Clinton Public Schools – A Learning Place

Technology Plan

2010-2013

Approved by the Clinton Board of Education on March 8, 2010

                The Clinton Schools exist to guide life-long learners in acquiring the skills they need to locate, access and evaluate information, to contribute positively to a changing world, to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and to respond productively to the challenges and opportunities of a global society.

            Clinton is a small rural community in western Oklahoma. The school district enjoys an unusually diverse ethnic make-up (7.41% Black, 11.93% Native American, 35.74% Hispanic, 1.20% Asian, 43.67% white) and currently has 74.80% of the student body who qualify for free or reduced lunch. The district has qualified for E-Rate funding for the past twelve years for tele-communication, Internet access, and internal connections. The district’s cultural and economic diversity creates a climate of “haves” and “have-nots” in the areas of technology access and literacy, and the district administration continues to place a high priority on closing these gaps which are created by the home and society but must be recognized and addressed by the schools.

            The school system is also known for the services it provides for students identified with special needs and it therefore draws students in need of such services, and currently has a higher percentage of special education students than the state average.

            Clinton Schools is structured as grade level centers so that, even though well over half of our students are high poverty, all receive the same high quality access to instruction through the best technology currently available to the district. None of our school sites are currently identified for school improvement or corrective action under section 1116 of Title I.

1. Strategies for Improving Academic Achievement and Teacher Effectiveness

            Clinton Public Schools is focused on the goal of improving student academic achievement and places a high priority on accomplishing that goal for ALL students. Administrators and curriculum design teams use a wide variety of data to analyze student performance and map out strategies for improvement for each disaggregated group as identified by the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE). The district has identified the following strategies to move forward with these efforts:

• Provide the tools and the training so that district leaders can collect, organize, analyze, disaggregate, and report on student achievement data.
• Involve teachers in site level professional learning communities designed to use student performance data to inform curriculum and instruction decisions and practice.
• Provide technologies to support student learning in current district wide curriculum initiatives in the areas of literacy and mathematics and in the ongoing work of curriculum development and instructional practices.
• Increase teacher capacity to use technology by providing reliable Internet-connected workstations for teachers as well as classroom presentation stations and sustained professional development.

2. Goals

• Improve student achievement, as measured by the standards of Oklahoma Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS), through the use of technology.
• Ensure that all students become technologically literate by the end of the eighth grade.
• Advance research-based instruction through technology-integrated curriculum development.
• Promote effective integration of technology into on-going professional development.
• Provide adequate access to the technology necessary to meet the academic and operational needs of the school system.
• Effectively use E-rate funding to acquire new technologies to include but not limited to wireless campus access, voice-over IP, current industry standards in network cabling and high speed networks.
• Provide an adequate tech support staff to see that all technology operations of the district are supported and maintained. Both technicians, charged with setting up, maintaining, and fixing equipment, and education technology specialists, charged with working with teachers to implement regular technology use in the classroom, are essential to the district’s technology efforts.

3. Steps to Increase Accessibility

1. Maintain the Wide Area Network for high-speed, dedicated Internet access through a central location for the district. Currently the Local Area Network at each site is operated by Windows Servers software. All classrooms are wired and the necessary Ethernet 10/100/1000 switches and routers are installed to have at least two and in most cases four network/Internet drops in every classroom in the district.
2. Seek ways to increase available bandwidth through wide area networking and local area networking to each of the five sites of the district in order to provide Internet access, data storage, teacher websites, streaming media content, etc.
3. Continue to increase the number of student computers to reach a two academic users per computer ratio. Currently, the district maintains approximately 800 computers for academic use as well as other technologies, and has 2068 students. To reach this goal by 2013, the district must aggressively seek funding for end user hardware through both local and federal funding as well as private grants and donations.
4. Upgrade teacher workstations so that at least one computer per teacher meets or exceeds the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Updated Computer Standards (see attachment).
5. Maintain a replacement cycle of three years or less for computers and other technologies that become available.
6. Provide professional development so that all teachers are prepared to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction. See details in Section 5 below.

4. Promotion of Curricula and Teaching that Integrate Technology

            Curriculum development for Clinton Schools is an on-going process. Initiatives in the areas of literacy and mathematics are currently in progress and give direction to decisions concerning teaching and learning as well as the distribution of technology resources throughout the district.

            Vertical teams of teachers and administrators in the areas of reading, language arts, math, science, social studies, counseling, the arts, and technology education meet regularly throughout the school year to align the district’s teaching and learning to state and national standards. They also research the latest teaching strategies and methodologies and serve as leaders in implementation at each grade level.

            Each team is currently doing research on the technology available to enhance and support teaching and learning in their curriculum area. Their current research has led them to see the great benefits of true integration of technology, and they are leading the district’s teachers to value technology and its use in the classroom as something much more than “extra” or “add-ons” or “the latest toy.”

            Currently, the district uses a number of software subscriptions to meet the needs of our students. Products in both reading and math from Renaissance and Study Island are in use throughout the district and well as Odysseyware curriculum support for the alternative education program. All sixth graders are using TechKnowledge software to become technology literate and to integrate those tools of learning into their daily classroom work.

5. Professional Development

            The Professional Development Plan for Clinton Schools includes a technology component designed to further the effective use of technology to enhance learning throughout the district. Professional development for technology integration is most effective when it is in the context of curriculum content, effective pedagogy, and student learning, not focused on the technology itself. To that end, technology professional development is designed to move teachers through the five stages of the instructional model (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, appropriation, invention) to the point that technology is a natural and normal mode of instruction delivery.

            Each of the five school sites has at least one tech mentor who provides tech support and on-going professional development for the staff. Teachers are encouraged to participate in the Technology Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) which meet six times through the year to provide training and support and to encourage teachers to continue to increase their use of technology for research, data analysis and instruction. Training in interactive  white boards, projection systems, website design, classroom performance systems, document cameras as well as other technologies that become available is provided.

            Ongoing implementation of the PowerSchool Student Information System necessitates continued professional development for all users. The district coordinator for Powerschool participates in relevant online trainings as they are available. Secretaries meet regularly for local updates; they also attend the Oklahoma PowerSchool Users Group in the spring and the fall. Teachers receive a refresher in the fall and ongoing support from their site tech mentor throughout the school. Parents receive individualized training when they sign up to participate in the Parent Portal component. The district is currently anticipating implementing additional components of PowerSchool which will require ongoing training for all involved.          

6. Technology Type and Costs

Clinton Public Schools currently receives approximately $5000 in Title IID Educational Technology funds. Those funds are allocated to improve the projection systems available to teachers at the high school and to provide other incidental technology professional development resources throughout the year.  See below for details on the very important diversified funding sources available to support technology in Clinton Schools.

7. Coordination with other resources

            Funding for technology is generated from many sources and is coordinated by the assistant superintendent and the technology systems analyst to see that all purchases support the goals, specifications, and timeline of the District Technology Plan.  District funds provide the bulk of technology funding at this time including the district’s discounted costs related to E-rate purchases and salaries for the three member technology staff (see attached CPS Technology Budget). A limited amount of technology funding comes to the district from the Clinton Public School Foundation teacher grant program and from student activity funds.

            Funds from several federal programs enhance the district’s ability to deliver high quality instruction using technology. Title IA (School Improvement) funds provide supplemental hardware and software costs in reading and math in grades K-8 as well as related professional development costs. The district’s pre-kindergarten program is also funded with Title IA funds and receives supplemental technology needs from that source. Title IID resources are described above (see Section 6). Title III (Limited English Proficiency) funds provide technology support for language development and curriculum supports for students identified as English Language Learners as well as the software and computers used for the parent outreach component of that program. Title VI (Rural Low Income Schools) funds provide more than $25,000 in instructional technology purchases of both hardware and web-based instructional programming.

            Science PDI grants at both Nance Elementary and Washington Elementary have provided approximately $4,000 in funding for science technologies. Career Tech funding provides a full time instructor at Clinton Middle School who provides an exploration level of technology instruction. One full time and two part time high school instructors build on this base with instruction in both basic and upper level skills.

8. Integration of Technology with Curricula and Instruction

            The district will continue to integrate the use of technology into the curriculum development and instructional practices of the district.  At this time the anticipated timeline is as follows:

Winter/Spring 2010 – Complete the curriculum review for mathmatics incorporating technology teaching and learning practices.

2010-2011 – Facilitate a comprehensive curriculum review of language arts instruction in the district incorporating technology resources (hardware, software and electronically delivered learning materials) to facilitate optimum student engagement and success in learning.

2011-2013 – Continue to complete comprehensive curriculum reviews following the OSDE Textbook Subject Cycle (2011-2012 – Science; 2012-2013 – Social Studies and The Arts) in order to incorporate technology into every curriculum area.

2010-2013 – Conduct an annual comprehensive technology survey of teacher technology skills and continue to provide several levels of professional development opportunities in the area of technology to meet the needs of all teachers.

2010-2013 – Continue to upgrade the district’s networking hardware and connectivity capabilities to meet current and future needs (see site level details in the appendix).

2010-2013 – Maintain a three-year replacement cycle of computers for academic use.

2010-2013 – Add to the number of industry-standard student computers to achieve a 2/1 ratio of students to computers.

2010-2013 – Continue to support the use of technology throughout the district by providing at least three technology support staff members trained in systems management, hardware and software support, as well as instructional services.

9. Innovative Delivery Strategies

            The district will continue to encourage the development and use of innovative strategies for the delivery of rigorous course and curricula through the use of technology, including distance learning technologies as they are needed by our students. The following are currently in use or under review. Others will be implemented as they become available.

• Networked and/or online computer software: Follett Software Company’s Destiny Library Manager; Renaissance Learning’s STAR Early Literacy, English in a Flash, Math Facts in a Flash, STAR Reading, STAR Math, Accelerated Reader Enterprise, Accelerated Math; Odysseyware course material; DynEd International, Inc.’s English for Success and First English;  Autoskill International Inc.’s Academy of Reading; SRA TechKnowledge; Study Island Math and Reading.

• Teacher hosted web-pages through the district website where teachers post lesson plans, communicate with parents and celebrate successes.
• Classroom presentation stations including laptop computers, interactive whiteboards, projectors and audio enhancement systems.

10. Parental Involvement

            Several steps taken by the district have us positioned to greatly enhance effective parent involvement and increase communication through the use of technology. Implementation of the PowerSchool Student Information System’s Parent Portal is a great asset in parent/teacher communications. Parents receive an individual log-in which allows them to see their child’s attendance records and classroom performance toward specific assignments in real time. Direct access via email to teachers, daily school bulletins and other components bring the parent right into the classroom on a regular basis.  

            The district has made strides toward the goal of a telephone in every classroom, and we will continue with this initiative as a safety tool as well as an immediate way for teachers and students in the classroom to contact parents on any number of topics. At this time the capability of Voice-Over IP connectivity is also anticipated in the near future.  Parent communication and involvement in their child’s learning will also be greatly enhanced as teachers post blogs with class projects and learning goals on a regular basis.

11. Collaboration with Adult Literacy Service Providers

            Adult literacy services in our area are provided by Elk City Public Schools and are not hosted in our district facilities. As a district we do collaborate with the area library system on a variety of projects, but at this time the use of Clinton Public Schools’ technology resources is not a factor in those activities.

12. Accountability measures

            The process of accountability in today’s educational arena is an obvious necessity. The district will rely on the following accountability measures to assess the effectiveness of the district technology plan and its impact on instructional programming and the integration of technology into that overall process:

• OSTP Criterion Referenced Tests. These assessments of reading and math achievement in grades 3-8 and at the high school level will provide data on all disaggregated groups and their performance on a yearly basis. By analyzing data on a grade level and on a student-by-student basis, the district will be able to adjust instructional technology strategies as needed.
• Survey of student success with the ISTE Technology Literacy Standards which are to be attained prior to the completion of the eighth grade. A rubric will be designed and implemented at the sixth grade level and continued throughout middle school to capture the district’s ability to provide opportunities for all students to demonstrate the performances required.
• Teacher Technology Survey. This document provides information on teachers’ proficiency levels with a variety of networking, software and publishing tasks. The district will expect to see growth in all areas as accessibility is enhanced and professional development remains focused on technology (see attached document).
• PowerSchool Student Data Management System. This web-based information data base allows teachers, administrators and parents to assess a student’s progress in real time for optimum learning.

13. Supporting resources

            The district will continue to seek out the supporting resources, such as services, software, other electronically delivered learning materials, and print resources that will ensure successful and effective uses of technology. The bulk of ongoing and anticipated acquisitions have been discussed in earlier sections of this plan. Others of interest include the ISTE professional development and curriculum development resources. Through E-rate and many other sources, the Clinton school district will provide the resources to educate the children of this community and create, as our vision statement says, a learning place.