Maturity Benchmark Survey-LaFave EES is a low income, ethnically diverse elementary school in suburban Houston.

There are 697 students and 60 teachers. The grades represented at EES are EC (pre-kindergarten)- 5th grade. 1. Begin by describing the demographics of your institution.
Economically Disadvantaged (% of total) American Indian/Alaskan Native Enrollment (% of total) Asian Enrollment (% of total) African American(% of total) Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander (% of total) Hispanic Enrollment (% of total) White Enrollment (% of total) Two or More Races Enrollment (% of total) 86.94 % 0.43% 5.45% 21.95 % 0% 67.14 % 3.87% 1.15%

2. Begin each summary by identifying your ranking for that subsection. Explain what was apparent in your educational environment that substantiated your decision. Provide facts and examples where it is appropriate.
Emergen t ADMINISTRATIV E Policy behavioral x District approved policy exists, but is not formally shared or followed Integrate d Intelligen t Evaluator Comments

Islands

resource/ infrastructur e Plannin g behavioral resource/ infrastructur

x x x

Budget

e behavioral resource/ infrastructur e

Admini -strative Infor -mation

behavioral resource/ infrastructur e

Administrative Summary: EES does have a Technology Plan in place. However, I am embarrassed to report that it has not been used effectively. From what I have seen the funds at EES have not been used effectively. I do not believe this is the fault of administration at EES itself but rather the fault of the school board. The district that EES is a part of is split between very high income schools and very low income schools. The low income schools are isolated in the southern part of the district and are often thought of negatively. Many of the teachers at EES believe that the district would rather the low income schools not exist. Due to this fact, EES and the few other low income schools do not often get the supplies or technology materials that are needed to teach students effectively.
Emerge nt CURRICUL AR Electronic Informatio n behavioral Island s x Integrat ed Intellige nt Evaluator Comments School Loop is used extensively to disseminate information and organize curriculum.

Assessme nt

resource/ infrastructure behavioral resource/ infrastructure behavioral resource/ infrastructure behavioral

x x x x x x most teachers use School Loop to communicate with

Curricular Integration

Teacher Use

students/pare nts and post assignments/ scores resource/infrastruc ture behavioral x x many students have great technology skills - but many have inferior skills as well many students have their own smart phones and/or bring computers to school

Student Use

resource/infrastruc ture

Curriculum Summary: The district that EES belongs to "requires" that technology is used on a daily basis. However, there are teachers that refuse to use technology unless it is absolutely necessary. The district does provide the school with items such as starboards, document cameras, individual computers, software, etc. The teachers at EES very rarely allow students to access technology to work on assignments.

Emergen t

Islands

Integrate d

Intelligen t

Evaluator Comments this is done at the district level - so EVHS' stakeholder s are not as involved as would be ideal

SUPPORT Stakeholder
Involvement

behavioral

Administrativ e Support

resource/ infrastructur e behavioral resource/

x x

Training

Technical/ Infrastructure Support

infrastructur e behavioral resource/ infrastructur e behavioral

x x

resource/ infrastructur e

Support Summary: The district that EES is a part of has majority of control of decisions made about technology. Parents and students have minimal input through campus improvement committees. Parents have shown little interest in increasing their influence over such decisions. Each campus in the district provides campus technology coordinators that provide weekly opportunities for technology training. There is also voluntary training that teachers may participate in during the summer break, christmas break, weekends, and after school. The district provides networks and a network operations center that handles the networks and the servers. The district does a great job of providing fast and efficient technical support and repair when necessary.

Emergen t CONNECTIVIT Local Area Y Networking (LAN) behavioral x

Island s

Integrate d

Intelligen t

Evaluator Comment s utube is blocked as are other potentially useful sites

District Area Networking (WAN)

resource/ infrastructur e behavioral

Internet Access

resource/ infrastructur e behavioral Resource/ infrastructur e

x x

Communicatio n Systems

behavioral resource/ infrastructur e

x x

Connectivity Summary: The district does have district wide networking as well as local area networking within each school. EES also has internet access as well that comes with security software to limit the sites that students and teachers can access. In regards to communication systems EES is very limited. We have access to email and telephone and that is where it ends. Each staff member is provided with a login ID and email account. Students are provided with login ID's so that they may access the internet.

Emergen t INNOVATIO N New Technologies behavioral resource/ infrastructur e behavioral

Island s x x

Integrate d

Intelligen t

Evaluator Comment s

Comprehensiv e Technologies

resource/ infrastructur e

Innovation Summary: EES uses technology that has already been on the market for a few years such as STARR boards and document cameras. We do use tablets, but they are not the modern style tablets. EES also does not use them for their full capabilities. By district policy we do not use iPads, iPods, and phones. Furthermore, only the district can load software onto individual computers which limits flexibility. District policy limits the use of the capabilities of the computers. For example, there is rigid website blocking for students and teachers, such as YouTube and Facebook. The district blocks the ability to download programs without district approval. There are even blocks on the access of hardware peripherals without administrative intervention. 4. Conclude with a final summary which describes where you would place your educational institution in the Technology Maturity Model. Maturity Benchmark Summary: I would place EES in the island category of the maturity benchmark. EES does well with the technology that it has been provided with.

The district provides EES with technology and the training, but does not provide additional support. I believe that EES, as well as other low income schools in the district have not been given what they need to keep up with the high income schools in the district. Most of the issues with EES is the fact that it is a low performing school and the district would rather spend money on the schools that are more likely to perform in a positive manner. There just is not enough money to go around the for the low income schools and the high income schools due to the budget cuts. The district's technology plan needs to be reassessed and the funds need to be spread equally amongst the school's.