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Future Vision for Tootin’ Hills School

Katherine Bristol

EDU: 505 Future of Education

Dr. Susan Shaw

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Introduction

Tootin’ Hills School is an elementary school in the suburban town of Simsbury, CT. The

school was established in 1954. Since its opening, the school has provided service to students in

kindergarten through sixth grade. Throughout its 59 year history, Tootin’ Hills has had only four

principals, with the most recent stepping into the position in July, 2013. The Tootin’ Hills

school philosophy describes a school where students and staff share the roles of being learners

and teachers. The school aspires to be “an environment in which it is safe to take risks, to make

mistakes, and to grow” (Perrault, n.d.). Tootin’ Hills values providing students with a well

rounded education that spans content areas and disciplines, including the arts. Although the

school has successfully served its students for the last 59 years, reform is on the horizon. Tootin’

Hills School must take action in order to continue to succeed in providing its students with a

quality education. Through the use of futuring techniques the school can be adequately prepared

for impending changes and reform.

Current Performance Level

Tootin’ Hills utilizes the workshop model for reading, writing and mathematics

instruction. The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project is used in every grade level, as

well as throughout the district. The school supports a balanced literacy approach as well. For

mathematics instruction the school utilizes the Investigations and Numbers, Data and Space

program. Both programs follow the workshop model, with the majority of instructional time

devoted to students independently practicing and applying skills. Tootin’ Hills has a school-

wide goal of having 100% of students reading on grade level by the end of grade three. In June

of 2013 79% of third grade students met the grade level reading benchmark of a DRA level 38.

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A second school-wide goal is for all students to be writing on grade level by the end of grade six.

On the 2013 Connecticut Mastery Test, 92.5% of sixth grade students scored at or above goal

(Perrault, n.d.).

Current Use of Technology

In November, 2012 the district formed a technology committee called the Innovation

Subcommittee. Based on the reports and recommendations of the subcommittee, a set of six i-

Pads was purchased for each kindergarten and first grade teacher in the district for the 2013-2014

school year. The use of tablet computing opens up a world of possibilities, particularly at the

primary level when students are less independent. According to S.W. Haughland’s research, the

use of technology increases the motivation of students at the primary level. “Software that

allows children more control results in children experimenting more and completing more tasks,”

(Couse & Chen, 2010). Also, “the manipulative touch screen promotes the use of several

modalities,” helping teachers to address the varied learning styles of their students (McClanahan,

Williams and Tate, 2012). In the upper grades, students utilize Chrome Books to access their

own Google Drive, through which they create, collaborate and share projects. The benefit of the

Google Drive is that each student has access to it at home and can collaborate on documents in

real time, enabling learning to continue outside of the classroom. Every classroom also has

SMARTBoard and document camera to enhance teachers’ ability to provide students with

interactive visuals to support instruction.

Tootin’ Hills School is also beginning to, at a basic level, utilize learning analytics. The

teachers at the primary level use reading programs, including Raz-Kids and Lexia, to tailor

reading instruction to students’ levels and track their progress with fluency and comprehension

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skills. At the upper elementary level, select teachers have begun to utilize a software program

called Turning Point. In conjunction with this software, students use remote devices, called

clickers, to answer multiple choice questions. The Turning Point software tracks and charts

student responses. The use of technology for assessment purposes provides “new ways for

students to express themselves and [expands] the range of assessment methods” (Wu & Zhang,

2010). This wider variety of assessment tools will give teachers a more comprehensive and

objective portfolio with which to evaluate student learning and the effectiveness of instruction.

“Portable assessment technology could shift from drill-and-practice to more student-directed

learning,” as is called for by the Common Core State Standards (Wu & Zhang, 2010).

Futuring

The goal of any educational organization is to prepare students to be successful,

contributing members of society.  Educators need to equip students with skills and knowledge

that will prepare them to be lifelong learners.  According to Ray Moorcroft’s article, The Art of

the Clairvoyant, 50% of the jobs that will be available to five-year-old students are not yet even

in existence (2007). If educators prepare students for the realities of today only, then those

students will not have the skills necessary to succeed in the rapidly changing job market.   To

avoid this occurrence, educators can use futuring, an exercise in which organizations project

future trends and create a plan of action based upon those trends. Futurists can “[dramatize]

trends and alternatives, explore the impacts and implications of decisions, choices, strategies, and

provide insights into cause-and-effect sequences” (Mietzner & Reger, 2005).  Without the use of

futuring, schools cannot adequately prepare their students for the future, thus failing at their

original objective.

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Scenarios

Scenarios can be effective tools when looking to the future. Generally speaking a

scenario is “a description of a future situation and the course of events which allows one to move

forward from the original situation to the future” (Meitzner & Reger, 2005). One goal of

scenarios is to help an organization consider the variables that impact the future and anticipate

potential challenges that the future will bring. “The idea behind this construct is to establish

future planning which can minimize surprises and broaden the span of mangers’ thinking about

different possibilities,” (p. 223). In education there are countless variables that can impact long-

term student success. It is important for educational organizations to consider scenarios that will

impact the future of their organization, such as funding and enrollment trends, as well as

scenarios of future society and the job market.

Although scenarios can be powerful tools in planning for success, they are not without

their pitfalls. One significant drawback is that the process of building and planning for a

scenario is a lengthy one (p. 236). A great deal of research and data analysis with a number of

variables is required to build comprehensive scenarios. Another drawback is the possibility of

resorting to extreme, black and white scenarios. In his article, Six Worlds of Tomorrow:

Representing the Future to Popular Culture, Alan Clardy considers the potential for one’s

projection of the future to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which one is not open to

considering alternative perspectives or branching out from the established path (2011).

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Scanning

Futuring requires gathering background information in order to effectively establish a

baseline and anticipate trends. Scanning is one technique to accomplish this. “Scanning the

environment includes both observational and research-based data” (Sobrero, 2004). Educators

must create a comprehensive picture of their current state and past trends to be able to predict

future trends. Observational data obtained through environmental scanning can provide a

context for more specific research-based data (Marx, 2006). For educational organizations,

scanning could include looking within the organization, drawing comparisons with other

organizations, and analyzing economic and population trends.

Trends in Technology and Primary Students

In order to achieve the goal of molding students into lifelong learners, elementary schools

must provide a foundation upon which students can build throughout their lives. It is becoming

increasingly important that technology is an integral part of this foundation. The role of

technology in education is becoming an increasingly prevalent topic in research and professional

literature. Although there is a common perception that America’s youth are digital natives, “the

diversity of childhoods and children’s experiences with digital technologies is now more

commonly acknowledged,” (Facer, 2012). Therefore schools must provide instruction to close

that gap.

Becta’s “Analysis of emerging trends affecting the use of technology in education”

indicates that “increased [parental] encouragement of educational uses of the internet at age 11

has a positive effect on the amount of time children spend on educational websites,” (2008). The

earlier that parents and schools alike can establish technology as a tool for learning, as opposed

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to solely entertainment, the more likely students will be to utilize it as such in the future. Couse

and Chen’s study of the use of tablet computers in early childhood education suggests a

correlation between the use of stylus-interfaced technology and student engagement in drawing

and handwriting tasks (2010). Furthermore, their findings indicated that the use of tablets may

promote problem solving skills as children troubleshoot technical errors and explore features of

programs. In order to effectively integrate technology with instruction, teachers must have

background knowledge about the use and application of technology. For teachers to understand

how to help their students learn, they must put themselves in the role of a learner.  “Using

technology to facilitate professional learning communities in schools and districts helps teachers’

gain experience with informal, community-based learning online,” (Blackboard, 2009).  Once

teachers realize how technology can help them to learn and grow, they will better understand

how it can help their students and be more willing to utilize it in their instruction.   “More

experience in teaching technology will stimulate the development of teachers’ [pedagogical

content knowledge], which will again lead to more confidence in teaching, a more positive

attitude, and etcetera. This circle of positive reinforcement will eventually contribute to the

quality of technology education in primary schools,” (Rohaan, Taconis and Jochems, 2012).

Collaboration Between Schools and Parents

As educational practices and standards rapidly evolve, creating a partnership and

maintaining open lines of communication with parents is increasingly important. Naeyc’s

“Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from

Birth through Age 8” discusses the importance of “establishing reciprocal relationships with

families” beyond occasional communication and scheduled school events (2009). Likewise, the

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National Education Association advocates for educators to “dedicate extra time to explain the

new Common Core instructional shifts to parents and what the shift means in the classroom

(n.d.). However, educators need to be mindful of the kind of message they are sending parents. 

“Parents do not feel like partners in the relationship when staff members see themselves as

having all the knowledge and insight about children and view parents as lacking such

knowledge,” (Naeyc, 2009). Parents need to be made equal partners in their child’s education in

order to adequately support their child at home, particularly when it comes to the use of

technology.

Budgeting Trends

School budgets often limit resources that impact teachers’ ability to achieve their goals as

educators. “The School District Budget Process” outlines challenges that many states and

districts face in creating a budget (2006).  It identifies the unpredictability of budgets from year

to year. One factor identified is the ever changing sales and income tax revenues available to

fund schools (p. 1). Difficult economic times lead to a limited amount of funds for schools.

Another factor is declining enrollment. “Because a large portion of education funding is based

on the number of students attending school in a district, revenues decrease along with a decline

in the number of students,” (p. 2).  In order to make ends meet, many school districts are

resorting to decreasing the number of classes per grade level and increasing class sizes, as well

as limiting funding for new technologies. With limited devices per class, larger classes lead to

fewer opportunities for students to interact with technology.

Future Vision for Tootin’ Hills

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There are many potential scenarios for what the next five years hold for Tootin’ Hills

School. One scenario is that student enrollment will continue to decline. Rather than reducing

the number of teachers and condensing the students into larger classes, the school can take

advantage of the opportunity to have smaller class sizes. This will enable teachers to provide

more individualized instruction for students. With fewer students per class there will be more

opportunities to interact with technology, as the student-to-device ratio will increase. The

challenge with achieving this scenario is the funding for teachers’ salaries, which will decrease

with lower enrollment. One possible solution would be to condense the district’s five elementary

schools into four buildings. Currently, each school has empty classrooms or entire classrooms

being utilized as office space for administrative or consultant positions. Offices can be

condensed or relocated to the Board of Education. This is an option that the district is currently

exploring.

In this scenario technology will be used as more than just a flashy way to engage

students. Teachers will make use of technology as a tool to help document student learning, as

well as gather and organize classroom data. With recent developments in teacher evaluations

and the Common Core, it is increasingly important for teachers to have hard evidence of student

learning. Learning analytics will be used more prevalently, as it “leverages student-related data

to build better pedagogies, target at-risk student populations, and to assess whether programs

designed to improve retention have been effective and should be sustained,” (Johnson, Adams

Becker, Cummins, Estrada, Freeman, and Ludgate, 2013). For students, technology will be

utilized as a tool through which they can create, innovate, collaborate and communicate their

ideas. This model will be the norm in every classroom throughout the school day and year.

Doing so will prepare students to succeed in a technology-driven world. For some teachers, this

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will not be a far reach. For others, this will require a significant change in current practices.

Tootin’ Hills will need to be prepared to provide these teachers with the necessary support to

make technology an integral part of their classroom. The school will also need to take measures

to provide resources and make technology available to students who do not have access to

technology at home, such as borrowing a tablet or Chrome Book. Once again, funding the

acquisition of additional devices and support programs for teachers will be a challenge.

Although the school budget is very rigid, there are many programs, grants and websites through

which teachers and organizations can have projects or materials funded, such as

DonorsChoose.org.

The partnership between the school and the parents of students will continue to grow.

Parents will continue to have opportunities to volunteer and take part in school events. However,

it is important that “practitioners work in collaborative partnerships with families, establishing

and maintaining regular, frequent two-way communication with them,” (Naeyc, 2009). The

school will need to increase communication to inform parents of developments with the

Common Core and its implications in the classroom via electronic newsletters and informational

sessions. Parents should also have chances to learn about the technology being utilized in the

classroom and ways that this technology can be supported at home. That being said, the school

will have to be strategic in how this information is presented. “Practice is not developmentally

appropriate if … the program/family relationship has a strong ‘parent education’ orientation,”

(Naeyc, 2009). Perhaps if parents are involved in developing parent education programs, they

will be more receptive. For example, a parent-run workshop or forum to share strategies for

supporting children with homework might be beneficial. The face of education is changing at a

rapid pace and parents must be kept up to date.

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First Steps Toward the Future

There are many initiatives involved in achieving the described scenario. While some will

take time and planning before they are ready to implement, others can and must begin to take

place immediately. Tootin’ Hills should begin to prepare for the future by strengthening

technology training for teachers. Currently technology workshops offered by the district tend to

be optional or treated as enrichment, as opposed to an essential element of professional

development. The administration needs to make this training a priority. The district currently

employs an Information Technology team whose work has been largely behind the scenes and

limits its support to select teachers who are considered technologically skilled. This team needs

to be brought to the forefront of teacher training. The school needs to create more opportunities

for this team to participate in grade level professional learning communities (PLCs) and support

teachers in the classroom through observation and modeling of instructional strategies. For the

2014 -2015 school year, Tootin’ Hills should incorporate a school-wide technology goal in its

professional growth plan (PGP).

Another initiative that can begin immediately is to strengthen partnerships with parents.

The first step that Tootin’ Hills School needs to take in achieving this goal is to inform parents

about the current state of the school and the instruction that is taking place in its classrooms.

This communication should include curricular changes as a result of the Common Core and the

ways in which technology is being used in the classroom. At this time the school holds a Parents

Night in early September and sends home occasional newsletters, both of which focus largely on

the content being taught or are dedicated to special events in the school. The school needs to

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develop greater transparency in how the curriculum is taught, why these strategies are used, and

ways that parents can support this work at home. We cannot hope to be on the same page with

parents if we do not share our long-term goals with them.

Conclusion

The face of education as we know it is changing. The job market is drastically different

than in previous decades. As James Yates notes, the current students of America are the face of

the future (2008). If Tootin’ Hills School is to continue to produce successful students who are

prepared to take on the responsibility of moving our nation forward, we must look to the future

and take the necessary actions.

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References

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Mietzner , D., & Reger, G. (2005). Advantages and Disadvantages of Scenario Approaches for

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Moorcroft, R. (2007). The art of the clairvoyant. British Journal of Administrative Management,

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children from birth through age 8.  Retrieved from

http://www.naeyc.org/policy/statetrends.

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Student-Success-Brochure.pdf

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