Hearne Elementary-Hearne ISD - Marlise Golden

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


My district currently does not have a technology plan in place. I am on a committee that is in the process of developing a plan to be implemented in the near future. During this course I have been creating objectives and goals that would suit the needs of our district.  My goal is to submit my plan to the committee to use in the development of the new plan for the district. The objectives and goals that I have created for technology, funding, and management all meet the needs of the district as of right now or until others are created to replace what I have.


Technology Objective:
Students use creative thinking and innovative processes to construct knowledge and develop products. Through the study of technology operations and concepts, students learn technology related terms, concepts, and data input strategies. Students develop critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills by collecting, analyzing, and reporting digital information. (Texas Education Agency, 2011) Student mastery of basic computer skills and knowledge of hardware and software usage capability will determine if objectives are being met by each student. Adequate computer skills will promote student success in the classroom and create lifelong learners in the growing digital society.

Funding Objective:  
Hearne ISD will allocate funds to employ an Instructional Technologist for the district and a Technology/Computer Lab Teacher for the elementary campus to satisfy the requirements of the Technology Plan.  Funds will be generated from the State and other Grants for technology usage. The objective should be met by the beginning of the 2012-2013 school years with specific job descriptions in place.
• Many of the barriers that currently exist to implementing the recommendations of the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 1996-2010 involve the lack of adequate funding for administrators and educational technology staff to fully address their students’ educational needs. (Long Range-Plan for Technology, 2010)

Management Objective:
Utilize a functional Technology Plan/Technology Professional Development Plan to ensure the advancement of all students in technology though curriculum and instruction. Provide sufficient professional development for all professional staff to use technology provided on the campus proficiently to implement more technology into instructional lessons. The objective can be measured by frequently monitoring technology implementation by the teachers and student achievement according to the goals in the technology plan.

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


The goals that I have written allow the district/local campuses to evaluate the outcomes and rewrite them as needed or at the end of the plan term.  Since my district is working on developing a plan the goals that I have chosen to write focus on the needs of the district that were determined by a survey sent to the staff.


Goal 1:  Hire and maintain a highly qualified Instructional Technologist
•         Evaluate job performance by formal evaluations, walk through
•         Survey teachers to determine in the instructional technologist is knowledgeable and helpful on each campus
•         Review documentation of continued education credits earned on a yearly basis
•         Verify requirements for hire (education, certifications, experience etc.)
•         Review documentation (list) of current and new software to determine changes and or improvements


Goal 2: Develop a Technology Plan/Technology Professional Development Plan
•         Review technology plan meeting minutes to determine if adequate and obtainable goals are being
created
•         Evaluate drafts of the plan to determine if goals are measurable

Goal 3: Staff computer lab with highly qualified teacher(s) on the elementary campus to teach TEKS objectives (k-6) for Technology.
•         Evaluate yearly rehire information from campus principal
•         Maintain allocated funding for teacher retention
•         Review lesson plans for current TEKS standards and objectives for technology

Goal 4: Provide adequate technology professional development for all staff
•         Mandatory evaluation sheets or electronic surveys concerning each technology professional development session to rate the training
•         All technology professional development sessions will have some form of training to provide staff with hands on examples to be completed at least 75% during the session ready to use in the classroom
•         Sign in sheets for staff to verify attendance
•         Provide documentation form any technology professional development that is not local

3. How did the strategies defined to meet the proposed objectives?
The district first has to create and adopt a technology plan before the strategies within the plan can be implemented. Management objectives have to be achieved and in place first to tie the funding and technology objectives together.  Once the district has the plan in place then the assessments will show that the objectives are needed for the district to improve in the area of technology.  The goals that have been created lead to student success which is derived from successful management skills to provide funding for adequate professional development that will ensure implementation of more technology throughout the entire district.


References:
Long Range-Plan for Technology. (2010, August). Retrieved February 23, 2012, from Texas Education Agency: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5082&menu_id=2147483665
Texas Education Agency. (2011, September 26). Retrieved February 26, 2012, from Chapter 126. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Technology Applications: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter126/ch126a.html