ITEC 7410: SIP Plan/Technology Plan Analysis

Name: ​ Jason Guzzardo ​ Semester: ​Fall 2018

Type your answers below (ie. minimum of 2-5 sentences per question as appropriate).

School Improvement Plan Analysis:

School mission/vision:
❏ The vision of JCCHS is to promote student success, lifelong learning, and global citizenship through
leadership, character, and performance.
❏ The mission of JCCHS is to foster a supportive learning environment that offers purposeful, rigorous,
and diverse educational experiences and encourages all students to develop a passion for learning as
responsible global citizens.

Targeted areas for improvement:

❏ By Spring 2021, 70% of JCCHS graduates will enter TCSG/USG without needing remediation;
achieving a readiness score on the ACT, SAT, two or more AP exams, or two or more IB exams;
passing a pathway-aligned end of pathway assessment (EOPA) resulting in a national or state credential;
or completing a work-based learning program.
❏ By Spring 2021, 75% of students in 9th Grade Literature and American Literature will demonstrate
reading comprehension at the midpoint of the College & Career Ready "Stretch" Lexile Band for each
course.
❏ By Spring 2021, 65% of JCCHS students' assessments will score at Proficient or Distinguished Learner
on Georgia Milestones EOCs.
❏ By Spring 2021, 95% of students in grades 9-12 will be absent less than 10% of enrolled days.

How does your SIP address the needs of diverse populations regarding digital technology equity for low
SES and gender groups (ie. females) and assistive technology for disabled learners?
❏ All students are provided technology in the classroom via chromebooks regardless of SES or gender.
Students use chromebooks to complete various learning task for a given course. Chromebooks are
returned the classroom periods’ teacher at the end of the class.
 ❏ There is no “off campus” technology hardware (ie chromebooks, laptops, and/or desktops) provided to
students by the school system currently other than 24 hour access to online learning opportunities and
teacher pages.

How is technology included in the SIP?

❏ Technology is not directly included in the SIP. However, the school has made it a known initiative that
new wireless projectors will placed in each classroom. Each Teacher will have a YOGA Chromebook to
connect to the wireless projector to revolutionize instruction. Teachers will have 1 to 1 Chromebooks for
each class period by the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

In what ways is student technology literacy included as a goal in your SIP?

❏ Technology is included in the current SIP with a focus on improving student’s Lexile scores with the use
of NewsELA, CommonLit, and Lexilel.com to enhance and differentiate reading and comprehension.
Although these tools will be used in the Language Arts courses across all grade levels it does not
specifically address “technology literacy” in regards to word processing and application of digital skills
needed for today’s high school learner. Student’s do have access to Computer courses such as
communications, computer programming, and related computer courses, but students are not required to
take this course making it difficult to measure a whole population criteria for success.

Why is technology addressed (or not addressed!) as it is? For example, does school culture or history
contribute to the way the SIP addresses technology? [Additional Field Experience option if interviewing
others in the school to find this history.]
❏ Technology is not directly in our SIP because the “assumed” instructional culture at our school is to
provide teachers and students with the necessary tools to engage in personalized learning experiences.
Essentially what this refers to at our local level (Jackson County High School) is that classrooms are
provided chromebook sets in a classroom or on cart to be shared between courses, a presentation
monitor, and an instructors instructional multi-purpose laptop. These technology tools meet most of the
needs for teachers in the classroom setting to provide those personalized learning experience. Most
recently the district has provided schools with Canvas, which a learning management system.
❏ There has been administrative discussion of outfitting each classroom with its own set of chromebooks
in the next 12 months, so teachers have the daily instructional use of a 1 to 1 ratio of laptop to student.
Are you pleased with the current treatment of technology-related issues in the SIP? Why or why not?
❏ In my new position and setting at my current school I am confined to a room much of the day that does
not allow me to get out and visit our students in the general education classroom much, but I did take
time during my lunch on three accounts to observe several of my colleagues incorporate technology to
address some of our SIP goals specifically in reference to improving Literacy and Lexile ranges for all
learners. I did not observe any specific tools mentioned in the SIP such as NEWSLA, CommonLit and
Lexilel.com being incorporated directly, however I did observe students engaged through student
chromebooks reading various content on the teacher Canvas page or Google Classroom site. I was
pleased to see how current technology was being used in these setting as student were actively engaged
in conversation about articles or content they discovered or were researching based on the objective
and/or assignment during the observation.

Would you like to see technology issues represented differently in future SIPs? Why?
❏ When future SIPs are composed I would like to see a technology improvement goal that consisted of
specific uses of technology for instruction. Based on conversations with my colleagues and
administration most of the teachers at JCCHS incorporate technology for instructional use on a daily
basis, but no measurable goal has been formatted due to administration not wanting teachers to feel
constrained by a specific improvement goal. However, I do believe we could just as easily formulate an
improvement goal for technology use that would enhance our school’s overall performance and provide
positive feedback for that goal.

What are your first thoughts of how technology could contribute toward achieving the
mission/vision/goals set forth in your school improvement plan?
❏ My first thoughts on how technology could contribute towards achieving a goal set forth in our SIP is
that it is very specific to our English and Language Arts courses.

How might technology be integrated more effectively into your SIP in the future?
❏ Based on the previous we could ensure that teachers across all courses understand how to incorporate
such tools as NEWSELA, commonlit, and lexilel in their courses to better achieve our SIP goal to
improve literacy with the use of these technology tools.
 District Technology Plan Analysis:
Multiple efforts were made to obtain the District Technology Plan for Jackson County School Systems, but no
plan was discovered or provided. Those efforts included searching the district website with our school’s TST
and Media Specialist, multiple phone messages and e-mails sent to our District Technology Coordinator,
Personalized Learning Coordinator and our Assistant Superintendent.

What are the three main curriculum goals in your district’s technology plan?
What strategies are outlined for achieving these goals?
Does the plan seem achievable over the designated timeline? Why?
In what ways would you like to see the plan improved?
What could you, in your current or a future position, do to help support implementation of the plan?
How does the plan address the needs of diverse populations regarding digital technology equity for low
SES and gender groups (ie. females) and assistive technology for disabled learners? If it does not, what
are your recommendations?
In what ways does the plan tie-in to your local SIP?

School Tech Plan Status:

(Note: Most schools will not have a tech plan. In this case students can only answer question one and maybe
elaborate on why there is no plan and if there ever was a history of tech planning at that school at all.)
Is there a technology plan that is separate from the SIP at your school? If so, when and how was it
created?
❏ There is currently not a technology plan separate from the SIP at JCCHS.
Do members of the school community know about the tech plan?
❏ Despite a technology plan not being available currently our TS (technology specialist) indicated that our
media specialist does inform the community on regular basis through the school website, social media
and newsletter that is pushed out through the school email distribution.
Is it being implemented effectively? Why or why not?
❏ From the standpoint that there is no Tech Plan the answer No. From the standpoint that our TS inform
our community about Technology happenings and performance throughout the school and our district
then I would say the answer is yes from an informational perspective. In addition, the district does
 spotlight teaching innovation and risk taking with technology. Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k44PfOsRwGg
What strategies could be implemented to help accelerate adoption of the plan?
❏ There is no plan in place currently. To develop quality Tech School Plan I would envision the following
steps.
1. Personalize the plan to suit the students (customers), instructors (teachers) and environment
(community).
2. Create an example or pilot for all stakeholders to observe and receive appropriate training from.
3. Publicize and Market the initiative.
4. Make amendments to the plan as it progresses.