Evaluation JonesR

7/30/2019 Evaluation JonesR

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Richard J ones EdTech 501

School Summary Evaluation for Canyon Valley High School

Demographics

Canyon Valley High School is located in Canyon Valley, California. The city itself has a

population of about 20,413 people, many of whom recently migrated from the Bay Area regionin central California. According to the 2010 Census data, Canyon Valleys racial breakdown is

54% Caucasian, 33% Hispanic, 6% African American, and 5% Asian. Canyon Valley is a

middle-income town with most citizens working in the farming community, local warehouses, or

commuting outside the region for other industries.

Canyon Valley High School currently serves as an alternative education high school for students

who are not able or allowed to attend our citys traditional high school. At any given time we

have between 115 and 125 students on campus and 10-15 students on independent studies.

Due to state law, students must be at least 16 years old to attend Canyon Valley High School.

We also allow a fifth-year option for seniors who are close to graduating but are unable to

complete the requirements within the four year model. These two traits make our population

somewhat older than most high schools.

The demographic breakdown at Canyon Valley High School is quite a bit different from the

population within our city. This cause of this is debatable, but the statistics show a clear

delineation between ourselves and the rest of the district. We currently have a racial breakdown

of 63% Hispanic, 16% Caucasian, and 14% African American. At Canyon Valley High School,

61% of the students are classified as English Learners, a number that is disproportionately high

compared to most other schools in the district. Finally, we have an 81% graduation rate. This is

a number much higher than the state average of 74%.

Demographics Tables

The following charts and graphs reflect other demographics data at Canyon Valley High School:


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Stages of Technology Use

This report will utilize the Technology Maturity Benchmarks and Stages of Technology Use that

are outlined in Sibley and Kimballs Technology Use Plan Primer. Thus, I felt it was necessary

to include their descriptions so that there is a clear context for the criteria that I used in this

evaluation. The following is the description that Sibley and Kimball provide for the stages of

technology use:

The Emergent Systems Stage is characterized by:

1 Lack of formal support when using computing technology for instruction

2 No formal plans, policies or procedures exist to ensure the efficient and appropriateacquisition or use of technology throughout the Institution

3 Computers are used sporadically throughout the Institution

4 Institution wide coordination to ensure grade level and program level access is absent

5 Formal support for teacher training is minimal

The Islands of Technology Stage is characterized by:

1 Regular use of computers at one or more grade levels and program levels at each

school within the Institution on a regularly scheduled basis

2 Formal plans, policies and procedures exist to facilitate the optimal use of technology in

both instructional and administrative areas throughout the Institution

3 Institution sponsored and school sponsored training is available

4 Technology has budgetary visibility at the Institutional level and school/program level

5 The instructional delivery system is somewhat dependent on technology

The Integrated Systems Stage is characterized by:


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1 Regular planned access for students to technology as a means of instruction and a

focus of instruction

2 Teachers' systems also support administrative functions, such as grading, attendance

and electronic mail

3 Technology has a high budgetary visibility at the Institutional and school/program level

4 Comprehensive plans, policies and procedures for instructional and administrative use oftechnology are reviewed and revised regularly

5 The Institution is an advocate of technology training for all personnel

6 The instructional delivery system is very dependent on technology

The Intelligent Systems Stage is characterized by:

1 Student access to technology as an indispensable component of instruction

2 Every curriculum is augmented by intelligent learning systems

3 Administrative functions are automated, integrated and paper less

4 Student, teachers and stakeholders have access to appropriate systems from home

5 Technology is one of the three highest expenditures of Institution funds

6 Technology planning is an integral part of Institution planning

7 The systematic adoption of new technologies is ongoing

8 Technology advocates at each organizational unit assist in the introduction of the new

technologies

9 Instructional and administrative personnel are knowledgeable in the use of technology

Stages of Technology Use: Canyon Valley High School

This summary reflects the current situation as it relates to Canyon Valley High School. The five

areas, as specified by Sibley and Kimball, including Administrative, Curricular, Support,Connectivity, and Innovation. This summary will also attempt to address each of the sub-

sections within these five categories.

Administrative Filter

Category/S

ubsectionRating

Supporting

Evidence and

Statements

Policy

(Behavioral)Islands

CVHS has a

formalized policy

but it is not

monitored or

enforced at all

levels.

Policy Intelligent CVHS has a


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(Resource/I

nfrastructur

e)

comprehensive

user agreement

policy that has

been adopted by

the school board.

No staff or

students are

allowed to use

technology until

the form is signed.

Planning

(Behavioral)Islands

CVHS does not

have a formal

planning process,

but one exists at

the district level. It

is usually

discussed at staff

meetings as topics

arise.

Planning

(Resource/I

nfrastructur

e)

Islands

CVHS does not

have a formal plan

for our site. We

are asked to follow

the plan as it is

approved by thedistrict technology

committee. We

have one

representative on

the committee.

Budget(Behavioral)

Islands

CVHS does not

have a formal

process for

requesting

technology moniesor for submitting

request for

spending

assistance at the

classroom level.


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Budget

(Resource/Infrastructur

e)

Islands

CVHS does not

have a written plan

for its allocation of

technology funds,

but does have an

overall budget

allocation in

writing. The

district level has a

more formalized

technology budget.

Administra

tive

Informatio

n

(Behavioral)

Integrated

The administrative

systems are

utilized on a

regular basis by

designated school

officials. This

system has

partially reduced

paper consumption

but is not

paperless at this

point.

Administra

tive

Informatio

n

(Resource/I

nfrastructure)

Integrated

Administrative

systems areavailable to most

staff members, but

are only allowed to

be used by

designated

positions. For

example, the

school secretaries

act as a liaison

between the

teachers and

district support

staff in terms of

submitting

electronic work

orders, time logs

and other admin


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documents.

Curricular Filter

Category/S

ubsectionRating

Supporting

Evidence and

Statements

ElectronicInformation

(Behavioral)

Island

CVHS staffmembers are verydependent uponelectronicinformation andsystems. Student

reliance hasincreased but hasnot becomeutilized universally.

ElectronicInformation(Resource/Infrastructure)

Integrated

Technologicalresources arecomprehensiveand includeseveraltechnologies forteacher andstudent use. Theoptions are diversebut the school hasnot offered thedepth of trainingrequired to usethem effectively.

Assessment(Behavioral)

Integrated

All of the CVHSteachers aretrained and utilizeelectronicassessment tools

for evaluatingstudent work.Some studentshave access to theresults butexpectation doesnot exist.


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Assessment(Resource/Infrastructure)

Integrated

Our school districtadoptedPowerSchool as aweb-based gradingand attendance

tool that can beaccessed by staff,students, andparents. We havealso adoptedSchool City as ourelectronicassessmentgrading system.We lack trainingfor parents andstudents on how touse these tools.

CurriculumIntegration(Behavioral)

Islands

CVHS staffmembers aresomewhatdependent upontechnology forimplementingcurriculum. Wehave courses thatrequire access to acomputer lab ormobile carts. Wealso have coursesthat are 100%online throughCyberHigh.

CurriculumIntegration

(Resource/Infrastructure)

Islands

Our school has acomputer lab andtwo mobile carts,but thoseresources arelimited due tospecific classes

requiring them tobe used on a dailybasis. This leavesteachers outside ofthose areasstruggling to gainaccess to theresources that are


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available.

TeacherUse(Behavioral)

Islands

CVHS teachersuse technology foradministrativetasks such ascompleting gradesand attendance.They use thistechnologyregularly, but it hasnot been includedon a daily basis.

TeacherUse(Resource/Infrastructure)

Integrated

CVHS hasprovided eachteacher with alaptop, document

camera, LCDprojector, printer,set of studentresponse clickersand Mobi pad.The access iscurrently limiteddue to siteconstruction. Thishas caused regularwifi outages.

StudentUse(Behavioral)

Islands

Students who haveaccess will usetechnology on adaily basis, butthat is limited tothose completingSenior Project,CyberHigh, andYearbook. Otheruses are sporadicbased on accessto mobile laptop

carts.

StudentUse(Resource/Infrastructure)

Islands

Some studentshave access toappropriatetechnologies, butthe access islimited to specific


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classes(depending uponavailability of themobile laptopcarts). Also, the

carts weredesigned to covertwo classes of 20students, but ourclass sizes haveincreased to 25,thus requiring bothcarts to cover oneclass.

Support Filter

Category/Subsection

RatingSupporting

Evidence andStatements

Stakehold

erInvolvement(Behavioral)

Islands

Most staffmembers at CVHSare aware of theplanning

procedures andreports of thetechnologycommittee;however, few arepart of the processitself.

StakeholderInvolvement(Resource/Infrastructure)

Islands

Many of ouremployee groups(certificated,classified, and

management) areincluded in theadoption andimplementation ofnew technologies;however, studentsand parents areoften left out of the


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process.

AdministrativeSupport(Behavioral)

Integrated

CVHS teachersand classified staffare alwaysinvolved inongoingdiscussionsregardingtechnology supportand assistance.Teachers are tosubmit requests forassistance throughthe site secretary,but theadministrator isalways available ifissues arise..

AdministrativeSupport(Resource/Infrastructure)

Integrated

Our site meetstwice per month asa staff andtechnologyconcerns areaddressed in atleast one of thesemeetings. Thebreakdown inservice and

support usuallyoccurs betweenthe site and thedistrict.

Training(Behavioral)

Integrated

Nearly all of ourstaff members areincluded when siteor districttechnologytrainings occur.This is not the

case district wide,but is possible atour site given thefact that we onlyhave 6 teachers.

Training(Resource/I

IslandsCVHS doesprovide occasional


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nfrastructure)

technologytrainings, but theseare often hostedby myself and ateacher from the

independentstudies site. Wedo provide time forothers to talk aboutnew tools that theyhave located, butthese are not donethrough a formalprocess.

TechnicalandInfrastructureSupport(Behavioral)

Islands

All CVHS staffmembers utilizetechnical support,but that is oftendone through theuse of mentorteachers and notdistrict personnel.There does tend tobe a higher prioritygiven toadministrative levelissues rather thanthose at theclassroom level.

TechnicalandInfrastructureSupport

(Resource/Infrastructure)

Islands

CVHS has accessto a districtcomputertechnician for 3hours everyTuesday, but thisservice has beenlimited recentlydue to theresignation of ourtechnician. We

utilize a work ordersystem for issueswhen a technicianis not on site.These must besubmitted throughthe sitesecretaries.


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Connectivity Filter

Category/Subsectio

nRating

SupportingEvidence andStatements

Local AreaNetworkin

g(Behavioral)

Integrated

The staff at CVHSconsistently relieson the use of ourlocal areanetworking toaccess data,stored documents,and district

communications.This allows us toautomatically savedocuments to ourservers and printeven when takenoffline for a briefperiod of time.

Local AreaNetworking(Resource/Infrastructure)

Islands

Our high-speednetworking iscurrently limited

due to a lack ofwireless accesspoints. This is onlya temporaryproblem as we areundergoing majorconstruction at thistime.

DistrictArea

Networking(Behavioral)

Islands

Our staff membersuse districtservices, but in

traditional ways(printing,document sharing,andtelecommunications).

DistrictArea

IntegratedOur district doeshave a district


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Networking(Resource/Infrastructure)

networking systemincludingconnectionsthrough highspeed lines. Every

classroom has awired connectionto these services.We are in theprocess of buildingwireless accesspoints throughoutthe district.

InternetAccess(Behavioral)

Integrated

At CVHS, all staffmembers andsome students usethe internet daily.Nearly everystudent has aclass that meets inthe computer labevery day. This issubject to changebased on eachstudents scheduleand coursesoffered in thetrimester..

InternetAccess(Resource/Infrastructure)

Intelligent

Every classroom atour site is wired tothe district internetlines and servers.

All CVHSclassrooms willhave wirelesssignals within thenext two months.

CommunicationSystem(Behavioral)

Intelligent

Emailcommunications

take place on adaily basis. Weare also testing theuse of Google

Apps for Educationin my SeniorProject course withthe hopes of rolling


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out access for allstudents startingnext school year.Every student willhave a district-

controlled emailaccess throughGoogle.

CommunicationSystem(Resource/Infrastructure)

Integrated

District emailaccess is availablefor all staffmembers but issomewhat limitedfor students. Asmentioned above,we are in theprocess of creatingGoogle accountsfor every studentat CVHS.

Innovations Filter

Category/Subsection

RankingSupporting

Evidence andStatements

NewTechnologies(Behavioral)

Integrated

The majority of thestaff members atCVHS accept andwelcome the useof newtechnologies.There are a coupleof staff memberswho are usuallyafraid to work onthem alone, but

are willing to trywith assistance.

NewTechnologies(Resource/Infrastructure)

Integrated

Our newtechnologies areimplemented fairlyquickly afteradoption, but thereis not always


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follow-up as tohow often they areused by staff in thelong term.

ComprehensiveTechnologies(Behavioral)

Integrated

CVHS staffmembers havebecomecomfortable withthe use ofcomputers,documentcameras, andstudent responseclickers; however,they have justbegun to integratevideo and otheradvanced studentproduction tools aspart of classcurriculum.

ComprehensiveTechnologies(Resource/Infrastructure)

Integrated

The staff at CVHShas access tolaptops, LCDprojectors, videorecording devices,digital cameras,document

cameras,scanners, andprinters. We doneed additionaladoption ofadvanced softwarefor publishing printand video.

Concluding Summary

When formulating my final evaluation of the current technology situation at Canyon Valley High

School I wanted to approach the task with as much objectivity as possible. My hope was that

the evidence would speak for itself. My initial instinct was to create a scoring system whereby

each subsection would be given a value according to the maturity level. I would calculate the

scores, find the average, and judge the results. The scoring system was to be the following:

My Subcategory Totals Point Values


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Emergent = 0 Emergent = 1 point

Island = 16 Island = 2 points

Integrated = 13 Integrated = 3 points

Intelligent = 3 Intelligent = 4 points

After calculating the responses with this system, I was left with an average score of 2.57 per

subcategory. This is where I ran into difficulty. The result was a near dead even split as the

average fell almost exactly between Island and Integrated. To make this even more

challenging, there were 16 responses in the Island category and 16 responses of Integrated or

higher. It was at this point that I decided to look more qualitatively at the evidence with the

ultimate goal of finding a clear placement for Canyon Valley High School.

After an in-depth examination of the information collected for this project, Canyon Valley High

School is currently at the Island level. I reached this decision based on a few fundamental

flaws at our site. First, the Administrative Filter revealed our schools lack of sufficient

monitoring of the user agreement policy; moreover, it exposed the fact that we do not have a

thorough site plan or formalized budget process. These are essential building blocks in the

establishment of an effective school technology environment. Teacher access, trainings, and

administrative support are inherently dependent upon these components to be successful.

Upon further examination of the evidence, one can see that the Curricular Filter also leaned

towards the Island category. The findings suggest that teachers have far more access and use

of technology than students. If our school wants to move to the Integrated column then there

needs to be more of an emphasis placed on student access to and competency with

technological tools. It would be an injustice to give our school a label above Island given this

evidence.

The bright spots at our site definitely shined through in the Connectivity Filter and Innovation

Filter. The Connectivity benchmarks reflect a strong showing in terms of staff access and use of

internet and networking. Many of these subcategory scores could be improved with minor

adjustments to our wireless access and inclusion of video and voice services. The Innovation

Filter added to these scores with high showings in staff acceptance of emerging technologies.

There were additional positive results in terms of the variety of technologies available to our

staff.

In summation, the overall rating for Canyon Valley High School is Island based on statistical and

anecdotal evidence. When the initial scoring approach failed to yield a clear ranking a more

thorough examination of evidence within the filters was undertaken. The strong showing in

Innovation and Connectivity could not overcome the shortcoming of the Administrative and

Curricular fields. Canyon Valley High School has a bright future thanks to a supportive

administration, willing staff, and students who are eager to embrace technologies as part of their

education. Positive growth trends should push this site into the Integrated column within the

year.


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Evaluation JonesR

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