Information to convey

Cabot School Technology Plan 2007-2009

Submitted by Cabot School Technology Advisory Committee-

Part I. Executive Summary: The purpose of this section is to produce a two-to-five-page document that provides a broad description of your initiatives that could be useful to community members and others who are interested in your plan. There is no “form” for this section.

. History/Status

1. On reviewing your 2004 Technology Plan, describe the most significant successes and the reasons for those successes.

Success #1

We have continued our campus network, access and infrastructure upgrades. We increased our internet bandwidth tenfold by converting from a 700k DSL line to a 10 meg down cable connection which has greatly improved network congestion and slow internet downstream times. In order to put newer generation equipment in place we entered a 3 year lease to get more equipment up front last year and we were able to put 20 state of the art Macs primarily in the high traffic/use areas of the library and computer room. We replaced older file servers with large capacity Snap network appliance and upgraded our firewall to a new T170 with content filtering and other security features. We received a $23,000 windfall through the Microsoft settlement this past year and have used the money to purchase several administrative computers; to test all existing network copper and fiber circuits and to run additional network drops; to add internet bandwidth; to upgrade our student information database from Filemaker 6 to Filemaker 8.5 and finally to purchase a Safari Montage video on demand server with content subscription. In addition to delivering a wealth of educational content, the Safari server will host software called Creation Station which will allow students and staff to create video and presentation content and have it available for streaming over our network directly to desktops and projection stations. We intend to use this system for both instruction and professional development.

One additional success in the areas of access and infrastructure has been the removal of older furniture in the computer lab, replaced with custom built furniture which incorporates ergonomic and safety standards for students.. There is more to be done in other areas of the school to make sure table, keyboard and monitor heights are not creating health problems for users.

Reasons for successes: In light of declining enrollments and pressures on the regular tech budget, the Microsoft windfall money allowed us to make purchases and improvements for which we would not otherwise have had sufficient funds.

Success # 2

We have made significant progress in implementing and integrating the Information Literacy standards and Tech GE skills standards by slowly but surely making staff aware of specific standards and either explicity teaching those skills or embedding them in the context of various projects.

Success # 3 Communication- Online community resources....

With the guidance of the technology committee we approved and received school board approval for a new and revised acceptable use policy. There is still work to be done to familiarize all students and staff with AUP provisions and expectations and to make sure monitoring and compliance are sufficient.

Contributions of content to the school web page have increased over the last two years. This includes an increase in teachers web pages that share course content with parents and the community, shared online calendars, school board agendas and minutes, class links, photo galleries and announcements of school and student achievement. These have kept the web page fresh and it remains one of several vital communication links to the Cabot community.

We have subscribed to online typing tutors and online Everyday Math programs so students and parents can connect to their school accounts from home over vacations and during the summer.

We have set up listserve mailing lists to improve staff use of email so that each grade level group as well as school governance committees can address one email to the group and have it delivered to all members automatically.

Challenges:

Administrative Support: We continue to experience administrative turnover. A one year interim principal and cutbacks in administration for next year contributed to uneven support for a functional technology committee. One of our key goals for this plan is to make sure the technology committee meets regularly and with administrative support.

Professional development: It has been difficult to find time for a varied diet of professional development opportunities as we have cut back on the number of inservice days in the school year and tech professional development has had to compete with curriculum development, bullying training, crisis management plans and other important whole school needs.

Administrative turnover....

II. Review of Previous Plan

Goals	Explanation
Successful Goal/Action 1: Increase Current equipment	Leasing and Microsoft $$ made possible
Successful Goal/Action 2: Upgrade Network Infrastructure	Microsoft and regular budget in spite of cutbacks
Successful Goal/Action 3:
Unsuccessful Goal/Action 1:
Unsuccessful Goal/Action 2:
Unsuccessful Goal/Action 3:

III. Goal Section – Plan must include at least

Goal	Action Steps	Priority	Indicators for Actions	Measure	Timeline
1.Technology committee will meet more regularly to monitor this plan and to work with new administration to make sure IT professional development is given time and space in the overall PD program, that existing policies are known and monitored by teaching staff, and that the technology program and value of educational technology is shared with the school board and larger community. NOTE: This ONE Goal addresses Curriculum Integration, Professional Development, and Effective Teaching Practices	1.We will add a student, and a parent/community member to the technology committee as well as make sure that our new administrator is up to speed with the technology program and this plan. 2.Technology Committee will meet bi monthly. 3.We will add AUP monitoring and supervision expectations to the staff handbook. 4. Technology Committee meeting minutes will be posted to the school web site.	1		Tech committee will meet Sept, Nov, Jan, March, May with administrative support and participation. A student, and a parent/community member appointed to the technology committee. Technology Committee meeting minutes will be posted to the school web site.	Beginning Fall 2007 and ongoing
2.Establish individual teacher and support staff technology goals as part of administrative supervision and evaluation process addresses Curriculum Integration, Professional Development, and Effective Teaching Practices	1. Each teacher and support staff will establish a personal professional technology goal ( using presentation software, creating class web page, learning to use spreadsheets) with strategies for accomplishing that goal.	1	This will take place over two years in order to reach entire teaching staff based on 2 year cycle evaluation rotation. Indicator 1 will be administrative evaluation and assessment of personal technology goals. Indicator 2 will be evidence of teacher using new skills in both instruction and personal management of teaching responsibilities. Professional development will be made available and geared toward helping staff meet agreed upon technology goals.		Implemented over the next two years
3. Fine tuning existing IT GE and information literacy skills database for tracking individual and class practice and assessment of those skills addresses Curriculum Integration,	1.Working to make the GE Skills database more functional and user friendly. 2. Begin to establish introduction, practice, and assessment cycles for IT and IL skills. 3. Technologist and Library Media Specialist will work with teachers and students to integrate and assess skills within curricular units.	2	Release time and funds for development and training will need to be found. Some form of IT and IL skills reporting will be a part of progress/report cards sent to parents K.-6		Year 1 with ongoing implementation.
4. Continue campus network upgrade, testing circuits, switches addresses overarching Elements of Access and Infrastructure.	1.Use existing allocated Microsoft monies and some new budget funds to test existing and add circuits/drops in high traffic areas. 2. Get professional assistance for technologist in using network monitoring software to measure network traffic and compliance with AUP.	1	All network users will experience minimal down time and/or negligible slowdown in network transfers of data and internet access.		Year 1 with ongoing updates.
5. Provide Professional Development training in use of: a. Safari Montage on demand video server b. Smartboard for instructional enhancement c. New Distance learning network. Develop and focus local workshops and other PD based on needs survey and teacher requests. Potential topics to include: email, spreadsheets, Office Suite, Iwork, Ilife, Online resources. This ONE Goal addresses Curriculum Integration, Professional Development, and Effective Teaching Practices	a.Use lead teacher mentors to demonstrate during beginning inservice and provide on demand support for accessing video content to classroom desktops and projection setups. b. We will schedule outside consultant to provide Smartboard training in order to better utilize our 2 existing Smartboard setups. c. After setting up and configuring access to the new IP based ILN. Staff will be informed of available content and workshops. Conduct needs survey at the beginning and end of the school year	1	Teachers will have easy access to wide range of subscribed content (PBS, Discovery, etc.) Funds for professional development will need to be found. Grants Erate Title IId 25% of 1300.00 Other? Administrative commitment, funding and time allocation are the main hurdles to making a workable professional development program. C. ILN Innovative Delivery Strategies and E-Learning	Server log will show who is using the video on demand server and to what extent.
6. Upgrade existing student information database. New features and databases to provide solutions for identified systems needs. 5. This goal addresses System, administrative, and community support	1. We will use Microsoft and administrative budget funds to continue to improve our Filemaker database to provide administrators and educators with critical data to inform and drive programs and policies. 2. In particular we will develop a separate database to manage sick, personal, professional day banks so that staff can access their accounts to see balances as well as request days. 3. We will work with Database developer to allow for teachers to enter grades from home and for special educators to handle IEP paperwork from home
7. Explore the potential for gradually implementing electronic portfolios	Electronic portfolio is a broad and generic term. We will explore custom designed solutions to fit Cabot School’s needs.		Supplement not supplant paper/hard copy system. Provide backup to hard copy system. Informed by IT listserv discussion and what other schools are finding successful. Gradual with lead teachers piloting. Possibly synced up with Filemaker database. Can include writing, math, presentations, web pages, movies, artwork…. Dvd record upon student exit.

Description	Year 1 Amount	Year 2 Amount
Professional Development
Salary & Wages
Infrastructure
Hardware
Software
Travel
Consultants & Contracts
Stipends
Equipment
Web site development
Evaluation
Other

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