501 School Evaluation Summary Final.pdf

7/28/2019 501 School Evaluation Summary Final.pdf

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School Evaluation Summary

Jennifer Anderson

This is a school evaluation providing information about McCormick High School located within Custer,

Nebraska. We will evaluate the schools technological maturity using the Maturity Model Benchmarks

Survey. Maturity is evaluated on the following filters: administrative, curricular, support, connectivity,

and innovation. Each filter will have various sections and subsections used to rank maturity. The

maturity levels can be ranked as any of the following stages: emergent, islands, integrated, or

intelligent.

Demographics

The population of Custer, Nebraska is close to 9,000 residents with 470 being students attending

McCormick High School. Custer is very transient with many students flowing in and out over the course

of the year. The population is made up largely of Caucasians along with close to 30% being Hispanic.

The town has many energy jobs available leading to a large portion of the population being male.

Within the high school, female students outnumber male students 245 to 225.

Administrative Filter

Policyo Behavioral: emergento Resource/Infrastructure: emergento There is technology available for use but there is very little support to be sure

technology is being used appropriately or at all. Policies are stated loosely and with no

follow through. There is little help available for acquisition and use.

Planningo Behavioral: islandso Resource/ Infrastructure: islandso Formal plans are made but they involve few people that will actually be using the

technology. Administration and technology experts make the decisions on what to

purchasemore often than not it revolves around hardware rather than software.

Planning is also limited to one project at a time. Few technology use plans created

involve more than one project.

Budgeto Behavioral: Integratedo Resource/Infrastructure: integratedo Behaviorally the budget does allow for technology purchases as a high priority. The

administration and school board recognize the importance of technology but have not

made it one of the top three priorities as of yet.

Administrative Informationo Behavioral: integratedo Resource/Infrastructure: intelligent


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o Administrative systems are available to everyone within the school, although there aresome that still do not use them to their full potential. Many tasks are still done with

paper systems such as sub requests, sick leave, itineraries, and goal statements. It

would benefit everyone and allow things to run smoother if they would replace all paper

systems

Curricular Filter

Electronic Informationo Behavioral: islandso Resource/ Infrastructure: islandso Electronic resources are not considered an important part of everyday use. There is a

large gap between those who use technology consistently and those who very rarely use

it for instruction. Applications and resources for educators are not found school wide.

It is up to the teacher to locate online resources to utilize within the classroom.

Students have limited access to electronic resources as computer accessibility is limited.

Assessmento Behavioral: emergento Resource/Infrastructure: islandso Very few staff use electronic tools for student assessment or allow students to assess

themselves using technology. Some teachers have utilized online communication

systems and word processors such as Google docs. However, this is on an individual

basis as there has been no formal training about these online tools. Some tools are

available to staff if they have come with a textbook or other resource. Very few

resources are provided by the district.

Curricular Integrationo Behavioral: emergento Resource/ Infrastructure: islandso Very little of the curriculum requires the use of technology. Most work can be done

without technology. Curriculum is currently being revised and does include minor

technology use. Some resources are available but none readily used.

Teacher Useo Behavioral: islandso Resource/Infrastructure: intelligento Technology is used mostly for administrative work. Email and grade books are the most

common uses of the technology for teachers. Some use them for curricular activitiesbut the use is varied and is seen more often with younger teachers. All teachers have

access to technology in their work area, but again it is used more for administrative

work rather than curricular.

Student Useo Behavioral: islandso Resource/Infrastructure: islands


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o Student use is limited to various classrooms. Some classrooms have technology whileothers do not. If the student does not have a computer class their use may be very

sporadic and depend on teachers signing up for time within a computer lab. Students

can access computers within the library often, but it may not be used for educational

activities.

Support Filter

Stakeholder Involvemento Behavioral: islandso Resource/Infrastructure: islandso Planning allows for many groups to be represented in the process. However, few of

them will be using the technology daily. Teachers and students are not represented

very well within the planning process. Most planning is done by administration, the

superintendent, and the school board.

Administrative Supporto Behavioral: islandso Resource/Infrastructure: islandso Administration doe no focus on planning or implementation as a priority. They often

leave that to the technology department, whom is not in the classroom and does not

keep track of what the technology is being used for.

Trainingo Behavioral: islandso Resource/Infrastructure: islandso Some training is available but is very limited in what is actually taught. Many staff are

required to attend training, however, a lot of time is wasted in repeating the same

novice technology training that does not provide in depth help to those who want to go

further. For example, Smartboard training was offered multiple times as professional

development this year. Those who understood the first training got no further

assistance or training in anything more relevant to them.

Technical/Infrastructure Supporto Behavioral: islandso Resource/Infrastructure: islandso Many staff utilize formal and informal support; however, not all feel comfortable

discussing technology yet. Help is provided but is not efficient and is usually done

through a computertherefore without internet access it can be difficult to getimmediate help.

Connectivity Filter

Local Area Networking (LAN)o Behavioral: intelligento Resource/Infrastructure: integrated


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o LAN is available but often has problems when there are many users online at one time.Video capabilities are limited, but high speed internet is provided in all locations.

District Area Networking (WAN)o Behavioral: intelligento Resource/Infrastructure: integratedo The district area networking is the same as the LAN. High speed internet is available but

often has connectivity issues. There is limited data capacity and video capabilities.

Streaming often takes much longer than is reasonable to use with teaching.

Internet Accesso Behavioral: integratedo Resource/Infrastructure: intelligento Internet is used frequently. It is used daily by staff and often by students, although

students do not always use it for educational purposes. There is direct LAN available in

all locations.

Communication Systemso Behavioral: integratedo Resource/Infrastructure: integratedo Email is used daily for administrative work and many learning activities. Email is

available to all staff and limited to studentsit is available but training for students is

infrequent. Often times they dont even know there email login or passwords.

Innovation Filter

New Technologieso Behavioral: islandso Resource/Infrastructure: islandso There is a portion of the staff that is still resistant to using technology and relies on the

older methods of teaching. Technology is accepted by most but is not always

implemented. This could be due to a lack of follow through in training or help given.

Comprehensive Technologieso Behavioral: integratedo Resource/Infrastructure: integratedo Some advanced technologies are available, but no training has been done beyond the

basics. A WEN room has been created but very few staff have actually been trained or

received support for how to use the technology or where to begin. At this point it is a

wasted technology because training and support has failed to occur.

Conclusion

Overall McCormick High School is at the islands of technology stage. There are various sections that

need improvement but overall there is a good foundation for improvement. The LAN and WAN access is

pretty good, it just needs to be a little more stable with heavy use. Advanced technologies are

becoming more available. Staff needs to do a better job embracing technology and really advocating for


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it with the administration, superintendent, and school board. Training is an area that needs

improvement. The training really needs to have a focus and a dedicated, competent instructor. Again

staff needs to be vocal about their needs. Curriculum should begin to incorporate technology in various

ways. I feel curricular changes should come with more staff training and knowledge. The administration

does allow for technology use planning, but there needs to be a stronger focus on the applications not

just the hardware. Computer and internet access are an integral part of everyday success within

McCormick High School. There needs to be a connection between the technology plan, use, and

implementation. With staff input, administration follow through, and better policy planning McCormick

High School can soon reach the intelligent systems stage.


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behavioral X

resource/infrastructure X

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behavioral Xresource/infrastructure X

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Electronic Information

Assessment

Curriculular Integration

Teacher Use

Policy

Planning

Budget

Administrative Information

Communication Systems

New Technologies

Comprehensive Technologies

ADMINISTRATIVE

CURRICUL

AR

SUP

PORT

CONNECTIVITY

INNOVATION

Technical/Infrastructure Support

Local Area Networking (LAN)

District Area Networking (WAN)

Internet Access

Student Use

Stakeholder Involvemnt

Administrative Support

Training

Matur ity Benchmarks Survey Sheet

Emergent

Islands

Integrated

Intelligent

Clearly mark the box that best represents the level of maturity achieved at your school site.

Please refer to the attached Model Benchmark Rubric for detailed descriptions of the

categories.

J ennifer Carpenter/ McCormick High School

Documents

501 School Evaluation Summary Final.pdf