Week 4 Assignment: Action Plan

Week 4 Assignment Part I: Development of an Organization Chart Integrating Technology

LuAnn Hughes - District Technology Head
Ms. Hughes coordinates district technology programs. She is instrumental in integrating new technology programs.

John Griner - Mr. Griner is in charge of software programs for the district.
He purchases new software and provides technical support for new programs.

Instructional Assistants -
These people float from campus to campus overseeing technological problems and assisting teachers.

Teachers -
Responsible for technology integration at the campus/classroom levels.

According to my principal during our week 3 interview, the role of the principal is to monitor technology usage. Through a district wide program called Eduphoria, my principal is able to view PDAS in relation to technology usage, lesson plans in relation to incorporating technology, and data in relation to technology usage in the classroom. He also conducts "data walks" weekly and is able to view each teacher's level of technology implementation.

Week 4 Assignment Part II: Professional Development Planning

In interviewing a member of my campus Site Based Decision Making Team, it was suggested campus-wide professional development training for use with current technology programs. Many of our teachers do not know how to use what we already have on campus let alone new programs. The students I interviewed said technology usage varies from class to class. Some teachers are using technology everyday and allowing students access as well, while some teachers do not touch technology the whole year. We need to be on the same page and faithfully using our technology that is available. After the professional development sessions, our newer teachers can mentor the veteran teachers to provide a campus contact.

According to the Campus Improvement Plan at Cater on high quality staff development (p.7), technology in-services were not mentioned. Under the heading of integrating technology into the classroom environment (p. 9), there is a list of programs teachers can use to incorporate technology into the classroom.

According to the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology "professional development opportunities must be available 24/7 to all educators through a variety of delivery methods, including online and other distance learning technologies" (p. 2).

After the first initial professional development sessions to make sure that everyone is on the same page about current technology in the district, data can be taken from the STaR chart results, and teachers can be grouped by developing technology use or advanced technology use. There should be technology professional development tailored to suit each end of the spectrum and offered throughout the year. I recommend the following plan that allows technology staff development at the campus once a month. This is frequent enough to allow teachers time to try out the new information and provide feedback on how it is working for them in the classroom.

August 2011 - Topic: Information about current technology in the distrct.
The objective of this meeting is to make sure that everyone is on the same page about current technologies and how to use them.

September 2011 - Topic: STaR Chart Results.
The objective of this meeting is to make the staff aware of our STaR chart trends for the last several years. We can discuss as a campus how to improve low areas and how to keep improving high areas.

October 2011 - Topic: Grouping teachers by technology ability levels.
The objective of this meeting is to ensure that teachers are receiving technology level appropriate training. The advanced users need a different type of technology than the developing users. Also in this meeting teachers will be paired with a mentor. The developing technology users will be given an advanced technology partner they can go to as they are learning how to incorporate technology into their classrooms.

November 2011 - June 2012 - Topic: Specific sessions for various group levels.
The objective of these sessions is to target specific areas of importance to each technology level group. Each group will have the opportunity to guide what they need from the sessions, and will have the ability to share with each other things they are doing in their classrooms to incorporate technology.

Persons Responsible for Implementation
Campus principal and assistant principal
District technology head - to oversee the topics that will be presented at the campus as well as offer suggestions or input on who will be presenting.
Technology assistants - as needed
Teachers - by taking the new information and applying it to their classrooms.

Temple Independent School District. (2009-2010). Cater Elementary Campus Improvement Plan (CIP) 2009-2010, 1-23.

Texas Education Agency. (2006 November). Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020. Retrieved from TEA website: http://www.tea.state.tx.us

Week 4 Assignment Part III: Evaluation Planning for Action Plan

At Cater Elementary we are currently have an assessment measure in place, but the measure is not being used for technology. Each week our administrators are responsible for conducting a "data walk" on each teacher on campus. This provides the school and district data about each teacher. It would be easy to incorporate a technology component with the "data walk." This would provide the campus and district data on a weekly basis about how faithfully technology is being utilized in the classrooms. If a trend develops with certain teachers not incorporating technology, those teachers could be recommended for more professional development. The district improvement plan states "refine technology curriculum to meet Technology Application TEKS and integrate into the core curriculum areas" (p. 30).

We could also use online surveys as a means for collecting data. We could survey teachers, parents, and students to find out if technology use is being increased in classrooms. This could be done quarterly.

In addition, principals should be looking at the types of professional development their teachers signed up for or completed. If they see a teacher lacking in technology professional development, they will be able to conference with them immediately and work on finding a session for them to attend.

The timeline for evaluation of the professional development sessions on campus should be occuring once at least once a month. The professional development plan I have suggested would provide the ability to have the teachers try new ideas and come back in a month and report what is working for them and what is not working for them.

Temple Independent School District. (2010-2011). District Improvement Plan 2010-2011, 1-49.