then, the district had a staff member who was responsible for writing grants. There are many trainings available to teach people to write grants. I believe it would be worthwhile to have a team working on the project so that more can be accomplished in a shorter amount of time or the work can be divided. One of our librarians applied for 6 grants and received 1. It was worth $6000. Every little bit helps. ~Carol

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  2. Lori DudleyMarch 19, 2012 at 4:14 PM

    Carol,
    I also admire the grant tea you mentioned. Our district is rather small but grants would make a big difference with the recent budget cuts. When writing for grants it is important to "be willing to change, expand, innovate, and enlarge your vision. You don't get grants to do what you already are doing. Funders want to invest in creative approaches. They want to help you change what you're doing so you will improve student outcomes, measurably, by the time funding ends" (McCrea, 2010).

    McCrea, B. (2010). Grant writing as a team effort. The journal. Retrieved (2012, March 19) from http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/08/12/grant-writing-as-a-team-effort.aspx

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  3. Ashley PeabodyMarch 19, 2012 at 8:10 PM

    Carol,

    I was a little confused. You mentioned that it will be a requirement for "teachers to attend 36 hours of technology training every 3 years" and than you stated that " Incentives are offered for teachers to attend technology professional development". Would this be additional training to receive the incentives or the required 36 hours? What types of incetives would be in placed? How would you keep track of the technology training each teacher takes?

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    1. Carol TaylorMarch 19, 2012 at 9:21 PM

      Ashley,

      I think that a teacher can receive an incentive and still be required to receive a certain number of hours for technology training. Currently, our district requires staff to receive 3 days of training during the summer. We then get 3 comp days for attending these trainings during the summer. The idea is already basically there, I just feel like teachers should be required to attend a certain number of technology trainings to keep up with today's technological innovations. I also feel strongly that unless it is mandatory, many teachers will not receive any professional development. Again, I feel like PD hours should be required to keep teachers "refreshed" and I believe part of those should be technology hours. At my previous district were were required to receive 60 hours of in five years. Thanks for your post. Carol

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  4. Mike MorrowMarch 21, 2012 at 3:04 PM

    Carol,
    In Goal 1 I saw you had a couple of references to the STAR chart. Have you tried using the past and current STAR charts for the district as a focal point for your goals, such as saying with Goal 1 we want to move our district rating for Educator Preparation and Development and for Teaching and Learning from a rating of X to a rating of Y. The administrators in the district should be interested in proposals that improve state-reported metrics. This might make it easier to sell your funding proposals.

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  5. MarliseMarch 25, 2012 at 5:48 PM

    Carol,

    I like the idea of a grant team also. This takes some of the pressure off the administrators (federal programs director, curriculum director, principals). An instructional technologist and several teachers could be on this team to get a variety of ideas of how the monies should be allocated for campus use or district use. What type of training would be available locally for your teachers?

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