1.2 Strategic Planning
Candidates facilitate the design, development, implementation, communication, and evaluation of technology-infused strategic plans. (PSC 1.2/ISTE 1b)
Artifact
My Current Reality & GSAPS Review helped guide me through gaining a clearer understanding of my school and district’s technology needs. The Current Reality and GSAPS Review coincided with the disruption that COVID-19 provided. The project helped me focus on the strength and weaknesses within our school and district. The GSAPS review process, along with my need’s assessment helped me determine how well McClure Middle School (MMS) did aligning its strategic plan (McClure Middle School, 2020) to standards-based assessments, like the GSAPS Review. The Current Reality and GSAPS review were conducted by myself, based on goals and data found in our school strategic plan.
Standard 1.2, Strategic Planning establishes the expectations for design, development, implementation, communication, and evaluation of technology-infused strategic plans. This artifact demonstrates my ability to assess the strengths, weaknesses, and needs related to instructional technology to align, develop, and implement a strategic plan for improvement. You cannot make improvements until you have a clear picture of where you are. Needs assessments and the GSAPS review process give me a foundation and blueprint for moving forward in implementing change. Not just for our school’s strategic plan, but many other initiatives I have identified during my graduate studies. Reflection and recommendations for improvement provides me with a great foundation to design and implement a strategic plan. Evaluation, diversity considerations, and collaboration sections illustrate my ability to communicate with all stakeholders. My Current Reality project also stresses the importance of funding. By doing so, I am poised to lead, develop, and implement a strategic plan that is standards based. Our current reality at MMS unfortunately does not include a technology committee, but the Current Reality project helped me gain a better understanding of what is missing and how to bridge that gap locally. It provides me with a great plan to use as we work to develop and implement an Educational Technology Committee. Without spending time reflecting on how well our strategic plans align with ISTE Conditions (ISTE, n.d.) and other assessment instruments like the GSAPS, I would not have as strong an understanding of the problem that exist and what needs to be done to correct it (Grover & Pea, 2018).
Completing the Current Reality and GSAPS Review provided me with tremendous insight. From this experience, I learned how to assess, and analyze how well my school aligned with national technology standards. Standards and technology needs are so critical these days in education. I was able to see during this experience that we have a lot of work to do, but I also Identified that we have a great faculty and financial support at MMS. All these realizations are going to need to be discussed for us to move closer to where we need to go. Many of the issues I highlighted are already being improved through initiatives like our 1:1 initiative. CTLS, our learning management system also helps us get much closer to where we need to be. We will, however, need dedicated team members to help bridge gaps and help us continue to grow as a school. To further enhance this project, I need to share it with my administration. Regretfully, this is something that I have not done yet. I am certain they would appreciate the feedback, and perhaps this will help them realize that we need to make more of a commitment as a school towards implementing educational technology.
Assessment like the Current Reality project is necessary for improving strategic planning to help improve teaching and learning. By conducting this analysis, I have the skills needed to make meaningful change at MMS. I have identified strengths and weaknesses, and this project can help drive and agenda for an Educational Technology Committee. The work done by an Educational Technology Committee can also be implemented into our strategic plan at MMS. This is an area that needs improvement as has been identified and supported by Current Reality and GSAPS Review. The Current Reality can be assessed by the goals listed in our school strategic plan.
References
Cobb County School District. (2020, August 13). CTLS Learn: Cobb’s Exciting and Innovative Digital Classroom. CobbCast. Retrieved from
http://cobbcast.cobbk12.org/?p=34220
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (n.d.). Essential Conditions | ISTE. International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/essential-conditions
Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational thinking in K-12: A review of the state of the field. Educational Researcher, 42(1), 38–43.
McClure Middle School (2020, n.d.). 2020-2021 McClure School Strategic Plan. https://sbcobbstor.blob.core.windows.net/media/WWWCobb/medialib/2b664214021.pdf
Standard 1.2, Strategic Planning establishes the expectations for design, development, implementation, communication, and evaluation of technology-infused strategic plans. This artifact demonstrates my ability to assess the strengths, weaknesses, and needs related to instructional technology to align, develop, and implement a strategic plan for improvement. You cannot make improvements until you have a clear picture of where you are. Needs assessments and the GSAPS review process give me a foundation and blueprint for moving forward in implementing change. Not just for our school’s strategic plan, but many other initiatives I have identified during my graduate studies. Reflection and recommendations for improvement provides me with a great foundation to design and implement a strategic plan. Evaluation, diversity considerations, and collaboration sections illustrate my ability to communicate with all stakeholders. My Current Reality project also stresses the importance of funding. By doing so, I am poised to lead, develop, and implement a strategic plan that is standards based. Our current reality at MMS unfortunately does not include a technology committee, but the Current Reality project helped me gain a better understanding of what is missing and how to bridge that gap locally. It provides me with a great plan to use as we work to develop and implement an Educational Technology Committee. Without spending time reflecting on how well our strategic plans align with ISTE Conditions (ISTE, n.d.) and other assessment instruments like the GSAPS, I would not have as strong an understanding of the problem that exist and what needs to be done to correct it (Grover & Pea, 2018).
Completing the Current Reality and GSAPS Review provided me with tremendous insight. From this experience, I learned how to assess, and analyze how well my school aligned with national technology standards. Standards and technology needs are so critical these days in education. I was able to see during this experience that we have a lot of work to do, but I also Identified that we have a great faculty and financial support at MMS. All these realizations are going to need to be discussed for us to move closer to where we need to go. Many of the issues I highlighted are already being improved through initiatives like our 1:1 initiative. CTLS, our learning management system also helps us get much closer to where we need to be. We will, however, need dedicated team members to help bridge gaps and help us continue to grow as a school. To further enhance this project, I need to share it with my administration. Regretfully, this is something that I have not done yet. I am certain they would appreciate the feedback, and perhaps this will help them realize that we need to make more of a commitment as a school towards implementing educational technology.
Assessment like the Current Reality project is necessary for improving strategic planning to help improve teaching and learning. By conducting this analysis, I have the skills needed to make meaningful change at MMS. I have identified strengths and weaknesses, and this project can help drive and agenda for an Educational Technology Committee. The work done by an Educational Technology Committee can also be implemented into our strategic plan at MMS. This is an area that needs improvement as has been identified and supported by Current Reality and GSAPS Review. The Current Reality can be assessed by the goals listed in our school strategic plan.
References
Cobb County School District. (2020, August 13). CTLS Learn: Cobb’s Exciting and Innovative Digital Classroom. CobbCast. Retrieved from
http://cobbcast.cobbk12.org/?p=34220
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (n.d.). Essential Conditions | ISTE. International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/essential-conditions
Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational thinking in K-12: A review of the state of the field. Educational Researcher, 42(1), 38–43.
McClure Middle School (2020, n.d.). 2020-2021 McClure School Strategic Plan. https://sbcobbstor.blob.core.windows.net/media/WWWCobb/medialib/2b664214021.pdf
