Everett Public Schools Tech Plan 6_11_16

i
Everett Public Schools
Technology Needs Analysis and Recommendations Study
Table of Contents
Table of Contents..................................................................................................................................................... i
Executive Summary................................................................................................................................................. 1
I. Governance & Demographics .............................................................................................................................. 4
II. Vision, Mission, & Guiding Principles.................................................................................................................. 6
III. Key Findings and Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 8
1. Vision, Mission, and Goals .......................................................................................................................... 8
2. Instructional Technology Program and Services....................................................................................... 10
3. Technology Leadership, Organization, and Staffing Capacity................................................................... 21
4. Administrative, Productivity, and Accountability Systems ....................................................................... 26
5. Network Infrastructure and Communication Systems ............................................................................. 30
6. Budget and Funding Sources..................................................................................................................... 33
IV. Technology Plan Recommendations................................................................................................................ 35
V. Five-year Technology Plan Implementation Timeline ...................................................................................... 38
VI. Action Plans...................................................................................................................................................... 49
VII. Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................... 57

1
Executive Summary
In August 2015 the Everett Public Schools (EPS) created a Technology Director position. A responsibility of the
Technology Director is to review the technology program and develop a three-year to five-year technology
plan for the EPS. This Technology Plan presents an infrastructure, services, and curriculum integration
program review and a strategic development guide to bring contemporary education to every Everett student.
Developed using a United States Department of Education (USDOE) validated planning model, the Technology
Plan combines quantitative and qualitative research methods. Data collection and research activities were
conducted during the 2015-2016 school year and included document reviews, key stakeholder interviews,
focus group sessions, a parent-community and student survey, and school visits. School visits included
interviews with principals, assistant principals, teachers, students, and classroom observations.
The Technology Plan contains the following sections.
I. Governance and Demographics
II. Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principals
III. Key Findings and Recommendations
a. Vision, Mission, and Goals
b. Instructional Technology Program and Services
c. Technology Leadership, Organization, and Staffing Capacity
d. Administrative, Productivity, and Accountable Systems
e. Network Infrastructure and Communication Systems
f. Budget and Funding Sources
IV. Technology Plan Goals
V. Implementation Timeline
a. 5-year Longitudinal Timeline with yearly budget projections
b. Year-by-Year Timeline
VI. Action Plans
The Governance and Demographic section provides information about the EPS location, number and grade
level of schools, and student enrollment. The Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles section presents district
and technology program vision, mission, and goal information. The Key Findings and Recommendations (KFR)
section provides detailed information on specific aspects of the technology program including commendations,
existing technology program and services, and identifies areas for improvement.
The Technology Plan Goals section presents the KFR section’s major recommendations in ten categories that
will expand the technology program’s depth and breadth. The ten categories are condensed into four
categories and are expanded upon in the five-year Implementation Timeline with year-by-year budget
projections. The Action Plans provide a step-by-step guide to moving key recommendations forward.
Together these sections create a Technology Plan that provides a comprehensive review of the current
technology program status and vision for the future.

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Commendations
 EPS has historically invested in educational technology products and services to provide staff with
contemporary educational opportunities that engage students and improve teacher effectiveness.
 The school district has made staffing investments to improve the use of technology throughout the
organization. An important step in the process was hiring a Technology Director, a Director of Data
Processing, and creating a Support Administrator for Networking position.
 Learning organizations have three major resources: students, staff, and data. EPS is making progress
improving the quality and capacity of its data gathering, analysis, and reporting capabilities.
 EPS is proposing a Next Generation Network (NGN) development project. The NGN will improve the
quality of network services, eliminate current single-points-of-failure, and provide for expanded wired
and wireless online services.
Recommendations
 Establish a Technology Committee comprised of school administrators, teachers, students, and
education community members.
 Update and adopt Technology Program mission, vision, and goals aligned with school district strategic
and improvement plans and disseminate to the education community.
 Integrate the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) National Education Technology
Standards for Students (NETS•S) and Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations
with technology and library program curriculum.
 Develop a K-12 technology program scope and sequence that is aligned with Massachusetts Common
Core State Standards, Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards and Expectations, and integrated
with core curriculum.
 Set foundational requirements for student technology competencies and staff technology
proficiencies. Measure competencies and proficiencies each year and report findings.
 Establish a Data Governance Steering Committee and expand the school district’s use of data to
improve teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes.
 Increase school district wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), and wireless network
capacity to support increased use of technology in instruction and meet online assessment
requirements.
 Define foundational levels for school and classroom instructional technology tools and digital learning
resources.
 Improve technology life-cycle by transitioning from a computer purchase to a lease program.
 Investigate the implementation of a student and staff Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) program.

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Considerations
 Staff technology proficiencies have a direct correlation to the individual’s job performance. Consider
revising all job descriptions and evaluations to include role-based technology proficiencies.
 Effective learning organizations create a culture of continuous improvement. Consider requiring each
staff member to identify and include one personal technology improvement objective in their Educator
Plan for Professional Practice Goal each year.
 Research shows that the majority of students have web-enabled mobile devices of one type, or
another. Consider letting students use their own personal devices including Smartphones and tablets
in the learning process.
 Consider the benefits of establishing an Operational Data Store (ODS) feeding a Data Warehouse (DW)
integrated with Business Intelligence (BI) tools to transform data into real-time information in support
of an improved data-driven culture. See Appendix H: Operational and Longitudinal Data Store Models.
 Technology and information literacy skills are essential to prepare students for post-secondary
education, the world of work, and the development of life-long learning. Creating technology and
information literacy centers that specifically address and support integrating technology into
classroom instruction in a way that engages students and improves teacher effectiveness are primary
goals of effective research-based contemporary education improvement programs.
o Evaluate the value of transforming school libraries into student-centered Research, Information,
and Technology Centers (RITC) with existing computer and library teaching staff and resources
focused on improving the following. See appendix E: Research, Information, and Technology
Center Design.
(1) Technology integration with curriculum and classroom instruction.
(2) Direct technology services especially research and information literacy instruction to
teachers and students.
(3) Support for the school-based Professional Learning Community (PLC).
(4) Gathering and understanding assessment data and the impact data-driven programs have
on student engagement and teacher effectiveness.
(5) Empowering students to understand and use data about themselves to increase learning
and improve academic achievement.
 Research, select/design, and implement a web-based Learning Management System (LMS) which may
include an Instructional Improvement System (IIS) capability. See Appendix L: Learning Management
System (LMS) Instructional Improvement System (IIS) Conceptual Model.

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I. Governance & Demographics
Governance
The City of Everett, Massachusetts is 3.7 square miles. Everett is bordered by Malden on the north, Revere on
the east, Chelsea on the southeast, Boston and the Mystic River on the south, and Somerville and Medford on
the west.
The Everett Public Schools (EPS) serves 7,236 students grades Pre-K through 12 and includes one Pre-K school
(Adams), one K-8 special education school (Devens), one K-3 school (Webster), six K-8 schools, and one high
school (grades 9-12). A nine-member School Committee governs the schools and public committee meetings
are held on the first and third Monday of each month in the Everett High School Library. The Everett Public
Schools spends $13,259 per student per year and approximately $96.75 per student per year (0.73% of per student
expenditure) on technology.
Demographics
The Everett Public Schools serves 7,236 students. The nine schools and enrollment totals are as follows.
 Adams School (Pre-K) .........................................................................................213 students
 Devens School (K-8 Special Education) ................................................................62 students
 Madeline English School (K-8).............................................................................890 students
 George Keverian School (K-8)..............................................................................927 students
 Lafayette School (K-8) .........................................................................................970 students
 Albert N. Parlin School (K-8)................................................................................852 students
 Webster School (K-3)...........................................................................................668 students
 Sumner G. Whittier School (K-8).........................................................................634 students
 Everett High School (9-12) ...............................................................................2,020 students
Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity
Race % of District % of State
African American 18.0 8.8
Asian 4.9 6.5
Hispanic 43.9 18.6
Native American 0.5 0.2
White 30.8 62.7
Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander 0.1 0.1
Multi-Race, Non-Hispanic 1.9 3.2
Enrollment by Gender
Gender District State
Male 3,734 488,472
Female 3,502 464,957
Total: 7,236 953,429

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Enrollment by Level
Grades Students Percentage
Pre-K through 5 3,798 52%
Grade 6 through 8 1,418 20%
Grade 9 through 12 2,020 28%
Total: 7,236 100%
*Note: The demographic information above is from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education (DESE) website.
Special Populations
Title % of District % of State
First Language not English 58.6 19.0
English Language Learner 16.0 9.0
Students With Disabilities 15.1 17.2
High Needs 61.9 43.5
Economically Disadvantaged 42.1 27.4

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II. Vision, Mission, & Guiding Principles
Introduction
The Everett Public Schools (EPS) has vision and mission statements. The vision and mission statements are
included in the District Strategic Plan and Improvement Plan documents. These documents are reviewed and
updated on a yearly basis.
Vision
The Everett Public Schools collaborates with family and community to provide an environment that nurtures
the unique capabilities of each student in order for them to become responsible learners and ethical, global
citizens. “Everett Public Schools, District Strategic Plan, 2015-2016”, p. 1.
Mission
To meet the needs of every student in our diverse learning communities the Everett Public Schools is
committed to providing a safe, supportive, challenging environment that empowers students to become
productive members of society. “Everett Public Schools, District Strategic Plan, 2015-2016”, p. 1.
The District Improvement Plan identifies five Core Values which directly support the mission and vision of the
school district. “Everett Public Schools, District Improvement Plan, 2016-2018”, pages 6-15.
The Five Core Values
1. Student Achievement
 Core Descriptors: Challenging Environment, Assessment, Curriculum, Instructional Practices, High
Standards, and Proficiency
2. Personal Growth
 Core Descriptors: Physical and Emotional Well-being, Self Esteem, Productive Citizen, and Cultural
Awareness
3. School Climate
 Core Descriptors: Creating an Inclusive environment for safety and learning
4. Resources and Partnerships
 Core Descriptors: Leadership and Governance, Technology, Human Resources, Professional
Development, and Student Support
5. Collaborations
 Core Descriptors: Parents and Families, Community Stakeholders and Higher Education

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2006-2007 Technology Plan Goals & Objectives
The last Technology Plan was dated 2005. The 2006-2007 Technology Plan included the following technology
mission statement and five major technology goals.
Mission Statement
The technological mission of the Everett Public Schools documented in the “Everett Public Schools, District
Technology Plan, Executive Summary FY 2006-07”, p. 1 is:
 To integrate technology into curriculum, teacher/learning environment and support services.
 To encourage the use of technology throughout the community. The integration of technology is
viewed as an essential element for the success of all students and the school system as a whole.
 To foster the use of technology by teachers, students, administration and support staff will help to
support quality instruction, enhance learning, effective classroom management and progressive
administration.
Major Technology Goals for the 2005-2006 School Year
The five technology goals documented in the “Everett Public Schools, District Technology Plan, Executive
Summary FY 2006-07”, p. 2 are:
 Goal 1: Our first priority is to establish a full-time Technology Coordinator to oversee an ever-changing
and exciting new area of the education world.
 Goal 2: Our second goal will be to expand our existing Technology Team to include teachers,
administrators, technicians, computer specialists, parents, and community representatives.
 Goal 3: The charge of the Technology Team will be to meet on a regular basis to review, analyze, and
update our Technology Plan in a realistic but visionary manner.
 Goal 4: To utilize technology to analyze test data and strengthen support services in all testing areas.
 Goal 5: To utilize technology to strengthen curriculum implementation in all content areas.

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III. Key Findings and Recommendations
1. Vision, Mission, and Goals
1.1 EPS IT Vision, Mission, and Goals
# Key Findings Major Recommendations
1. EPS is commended for having a Technology
Mission statement.
The technological mission of the Everett Public
Schools is:
 To integrate technology into curriculum,
teacher/learning environment and support
services.
 To encourage the use of technology
throughout the community. The integration
of technology is viewed as an essential
element for the success of all students and
the school system as a whole.
 To foster the use of technology by teachers,
students, administration and support staff will
help to support quality instruction, enhance
learning, effective classroom management and
progressive administration.
The 2005-2006 Technology Plan identifies the
following computing mission statement and the
five technology goals listed on page 7 above.
Computing Mission: Anywhere, anytime, 1:1
computing environment offering students and
teachers continuous access to a wide range of
software, electronic documents, the Internet, and
other digital resources leading to enriched
educational experiences.
Create a district-wide Technology Committee. See item
number 4 on page 9 below for Technology Committee
composition.
Review and update the EPS Technology Program Mission,
Vision, and Technology Goals to ensure that they align
with the school district’s vision, mission, and guiding
principles. The Technology Committee, in collaboration
with the administrative and teaching staff, should lead
the review process. The revised and updated statement
should be approved by the Technology Committee before
submission to the School Committee for approval and
adoption. (See Action Plan #2).
Publicize the updated technology vision, mission, and
goals statements by highlighting them on the EPS website
and identifying how current and planned educational
technology and information literacy program efforts
support achieving the EPS’s strategic vision, mission, and
guiding principles.
See Appendix A: Draft Technology Program Vision,
Mission, and Goals.
1.2 Technology Planning
2. The last EPS technology plan is dated 2005. EPS
had not begun the development of a new
technology plan prior to this current (2015) effort.
Establish an EPS Technology Plan based on and
incorporating the recommendations of this Technology
Needs Analysis and Recommendations Study. Advance
the Technology Plan to the School Committee for
adoption, financial support, and implementation.
3. The school district has not put in place a process
for yearly technology plan revisions and updates.
Define and implement a plan for yearly Technology Plan
revisions and updates.

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1.2 Technology Planning continued
4. EPS does not have a Technology Committee. Establish a technology committee that includes school
district administrators, principals and assistant principals,
classroom teachers, parents, and students. Strive for a
total of 12-15 committee members each serving a 1 to 2-
year term.
Schedule the Technology Committee to meet bi-monthly
with formal agendas and published meeting minutes. To
encourage participation use technology tools such as
conference call bridges and webinars. The meeting
agendas must form the basis for tracking the
implementation of the Technology Plan as well as the
development of subsequent plans.
Charge the committee with reviewing and advising
executive leadership and program staff on instructional
technology direction and decisions. (See Action Plan #1).
5. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and
transition to the Partnership for Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing
program requires preparation for implementing
online assessment.
Understand and develop a plan to meet DESE’s online
assessment implementation timeline and technical
requirements.
6. School districts have been asked to review the
Department’s Technology Readiness
documentation
(http://www.doe.mass.edu/parcc/TechReadiness.
pdf ). An up-to-date building and classroom
technology inventory is required to successfully
prepare to implement the assessment protocol.
Develop and implement a process for gathering and
maintaining an up-to-date and accurate building and
classroom technology inventory that meets the
Massachusetts DESE Technology Readiness requirements.
7. EPS is commended for beginning a process to
meet DESE’s online assessment requirements.
Successfully preparing schools and students for
online assessments is a priority of EPS leadership.
Provide consistent test preparation opportunities across
the curriculum for students to gain fluency with
computers and digital tools to establish and maintain the
best possible assessment performance.
8. Evidence shows that EPS has not established a
data governance framework.
Establish a data governance steering committee to
address data quality, information integration and flow,
data definitions, access management, and data-driven
decision making. See Appendix B: Data Governance
Focus Areas.

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2. Instructional Technology Program and Services
2.1 Curriculum and Assessment
9. EPS leadership and school district principals are to
be commended for their support of educational
technology tools and instructional technology
staff. The request for this in-depth study is one
example of their commitment to strengthen and
improve the school district’s instructional
technology program.
Continue to support and advance instructional
technology for all students.
10. Each K-8 school has a computer lab and one full-
time (1 FTE) computer teacher.
Maintain the computer lab and full-time (1 FTE)
computer teacher at each K-8 school. Look to expand
school-based resources over time consistent with the
Research, Information, and Technology Center (RITC)
design recommended in the Learning Environments
section of this report.
11. The K-8 schools each had two computer labs,
three computers in each classroom, and
computers in the school library. However, one
computer lab in each school, except at the
Madeline English School, was dismantled to
provide needed classroom space. Each school still
has one computer lab, three computers in each
classroom, and computers in the school Library.
The second computer lab at the Madeline English
School is expected to be dismantled this year to
provide needed classroom space.
Continue to maintain, support and upgrade the
computers in each school’s computer lab, library, and
classrooms. Identify cost effective ways to provide
classroom technology on an as needed basis to teachers
and students.
12. The teachers and students in some schools report
that the classroom computers are not always
reliable and often one or more is not working.
Step-up efforts to ensure that all classroom computers
are in working order.
13. The EPS school district has approximately 2,000
computing devices including iPads and
Chromebooks. Approximately 1,747 of the
devices are desktop computers and about 61%
(1,072) of the desktop computers are 8 (711) or 9
(316) years old. See Appendix C: Desktop
Computer Inventory by School and Age.
Move from a computer purchase program to a leasing
program and implement a four or five-year refresh cycle.
14. The K-8 schools each have an iPad cart initially
purchased to support online Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)
testing.
Identify the best approach for supporting online
assessment (iPad, desktop computer, Chromebook, etc.)
and define a plan to acquire, deploy, maintain and train
staff and students to effectively use this technology.
15. The iPad carts have been maintained for
classroom use. Some teachers report using the
iPads in the classroom for research and other
technology applications while other teachers did
not know the iPads were available for classroom
use.
Provide beginning of school year technology orientation
that includes the iPad carts so that all teachers know they
are available and how to access and use the iPads in
classroom instruction.
16. At the Keverian School the iPads have been
provided to teachers to track Bay State Reading
Institute (BSRI) assessments.
The iPads at each school should be available for student
classroom use as they provide a way for teachers to use
technology with a whole class.

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2.1 Curriculum and Assessment continued
17. The iPads are of varying age (1
st
generation 2010
to 4
th
generation 2012 and including some current
2015 models).
Decide if iPads will continue to be part of the technology
deployment. If yes, define an iPad purchase and refresh
plan.
18. EPS faces the challenge of developing a vertical
transition path in the five K-8 schools especially
from the fifth to the sixth grade and from the
sixth to the ninth grade (High School (EHS)) that
addresses the following technology issues:
1) The computer class is used as a way to provide
teachers with common planning and/or prep
time.
2) K-8 Students are scheduled into the computer
lab every six to nine days depending on the
school’s schedule (Whittier – 6 days, English,
Keverian and Lafayette – 8 days, and Parlin – 9
days). As a result:
 Students receive varying levels of exposure
to technology as a teaching tool and learning
resource in grades K-8.
 Students develop varying levels of
competency using technology as a learning
tool and learning resource in grades K-8.
3) It is difficult to implement a cohesive
instructional program and maintain program
continuity when students attend the class every
six to nine days.
4) Due to the computer lab schedule, it is difficult
for classroom teachers to schedule the lab for
class related projects.
1) Teachers should stay and participate with their class in
the computer lab integrating the technology program
with core content instruction.
2) Review the depth and breadth of the technology
program at each school and determine the program
differences attributable to the different computer class
schedules relative to:
 The technology knowledge and skills that should be
developed (introduced, reinforced, and mastered)
at each grade level K-8.
 Define the technology knowledge that every
student should know and the skills that every
student should be able to perform as a high school
entrance expectation.
3) Identify scheduling alternatives that provide more
connected technology exposure improving instructional
(teaching and learning) continuity.
4) A more flexible computer lab schedule should include
opportunities for classroom teachers to use the computer
lab for whole class instruction.
19. Everett High School (EHS) graduation
requirements do not include any computer
classes.
Identify and implement graduation requirement
computer classes for all students, e.g., mini-courses to
improve students’ keyboarding, word processing,
spreadsheet, and presentation software skills in grade 9
with more advanced courses in grades 10 through 12.

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20. EHS has the following computer lab availability:
 One computer lab on the second floor.
 A computer-aided design (CAD) lab, now
used for Read 180, on the second floor.
 A World Language computer lab on the
third floor.
 An Art department computer lab on the
fourth floor.
 A computer lab in the library on the fifth
floor.
 Two smaller computer configurations for
Read 180 and System 44 use.
Identify ways to improve computer availability in EHS.
This might include more computer labs including open
computer labs, the availability of computers that students
can “check out” from the library, or students using their
own technology devices.
21. The computer lab on the second floor is used for
computer related courses such as web design and
computer applications. The computers in this lab
are approximately ten years old.
Upgrade and maintain the computers in the second floor
computer lab.
22. There are minimal technology courses available to
high school students.
Define a scope and sequence of high school technology
courses including computer science, computer repair
certification, and Google and Microsoft application
certifications.
23. A 3-D Animation and a Television Studio course
were added to the 2016-2017 course catalog. See
Appendix D: High School Technology Course
Offerings 2016-2017.
These new courses have interested many students and
the number of students requesting enrollment in these
courses is encouraging.
24. The library computer lab is used by classes for
research projects and for a variety of testing
needs. The library lab computers are
approximately ten years old.
Upgrade and maintain the computers in the library
computer lab.
25. The use of the library computers for student
assessment often closes the facility to all students
during the testing periods.
There is space in the library to create a second computer
lab; however, establishing this lab will require electrical
and data wiring and doors on the openings in addition to
furniture and computers.
This second lab in the library should be designed so that it
can be closed off and that students will have the use of
the library and computers without disturbing the testing
session.
26. Only the EHS library computers, when they are
available, can be used in an unscheduled or on an
as needed basis to do research, homework, or
other appropriate learning activities.
Identify space to create an open computer lab that
students can use before school, during a study period,
and after school to do school work.
27. EHS does not provide any online learning
opportunities for students.
Whether a student goes to college, work, or into military
service; the need to be a proficient online learner is
essential. School district and high school leadership
should, in cooperation with the Virtual High School (VHS)
Collaborative in Massachusetts
(http://thevhscollaborative.org), identify the steps
needed to establish a graduation requirement that every
student successfully complete one online academic
course.

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28. EPS has not formally adopted a K-12 student
technology competency scope and sequence. The
most recent EPS Technology Plan (2005-2006)
does not mention the International Society for
Technology in Education (ISTE) National Education
Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S),
Teachers (NETS•T), Administrators (NETS•A), or
the Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards
and Expectations
(http://www.doe.mass.edu/odl/standards/itstand
.pdf) and evidence of systemic adoption and/or
implementation of the standards is not apparent.
Identify, align, adopt, and ultimately assess (pre and
posttest) integrated technology and information literacy
competencies for grades K-12. Use ISTE’s standards for
students (NETS•S) and the Massachusetts Technology
Literacy Standards and Expectations as a guide and adapt
as appropriate. (See Action Plan #3).
29. An online MCAS assessment pilot test during the
2014-2015 school year yielded varying results in
different K-8 schools. That is, some schools did
not have technical problems while one school
experienced several technical challenges.
 Upgrade each school’s wireless infrastructure to
support ubiquitous stable wireless computing.
 Provide appropriate quality and quantity of
computing devices to meet online assessment
requirements.
 Ensure that technical challenges are resolved before
any actual testing period.
30. EPS leadership is focused on preparing students
for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness
for College and Careers (PARCC) online
assessments that are anticipated in the next 2 to
3 years. They want EPS schools to be prepared
with both the infrastructure and technology
resources required for successful online
assessment implementation.
Continue to support and provide school district level
guidance/models introducing online teaching, learning,
and assessment strategies to students at all levels.
Continue to encourage teachers to introduce students to
the sample PARCC assessment items available online
(http://www.parcconline.org/assessments/practice-tests)
and ensure students become familiar with online
assessment models.
31. Additionally, leadership emphasizes that:
1) Students need to be prepared to use
technology devices effectively for taking online
assessments.
2) Students need to demonstrate the higher-
order thinking skills, and the robust content
knowledge, that is necessary to meet the
academic achievement expectations of the
new online assessments.
3) Teachers need to improve the integration of
technology into core content instruction.
1) Train teachers and prepare students to use
computing devices effectively in the assessment
process.
2) Develop a collaborative model to engage schools to
cooperatively analyze and align their curriculum with
the Massachusetts Common Core State Standards
(CCSS) and technology competency expectations.
Many of the Massachusetts CCSS include specific
technology components that align directly with the
NETS•S and the Massachusetts Technology Literacy
Standards and Expectations.
3) Define strategies and support teachers’ efforts to see
and understand how to consistently incorporate
technology instruction into core content delivery and
assessment.

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32. Student technology and information literacy
competencies are not formally assessed in grades
K-8.
Preliminary work on technology and information literacy
assessments has been completed. Phase-in and report
yearly technology and information literacy competency
assessment results for grade K-8 students.
33. EPS executive leadership has been exploring the
adoption of an assessment program to replace
the no longer available Thinkgate Instructional
Improvement System, Edwin Teaching and
Learning product that was made available to
school districts by DESE.
Executive leadership is commended for creating
school district-wide collaboration and
communication in the product review process.
Products that have been demonstrated and
reviewed include School City
(http://www.schoolcity.com/) and Mastery
Connect (https://www.masteryconnect.com/).
Identify, secure, and/or develop low to no cost online
assessment items for grades K-8 that align with the
Massachusetts CCSS to accomplish three goals:
 Measure students’ knowledge.
 Tailor instruction to the areas where students need
support.
 Provide students with experience taking formative
and summative online assessments.
For example, ASSISTments from Worcester Polytechnic
Institute (WPI) is a no cost formative assessment
(www.assistments.org) option that could be investigated.
34. There is limited evidence that teachers use digital
assessment strategies on a daily basis for real-
time in-class assessment.
Explore the use of student response systems including
iPods or Smartphones with student response apps for
real-time assessment. One freeware app is a called
Socratic (www.socrative.com).
35. Evidence suggests that a process for celebrating
successes and sharing best online formative
assessment practices used across the school
district should be implemented.
Develop strategies for celebrating successes and sharing
best online formative assessment practices used across
the school district. This could be an excellent way to
implement Google Groups (by grade and/or content area)
to encourage teachers to explore this tool and contribute
to the collection.
36. All EPS schools have libraries staffed with one full-
time librarian (1 FTE).
Provide oversight and coordination of library media
services K-12 via the Technology Director role. The
Technology Director role is well positioned to provide
programmatic leadership, integration, and horizontal and
vertical articulation across both the technology and
information literacy programs.
37. The role of the school librarian includes teaching
student research and information literacy skills.
Provide district level support and guidance for
elementary librarians regarding ways to develop student
research and information literacy skills. This includes
ethical and appropriate use of technology, and
understanding copyright and proper citation standards
from the earliest grades. Potential resources include:
 American Association of School Libraries (AASL)
Standards for the 21
st
Century Learner at
http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/
content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/
AASL_LearningStandards.pdf.
 I-Safe at http://www.isafe.org/.
 NetSmartz at http://www.netsmartz.org/.

15
2.2 Technology Adoption/Integration
38. EPS uses Aspen from Follett as the student
information system (SIS). Implementation of
Aspen varies across the school district.
Review the current use of all Aspen modules and develop
a plan to harvest increasing value from this significant
technology investment.
39. Several Aspen modules are not used. Assess the capacity of Aspen assignments/grade storage
and online access to meet the needs of elementary
school reporting. By not using Aspen gradebook
consistently at the elementary level, the district is unable
to develop valuable student longitudinal data.
40. The grading module is used in varying degrees at
elementary and secondary levels. Many teachers
report maintaining a paper-based gradebook and
transferring grades into Aspen for generating
report cards.
Provide refresher training to all teachers for the
gradebook module including use of the term weights and
cut score functionalities.
41. Secondary level students and parents can access
student grades online using the Aspen student
portal.
Clean up data, develop a plan and timeline, and prepare
to open the Aspen parent and student portals for all
schools.
42. EPS has not put data informed grade-level
promotion standards in place.
Establish consistent data informed grade-level promotion
standards.
43. EPS is evaluating the value of implementing the
Google Apps/Google Tools for Education including
Google Classroom and/or expanding use of
Microsoft Office 365 suite of products.
Charge the EPS Technology Committee to develop and
disseminate a clearly defined implementation plan for
Gmail, Google Tools for Education including Google
Classroom and/or Microsoft Office 365 that includes the
following:
 Phased timeline for student email rollout for each
instructional level and each school.
 Phased timeline for rollout of Google Tools/
Microsoft Office 365 (word processing,
spreadsheets, and presentation software) by levels.
 Phased timeline for rollout of Google calendar,
Circles, and other collaborative components.
 Defined roles and responsibilities for monitoring the
implementation of each Google component.
In addition to the Google Tools for Education phase-in
plan, develop a phase-out and/or reduction in use
strategy for remaining productivity suites. This will allow
the district to focus professional development efforts on
one primary productivity application suite.
44. During the 2015-2016 school-year a Google
Classroom pilot at the Madeline English School
and with the high school STEAM Academy
students was conducted. Additional high school
teachers have expressed interest in using Google
Classroom.
Charge the Technology Committee to develop,
disseminate, and monitor a clearly defined Google
Classroom rollout and implementation plan.

16
2.2 Technology Adoption/Integration continued
45. EPS leadership is in the initial discussion phase
exploring options to deploy a one-to-one
initiative. They are currently:
1) Conducting a small pilot with
Chromebooks at the high school.
2) Investigating Bring Your Own Technology
(BYOT) implementations in other school
districts including Burlington High School
in Massachusetts. (See Action Plan #6).
Research and define the one-to-one and BYOT options
that should be considered for implementation. Some
one-to-one deployments have the students take the
device home on a daily basis, others do not. Some
implementations include district owned devices, others
are predicated on student owned devices. There are
many factors that need to be weighed and the strategy
selected impacts security, equity, policy, home Internet
access, and more.
Convene a one-to-one BYOT committee, or
subcommittee of the Technology Committee, to continue
researching and pilot testing these strategies. This
subcommittee should include district and school
leadership, teachers, students, and parents. The
committee’s charter should include the following:
 Define both one-to-one and BYOT efforts.
 Identify content areas and potential devices for pilot
tests.
 Set priorities, timelines, and evaluation metrics for
pilot implementations.
 Research funding, ownership strategies, and
develop a budget for a phased full scale
implementation.
 Identify and develop necessary policy and
procedures.
46. Instructional technology programs, services, and
approaches vary from school to school. Exciting
examples of using instructional technology in
teaching and learning were observed in all
schools, but these practices are not systemically
embedded across all grade levels and in all
classrooms.
Continue to respect and honor the uniqueness of each
school while supporting the consistent growth and
expansion of teaching and learning technologies with the
following:
 Competency-based professional development
resources.
 Guidelines for implementing and integrating the
Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards and
Expectations, CCSS, and ISTE NETS•S.
 Technical specifications for developing robust
wired and wireless network capacity.
 Recommended, developmentally appropriate
instructional technology resources and integration
strategies.
Develop an inventory of grade-, age-, and skill-level digital
resource materials including software, web links, apps,
and subscription services and share across schools.
47. The evidence suggests that blended learning
(partial instruction via digital and online media)
and flipped classroom (lecture and homework
course elements reversed) opportunities are not
readily available to students.
Research, adopt, and foster blended learning and flipped
classroom initiatives in support of differentiated
instruction. Blended learning and flipped classroom
learning opportunities support differentiated instruction
for all students.

17
2.3 Learning Environments
48. EPS has implemented a standard classroom
technology configuration that includes a teacher
computer, an Eno interactive white board (IWB),
projector, and sound equipment in every
classroom.
Charge the Technology Committee with developing
optimal standard classroom technology configurations,
based on grade level and program needs. This will
provide a reference point to determine current status,
short- and long-term goals and objectives, and funding
requirements for the K-8 schools.
Create an online directory of schools within the EPS
where excellent use of these configurations can be
observed. Create an online directory of schools/teachers
that EPS staff is encouraged to observe or include in a
Professional Learning Network (PLN).
49. Evidence suggests that, for the most part, there is
limited integration of the technology and
information literacy (library) programs.
Evaluate the value of transforming school libraries into
student-centered Research, Information and Technology
Centers (RITC) with existing computer and library
teaching staff and resources. See Appendix E: Research,
Information, and Technology Center Design.
50. There have been issues maintaining the Eno
Board pens – sometimes they get lost, the point
breaks, and earlier models required batteries.
Continue to expand professional development efforts
such that the full potential of using the Eno boards is
realized. Focus professional development efforts on the
effective integration of IWBs and instructional content for
student engagement.
51. Computer lab layouts make it difficult for the
teacher to manage students’ in class computer
use.
The ability for a teacher to monitor and manage what
students are doing on the computer in class has a positive
impact on the learning environment.
52. In the past EPS installed Imperio classroom
monitoring and management software in the
computer labs so teachers could see and control
student computers from one location.
Identify, purchase and deploy classroom monitoring and
management software in all computer labs.
53. K-6 grade teachers use the three classroom
computers as learning stations for curriculum
software including Ten Marks (math) and Reach
for Reading (ELA) and rotate students through the
stations when time is available during the day.
The three classroom computers should be maintained in
grades K-6. Grades 7-9 do not use learning stations in the
same way as the K-6 classrooms so there is less need to
maintain the grade 7-9 classroom computers.
54. EPS has always purchased computers and has not
implemented an effective end-of-life and
computer refresh program.
Move from purchasing computers to a lease program that
includes a four or five-year refresh program.
55. Teachers are very positive about the benefits of
using document cameras in classroom instruction.
Document cameras are low-cost, easy-to-use and
effective instructional tools.
The cost of document cameras is approximately $100 per
device making them very affordable. Add document
cameras to the classroom technology configuration.
56. Some of the K-8 school teachers have acquired
document cameras using the Donors Choose
website (https://www.donorschoose.org).
We applaud the teachers’ commitment to getting and
using instructional technology resources. Teachers
should not feel the way to acquire instructional materials
for their classroom is to use “fund me” type websites.
57. The Math Director recently purchased 30
document cameras for math teachers in grades 6-
8. Approximately half of the math high school
teachers are also using document cameras in their
classrooms.
If technology is to be used effectively, it should be
purchased and maintained by the school district. Put in
place a mechanism for teachers to recommend and
request technology resources for their classroom and
school.

18
2.3 Learning Environments continued
58. Classroom teachers that acquire technology
through “fund me” type websites maintain
ownership of the equipment.
Donated technology should be accepted by the school
committee, accounted for in the school district’s
inventory, and maintained by the technology team.
59. Teachers in many K-8 schools use Class Dojo
(https://www.classdojo.com) and/or Remind
(https://www.remind.com) free websites to
inform parents of student behavior and
communicate with parents about school and class
activities in real-time. However, the use of Class
Dojo and Remind is not consistent from
classroom-to-classroom or school-to-school.
Improving classroom communications with parents is
essential to effective teaching and improving student
learning outcomes. The communications with parents,
however, should be consistent from school-to-school and
classroom-to-classroom as families often have more than
one child in a school and in the school system.
60. Principals have expressed the desire to use Class
Dojo school-wide but are concerned that the
website could become a pay service that they
could not maintain.
Use the Aspen parent portal at all schools so that school-
to-home communications are consistent and parents can
access information about their children from one
website.
61. Teachers have gone to extraordinary lengths to
get access to curriculum software for classroom
instruction. Products include high-quality
software such as Brain Pop. At the present time,
a school district or building curriculum software
budget is not available.
Computers are excellent productivity tools. The value of
technology in the classroom is exponentially increased
when appropriate content specific software is also
available to improve student understanding and learning
growth.
It is essential to balance the availability of technology
resources – number of computers, network and Internet
connectivity, and instructional software to harvest
increasing value from each technology investment.
Establish a yearly curriculum software budget that will
provide for school district-wide access to high-quality
grade-level content specific curriculum software.
62. The school district is pilot testing the value of
deploying Chromebooks at the high school in the
Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math
(STEAM) Academy and Allied Health programs.
Continue the pilot test and specify what criteria will be
used to identify success.
63. Students in the STEAM Academy have been taking
the computers home since November 2015 and
using Google Classroom to get and submit
completed assignments.
Review the value of Google Classroom with STEAM
Academy teachers and students.
64. Every classroom in the school district has a laser
printer. Many of the printers have more than
seven years of service and are reaching their end
of life.
Consider moving from the one printer per classroom
model to larger high speed shared printers. This will
reduce the cost of printer repair, replacement, and
possibly toner cartridges and paper.
65. In 2014 school district web development and
management was moved from the InSite to
WordPress application.
Continue to redesign and improve the quality of the
school district website.
66. Evidence suggests that website publishing policies
are not in place.
Define web publishing policies and procedures for school
district, department, school, and classroom web pages.
67. The WordPress website is a great improvement
over the earlier InSite website; however, some
parents have expressed frustration trying to
navigate the website.
Ensure a consistent look and feel and improve ease-of-
use website features.

19
2.4 Professional Development
68. The school district offers some technology
professional development; however, staff
members report that most of their technology
professional development is self-taught or
informally obtained.
Increase school district-offered technology professional
development for all building and central office staff,
including teachers, administrators, technology staff, and
support personnel.
69. Historically, professional development is an
isolated event without observing fidelity of
implementation and evaluating quality of
outcomes.
Work collaboratively with the Technology Committee to
identify, develop, and deliver a proficiency-based
approach to professional development. (See Action Plan
#4).
70. The evidence suggests that additional technology
integration professional development is needed
and would be well received throughout the school
year.
Provide opportunities for staff, including teachers,
administrators, and support personnel, to engage in
technology integration focused staff development
opportunities. For example:
 A beginning of the school year review in each
school conducted by the computer teacher on
using the Eno Board and Aspen.
 Identify building level teachers and staff members
who can serve as peer technology coaches and
can lead school-based “Train the Trainer” sessions
on a particular topic such as “Using a Document
Camera in Literacy Instruction”.
 Modeling in the classroom by computer teachers
(requires scheduling changes).
 Participation in virtual and actual conferences, for
example K-12 Online Conferences and
Massachusetts Computer Using Educator
(MassCUE) Conference.
 Self-study and Professional Learning Communities
(PLCs).
Support a self-reliance model of professional
development by offering professional development credit
for independent studies, teacher-created on-demand
tutorials, and professional learning community
participation.
Not a Massachusetts resource but possibly of value are
the resources at the NH Digital Resources Consortium
(NH DRC) website, such as the Institutes in a Box online
one-hour Technology and Education Topics self-study
opportunities (https://sites.google.com/a/nheon.org/nh-
digital-resources-consortium ) as well as online learning
resources from other websites such as Simple K12
Professional Development for Teachers
(http://www.simplek12.com/).

20
2.4 Professional Development continued
71. Although mentioned by most all principals
interviewed, technology skills attainment is not
identified explicitly as a requirement for new
hires or existing staff.
Develop technology competencies guidelines for EPS
principals when hiring new teachers. Provide
opportunities for interviewees to demonstrate their ability
to effectively use technology in instruction and/or to
integrate technology requirements in student learning
activities.
The continued development of technology competencies
among current staff should become a high priority.
Include at least one technology objective in every staff
member’s yearly Educator Plan for Professional Practice
Goal. Use the International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE) National Education Technology Standards
(NETS) for Administrators (NETSA) and Teachers (NETST)
to guide professional development objectives.
72. EPS is fortunate to have technology leaders and
innovators among their ranks serving as
visionaries and risk takers for technology
enabled 21
st
century teaching and learning.
These individuals should be accommodated so
that they can meet regularly.
Continue to tap and expand internal expertise. Encourage
dialog, cross-district collaboration, and sharing of
successes and challenges among EPS technology leaders by
establishing regular online and face-to-face
communications.
Support the convening of a formal or informal EPS Google
Tools for Education implementation team to develop and
deliver Google Tools professional development and create
Google Tools online tutorials.
73. The school district technology leaders include
some individuals who have taken the initiative to
attain Google Educator Certification.
Develop a process to assist other educators to become
Google certified. This can be accomplished at no cost to
the school district or the individual.
74. The computer teachers have had limited
opportunities to attend local conferences or to
visit other Massachusetts and New England
school districts to see best instructional practices
and learn from the experiences of local
colleagues.
Expand professional development opportunities for
computer teachers to attend local and regional
conferences such MassCUE (MA), and Christa McAuliffe
(NH), and visits to other Massachusetts and New England
school districts to share best practices and learn from the
experiences of local colleagues.

21
3. Technology Leadership, Organization, and Staffing Capacity
3.1 EPS Technology Organization and Staffing
75. The EPS leadership is commended for hiring a
Technology Director and Director of Data
Processing.
76. The direct reporting lines for technology, library,
and data staff are shown in Appendix F: Current
Technology Staffing Organization.
77. The EPS technology team includes:
1– Technology Director
1– Support Administrator for Network Services
3 – Computer Technicians
5 – K-8 Computer Teachers
1 – High School Computer Teacher
78. The Director of Technology is an EPS district-level
position that supervises the technical support staff,
computer teachers, and reports to the Director of
Curriculum.
The Director of Technology should have direct
reporting responsibility for all technical and
information services and support.
79. The Director of Technology is developing the broad
technology vision and guiding the technology
curriculum integration program.
Continue to restructure the technology services
organization and broaden the Director of Technology’s
responsibilities to include the information literacy
(library) and the data governance program
development efforts. See Appendix G: Proposed
Technology Staffing Organization.
80. Teachers email the technology department to
request repair support services. Email repair service
requests do not get a return message received
notice and tracking recurring problems and
identifying equipment that has consistent issues is
impossible.
Start a ticketing system that provides a message
received response to repair requests and the means to
identify and track recurring technical issues and
equipment failures.
81. The technology team has been testing Spiceworks, a
freeware repair request ticketing system for
deployment.
Implement the Spiceworks ticketing system and notify
all staff of the changes in requesting support at the
start of the 2016-2017 school-year.
82. At the beginning of the school year, computer
technicians were assigned to support specific
buildings. One technician was housed at the
Lafayette School, one at the Keverian School, and
one at the Whittier School.
Review best practices for providing school-based
technical support including size of the school,
percentage of repair requests in comparison to other
schools, the technical ability of the school staff, support
availability, and individual technician strengths.
83. A series of network and classroom computer
failures at the Lafayette and Keverian Schools led to
a reimaging of all computers at these schools and
reassignment of the technicians responsible for
those buildings. The technology problems at the
Lafayette and Keverian Schools have not
reappeared since the staffing changes.
Continue to monitor schools’ technology status to
maintain the improved up-time and operational
capacity achieved after the staff changes.

22
3.1 EPS Technology Organization and Staffing continued
84. Technology staff performance is not evaluated on a
yearly basis.
Implement a yearly technology staff evaluation process
that measures technical knowledge and customer
satisfaction.
85. The EPS technician schedule provides support on an
as needed based via email requests. One technician
has a specialty in iPads and is stationed at the
Devens School. One technician has a home base in
the Whittier School. The Director of Technology,
Support Administrator for Network Services and one
technician are based at the high school.
Continue to monitor and refine the technician support
schedule to achieve the following efficiencies:
 Increase weekly coverage at all schools.
 Improve technician visibility.
 Encourage additional cross-training among
support staff.
 Continue to provide flexible time for technical
support in areas of critical need.
86. Evidence suggests that staff sometime call or email
repair requests directly to a technician.
Ensure that all repair requests are entered into the
Spiceworks database so that accurate statistics can be
developed for analysis.
87. The Director of Data Processing is housed at the
high school. The job description identifies the
position’s responsibilities as “all administrative data
processing and attendance for the Everett Public
Schools”.
The Director of Data Processing position could have
significant impact on student academic performance by
leading and supporting building-level efforts to
translate data into actionable information that
improves teaching and student learning.
88. Although the Director of Data Processing position
duties include “Confer with Principals and Assistant
Principals across the district regarding their data
processing needs”, district-wide support has been
limited.
The Director of Data Processing should provide a
leadership role establishing, implementing, and
managing a data governance steering committee and
expanding the district-wide building-level data culture.
See Data Governance Action Plan (Action Plan #5).
89. The Director of Data Processing’s responsibilities
include working with the following software
applications:
 Aspen – the student information system is used
for student demographic information,
scheduling, grade reporting, in some cases
gradebook, special education including IEPs,
student medical information, and the high
school has opened the student portal.
 School Messenger – emergency notification
software.
The Director of Data Processing should address the
requirements of effectively managing and harvesting
increasing value from Aspen and School Messenger.
Features of both programs are not in use. For example:
Aspen’s gradebook, student and parent portals (except
for the student portal at the high school), and the
professional development module are not in use.
School Messenger has features including text, email,
social media, and mobile alerts not in use.
The EPS leadership should consider having this position
report to the Director of Technology who has extensive
experience in student data analysis and data
visualization software applications, as well as student
information (SIS) and learning management systems
(LMS).

23
3.2 Building Level Technology Support
90. District staff commends the Technology Department
for a smooth start of the 2015-2016 school-year.
91. Building-level administrative and teaching staff
commends the level of expertise and quality of
support provided by the district-level technical
support team.
92. One computer technician has consistently
demonstrated superior ability and commitment to
the school district.
Create a Lead Computer Technician position and have
the other computer technicians report to the Lead
Computer Technician for assignments and job
completion review.
93. Evidence suggests that a process to ensure that
technology information is shared across and within
schools is not consistent across the school district.
Develop process to ensure that information is shared
across schools. Institutionalizing communication
linkages between the EPS Technology Committee,
technical staff, and building-level computer teachers
will encourage educational technology staff and
support district-level and building-level program
growth and development.
94. Most K-8 computer teachers provide a first-level of
technical support, assist teachers with integrating
technology into learning activities, and provide
student instruction in the computer lab.
The EPS K-8 schools are commended for their
commitment to provide staff to support the
integration of technology into teaching and learning.
95. Evidence suggests that there are no opportunities for
high school students to provide technical support to
teachers and students.
Develop a technology support opportunity for high
school students.
96. The computer technicians report having limited
service and repair tools.
Identify and purchase tools that will empower
computer technicians to identify and quickly resolve
problems.
3.3 Policies and Processes
97. EPS has implemented the following technology
policies.
 Responsible Use Policy for Technology
 Responsible Use Policy for Mobile Devices
 Chromebook Acceptable Use Policy
 Electronic and Other Devices Not to be Used
in School
Review and add new policies and procedures that
support technology management and the teaching
and learning process.
Consider the following for possible new policy
development.
 Web Publishing Policy
 Online/Virtual Education Policy
 Computer Security, E-mail, and Internet
Communications Policy
 Copyright Compliance Policy
 Technology Integration Policy
 Electronic Communication Policy
 E-mail Retention Policy
 Internet Log File Retention Policy
 Bring Your Own Technology Policy

24
3.3 Policies and Processes continued
98. The school district revises existing and adds new
policies on an ongoing as needed basis. For example,
the Chromebook Acceptable Use Policy was added in
2015 to support the STEAM Academy Chromebook
pilot test.
Continue to revise and update existing policies as
recommended above. Possibly revise and rename the
Responsible Use Policy for Technology to: Appropriate
and Acceptable Computer, Network, and Internet Use
Policy. Ensure that compliance metrics or strategies
exist for all policies and procedures.
99. Evidence shows that few EPS technology policies and
procedures are documented.
Continue to support a culture of documenting,
archiving, and disseminating policies and procedures
associated with all technology responsibilities. Update
technology policies as appropriate. This provides
direction for leadership and uninterrupted business
continuation in the event of an illness, resignation, or
emergency.
100. Networking and all aspects of end-user technology
continuously change. This creates the need for
keeping technology staff knowledge and skills
updated and where possible ahead of school district
technology implementation plans.
Computer Technicians and the Support Administrator
for Networking must have opportunities to keep up-
to-date with changing technology and to expand their
current knowledge and skills.
101. Evidence suggests that the computer technicians and
the Support Administrator for Networking have had
limited opportunities to keep up-to-date with
changing technology and to expand their current
knowledge and skills.
Support staff attending manufacturers’ update
briefings, local and regional conferences, and where
appropriate formal classes. The time, effort, and cost
of keeping technical staff knowledge and skills current
are quickly repaid with improved service to teachers
and students.
102. There is evidence of some job skill cross training
within the technology department. However, some
aspects of the system are the responsibility of one
person.
Expand opportunities for technology department staff
members to learn from one another and to expand
the capabilities of the building-level computer
teachers. Examples of job cross training include:
providing network training to all technicians and
providing technical and network troubleshooting
training to the computer teachers and librarians.
103. Limited cross training creates the possibility
(probability) that in the event of illness no one could
perform repairs needed to keep the system running
and staff working in a timely fashion.
At a minimum, two people should know how to
address any issue that may arise. The continuity of
staff work transcends any rationale for keeping access
and knowledge in the purview of one person.
104. Technology proficiencies for administrators and staff
are, to a limited extent, included in current job
descriptions and evaluation practices.
Continue to develop and adopt a set of technology
proficiencies for all administrative, instructional, and
support staff. As positions become available and new
positions are created, revise job descriptions to include
updated technology responsibilities, proficiencies,
qualifications, certifications, and experience required
for each position.

25
3.3 Policies and Processes continued
105. An annual process for assessing staff technology
proficiencies is not in place.
Consider adopting a recognized set of technology
standards, such as those of the International Society
for Technology in Education's (ISTE) National
Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for
administrators (NETS•A) and for teachers (NETS•T).
Implement an annual process for self-assessing the
technology proficiencies of all staff. Require all staff
members to include at least one technology
professional development objective in their annual
Educator Plan for Professional Practice Goal.
106. Evidence suggests that staff technology proficiency
assessment tools are not readily available in the
school district.
Identify appropriate assessment tools to determine
staff technology proficiencies and plan staff
development programs targeted to improve the
technology competencies identified by the assessment
results.
107. A formal process to evaluate technology proficiencies
for administrative or teacher job candidates are not
routinely implemented.
Include opportunities for all administrative, teaching,
and support staff job candidates to demonstrate
position-related technology proficiencies as part of
the interview process by including a set of technology
questions and tasks in the interview process.

26
4. Administrative, Productivity, and Accountability Systems
4.1 Administrative Systems
108. EPS uses the following administrative applications:
(a) Follett’s Aspen for student information (SIS).
(b) Microsoft Office for school district
administrative and business communications
and productivity.
(c) SoftRight (City of Everett) and OpenRDA (EPS)
for general ledger, purchasing, accounts
receivable, accounts payable, and payroll.
(d) Aspen Special Education module for
Individual Education Plan (IEP) development
and management.
(e) Aspen health module for school health office
management.
(f) NutriKids – lunchroom Point of Sale (POS)
system.
(g) Google Gmail for communications and
Calendar for scheduling is available to high
school staff and students and will be available
for all staff and students in the 2016-2017
school-year.
(h) WordPress for website development.
(i) School Messenger for emergency call
notification.
(j) Spiceworks for technology help desk and
repair order ticketing will be available in the
2016-2017 school year.
109. Each administrative application requires an individual
authentication user name and password. EPS does
not have a single sign-on process authenticating the
user for all the applications they have been given
rights to and eliminates further prompts when the
user switches applications during the same session.
Identify a single sign-on user authentication process
that permits a user to enter one name and password in
order to access multiple applications.
110. Evidence indicates that a strategy to integrate data
from administrative applications for data-driven
decision making has not been developed.
Implement strategies provide for data-driven decision
making that includes the following.
(a) The identification of an authoritative data
system for each data element.
(b) The identification of data stewards who are
identified as the authoritative source and
responsible for specific data elements.
(c) Policies and procedures establishing the
definition and requirements for maintaining
up-to-date and accurate data.

27
4.1 Administrative Systems continued
111. Aspen (SIS) is used for student demographic,
attendance and scheduling information, grade and
transcript reporting, and federal and state reporting
compliance.
Designate Aspen as the authoritative source for all
student data.
112. Not all Aspen modules are implemented and the
modules that have been implemented are not used
consistently across the school district.
Review Aspen capabilities and determine a foundation-
level use within and across all schools. The review
should include a determination of how EPS schools can
harvest increasing value from the Aspen investment
while, more importantly, improving data gathering and
analysis for informed decision making.
113. Assessment data such as Dibbles scores are
maintained in Aspen’s assessment tab but the Dibbles
scores have not been uploaded into the assessment
tab at all schools.
As part of the data governance plan, designate Aspen’s
assessment module as the authoritative location for all
assessment data. This will reduce data silos and
support longitudinal data analysis and reporting.
114. The Aspen student portal is open and being used by
high school students and parents. The evidence
shows that student and parent portals are not
available for the K-8 school students and parents.
Clean Aspen data as needed and develop a timeline
with each school principal for providing teacher
training and opening the student and parent portals
with attendance, behavior, assignment, and gradebook
information.
115. Microsoft Excel spreadsheets are used to gather and
manage a variety of EPS and individual school district
student, administrative, and business operation
information.
Identify information that can and should be gathered
from administrative software programs and maintained
in Aspen reducing data silos and improving
accessibility, analysis, and data-driven decision making.
116. The curriculum department tracks teacher
professional development and certification
information in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
Explore using the professional development capabilities
of Aspen, or a third-party software program such as My
Learning Plan (https://www.mylearningplan.com), to
track and maintain district professional development
offerings and staff certification history.
117. NutriKids – lunchroom Point of Sale (POS) system is
used at all schools in the school district. This system is
owned and maintained by Aramark.
No recommendations.
4.2 Productivity Systems
118. EPS has been moving towards an implementation of
Google Tools for Education including Gmail, Calendar,
Docs and Classroom. All of the Google tools require a
Gmail account; however, an anticipated timeline for
implementing student Gmail accounts during the
2015-2016 school-year was not met.
Publish on the district website and communicate to all
staff members and, as appropriate, to students and
parents a timeline for implementing Google Gmail and
Tools for Education.
The published timeline should include:
 The specific Google tools that will be available
for teacher and student use.
 When the Google tools will become available.
 Identification of Google Certified Teachers on
staff and information on how other staff
members can become Google Certified
Teachers
(https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/cer
tification).

28
4.2 Productivity Systems continued
119. Evidence suggests that not all teachers and staff have
experience with Google tools especially Google Docs,
Sheets, Slides, and Classroom.
Provide professional development offerings that
include practical, classroom-based activities teaching
the effective use and integration of Google Docs,
Sheets, Slides, and Classroom.
120. It is not clear which application suite, Microsoft Office
or Google, will be used for specific purposes in
administrative or instructional areas.
Determine where Google Tools for Education and
Microsoft Office will be used and clarify which
applications will be used consistently and for what
audience and purpose.
4.3 Decision Support Systems
121. Decision support systems bring together information
from a variety of operational systems and organize
this data in a manner conducive to analysis and
reporting. Without an integrated reporting structure,
data for systemic change decisions can remain isolated
in silos and unavailable for optimal use by the
organization. Evidence suggests that user accessible
structured or ad hoc reporting tools are not
consistently available or used in a manner that
encourages the development of a decision support
system.
EPS should develop a decision support framework
based on a self-reliance report generation model. This
includes the following.
 Data systems with accessible ready-to-run, ad
hoc report generation tools and self-reliance
capabilities are needed.
 A data visualization application with standard
analysis templates.
 Data silos created by independent databases
need to be limited, and over time, eliminated.
 A Learning Management System (LMS) and/or
Instructional Improvement System (IIS) design
needs to be adopted and implemented.
122. Evidence suggests that EPS does not have a clear and
consistent document management strategy in place.
Develop and implement a document management
strategy (policies, procedures, and processes) that
includes the following.
 Which documents can be digitally stored and
which need to be maintained on paper?
 How long each document needs to be stored
to meet federal and state requirements?
 What additional documents need to be stored
to support EPS operations?
 Who has access to which documents and for
how long?
 Who will be responsible for implementing and
maintaining the document management
strategy?
 What technology systems will help automate
and leverage the value of the document
management strategy?
123. The design and implementation of a data collection,
analysis and reporting system is a key component of
providing executive leadership with information to
inform decision making. Evidence suggests that EPS
does not have a well-defined data collection, analysis,
and reporting system in place.
Design operational and longitudinal data stores for data
collection, analysis and reporting. See Appendix H:
Operational and Longitudinal Data Store Model.

29
4.4 Communications
124. EPS has implemented some Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) phone systems. The administration
building, Adams, Webster and Devens Schools are
completely VoIP and the Parlin School has VoIP in
recently renovated areas. The English, Keverian,
and Lafayette Schools do not have any VoIP phone
systems.
Expand the existing VoIP deployment to provide
consistent phone systems at all schools.
125. A walkie talkie system is used for building level
communications. The base station for the system is
located in the high school 5
th
floor network closet.
During an emergency caused by a broken sprinkler
head this school year, the electricity to the high
school 5
th
floor was shut off disabling the walkie
talkie system.
Install a battery backup system to support the walkie
talkie system in the event of loss of electricity to the high
school 5
th
floor network closet. Consider installing a
backup base system in another building on an electrical
grid separate from the grid feeding the high school.
126. A plan to implement voice, video, and data network
convergence is not in place.
Develop a plan, identify costs and benefits, fund, and
implement voice, video, and data network convergence
to reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), provide unified
messaging, and real-time collaboration including multi-
media conferencing for blended and distance learning
applications.
127. The school district website does not have
technology or library program web pages.
Add technology and library web pages to the school
district website. The technology webpage should contain
information about staff, resources, requesting repair
services, policies, computer and tablet purchasing
specifications and curriculum links. The library webpage
should include login access to the Destiny patron catalog
and links to online library and research resources.

30
5. Network Infrastructure and Communication Systems
5.1 Wide Area Network (WAN) and Internet Services
128. The school district is commended for planning to
increase the Internet bandwidth to the high school
from 1GB service to 2GB service in the 2016-2017
school-year.
129. Internet bandwidth from the high school to other
school buildings remains at 1GB service.
Plan and budget to upgrade the Internet service to other
schools and the administration building from 1GB to 2GB
service.
Plan and budget to upgrade the Internet service to all
school buildings and the administration building to 2GB,
or higher, service in two to three years.
130. The Internet service bundle is provided to EPS by
Merrimack Education Center’s Addition Network
division over Comcast and Verizon infrastructure
services.
For long-rage improvements, EPS should explore the
benefits of a school district-wide leased high-speed fiber
wide area network (WAN) backbone. A school district-
wide high-speed fiber backbone would provide a virtual
private network (VPN) connecting all school buildings and
the administration building with greater bandwidth and
control at a potentially lower annual cost.
5.2 Network Management and Support Services
131. The technology department does not have
equipment to monitor network and Internet usage
patterns or to shape network traffic.
Additionally, the technology Department’s ability to
monitor and manage the backbone and individual
school networks in the existing distributed
environment is limited.
Define requirements, identify costs and benefits,
purchase, and deploy equipment that allows the Support
Administrator for Networking to work towards the
implementation of a “single pane of glass” management
such as HP’s ClearPass Policy Manager or SolarWInds to:
 Monitor user demand and manage data traffic in
real-time.
 Ensure network bandwidth support needs.
 Forecast need for additional bandwidth to
support additional users and/or applications.
 Provide network and data security.
132. The technology department manages approximately
twenty-four servers that vary in age from 3 to 9
years old. Five servers at the high school have 9
years and two servers have 8 years of service. See
Appendix I: Server Inventory and Age.
Industry data shows that as servers age to between
5 to 7 years of service, hard drives begin to fail and
the cost of replacement escalates.
Plan and budget to replace older servers and/or transition
to server virtualization over the next 3 to 5 years to
improve server management and reduce maintenance
and support costs. Open (OD) and Active (AD) Directory
servers may also be moved to the cloud for secure data in
the case of disaster recovery and to decrease down time.
133. EPS is moving towards Software as a Service (SaaS)
or cloud-based applications and virtual Wi-Fi
authentication servers.
Plan and budget the continued transition from server-
based software applications to SaaS and cloud-based
software consistent with the transition to server
virtualization. This reduces on-site server requirements,
maintenance, backup, disaster recovery, and support
costs.

31
5.2 Network Management and Support Services continued
134. EPS does not maintain a nightly backup and
archiving strategy. There is a replication server for
AD and at the administration building an external
hard drive is connected to each computer and
server.
Data loss from hacking, hijacking, theft, natural disaster,
and accidental deletion are serious situations that put the
enterprise’s operation in jeopardy. In addition to the data
loss, it can mean hours and days of staff unable to work
while other staff is consumed trying to restore the
enterprise to some semblance of normality.
At a minimum, plan and budget a replication server for
each server and an external backup source such as an
external hard drive or cloud service to backup all data. A
better solution is to plan and implement a Network
Attached Storage (NAS) system and implement the 3-2-1
backup strategy.
The 3-2-1 backup strategy recommended in “Data Backup
Options” in 2012 United States Computer Emergency
Readiness Team (US-CERT) paper is considered best
practice. This means having 3 total copies of your data, 2
of which are local but on different mediums or devices,
and at least 1 copy offsite (backup strategy).
135. EPS uses Dell’s SonicWALL firewall for network
security. The SonicWALL firewall is part of the
Internet service bundle provided by Addition
Networks a division of Merrimack Education Center.
The SonicWALL firewall is a single point of failure and, as
network upgrades are implemented and traffic increases,
will become a bottleneck slowing Internet access and the
end user connectivity experience.
Explore moving from the Dell SonicWALL NSA Series to a
more robust Unified Threat Management (UTM)
appliance such as the Barracuda X Series, Palo Alto, Check
Point, or WatchGuard XTM.
136. EPS virus protection is deployed with the freeware
version of AVG. On a 2016 Best Reviews Guide of
the top 10 solutions, AntiVirus software AVG scores
7.0 one up from the lowest rating.
Select, purchase, and deploy an AntiVirus solution such as
Secure Anywhere AntiVirus by Webroot with a Best
Reviews Guide score 9.8, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus by
Bitdefender score 9.6 or Norton Antivirus score 8.7.
137. In December 2006 the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure (FRCP) changed, including public schools
in the requirement to provide archiving and auditing
for electronically stored information (ESI), often
called email archiving (e-discovery law). EPS does
not have an Email Retention policy and relies on
Addition Networks to provide email archiving and
retrieval.
If the EPS transition to Google email (Gmail) continues,
explore implementation of Google Message Discovery
(GMD) email archiving or other low/no cost alternatives.
GMD is a per-user fee service and may qualify for partial
E-Rate reimbursement.
138. The school district has single sign-on access for
Gmail and Google resources but not for any other
applications.
Define and develop a portal strategy for the education
community (including executive leadership, staff,
students, and parents) that defines available services and
information as well as implements a single sign on
protocol that simplifies access and use across all
applications such as Clever (https://clever.com).

32
5.2 Network Management and Support Services continued
139. EPS has been replacing and upgrading computing
devices; however, a recommended computing
device lifecycle and replacement schedule is not in
place.
Create and budget for the implementation of a computing
device lifecycle and replacement schedule that maintains
end-user devices at or below 5 years of service.
5.3 Local Area Network (LAN) and Wireless Capacity
140. As part of the 2016 E-Rate application and school
district-wide network equipment upgrades, the
technology department in collaboration with the
vendor is creating up-to-date Local Area Network
(LAN) configuration diagrams (Microsoft Visio) and
documentation.
Complete and maintain up-to-date LAN diagrams for each
building Main Distribution Frame (MDF) and Intermediate
Distribution Frame (IDF) closets.
141. Evidence suggests that EPS does not have up-to-
date cable plant distribution maps.
Create cable plant distribution maps that document
room-level port location and identification number.
142. The wireless access points in all schools are
Aerohive and connectivity experience varies
between schools and within each building. Access
point distribution appears to have been based on
coverage area with little attention to access density.
Wireless network connectivity continues to grow at an
exponential rate in education. End-users expect the
option of connecting wirelessly to the network and
enjoying a good connectivity experience.
143. Deploying 24 Chromebooks in the high school this
year with the STEAM Academy students highlighted
the fragility of the wireless infrastructure. Students
could connect in some areas of the school but not in
other areas. Sometimes the devices would connect;
but as more devices tried to connect to the same
access point connectivity would be lost as the
connected device accessed another, less subscribed,
access point.
Implement the wireless network configuration upgrade
defined in the E-Rate application moving from Aerohive to
Cisco Meraki Wave 2 wireless access points and locating
one access point in each classroom in every school
building.
144. Polices for using personal computing devices and
procedures to support personal computing devices
accessing network resources are in place.
Continue to develop and disseminate staff and student
wireless policies and procedures for using personal
computing devices on the EPS wireless network.
145. Evidence suggests that an 802.1x protocol that
provides a self-service process to authenticate users
or devices before granting them access to a
network, authorize those users or devices for
certain network services, and account for usage of
those services is not in place.
Implement a self-service 802.1x authentication protocol
such as Gemalto’s Protivia.

33
6. Budget and Funding Sources
6.1 District Technology Budget
146. EPS is commended for committing significant
financial resources in the yearly operating budget,
approximately $96 per student or 0.73% of per
student expenditures, to the technology program.
147. It is difficult to identify best practice per student
technology expenditures because accounting
methods differ from school district to school
district. Some school districts include library media
center expenditures while other school districts are
spending more as they implement one-to-one
initiatives, e.g., an iPad or Chromebook for every
student.
Identify what will be included in technology expenditure
accounting.
148. A January 2016 THE Journal article documents that
technology spending is rising in part by the need to
be ready for online testing
(https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/01/19/repor
t-education-tech-spending-on-the-rise.aspx).
Expect end-user technology (computers, tablets, etc.)
expenditures to rise as online testing becomes
established as the norm. Look for ways to reduce costs in
other areas, e.g., printer toner and paper to increase
technology funding.
149. During the 2015-2016 school year paging (PA)
systems for the Adams and Webster schools were
funded from the technology budget.
School district resources are limited and equipment
needs to be repaired and updated regardless of how it is
funded but items such as paging systems, clocks, and
analog phone handsets seem more aligned with building
maintenance than the technology budget. Internet
Protocol (IP) phones; however, are appropriately
accounted for in the technology budget as they require
network services to operate.
150. Evidence suggests that EPS has not previously
defined a level of balance between infrastructure,
end-user computing devices, software resources,
and professional development expenditures to
meet identified student learning and operational
productivity objectives.
Use this and subsequent Technology Plans to define
technology supported student learning and operational
effectiveness objectives, technology needed to achieve
those objectives, and the budget resources required to
meet the identified technology needs. See Section IV:
Five-year Technology Plan Implementation Timeline.
151. The yearly baseline technology program operating
costs including Internet service and email, Aspen
SIS, E-Rate Consultant, printer toner cartridges,
projector and printer repair and replacement, and
moderate computer replacement and repairs are
approximately $350,000 per year. See Appendix J:
2015-2016 Aggregated Technology Expenditures.
No recommendation.
152. Annual printer toner cartridge replacement
expenditures average approximately $40,000 per
year.
Plan to reduce toner cartridge and paper costs by 10 to
20 percent over a two-year period by moving to digital
documents.
153. The school district budget includes a technology
line item but evidence suggests that the
technology department has not been given the
opportunity and responsibility for effectively
managing those funds. Often relatively small
expenditures (under $500) that have a big impact
on classroom technology use are questioned and
sometimes denied.
Require the technology department to responsibly
manage the technology operational funds, e.g., repair
costs for classroom instructional equipment. The
technology staff has the knowledge and the experience to
effectively prioritize and respond to instructional
technology equipment repair and support needs in a
timely fashion.

34
6. Budget and Funding Sources
6.2 E-Rate Application
154. EPS is commended for applying for E-Rate Category
1 Telecommunications Service and Category 2
Broadband and Internal Connections funding each
year.
155. EPS submitted E-Rate Funding Year 2016
applications for Category 1 and 2. The Category 2
funding includes switch upgrades for the network
and expanding the wireless access point to each
classroom in every building with a total cost of
$872,717 and after E-Rate funding a district cost of
$196,722. See Appendix K: 2016 E-Rate
Application Budget.
Request the school committee to approve and fund the
school district cost portion of the E-Rate application.

35
IV. Technology Plan Recommendations
1. Establish a technology committee.
Establish a technology committee with district and school leadership, teacher, student and parent representation. The technology committee charter
should focus on advising program direction and increasing district and school-level technology program development and support.
2. Align technology goals with school district guiding documents.
Review and revise school district technology program mission, vision, and goals. Ensure that the 2016-2021 Technology Plan’s vision, mission, and
goals align with the district’s strategic and improvement plan goals. The Technology Committee should lead the review process in collaboration with
school committee members and representatives of the administrative and teaching staff.
3. Develop a K-12 technology curriculum scope and sequence.
Identify, adopt, and annually assess integrated technology and information literacy competencies in grades K-12. Use the International Society for
Technology in Education’s (ISTE) National Education Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S) and Massachusetts Technology Literacy Standards
and Expectations for K-12 students as guiding documents. The technology curriculum scope and sequence should address the following.
 Focus on two technology department goals: (1) teach to the K-12 standards and (2) expand computer science instruction.
 Bring the technology and information literacy (library) programs together to enhance student knowledge and skill development.
 Strengthen integration of technology in core content instruction.
 Develop intensive mini-courses at the high school to bring all students to a foundation technology skill level. For example, intensive courses in
keyboarding and Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications with each course meeting for five days for one quarter. All students
should be required to successfully complete this technology strand.
 Explore options for providing keyboard instruction in the K-8 schools.
 Identify scheduling options to increase technology and information literacy instruction in the K-8 schools.
 Adopt a high school graduation requirement that every student successfully complete one online academic course.
4. Integrate technology and information literacy into core curriculum.
Use a collaborative model to define strategies and support teachers’ efforts to effectively incorporate technology and information literacy knowledge
and skills into core content instruction with project-based student-centered learning activities.

Everett Public Schools Tech Plan 6_11_16

Everett Public Schools Tech Plan 6_11_16

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