CFISD Kristina Coen

1. How did the plan meet the existing needs in technology, funding, and management issues?

FUNDING:

The plan that I have developed focuses on reorganization of personnel and therefore shifting of human resources. I felt that a district so large that it contains ten high schools alone could not truly function with only 8 instructional specialists for the entire district. Therefore, I felt that these individuals along with specialists from the curriculum and instruction department known as Curriculum Technology Coaches should be reassigned and place on a campus. I realize that this goal will have to happen in phase and I suggested that the schools that demonstrated the greatest need should be the first to receive these human resources to their campuses. I feel that moving personnel would allow the district to truly get its money’s worth and become more efficient with our tight budget.  In addition to this I also promoted the creation of a grant writing committee in order to secure resources and to help campus become proactive in their search for funding and material. Grant writing should not be something that is only encouraged at the district level every educator should have some basic training in regards to grant writing. Of course, my plan did focus on the primary allocation of funding to come from traditional sources such as local, state, and federal funds. My plan also includes the continuation of the help from E-Rate since it provides discount allotment of necessary equipment. 

MANAGEMENT:

Due to the reassignment of personnel in an effort not only to be more financially savvy but to also create a streamlined system of command. Currently the entire district shares eight instructional specialists that are responsible for all campuses K-12. Considering that there are fifty-two elementary schools alone I can guarantee that the level of service they receive is not equitable at best. The ultimate goal would be to have a technology specialist at each campus yet this would have to be done in phases over a period of time. The technology-training specialist will be responsible for cataloging and recording attendance and trainings offered. Such information will be vital to gauge the progress of achieving the stated goals and objectives of the technology plan.

TECHNOLOGY:

Using ISTE standards as a baseline of performance teachers will be expected to enhance their curriculum with technology integration as well as increase time spent attending professional development within this topic. The current district technology plan teachers are not held to the ISTE standards as well as gaps in accountability of technology integration in the classroom.

2. How did the goals provide the measurable outcomes for future improvement?

I feel that the goals created establish high aspirations for the district. But high expectations need to have a ladder to help you reach such high goals. Therefore, each goal contains objectives that readily breaks down specific components that contain measurable indicators in order to evaluate progress.

3. How did the strategies defined to meet the proposed objectives?

Each goal and its corresponding objectives are categorized into one of three topics: technology, funding, or management and thus the strategies used are selected to optimized a particular objective. For example, in order to successfully determine the whether teachers are integrating technology at the advanced level classroom observations and review of lessons plans is a necessary strategy.  In order to better help and support the teachers year round support is needed at the campus level. Hence, the inclusion of reassigning existing technology personnel to help those campus in the greatest and then continue to build a strong technology personnel base from this model.