Springfield Massachusetts Public Schools - Dr. Alice Christie

210 Pages·2010·3.55 MB·English

Springfield Massachusetts Public Schools
4-Year
Strategic Technology Plan

For High Student Achievement

July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2015

Superintendent of Schools
Alan J. Ingram, Ed.D.

Spri ngfield School Committee
Mayor & Chairperson

Honorable Domenic Sarno

School Committee Members
Norman Roldan, Vice Chairman

Christopher Collins
Barbara Gresham
Denise Hurst
Antonette E. Pepe
Peter Murphy

Technology Contact Person

Donna Boivin
Chief Information,

Technology and Accountability
Officer

District Name: Springfield
Three-Digit LEA Code: Tab2l8e1 o f Contents
Address: 195 St ate Street
Springfield, Massachusetts 01102-1410
Website: www.sps.springfield.ma.us Page
Springfield Public Schools
Table of Contents
District Vision and Mission ..………………………………..………………… 4
Office of Information, Technology and Accountability Vision and Mission …… 4
Budget …………………………………………………………………………… 5
Evaluation ………………………………………………………………………. 7
Teaching and Learning ………………………………………………………… 8
Educator Preparation ………………………………………………………….. 12
Administration and Support Services ………………………………………………. 13
Database and Application Solutions ………………………………………………. 17
Infrastructure for Technology .………………………………………………… 24
2009-2010 Goals and Strategies Aligned with STaR Chart ………………..... 31
Appendices:
A: SPS 2009-2010 Technology Team ……………………………..……… 37
B: Acceptable Use Policy ............................................................................ 40
C: Assessment Calendar ..................................................................................... 57
D: Blog and Podcast Policies ……………………………………….…….. 64
E: School Status As Of March 2010 Hardware, Software, Networking ... 67
F: Instructional Software ………………………………………...…….… 73
G: Instructional Technology Addendum …………………….…………... 77
H: Academic Department Technology Plans …………………….……… 80
I: E-Rate Information ………………………………………….…………. 126
J: Results Of Teacher Technology Use Survey August 2009 …………... 143
K: Grant Information …………………………………………….……….. 147
L: Core Development Platform …………………………………..……….. 159
M: Build Vs Buy Decision Chart ………………………………….………. 162
N: Internet Access Outside the Springfield Public Schools ……..……… 164
O: Massachusetts Local Technology Plan Guidelines …………………… 167
P: Massachusetts STaR Chart ……………………………………………. 174
Q: Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations..… 179
R: Assistive Technology Guide ……………………………………………. 181
S: Recommended Criteria For Distance Learning Courses ……………. 183
T: Academic Plans Combined Budget ……………………………………. 185
U: School Plans Combined Budget ……………………………………….. 188
V: Instructional Technology and
Computer And Information Technology Staff………………………… 191
W: Action Research…………………………………………………………. 195
X: Data Life Management Plan ……………………………………… 205
Y: Office of Information, Technology and Accountability Organizational Chart.. 208
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(www.wordle.net model of SPS Technology Plan)
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Springfield Public Schools
Technology Vision and Mission Statements

District Vision
A Culture of Educational Excellence.

District Mission
The mission of the Springfield Public Schools is to provide the highest quality of education so that all of our students
are empowered to realize their full-potential and lead fulfilling lives as lifelong learners, responsible citizens and
leaders in the 21st Century.

Office of Information, Technology and Accountability Vision
A Culture of Educational Excellence where all staff and students have the technology knowledge and skills
necessary for 21st Century success.

Office of Information, Technology and Accountability Mission
The mission of the Office of Information, Technology, and Accountability is to provide leadership and support in the
use of the information, technology, and accountability systems and protocols necessary to support the district culture
of educational excellence.
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Needs Assessment

Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment needs are assessed through the Technology Teacher Use Survey (TTUS),
the Technology Self Assessment Tool (TSAT) and classroom learning walks. Based on the resulting data
professional development offerings, curriculum enhancement and assessment adjustments are made.

Assessment, Research and Accountability (ARA) meets on a regular basis with Academic staff, the OITA, and
principals to determine and plan for the role of this group related to assessments, MCAS support, processing and
evaluation of data/research requests and other state or District mandated reports.

Information System group meets on a regular basis with administrators, the OITA, and the principals to determine
and plan for the role of this group related to student information system, data reports (e.g., SIMS, EPIMS) and
related items.

Infrastructure group meets on a regular basis with consultants, the OITA, and administrators to determine and plan
for the role of this group related to hardware, software and network installation and maintenance.

The SPS Technology Plan is reviewed and commented on by the SPS 2009-2010 Technology Team (Appendix A).
Appropriate adjustments to the plan are made based on resulting feedback/

Budget

In order to provide students of the Springfield Public Schools with an education that is appropriate for 21st century
learners, we must attain/maintain budgetary support for the following (at least to minimum compliance with the
Massachusetts Local Technology Plan Guidelines- Appendix O):
- Hardware for staff and students (operating system software and licensing must be included with hardware)
(Appendix E)
- Instructional software for staff and students (Appendix F)
- Professional and administrative software
- Instructional management software
- Network infrastructure (Appendix I)
- Instructional technology specialists/teachers (Appendix V)
- Technology technicians
- Technology administrative personnel
- Professional development
- Assessment, research and accountability staff and resources
- Information systems staff and resources

Additionally, to plan for the future, each school and academic area created Technology Plans with projected budgets
- Academic Area Technology Plans (Appendix H)
- Combined Projected Academic Area Technology Plans Budget (Appendix T)
- Combined Projected School Technology Plans Budget (Appendix U)

Each Springfield public school has developed a technology plan which is a part of its School Improvement Plan
(SIP) document. The school technology plans focused on four areas: 1) infrastructure and staff technology
allocation; 2) professional development; 3) student support (in acquisition of knowledge) and 4) electronic
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communication with staff, parents, and community. Many schools are now including a fifth objective to explore on-
line assessment and reporting.

In general, the schools’ vision included procuring laptops for all administrative and teaching staff, mobile carts for
student access, and other technology tools such as Interactive whiteboards, student response systems, docucameras,
digital cameras, and camcorders. Schools also indicated a need for staff positions (1 FTE each) to work with
teachers to increase their technology skills and knowledge, to integrate technology appropriately into the curriculum,
and to work with students on projects aligned to the curriculum. This would require professional development in the
areas of productivity tools, data analysis, and integration into content through embedded support by technology staff.

The district has a budget for its local technology plan with line items for technology in its operational budget. It
includes funding for staffing, district-wide administrative and instructional hardware and software, technology
support, and contracted services. The district sets aside funding annually for the co-payment and non-discounted
elements of each E-Rate application. A copy of this budget, which is updated regularly, is available from the
Springfield Public Schools Finance Department.

For all other staffing, hardware, software, professional development, support, and contracted services, the district
leverages the use of federal, state, and private resources.

2010-2011 Projected Budget Items for Technology Enhancements
! Replace a set of the 98 Operating System machines
! Implement Acuity for the District Comprehensive Assessment System
! Purchase student response systems for piloting school based assessment process
! Technology replacement/repair parts
! Infrastructure and Maintenance
! Staff computers for Power School Student Information System for grading and attendance

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Evaluation

Evaluation of the District and the School Technology Plans

The Springfield Public School district recognizes the need for ongoing evaluation of the district and school
technology plans, as well as the need for evaluation of the effectiveness of technology resources and technology
practices, and evaluates these in several different ways. The effectiveness of all academic resources, including
technology resources, in support of student progress toward specific curricular goals is evaluated regularly by the
academic departments utilizing the particular resource, as they are best equipped to evaluate this; mid-course
corrections in response to new developments and opportunities are standard practice. The Office of Information,
Technology and Accountability (OITA) assist with these efforts..

The Office of Information, Technology and Accountability conducts a full review of its District Technology Plan at
least yearly, noting its alignment with all pertinent standards, guidelines, and requirements. Representatives of the
various stakeholder groups, including but not limited to the Academic Directors, the Superintendent, and the School
Committee, are involved. In addition, the principals work with department representatives to monitor and update
their School Technology Plans. Data for review is collected by the OITA via surveys, interviews, and discussions at
meetings and training sessions. Test data is also mined for pertinent information. The process for review is as
follows: The OITA schedules the review meeting and sends out invitations. The plan and any pertinent data are
included electronically for review prior to the scheduled meeting date. At the meeting, all concerns, comments, and
recommended revisions are discussed and resolved (when possible). Electronic information is accepted from anyone
not able to attend. Following the meeting, any revisions are sent to all stakeholders for final review. The revised plan
is then submitted to the Superintendent for review and presentation to the School Committee.

Evaluation of Technology Products and Services

Prior to purchasing technology resources, the district assesses the products and services being recommended to
ensure that they are appropriate, valid, in alignment with district, state, and federal standards, and able to be utilized
in the technology environment/infrastructure for which they are proposed. One example of this evaluative process is;
School-based and District-based Instructional Technology Specialists regularly review new and emerging
technologies and make recommendations for classroom use. Any available research on the effectiveness of the
resources is taken into consideration. This evaluation is a joint effort of the academic departments and the OITA.

Evaluation of Office of Information, Technology and Accountability Work

The Office of Information, Technology and Accountability recognizes the need to analyze the status of the
department’s work through metrics and key performance indicators. The department has developed and is in the
process of automating a system of collecting, posting, analyzing and reporting a set of performance and other metrics
aligned with the district’s and department’s goals.

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Goals and Strategies
Teaching and Learning - Technology Integration and Literacy

Literacy

Our department goals include providing the technology needed to support all district plans, to assist all students to
achieve academic success, and to provide all educators with the tools to support these goals. The driving forces
behind our district Instructional Technology Plan are the Springfield Public Schools’ academic curricula and the goal
of high student achievement. All curricula support the 21st century student outcomes which include the skills,
knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.
(http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?Itemid=120&id=254&option=com_content&task=view )

Integration

The technology integration and support plans of the various academic departments are listed in the appendices of this
document (Appendix H). All technology goals are based upon the needs of the students and educators, and are
developed in collaboration with the academic directors and supervisors as well as principals and teachers. We strive
to make the classroom environment student-centered so that research, collaboration, and investigation are an integral
part of teaching and learning. In alignment with the Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations,
we strive to create the conditions that promote effective schools and accountability for results.

Springfield promotes the use of technology as a critical factor in support of No Child Left Behind, A Culture of
Educational Excellence, the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, and our Springfield Public Schools’
Technology Instructional Guide (TIG) documents. Accordingly, our plan includes provision for professional
development for teachers and administrators in the use of technology in support of the curriculum. We also
recognize the need for, and include the use of, technology for administrative and academic support, to efficiently and
effectively collect, analyze, and utilize assessment data to look at the strengths and weaknesses of students, classes,
grade levels, schools, and the district to make informed instructional decisions, as well as to provide useful feedback
to the community which we serve. The Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations and the
Massachusetts STaR Chart are used as our guides.

In order to determine the effectiveness of technology integration in the content classroom and discover possible areas
for improvement, the District and School-based Instructional Technology Specialists conduct Classroom Action
Research (see Appendix W); utilizing the following steps:
Step 1. Research question-When using technology tools to teach content is there an increase in the
acquisition of content knowledge? of technology skills?
Step 2. Define a solution (i.e., Use MS PowerPoint to have students convey their knowledge of plot and
character from Romeo and Juliet)
Step 3. Apply the solution and collect data.
Step 4. Analyze findings determining whether the solution had an impact on learning.
Step 5. Take action either by revising intervention and returning to Step 2 to test another intervention, or by
changing your practice to reflect a successful new technique.
The purpose of the research is to determine if both classroom content and technology skills increase.

Enhanced communication between and among students, teachers, administrators, support staff, parents, and the
community is a major part of our technology goals. The district, in response to the need of enhance communication
and uniformity in curriculum, has created an on-line repository of K-12 curriculum documents for each subject
called The Learning Center, which includes curriculum, scope and sequence documents, pacing guides, student
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technology record sheets, standard-based lesson/unit plans with rubrics, assessment suggestions, and Classroom
Visit Guides for administrators (http://www.sps.springfield.ma.us/webapps/Learning_Center/ ). Accordingly,
providing appropriate and adequate hardware, software, network infrastructure, Internet access, and support to
ensure the appropriate, effective use of communication and collaboration technology resources is a critical
component of our plan.

In order to ensure that all learners have access to the technology tools necessary for academic success, the
Springfield Public Schools includes the principles of Universal Design in all areas of technology. Additionally, we
include the use of assistive technology resources wherever/whenever needed.

It is the goal of the Springfield Public Schools to meet or exceed all Massachusetts Department of Education Local
Technology Plan Benchmark Standards, as well as all No Child Left Behind, Title II Part D Technology Standards.
These standards, as well as the Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations and the
Massachusetts STaR Chart, are included in the appendices of this document (Appendix Q, Appendix P).

E-Learning Environments, Virtual Learning and Communication

The Springfield Public School district actively promotes the development and use of innovative strategies for
delivering specialized courses through the use of technology and on-line resources. We have designed and delivered
coursework created by Springfield teachers and administrators to staff and students through MassONE, Moodle, and
Manhattan. This is an ongoing effort which has been augmented considerably through the use of state and federal
grants. We continue to utilize on-line coursework to meet the instructional needs of students; in addition, we are
extending the use of this on-line coursework to address remediation and enhancement in the both the secondary and
elementary classrooms.

The OITA is creating an extensive set of on-line tutorials to enable SPS staff to extend their technology skills (in
alignment with local, state, and federal guidelines). This resource resides on our SPS Technology Resource
webpage, and includes an IT Newsletter, tutorials and self-paced guides written by SPS staff, as well as links to
high-quality material already available on the Internet (http://www.sps.springfield.ma.us/tech/techresources.asp).

The Springfield Public School System is also taking advantage of third party on-line coursework such as that
provided by Virtual High School. This initiative is ongoing at our high schools and will enable us to provide high
level course content even for low incidence courses. Students are urged to avail themselves of AP and pre-AP
coursework through this program. The district deploys some IP-based and/or ISDN-based connections for access to
web-based and/or interactive video learning on the local, state, regional, national, and international level. We have
already conducted successful international videoconferences. In addition, SPS staff utilized E2020 and Novanet for
credit recovery and web 2.0 collaboration tools (e.g., E-Pals, PBWorks, Gaggle.net).

Additionally, we have integrated e-learning resources and strategies into our curriculum documents, created
TrackStar “tracks” and SMARTBoard Notebook 10 lessons aligned with our curriculum, and listed on-line resources
on our website, providing teachers with guidance in the use of these academic resources.

Staffing
See Appendix V: Instructional Technology and Computer And Information Technology Staff.
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Specific Goals Technology Integration and Literacy:
Teaching & Learning
Increase the embedded classroom support for technology integration into the content areas,
1) Continue providing as needed Mobile Cart / “Care and Feeding of Your Laptop” training for teachers,
enabling them to integrate evolving technology to transform the teaching process;
2) Increase the ability to use technology resources for data-driven decision-making (to increase student
achievement);
3) Enhance on The Learning Center webpage, the Technology Instructional Guides (TIG) including
curriculum, scope and sequence, pacing guide, Student Technology Record Sheet, standard-based
unit/lesson plans with rubrics, assessments, and Classroom Visit Guides for administrators, for all courses;
4) Continue to support student e-portfolios to guide learning;
5) Continue to provide on-line coursework (VHS, MassOne, Manhattan) ;
6) Pilot SPS On-line environment (MOODLE) for content and assessment;
7) Involve students in the review of the SPS Technology Plan and
8) Increase the District aggregate CPI score in ELA and Math by 5 points. Increase the District aggregate
MCAS results in science and Social studies.
11-12 1, 3 & 8) 3100 hours of embedded classroom support
2 & 8) 250 staff will received professional development data-driven
decision-making including MADESE Data Warehouse, SPS Data
Warehouse, MADESE Growth Model, ACUITY
4 & 8) Student portfolio project will be expanded
5 & 8) 1500 students will participate in on-line coursework
8) Continue Classroom Action Research
6)Applications of Technology I Assessments completed and analyze on-line
7) Gather student input for the SPS Technology Plan
12-13 1, 3 & 8) 3410 hours of embedded classroom support
2 & 8) 275 staff will received professional development data-driven
decision-making including MADESE Data Warehouse, SPS Data
Warehouse, MADESE Growth Model, ACUITY
4 & 8) Student portfolio project will be expanded
5 & 8) 1650 students will participate in on-line coursework
8) Continue Classroom Action Research
6)Applications of Technology I and II Assessments completed and analyze
on-line
7) Gather student input for the SPS Technology Plan
13-14 1, 3 & 8) 3720 hours of embedded classroom support
2 & 8) 302 staff will received professional development data-driven
decision-making including MADESE Data Warehouse, SPS Data
Warehouse, MADESE Growth Model, ACUITY
4 & 8) Student portfolio project will be expanded
5 & 8) 1815 students will participate in on-line coursework
8) Continue Classroom Action Research
6) Grade 6,7,8, Applications of Technology I and II Assessments
completed and analyze on-line
7) Gather student input for the SPS Technology Plan
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