Washington schools have three major efforts related to educational technology this year.  Each district will be developing a three-year technology plan, reporting on how educational technology is being integrated in classrooms and reporting on the technology literacy levels of 8th grade students.  The latter two items are NCLB requirements and are being conducted for the first time this year. 

The requirement for districts to have an approved technology plan was established many years ago.  Technology Plans are required for districts to receive federal funds through the E-Rate, Title IID and other programs.  All districts connected to the K-20 network are receiving E-Rate funds as K-20 rates are discounted due to the state's application and receiving E-Rate funds to pay for a significant portion of K-20 costs.    Therefore, a school district without an approved technology plan would see an immediate increase (doubling) of K-20 fees each year even if they (unwisely) are not applying for E-Rate discounts themselves.

Districts must include a goal for improving  teacher integration and a goal for improving and assessing 8th grade technology literacy in the upcoming and all future technology plans.

School buildings must include technology integration in their SIP (School improvement Plan).  This requirement was established in the RCW's by the State Board of Education four years ago.  Buildings that are in AYP status must use the OSPI online planning tool to develop and maintain their SIP.  This requirement to use the online tool is set by OSPI.   Other buildings are not required to use the online tool. 

School Districts are required to submit their Technology Plan using OSPI's online tool.  Each technology plan consists of elements provided/developed by districts and elements provided/developed by buildings.  The district elements MUST be entered in the tool online.  IF a building has used the online tool to develop their SIP and indicated which sections involve technology, then these sections will be automatically "included" in the overall district plan.  IF a building has developed their SIP in a paper -based format, the sections of the SIP that involve technology must be uploaded as a Word or PDF document into the online tool.  The district technology coordinator can do the uploading.  In either case, the entire technology plan will be stored online in OSPI's tool.

A district must also have successfully submitted their annual technology inventory, including their teacher integration and 8th grade student technology literacy results, as a prerequisite for technology plan approval.

Washington State uses the Classroom Use of Technology (Tiers) Model as the centerpiece for everything we do related to Educational Technology. The rubric for teacher integration and a similar rubric for the eighth grade literacy assessment was based on the Tiers model.

So, what do districts have to do and when?
Well, here's a map I've distributed and covered at several Technology Roundtables this year:
etsc.esd105.wednet.edu/pdf/TimelineForTechCoordinators.pdf

A school district would typically address the main technology planning requirements in this order:

Technology integration
I anticipate that most districts will have teachers take the Technology Integration Survey at PILOT to complete the integration requirement.  It will automatically aggregate the results into the counts of Tier 1, 2 and 3 classrooms.
Some of the important aspects about this to share with teachers:

1. The results are completely anonymous (even though you have to register)
2. District staff can track whether the survey has been completed by teachers
3. The survey is intended to determine how educational technology is being integrated in classrooms.  It is NOT attempting to determine teacher quality.  It also does NOT determine "fault" for any shortcomings.  As the Tiers model clearly establishes there are four categories that must be in place for educational technology to be used effectively:
   1. Observable and Best Practices
   2. Professional Development
   3. Required Conditions
   4. Technology Resources

If any of these four items is lacking it is unlikely that educational technology will be used effectively to improve student learning.  So the range/quality of use of educational technology in a classroom can be significantly impacted by the resources available, the professional development available to teachers, the technical support, administrative expectations, etc, etc.

After teachers have taken the survey the technology coordinator can access PILOT and click on "Enter Survey" > "View Reports".  If the "View Reports" option is not available let me know and I'll activate that permission for you.  The "General Completion Report" for your district will provide the information needed for the Teacher Integration reporting requirement. 


Technology Literacy
There are many methods available to determine the technology literacy of 8th grade students.  It is the school district's choice as to which method to use.  Probably the least valuable, but easiest to do right now, is to have eighth grade students complete the survey at "PILOTJR": http://www.edtech.wednet.edu/pilotjr
Students will have to enter a password for their building to begin the survey.   Technology Coordinators access PILOT and click on "Enter Survey" > "View Reports" to choose the "Set Passwords" area and establish the password for the building(s).    When the students have completed the surveys the "General Completion Report" for your district will provide the information needed for the 8th Grade Student Literacy reporting requirement.

These two items and the other standard technology inventory information is to be reported online to OSPI by March 28, 2007.

Building SIP Process
Buildings should report the section(s) of most recent version of their SIP that involve technology to the district technology coordinator.  This can be done in the online tool by marking items as technology or via a Word/PDF document. 

The Building SIP sections may cover just one year providing they submit updates during future years.

District Technology Plan
The District Technology Plan must cover three years (2007-2010).  While the building sections may only cover one year (with commitment to update in future years) the district sections must cover three years.  

• The "Networking" section of the District Technology Plan was probably updated in the fall 2006 prior to E-Rate applications being started.
• The "District Goals" section of the plan must contain a goal for the improvement of Teacher integration and a goal for the improvement/assessment of the 8th Grade Technology Literacy results.  Other district level intiatives should be included as goals as well.
• Upload building SIP documents if building SIP not completed in online tool.
• Submit the plan for board approval

The district technology plan must be completed, with signed school board letter, by April 25, 2007.

So, any questions or comments?