School District Technology Plan - Wk 2 Assignment

The Irving Independent School District (Irving ISD) understands that to ensure their students will be successful in the 21st century, they must be provided a technologically diverse learning environment.  To plan for this learning environment, Irving ISD has developed a Long Range Technology Plan (LRTP) that sets out several goals and encompasses four components: "Teaching and Learning, Professional Development, Administrative and Support Services, and Infrastructure for Technology" (Irving ISD, 2010). 

Under Teaching and Learning, Irving ISD has developed these goals:

• GOAL 1: Infuse higher level thinking with technology and quality instruction to ensure engaging learning experiences for all teachers and students. 
• GOAL 2: Support assessment and planning through the use of technology. 
• GOAL 3: Educate all students and teachers in responsible technology use.

Under Professional Development, Irving ISD has developed this goal:

• GOAL 4: Ensure educator professional development is on‐going, high quality, based on the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), and increasing in rigor so that student learning and 21st century skills are increased.

Under Administrative and Support Services, Irving ISD has developed these goals:

• GOAL 5: Ensure 100% administrative participation in appropriate, current and new software programs. 
• GOAL 6: Provide leadership to leverage technology for the improvement of teaching and learning in every classroom daily.

And, under Infrastructure for Technology, Irving ISD has developed this goal:

• GOAL 7: Ensure a stable and robust infrastructure for technology use.

Each of these goals is broken into subsections and lists specific strategies, timelines, stakeholders, and evidence of progress.  It is a very robust and complete plan, with goals attainable in the timelines set.  The plan also includes a breakdown of the budget requirements and specific funding sources needed for each goal.

One of the main aspects of the plan is the Professional Development guidelines listed in Goal 4.  There are 18 sub-categories and a budget of $4.3 million over the three year plan.  Many of the aspects of the plan are continuations of existing staff development programs that include: Levels of Technology Implementation (LoTI) training, professional learning communities through shared environments (i.e. Blackboard, wikis, online tools), and others programs.  The staff development plan does not discuss too many specific software programs or equipment, but rather focuses types of technology and their successful implementation in the class room.  Trainings are available for all stakeholders in the school district, from the classroom teacher to the school administrators and district-level support staff.

Each goal and sub-categories have specific criterion listed for evidence of successful implementation and completion.  Many of these criterions are data driven, like an increase of 10% in the attendance of certain staff developments.  The other criterions are based on visual inspection of the training sessions.  Professional development is the responsibility of Content Coordinators, the Director of Staff Development, the Director of Instructional Technology and the Technology Coordinators.

Irving ISD has researched and developed a contingency plan if the "E-rate" program is discontinued. (Goal 7, Strategy 7.2.9, Irving ISD, 2010).  They have developed the plan to monitor the progress of the LRTP by utilizing usage data and STaR Charts from the Texas Education Agency.

Irving ISD, 2010 - Long Range Technology Plan 2010-2013 - http://www.irvingisd.net/technology/documents/lrtp.pdf