School Evaluation Summary

ABC School District #321 Demographics

ABC School District # 321 is made up of one elementary school (PreK-3rd), one intermediate school (4th-5th), one middle school and one high school supporting approximately 1614 students in this rural community in Idaho. With the population of the town listed as approximately 5343 people, these public schools are the heart of the community. The ethnicity of the students is multicultural. Almost 84% of the student population are white and almost 23% are Hispanic/Latino. There are approximately 4.8% more girls than boys within the community. As a district we meet the needs of close to 70% of students on free and reduced lunch. The median income is $26,880/ year, which means that 12.6% of families and 15.4% of the population fall below the poverty line, including 17.9% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over. Within the school system there are about 218 English Language Learners (E.L.L.) and 136 students who are currently on an Individual Education Program (I.E.P.).

ABC School District #321 Employee Distribution

Administrative
The Administrative filter consists of policy, planning, budget, and administrative information. All of these criteria are important to help to evaluate the behaviours and resources that administrators and staff need to focus on. Administrative Policy

Behavioral: Islands Our school district is just in the beginning stages of developing more policies and procedures specifically for technology. The policy process has been started, but few formal policies are currently in place. Resource/infrastructure: Integrated Formal policies are limited. What few policies currently exist have been formalized. Policies will be added as the needs of the school district are further evaluated and discussed. Administrative Planning Behavioral: Islands Some projects are planned by administration. However most projects are developed and completed by staff members independent from administration. Resource/infrastructure: Islands There exists minimal support from administration with regards to planning and implementation. Administration has a goal to develop a technology plan that is more concrete, but currently it is a work in progress. Administrative Budget Behavioral:Islands Outside of state funding, very little money is directed toward a formal technology budget and it is not given high priority. Resource/infrastructure: Islands There is little to no funding allocated toward assisting with technology development in budgets outside of a single technology budget. Administrative Information Behavioral:Integrated Most staff members utilize administration systems. Some paperless systems are being implemented. Resource/infrastructure: Intelligent Administrative systems are generally available to all staff members. However, there are staff members who choose not to use these systems.

Curricular
The Curricular filter consists of curriculum integration, assessment, teacher use, and student use. All of these criteria are important to help to evaluate the behaviours and resources on which teachers and students need to focus.

Curricular Electronic Information Behavioral:Islands To some degree students and staff members depend on information resources and generally utilize resources appropriately. There are some teachers and staff members who do use the technology they have everyday, but others either need more training, support, or in general prefer teaching without using these tools. Resource/infrastructure:Integrated Resources are dependent upon teacher/grade level/subject matter, but are generally available to most. Often times, teachers and staff are creative with how they use technology and collaborating with other teachers/staff is a way to build technological skills. Students have access to these resources more in the upper grades and less in the lower grades. Curricular Assessment Behavioral:Islands Staff members use assessment curriculum to evaluate work and for self-assessment. Resource/infrastructure:Islands Staff members focus largely on traditional assessment methods and are slowly moving toward technology-based assessment methods. Curricular Integration Behavioral:Islands Staff members generally teach without technology dependent curriculum but that is slowly changing. Resource/infrastructure:Emergent Teachers are expected to find their own opportunities to incorporate technology with curriculum. If educational opportunities become available, the staff is notified through email or this topic is discussed during staff meetings. Curricular Teacher Use Behavioral:Emergent Teachers are slowly beginning to use technology to enrich curriculum and generate materials on a regular basis. Resource/infrastructure:Intelligent All staff members have access to technology in work areas.

Curricular Student Use Behavioral:Islands There are computer labs in each school and there are a small number of computers in each classroom but student access to the internet is limited to programs like Read Naturally, Plato, Accelerated Reader (AR) and Waterford. Resource/infrastructure: Integrated Students are given consistent and regular access to technology as it is needed and is available.

Support
The Support filter consists of stakeholder involvement, administrative support, training and technical support, as well as, infrastructure support. All of these criteria are important to help to evaluate the behaviours and resources on which teachers and support staff need to focus. Support Stakeholder Involvement Behavioral: Islands Most staff members are not included or engaged in the process of planning and implementation, which takes place at a higher level. Resource/infrastructure: Emergent Higher level staff members participate in planning and implementation. A full representation of staff members is lacking. As technology becomes more prominent in our school district, there will be more opportunity for teachers, staff and students to share their thoughts and idea. Support Administrative Support Behavioral: Islands Administration promotes and discusses support but, in practice and implementation, there is limited support. Resource/infrastructure: Islands More time and funding seems to be directed toward training than technical support and implementation. Support Training Behavioral: Emergent A limited number of staff members participate in technology training sessions. The training sessions that have been offered address the needs of very new technology users. Resource/infrastructure: Emergent

There is limited formal training, which is largely directed toward users who are new to technology. The training sessions generally consist of how to save documents, how to use search engines, how to connect to the LCD machine and how to print. Future training sessions will be more in depth and applicable to enhancing lessons and teaching in the classroom. Support Technical/Infrastructure Support Behavioral:Integrated Staff members avail themselves of any support that is made available by the school district. When issues arise, teaches choose to collaborate with their peers or talk to the technical support person at the school. Often technical support personnel are busy, but they try to assist you as soon as they can. Resource/infrastructure:Islands Support is limited and varies per school. Technical assistance is typically informal. The really big technical issues are dealt with by the technology coordinator and or the administration.

Connectivity
The Connectivity filter consists of Local Area Networking, District Area Networking, internet access and communication systems. All of these criteria are important to help to evaluate the behaviours and resources on which school district and the community need to focus. Connectivity Local Area Networking (LAN) Behavioral:Islands Connectivity continues to improve. Access to the internet at faster speeds has become available, but remains limited. Resource/infrastructure:Islands High-speed networking is available within the schools. Wireless just became available in the last year. Connectivity District Area Networking (WAN) Behavioral:Islands Staff members use district services often and function at the traditional and basic level. Resource/infrastructure:Islands District-area networking has dedicated lines but applications and data are limited. Connectivity Internet Access Behavioral:Islands

Staff members use the internet frequently. Student access is limited. Curriculum integration is limited. Resource/infrastructure: Intelligent Internet access is available to all locations. Connectivity Communication Systems Behavioral:Integrated Email is used regularly in administrative communication and learning activities. Resource/infrastructure:Islands Email is available to all staff members, but availability is limited to students.

Innovation
The Innovation filter consists of new technologies, and comprehensive technologies. All of these criteria are important to help to evaluate the behaviours and resources on which teachers and students need to focus. Innovation New Technologies Behavioral: Integrated Most staff members are excited about having new technology available. They can create updated and innovative lessons for their students.

Resource/infrastructure: Integrated Staff members are excited about new technology with moderate implementation. Staff members, students and administration have the opportunity to apply these skills to their own job, as well as teach these skills to others. Innovation Comprehensive Technologies Behavioral: Emergent Technology is limited to overhead projectors, VCR/DVD/TV, LCD Machine, laptops, and IPads. There are a limited number of smart boards and other forms of technology. The technology in the classroom before last year was due to teachers and staff members writing grants and being awarded the funds to purchase classroom technology. Resource/infrastructure: Emergent Some classrooms and schools have more technology than others. Resources are underutilized. In the last year the elementary school received laptops and LCD machines. Many teachers were

able to get an IPad too. This year the high school and then eventually the intermediate and middle schools will receive this same technology.

Conclusion
ABC School District #321 has many strengths, as well as room for growth when it comes to technology. Overall, I would say that the school district falls under the Island, curricular filter. Technology is important to the school district and they are making changes that allow them to grow technologically. They dont have all the answers and plans are not entirely in place to support technology that is currently being used, but they have a solid start and are in the beginning stages of expanding to the next stage. A year ago we had outdated, super slow desktop computers and not all of these computers had access to the internet. Due to a recent new program, the high school and elementary school all received laptops and LCD machines and all can connect to the internet at a much faster speed. Teachers now have the ability to enhance lessons now that they have the tools to accomplish this task. One area I would say that would be valuable to evaluate would be how we support these systems. It is my impression that issues concerning spyware detection and prevention and firewalls have not been addressed as yet by our school district. I am also concerned that the district does not appear to have a tested disaster recovery plan. We can survive without technology, but it is harder to communicate when the internet or the server is down. Our goal as district is to create improved policies, support our staff as well as the technology we have and provide adequate training programs on how to use new technology and tools they have so students and teachers can learn and grow.