Technology Plan Rubric Analysis

The general purpose of an educational technology plan is to establish clear

goals and a realistic, comprehensive strategy to improve education through
technology. I have chosen to take a closer look at a technology plan for a
public school district that I substituted for in NJ, and I have evaluated it
against the rubric below. I currently work in a small private school so I
wanted to analyze a plan that is more in-depth. I am hoping to gain a better
understanding of what an effective technology plan should contain!

The West New York Public School District Technology Plan 2013-2016

Criterion Rubric Value Evidence

Selection
Exceeds/Meets/Does Not
Meet

Executive Does Not Meet Clearly identifies the mission,

Summary primary goal, and objectives,
but is missing two or more
components of information
including the vision,
background, findings, issues,
conclusions, and
recommendations of the
technology plan. Reference p. 4

Identifies Meets Lists stakeholders names and

Contributors titles, but lacks a complete
and description of constituencies.
Stakeholder For example, it is not even
Groups clear who the chairperson is.
There is an implementation
activity table later in the
document which describes the
responsibilities of each
member involved in the
technology plan. Reference pp.
3-4, 14-17

Vision Does Not Meet Vision statement is not

Statement included. Perhaps it is included
with different wording, but its
not clearly identified or
explained.
Mission Meets Mission statement addresses
Statement learning outcomes but provides
limited information about what,
why, and for whom the school
or district is doing the plan. The
plan does not clearly indicate
what the school or district will
do to make its technology
vision a reality. The mission
statement is simply the
districts philosophy of
education, with no mention of
technology at all. Reference p.
4

Goals Exceeds Goals are broad,

comprehensive and realistic in
addressing teaching and
learning needs. Goals clearly
answer the questions: Who?
(students, educators,
administration) What? (five
specific goals) By when?
(three-year goals) By how
much? (implementation activity
table) According to which
instrument? (implementation
activity table) Reference pp.
14-17

Objectives Does Not Meet Objectives are absent or

incomplete; are difficult to
understand, unrealistic; appear
unmeasurable. Perhaps they
are included with different
wording, but they are not
clearly defined and labeled as
such.

Needs Exceeds Assessment is comprehensive

Assessment and contains detailed
information from hardware
resources, technology needs
assessment and Maturity Model
Benchmark surveys; identifies
use by students and staff, and
 training received and desired.
Reference pp. 12-14

General Issues Exceeds Clearly addresses issues of:

staff development, technical
support, technology standards;
student access to computers;
integrating new with old
technologies; capacity of
present facilities to
accommodate new
technologies; how technology
resources and budget will be
distributed among schools for
equitable access; how needs of
students with disabilities or
limited English proficiency will
be addressed; student access
to computers; integrating new
with old technologies; capacity
of present facilities to accept
new technologies, etc. Some of
the information could be found
sporadically throughout the
plan, but there is a section
(technology inventory) where
most of the information could
be found. Reference pp. 5-11

Conclusions Meets Conclusions and

and recommendations are
Recommendati adequately justified although
ons the basis of some conclusions
not entirely clear. The plan
concludes with a brief
evaluation plan followed by a
statement that the committee
will recommend any mid-
course corrections necessary
based on new developments,
opportunities and curriculum
needs. Reference pp. 20-21

Acceptable Does Not Meet Lack of Acceptable Use Policy

Use Policy Draft. I have seen some
schools include this in their
 student handbooks, but it is not
included in this technology
plan.

Technology Exceeds Provides clear and strong

and Learning description of how technology
Statement is currently used in learning
environment and ways it will be
used to achieve instructional
outcomes; describes how
technology will enhance
curriculum and teaching and
learning strategies; is tightly
coupled to other reform efforts;
indicates what students will do
environment. Reference
technology inventory pp. 5-11

Technology Exceeds Provides clear and

Standards, comprehensive description of
Requirements, the capabilities of hardware
and Models for and learning environments. It
Technology identifies minimum standards
and Learning and requirements for computer
hardware, software, and
connectivity; describes the
types of learning environments
that currently exist and those
to be created by the plan.
Reference technology
inventory pp. 5-11

Staff Exceeds Clearly describes current and

Development needed technology
competencies; Describes how
plan will take teachers and
other staff from present level of
technology competency and
knowledge to the level of skill
required in the plan; describes
staff development strategies
and recommendations for
incentives and professional
development resources
(professional development
table). Reference pp. 17-19
Technical Exceeds Provides clear and
Support comprehensive requirements
and plans for services available
and needed to support
technology use (network,
computer and software
support). Reference pp. 5-11

Projects, Does Not Meet Projects, budgets, or timelines

Budgets, and missing; provides vague or
Timelines little information on project,
budgets, or timelines; projects
appear not relevant to plan
goals; budget estimates appear
incongruent with plan or
unrealistic. There is a funding
plan that only lists the item
and federal, state, local, and
misc. funding. Reference p. 22-
24

Clarity of Exceeds Writing is concise and clear;

Writing uses active voice when
appropriate. No misspelling,
grammar, or punctuation
mistakes evident. Although the
technology plan was missing
important elements, it was
easy to read and understand.
Analysis Reflection

Positives
I believe this is an effective technology plan because it is detailed, it includes
most of the necessary elements, and it is well-written. I was expecting the
plan to be out-of-date, but I found the content to be modern and relevant. I
especially liked how the plan included specific findings on the results of
technology integration. In addition, I found the Professional Development
Table and Implementation Activity Table to be clear, well-organized, and very
helpful. In general, the plan appears to be a working document, not just a
recycled document that has been updated throughout the years.

Negatives
Although it was well-written in terms of wording, it was extremely time-
consuming to analyze and ensure that specific components were present due
to the organization of the document. The elements appeared to be scattered
throughout the plan, and not labeled or separated appropriately. For
example, I struggled with finding a Clear Vision Statement as well as
Objectives. If these were clearly labeled, they would have been easy to
identify. I was surprised that the plan was lacking an Acceptable Use Policy.
Specific Projects, Budgets, and Timelines were not present. The plan only
referred to funding in this area. Although the Stakeholders and Titles were
listed, I could not identify the specific roles and responsibilities of each
individual.

Changes
In addition to addressing the negatives just mentioned, I would like to see
the plan broken down into more categories. If technology plans are going to
be assessed according to a rubric, I feel that a rubric should be universal for
all school districts. This way it would be easier to write and analyze a plan,
ensuring that it meets all of the requirements. In addition, this is a three-year
plan with an annual review. The chairperson of the District Technology
Committee requests a report from each of the responsible staff members
listed. A meeting is held each year to review and discuss the levels of
achievement of the districts goals. Any mid-course corrections necessary are
also recommended based on new developments, opportunities and
curriculum needs. While I feel that this procedure seems effective, most
people would agree that technology plans should not be written to cover
multiple years due to the fact that the world of tech is constantly evolving.

Goal Accomplishment
I believe that this plan accomplishes the overall goal of a district technology
plan, although I would not consider it to be a model plan. I have the
impression that the missing elements are stated in other terms, and Im sure
an Acceptable Use Policy is distributed separately. As stated earlier, the
general purpose of an educational technology plan is to establish clear goals
and a realistic, comprehensive strategy to improve education through
technology. I feel that The West New York Public School did just that when
developing their Districts technology plan.