Action Plan

ORGANIZATIONAL FLOW CHART

Board of Directors > Administration (Principal)> Technology Specialist> Students
Teachers>
Parents>


Responsibilities of each member:
The Board of Directors is responsible for approving the budget and major purchases (including technology). They look for funding when necessary and set tuition cost according to needs (including technology). They evaluate the feasibility of major purchases and infrastructure changes (for example a new computer lab).
The School Administration under the direction of the Principal will work closely with the Technology Specialist, Teachers, and Parents to determine the technological needs of the school . He/She will prioritize needs and communicate them to the Board of Directors. The Principal will also facilitate necessary staff development to train teachers in the use of implementing technology in the classroom. The Principal will also work with parents, communicating technology related issues (ie- cyberbullying, internet safety issues, school technology policy) when necessary.
The Technology Specialist will oversee the computer lab and other IT issues in the school. He/she will also assist in installing hardware and software in the schools computers. He/She will assist all Professional Development dealing with Technology to be aware of what teachers and students will be working with. He/She will assist teachers with computer needs. He/She will also work with students and teachers in the computer lab.
Teachers will research new educational uses for technology. He/She will work closely with students implementing technology into the curriculum. He/She will attend all professional development dealing with technology and be accountable for implementing information learned through professional development. He/She will monitor that students are not violating the school technology policy. He/She will work with the Technology Specialist to integrate technology into the classroom. He/She will work with parents to communicate technology related issues (ie- cyberbullying, internet safety issues, school technology policy) when necessary.
Parents will be asked to work with students at home to complete technology related assignments as well as oversee that their children abide by the school technology policy. They will also provide feedback to teachers and administration regarding technology issues.
Students will make sure they follow the school technology code/policy. They will also provide feedback to the Technology Specialist, Teachers, and Parents on new technology that can be incorporated into their education.

Action Plan
Before setting up an action plan we need to define our problem. The problem can only be defined through different assessments and evaluations. Once the problem has been defined than we can make an action plan on how we are going to address the problem. Once we have done that we need to assess ourselves and make sure that we have addressed the problem to the best of our ability.
When I analyzed the AEIS data and spoke with the school administration I was able to identify weaknesses in student performance. I could see that Reading Comprehension in the 3rd and 4th grades were very low in my school. I could also see that writing across the board was low. By using this data the school was able to develop an action plan to address these weaknesses. We could do the same exercise by analyzing the STaR chart for my school to identify weaknesses and develop an action plan to address these weaknesses. Before addressing current weaknesses I think it’s important to see the gains from the previous school year to the present school year. See table:

Key Area
SY 2007-08
SY 2008-09
Teaching and Learning

15
17
Educator Preparation and Development

14
18
Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support

18
18
Infrastructure for Technology
17
17

As you can see there were significant increases in the Teaching and Learning and Educator Preparation and Development. The increased were a result of increased staff development focused on these two areas. For the SY2008-09 all areas fell in the classification of Advanced Tech. There is still room to improve to attain scores in the Target Tech Area. To begin with the appropriate Infrastructure must be put into place to raise the score. Goals can be identified by using the Texas Long Term Technology 2006-20 Document. For example improving technical support and having broadband access 24/7 for all users. Leadership and Admin support could be improved in the areas of Instructional Support and Leadership, and Support of Online Learning. By improving in these areas we will be able to raise our scores to reach target tech. Educator Preparation and Development could see improvements in Capabilities of Educators and Levels of Understanding and Patterns of Use to improve scores. These weak areas could be addressed through appropriate staff development. Teaching and Learning could use some improvement in student mastery of technology applications and online learning. Once again, more professional development would be necessary to address these weak areas. Part of this professional development should include presenting information that has been gathered through AEIS data, STaR chart data, teacher surveys and evaluations, as well as student surveys and evaluations.
In addition to staff development that will address the identified weak areas for the teachers, we must improve the decision making process dealing with the integration of technology. A Technology Committee should be formed that includes all of the stakeholders. In the case of my school that would be a representative of the Board of Directors, the Principal, the Technology Specialist, a teacher from the upper grades, a teacher from the lower grades, and 2 parents. The committee should discuss the identified weaknesses of school technology and the best way to address these. What is advantageous about forming a committee is that all the stakeholders are involved and have a voice. Each can describe the issue and possible solutions from their perspective.

Evaluating the Plan:
Any plan that is put into place must also be evaluated. If we do not assess or evaluate what we are doing we will have no idea if the plan is producing the positive changes we are hoping for. As far as student improvement goes, after we have put our action plan into place we should compare next year’s STaR chart with the previous year. We can also compare next year’s AEIS data with the previous year (we are under the assumption that appropriate use of technology use should increase overall academic performance). We can also assess teacher performance through teacher evaluations (self and done by the administrator). After staff development, a teacher accountability check list can be used to verify that teachers are putting into practice what they have learned. The Principal or Technology Specialist can be responsible for overseeing and evaluating the checklist, as well as working with teachers who have not been able to complete the check list. Finally, the Technology Committee meetings and outcomes should be evaluated. This may also be done by a meeting outcome chart and evaluation. The chart could include goals to be accomplished by the next meeting (with the time frame and person in charge), what was accomplished since the last meeting, an explanation if certain goals were not accomplished. In addition, there could be a written evaluation of the meeting done by each participant, on what was accomplished, not accomplished, improvements that need to be made etc. Whichever of these evaluations are done, one person should be appointed as Committee chairperson who will evaluate them and make the necessary changes.