School Evaluation

CM Elementary School Demographics

CM Elementary School is located in a town with a population of just under 2000 people. It is a bedroom community. It is located near the largest city in the province. The school has a population of 260 students from Kindergarten to grade six. There are 15.8 teachers and 7 Education Assistants. The school has a computer lab with 28 Internet connected computers. Each classroom has a pod of 4 Internet connected computers and a laser printer. The teachers are each equipped with a classroom computer (which is connected), a digital projector, and a SMART Board. Two classrooms have surround sound systems installed. There is also a scanner, color printer and photocopier available to all staff.

Administrative Filter
Policy:
Behavioral Intelligent Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
Our school division has a policy that applies to all schools in the division. The parents/guardians of students in our school division must read the technology policy and sign an agreement that confirms that they have read the policy. The policy was created by senior administration with teacher, school community councils, students, and in-school administration.

Planning:
Behavioral Emergent Resource/Infrastructure Islands
Our school has no formal plan. We have technology in-servicing to address newly acquired resources. We do not have smart goals surrounding what we are doing and what we want to do with technology. We planned on using more technology this year, but there was not a method established to measure our growth. The teachers have also spent time this year perusing new technologies, but the planning for this has been by the vice principal and without collaborating with other staff members. Our teachers have sought ways to implement SMART Boards into their learning plans. We had an in-service this year regarding SMART Boards. Each teacher is now implementing strategies into their learning plans in isolation. There has been no time set aside to share ideas.

Budget:
Behavioral Intelligent Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent

Our school division has a plan for upgrading and replacing outdated technology. Our school also has a three year plan for purchasing technology for local needs. Our school and school division has the flexibility in their budget to address needs as they occur.

Administrative Information:
Behavioral Emergent Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
Our school division just purchased a new information system this year. We are using PowerSchool. It has been a difficult transition from Maplewood. The staff at our school only use PowerSchool for recording attendance. This is beneficial for administrative purposes.

Curricular Filter
Electronic Information
Behavioral Emergent Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
Our staff seldom uses the technology available to them. Of course, there are a few teachers that use the technology provided to them and their students on a daily basis and incorporate it meaningfully into their learning plans. The staff uses a spelling program that is on our computers and a typing program. Occasionally they do some research. They do not use their Smart Boards often. Our technological infrastructure is excellent. There is a wealth of programs and software. We also have excellent access to the Internet.

Assessment
Behavioral Islands Resource/Infrastructure Islands
The staff use some electronic tools for assessment. There are some tools available to them through PowerSchool. Overall, most assessment is completed with traditional methods. There has been almost no professional development provided for staff regarding assessment. There are very few resources available to our staff.

Curriculum Integration
Behavioral Integrated Resource/Infrastructure Integrated

Our curriculum calls for the use of technology in all areas. We are fortunate that our school division and our province provides resources that are approved by the curriculum. Our curriculum requires that we implement technology. Our new curriculum provides ample flexibility for teachers to determine the kinds of technology they can use.

Teacher Use
Behavioral Island Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
Our curriculum is new, and as such, many of our staff do not implement it accordingly. The reason for this is that many of the teachers at our school are still developing their learning plans with the new curriculum. Our teachers will become more comfortable implementing technology into their learning plans as they receive more professional development around technology and our new curriculum. Our new curriculum will require teachers to use a constructivist approach to their learning plans. This in turn will necessitate the use of technology. The teachers at our school have the required resources to integrate technology into their learning plans.

Student Use
Behavioral Island Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
Our students primary use of technology is for skill and drill. They use some math sites to practice basic facts and a language arts program to practice their language skills. As mentioned earlier, some students use technology for research. Our school has four computers in each classroom, a lab of 28 computers, and the resource center (library) at our school has five computers. All the computers have a wealth of software and programs on them. They are also connected to high speed Internet. The students at our school have abundant access to technology.

Support Filter
Stakeholder Involvement:
Behavioral Emergent Resource/Infrastructure Emergent
Unfortunately, our parents and school community council are not involved in the planning process of technology. One of the areas that needs to be addressed by our school is involving our school community in our technology planning. They may be able to support our students with our plan for technology. They would also be able to help us to acquire more resources.

Administrative Support:
Behavioral Integrated Resource/Infrastructure Island
I have a biased opinion on this area (I am the vice principal at this school). There have been extensive talks between administration and staff regarding technology this year. This my first year at this school. There were and are some definite areas that needed to be addressed. We are putting together a plan for next year. I have employed some planning for this year and next year. More time and professional development for staff will be put in place next year.

Training
Behavioral Integrated Resource/Infrastructure Integrated
Our staff is motivated to learn. They are aware of the resources that they have available to them. They want to utilize the resources they have and take advantage of the opportunities that they have been afforded. They have had professional development made available to them. They have taken advantage it. Our school needs to have more than one expert available to provide support. They also need more time.

Technical and Infrastructure Support

Behavioral Island Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
We have a technician assigned to our school and several others. Our technician provides excellent support. When we require assistance, we can count on it being provided within two days. The staff know that they can ask me for assistance. If I cannot provide it then they can request assistance from our technician.

Connectivity Filter
Local Area Network
Behavioral Integrated Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
We have fantastic infrastructure at our school. The staff at our school does not use our system to its fullest extent. There is very little work done with voice or video technology.

District Area Network:

Behavioral Intelligent Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent

We are so fortunate. We have the ability to use video, voice, and high speed Internet at anytime. Our network is extensive.

Internet Access
Behavioral Emergent Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
Our staff does not use the Internet often with their students. The Internet would be used occasionally. Our computer lab is often vacant. Everyone of our computers has high speed Internet access.

Communication System
Behavioral Island Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
E-mail at our school is mainly used to disseminate information. All of our staff have access to an e-mail account and they use it frequently. There are only two classrooms that have e-mail accounts for their students.

Innovation Filter
New Technologies
Behavioral Intelligent Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent
The staff at our school is often provided with new technologies. Most staff members will accept the new technologies and implement them into their learning plans.

Comprehensive Technologies:
Behavioral Integrated Resource/Infrastructure Island
We have a vast amount of technology at our disposal. We have the resources to use video conferencing, but not voice recognition. Once our staff puts a formal technology plan in place,

there will be more advanced technologies required. We have the capability to use advanced technology, but we do not have the expertise as yet.

Conclusion
Our school is doing very well in many areas according to the technology maturity model. There is definitely room for us to improve. Overall, we fit into the Integrated Systems Stage. I know that there are a couple areas, curricular and support, where we could be assessed at the Island Stage. I also know that there are a couple areas, connectivity and administrative, where we could fall into the Intelligent Stage. The assessment was done without clear examples of what each criteria was looking for. Overall, I believe that this was a fair assessment. Administrative: Our school division provides excellent resources towards technology. We have a healthy budget dedicated towards technology. We also have an excellent policy which is reinforced and shared with all levels of our school community. We fall short on the plan that our school has in place and the staff that take advantage of the supports that are provided for them. Curricular: Our provincial government provides us with our curriculum. There is a strong emphasis on technology in our curriculum. There are also plenty of resources available to staff and students. We also need to do a better job of integrating technology and assessment. We also need to do a better job of accessing the technology available to us. Support: The support that is provided is all over the rubric. Our stakeholders need to be aware of the importance of technology and provide them with an opportunity to be an integral part of our technology plan. Our staff has an excellent opportunity to access technological support. The challenge for our school is to help staff understand the importance of technology and to help them discover where technology can fit into their learning plans. Our division provides exceptional technical support. Connectivity: Our technology plan is not hindered by our connectivity. Our only deficiency in this area is utilizing the resources that we have at our disposal. Innovation: Once again, one of the needs of our school is to use the resources that are available to us. Our staff and students would use the technology available to them if they were given the tools to implement it. During this analysis of our school it was apparent that we need to provide time for teachers to learn how to use the technology available to them. We also need to make experts available to the staff so they can make better use of the technology.