EDTECH 501

Boise State University

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie

April 25, 2013

School Evaluation Summary

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie, EDTECH 501

Introduction
This technology use survey was conducted by a faculty member of the surveyed institution, Wendi Straub, and data was summarized by a third party to the institution, Ann-Michelle Levangie. The objective was to synthesize the schools technology environment and determine an overall maturity stage for the institution. The following report includes a description of the institution demographics, rationale for rankings at the category level, and a summary of overall evaluation.

Methodology
Information about the schools technology planning and use were obtained via informal interviews conducted by Wendi Straub. Both the principal and IT support person were each engaged in individual conversations, as well as, one joint conversation within the past two weeks. Teacher use and attitudes were also derived from recent dialogues. Additional input was determined from Mrs. Straubs personal experiences as a manager of two of the schools mobile computer labs, a 2012 Biology curriculum co-developer for the district, and a member of the district Blended Learning PLT.

EDTECH 501

Boise State University

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie

April 25, 2013

Shermer High School Demographics

2012-2013 school year began with 1367 students in grades 9th-12th. This is the first year that 9th grade was part of the high schools rather than the junior high schools in this school district, consequently more than 600 students were new in the fall. As the school made room for the additional grade, two computer labs (and everything larger than a closet) were converted to classroom space. Three new mobile labs with 30 netbooks each were purchased to mitigate the loss. However, with the additional students, the hardware to student ratio rose from four students per computer to five. Two demographics were also affected by the restructuring of the district to accommodate a freshman class students receiving free and reduced lunch rose from 29% to 40% and students of Hispanic descent grew from 11% to 18%; increasing overall minority groups from 20% to 27%. Black and Asian populations are roughly 1% each; nearly 4% are American Indian and another 4% are other or mixed minority. The remaining nearly 73% are caucasian.

Chart 1

EDTECH 501

Boise State University

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie

April 25, 2013

Maturity Model Benchmarks

ADMINISTRATIVE

Policy Behavioral - ISLANDS The school has a formal policy in place for responsible, educational use of technology.
Personal devices are officially prohibited within classrooms but, in the past two years, have been made allowable on a case-by-case basis. This ranking indicates that technology is either not being used to the letter of the existing policy. Resource/Infrastructure - ISLANDS Though there are shared informal practices, no official policy exists for the implementation of the tools of technology in the daily curriculum.

Planning Behavioral - EMERGENT Technology plans are driven by school budget allotments and teacher-initiated grants for
specific projects. The formal expansion of a school technology plan has been delayed by repealed technology laws. This qualifies the category to be at the Emergent level. Resource/Infrastructure - EMERGENT The school does not have a formal technology plan. Resources are allotted by available budget and influenced by enrollment fluctuations. There is an informal effort made to maintain a 4-5 student per computer ratio.

Budget Behavioral - ISLANDS In line with the Islands description of high priority budget with simple resourcing, this
institution includes technology in the school budget and uses the funds largely for hardware and software. Resource/Infrastructure - ISLANDS The institution has a technology budget from which all resources are funded. No funds are derived from other budget line items. District funds support the network, PowerSchool management, Google Drive support, and one full-time IT employee per school.

Administrative Information Behavioral - INTELLIGENT As the Intelligent benchmark defines, the school utilizes a fully paperless system. Faculty
and administrators communicate with each other, with parents, and with students using electronic systems. Classroom management is electronic. Resource/Infrastructure - INTELLIGENT In support of the paperless communication mentioned prior, the school is equipped with systems for electronic communication using Google applications, email, PowerSchool, and Txtwire. CURRICULAR

Electronic Information Behavioral - INTEGRATED

EDTECH 501

Boise State University

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie

April 25, 2013

The Integrated level indicates dependency on and use of information resources. This school
has curriculum documents provided by the district. While technology resources are included, their use is not required. Technology is integrated into standard curricula by fewer than 30% of teachers on a regular basis. Resource/Infrastructure - INTEGRATED Lesson integration mentioned above is performed largely in computer labs (mobile labs or library stations) by appointment. The school has a network available to students and teachers. It is accessible by personal device and Google Docs is allowed for digital collaboration.

Assessment Behavioral - EMERGENT Use of technology for assessment is limited. Technology is most commonly employed by
teachers and used by students for projects and formal assessments. There is not much depth to the useageword processing is most common. Resource/Infrastructure - ISLANDS The institution supports the use of technology for generating traditional summative assessment. Students take state standardized tests on desktop computers. Systems in place include PLATO, ExamView,Idaho Digital Learning Academy, and BrainHoney.

Curriculum Integration Behavioral - EMERGENT The curricula is only dependent on technology in that it is delivered from district to teacher
via the district network. Because the daily classroom use of technology is limited and driven by individual teachers, this is ranked as Emergent. Resource/Infrastructure - ISLANDS Technology related resources are available through some of the district curricula and their implementation could be supported by the network and hardware.

Teacher Use Behavioral - INTEGRATED Technology is used daily by teachers for administration and curriculum. Useage is heavily
weighed towards the former. All classroom management and most communication is performed using digital systems, but curricular integration is at the discretion of the teacher and dependent on available resources. Hardware is largely outside of individual classrooms, making full integration a challenge. Resource/Infrastructure - INTELLIGENT All teachers have the available hardware and network access for digital classroom management and instructional support as needed.

Student Use Behavioral - ISLANDS As specified by the Islands ranking, students use technology, but in limited ways. Use of
personal devices in the classroom is regulated. Computer stations are only sometimes used outside of classroom instruction. Use of technology is rarely required outside of class. Resource/Infrastructure - INTEGRATED Student technology access within school is consistent and regular. Students have individual accounts, wireless access, and use of hardware as scheduled by the instructor. SUPPORT

EDTECH 501

Boise State University

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie

April 25, 2013

Stakeholder Involvement Behavioral - EMERGENT Although some groups are aware of the planning and implementation process, this is
confined to the school super userstech savvy teachers and those on professional learning teams. None are involved in planning. Resource/Infrastructure - EMERGENT There is not a wide range of involvement in the tech planning process. Participation goes top-to-bottom, starting with district-level decision makers and going down to school administrators and staff.

Administrative Support Behavioral - EMERGENT Administrative involvement in planning is limited to peripheral discussion. Administrators
are interested in the conversation of technology integration, but do not contribute to or implement solutions. Resource/Infrastructure - ISLANDS The infrastructure for planning is slightly ahead of the implementation. Time is scheduled for planning and implementation, but this is limited to district-initiated projects.

Training Behavioral - ISLANDS Many staff members participate in professional development days, the 3-4 days per year of
district-mandated training. A smaller number pursue additional training opportunities through the district or through local college partnerships. Resource/Infrastructure - ISLANDS On-going formal training consists of at least 2 development days per school year. The training is executed by limited personnel, including experts, administrators, and instructional coaches. Some teachers complete additional training on a voluntary basis, and the district encourages them to disseminate their learning to their colleagues.

Technical & Infrastructure Support Behavioral - INTEGRATED Most staff utilize formal IT support as needed. There one IT support employee for the
school, so there are inefficiencies in implementation. Resource/Infrastructure - INTELLIGENT The school has full-time IT support to address all needs. That support consists of a single employee, so response times range from 20 minutes to 4 days, depending on the severity of the issue. CONNECTIVITY

Local Area Networking (LAN) Behavioral - ISLANDS All staff and students use the networks, but with a range of sophistication. Some use the
network to support learning management systems. Fewer still use data, video, or audio services. Resource/Infrastructure - INTEGRATED Though the network can occasionally be overwhelmed by high use or slowed by distance from the hub, the network is consistently functional and available to all via wired or wireless connection. Filters limit access to working environments infrequently.

EDTECH 501

Boise State University

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie

April 25, 2013

District Area Networking (WAN) Behavioral - N/A The institution only utilizes WAN district area networking the sense that it uses the
Internet. Resource/Infrastructure - N/A The institution uses the Internet for district networking.

Internet Access Behavioral - ISLANDS Many staff and students use the internet, though use is primarily by the former. Useage is
only sporadically integrated into the curriculum. Resource/Infrastructure - INTELLIGENT All staff, students, and school guests have access to either wired or wireless internet connections.

Communication Systems Behavioral - INTEGRATED Email is consistently used for communication within the school. Email communication
between teachers and students or teachers and parents is less consistent. Resource/Infrastructure - INTELLIGENT Any inconsistent use described above is behavioral only. Email access is universal through the school. INNOVATION

New Technologies Behavioral - ISLANDS New technologies are accepted by many staff members, but not all. While opportunities for
experimentation are encouraged, they are practiced by only the core group of innovators on staff. Resource/Infrastructure - ISLANDS There is no inherent resistance to new technologiesthey are accepted by many. However, implementation is limited, depending on ease-of-use and motivation.

Comprehensive Technologies Behavioral - INTEGRATED Technology in the institution is fairly comprehensive. Most forms of technology are used
by at least one teacher within the school. Technologies used consistently are the basic hardware and systems provided by the district. Any additional tools come from teacher grants. Resource/Infrastructure - INTEGRATED Technology infrastructure is strong and includes computers and network access in every classroom. In addition to these basics, there are projectors, iPads, clickers, document cameras, and interactive room cameras on a much more limited basis. These tools are used, but frequently not to their full capabilities.

Summary

EDTECH 501

Boise State University

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie

April 25, 2013

The Maturity Model Benchmarks from the Technology Use Plan Primer by Peter H.R. Sibley and Chip Kimball cover 19 categories across 5 organizational filters. Results of this survey show that there is a consistent trend across the categoriesboth in total (Chart 4) and in looking at Behavioral (Chart 2) and Resource/Infrastructure (Chart 3) types alonethat reveals the Islands stage as the dominant rank in this institution. The only view in which a different stage outranks Island is in the Curricular Filter (Chart 5). The Curricular area is at the Integrated stage, which reveals that the resource availability and the behaviors of the teachers and students are at a higher level that the institution as a whole. Despite this anomaly, the overall stage assigned to this institution is the Islands stage. Characteristic of this stage, the school demonstrates regular use of computers and digital systems, though use is greatly weighed toward administrative and classroom management functionalities and less toward integration with the curriculum. Technology plans are in place and are visible, but they are limited and the process of planning is not transparent and does not involve school staff. The institution sponsors training, but more rigorous professional development is on a voluntary basis.

Chart 2

Chart 3

Chart 4

Chart 5

An interesting factor illuminated by the data is the detail that in 9 of the 19 categories, the Behavioral benchmark stage is behind that of the Resource/Infrastructure stage (Chart 6). This shows that available resources are not being adequately integrated into the curriculum and may inform a recommendation to increase teacher technology training within the institution.

EDTECH 501

Boise State University

Wendi Straub and Ann-Michelle Levangie

April 25, 2013

Chart 6

Additionally, we can see that there are two categories in which both Behavioral and Resource/Infrastructure types are classed at the Emergent stage Planning and Stakeholder Involvement. This suggests a need for a formally defined technology plan with all groups (faculty and administrators) involved with and engaged in the planning. Overall, this school is moving in the right direction for infrastructure and support and will benefit tremendously from additional formalization of processes and increased community involvement. Attitudes and behavior lag behind resource availability, but the Islands of use by core innovators should continue to spread, especially as digital skills are becoming more essential to best practices.