The document summarizes the results of a needs assessment conducted at ECU Elementary School to evaluate their current technology and identify areas for improvement. Surveys were administered to students, teachers, and staff to assess technology proficiency, use of resources, and obstacles to use. Interviews provided additional insights. Analysis found that teachers need more training, students lack adequate access to computers, and funding is insufficient. Recommendations include increasing teacher training, acquiring new equipment like multimedia carts, and adding a new computer lab.

1. Needs Assessment EDTC 6140: Planning for Technology Cristina Thompson Mary Trotter Janice Russell

2. ECU Elementary Vision For Technology ECU Elementary, in order to encourage students to become life-long learners in the 21st century, will strive to provide and utilize innovative technology that continuously promotes high academic achievement through the use of subject oriented software, multimedia tools, and effective practices. In addition, technology will be used to increase the efficiency in the management of data for administrative purposes through instructional support programs.

3. Needs Assessment Goal The goal of the Technology Plan is to access the current state of the ECU Elementary School’s overall technology. The main focus will be on equipment, staff development and curriculum in order to determine specific needs related to future purchases and training for proper implementation.

4. Introduction The Needs Assessment for ECU Elementary School is based on a school-wide assessment of a typical elementary school. The analyzed data comes from actual surveys, along with general information related to equipment, staff development, observations and interviews as conducted by our team members.

5. Objectives Evaluate student proficiency and growth as measured by state achievement tests and AYP expectations. Evaluate the effectiveness of follow-up training and support for professional development. Evaluate the resources available to determine if they are ensuring and demonstrating high ethical standards and student achievement. Evaluate the access to digital communications for students and employees.

6. School Environment ECU Elementary has is a large campus located in rural North Carolina. The K-5 student population exceeds eight hundred each year. A variety of teachers, administrators, specialists, teacher assistants, transportation managers, cafeteria workers, and custodians compose the staff. The students' population includes 30% free and reduced lunch students, 8% ESL students, and 25% AIG students. Many members of the staff have their own personal children at the school and the PTA is highly involved. The school has 3 wings with 77 classrooms. Wing A houses kindergarten, first grade, and the art room; Wing B houses second grade, third grade, and the music room; and Wing C houses fourth grade, fifth grade, and the school’s only computer lab. The office, media center, cafeteria, guidance office, art room, music room, and gym are centrally located. Every classroom has 2 computers (1 teacher and 1 student). Each of the classroom wings has 1 centrally located laser printer to which all computers on the wing are networked. Each wing also has one ActivBoard which can be moved from room to room and a cart equipped with a projector and laptop. The computer lab has 30 computers networked to a color laser printer. In the office, each administrator, the secretary/receptionist, the financial secretary and the data manager has a computer at his/her desk. There is one color laser printer located in the office. The cafeteria has 2 computers with a shared laser printer. The media center has one computer used for inventory and book check out and one system where 5 computers are linked to one CPU used for research. There is 1 laser printer in the library.

7. Survey Details: Faculty, Staff and Students

8. Things to Consider For the 5th grade tech-literacy test the following hardware is needed to administer the test: keyboard, mouse, monitor, Internet Explorer SP2 or later, Netscape Safari, 56k modem or better, 64 MB RAM, and Windows 98 or better. 2. Teachers will need access to the web site to complete the school level survey. 3. Parents, Students, Teachers, and administrators can all take part in the Speak Up Survey as long as they have access to the web. Paper-pencil survey could be distributed to more than just students if the participation in the on-line surveys are low.

9. Teacher Survey Questions: 1. How would you categorize yourself as a technology user? 2. How often do you use technology to cover a new concept? 3. How often do you use technology to review a concept? 4. How often do you use a projector or TV to view visual media in the classroom? 5. Which multimedia tools would increase the use of technology in your classroom lessons? 6. What assistance is needed to increase the use of technology in classroom lessons? 7. What activities do you regularly do using technology? 8. What is/are the major obstacles when using technology in the classroom? Teachers will complete an on-line survey about their use of technology in the school to improve student achievement. The response to multiple-choice answers will be evaluated.

10. Student Survey We would like to know what you think about education. For example, how you are using technology. Complete the survey to tell us more about what you think by circling your answer. 1. Think about the other students in your class, do you know… a. More about technology than most b. The same about technology as most c. Less about technology than most 2. What devices are available for you to use at school? a. Desktop computer b. Laptop computer c. MP3 or IPOD d. Video Game Box e. Other __________ 3. How do you use the computer for school work? a. Complete writing assignments b. Create slide show or movie c. Email d. Listen to a podcast e. Get help from the Internet f. Play Educational games g. Use Internet for Research h. Take a test online I. Communicate with students from other states/countries 4. What keeps you from using computers more at school? a. Computers are not always available b. I can’t access my personal webpage/email c. My teacher doesn’t know how to use them d. Programs are not good enough e. Other __________________

11. Pre-Existing Data for Evaluation 5th Grade End of Year Technology Test Scores from ABC Report Card . This test asks questions related to students use of technology in various areas: Systems, Social & ethical, word processing, spreadsheets, multimedia & presentations, telecommunications & Internet, and Databases . According to the data reported for our school, students performed poorly on social and ethical uses related to technology. Also, students did not do as well on spreadsheet questions as the other areas. The students performed the best on questions related to multimedia/presentations and telecommunications/Internet, getting over half of the questions correct in these two area. The 2007 STNA survey results is available to help school-level decision making about technology uses for teaching and learning from the data collected. After reviewing the response percentages, this survey shows that the few teachers who are using technology are not getting recognition. It is felt that the amount of money being spent for technology is not sufficient. There is not an evaluative practice in place for tracking professional development in the area of increasing the use of technology in the classroom. Most importantly, teachers are not using the technology in place to enhance, learner-centered teaching strategies. In fact, the data shows that students in the classroom are not using the same tools that professional researchers use. It seems that the survey shows that the school is falling short of having students actively using technology in the classroom for learning and evaluating, but the technology in place is being used for communication, record keeping, and teacher/staff administrative working. 2007 End of Year working conditions survey Teacher Working Conditions Survey Current Technology Inventory AMTR

12. Interviews

13. Interview Group Advanced Technology User 5th Grade – Teacher 4th Grade – Teacher Secretary Curriculum Specialist Average Technology User 2nd Grade – Teacher Kindergarten- Teacher PTA – President Administrator Novice Technology User 3rd Grade – Teacher 1st Grade – Teacher EC/ESL – ESL Teacher

14. Interviews…Who and Why? Teachers It would be important to interview various teachers through ECU Elementary in order to gain an understanding of the technology needs and challenges they are facing. From this interview group the Technology Team discovered: There is a huge gap between the knowledge base of the teachers. Some have no technology experience and in fact, feel lost, while others are quite proficient. Some are podcasing, creating webpages, and striving to integrate technology into their own curriculums while others are avoiding the use of technology altogether. It is important that professional development is provided that is designed to address these different levels of need. Teachers Selected for Interview: 5th Grade – Teacher. Recently participated in QTL and is trying to learn more about integrating technology into her classroom. Represents those who are eager to learn, but don’t know much about using technology in the classroom. 4th Grade – Teacher. Recently won a grant for IPODs to use for podcasting and e-books. Represents those who use technology with every lesson to improve student learning and 21st century skills. 3rd Grade – Teacher. Is afraid of technology. She uses the computer only to record grades, send email, and keep her web page current, which she has been trained in thoroughly. To represent teachers who want easy and reliable technology. 2nd Grade – Teacher. Tries to use technology as a reading center by using software programs on the computer. Otherwise, she uses the computer only for record keeping and administrative duties. To represent teachers that use technology with students to review concepts taught, but don’t incorporate it into the lessons/instruction. 1st Grade – Teacher. Has difficulty keeping her web page current and often forgets her own passwords. She avoids the computer. Represents the teachers lost when it comes to technology. Kindergarten – Teacher. Is comfortable with creating web pages and using programs for teacher directed needs. Doesn’t have comfort with letting her young, kindergarteners using the computer. Represents the teachers of very young children that have difficulty logging-in to the computer.

15. Interviews…Who and Why? ESL/EC Department Students with special needs require technological resources that address these needs in very specific ways and are normally documented in their IEPs. Since assistive technology is very specialized, it would be extremely important to include the IEP Team in the interview process. An interview of this type would provide the following: Hardware Needs Software Needs Opportunities for Specialized Training Teachers Selected: 1. ESL Teacher. To represent the special needs of diverse learners. She could help to identify technology tools that will help with translation to provide better communication with parents. She has little experience with integrating technology in the classroom, but she uses translation programs frequently for newsletters. 2. LEA and EC Teacher. To represent the special needs of students with disabilities. She could help identify technology tools that will help students with physical and learning disabilities. She has a lot of experience with integrating technology and would like to write a grant for some peripherals that would help disabled students communicate through the computer.

16. Interviews…Who and Why? PTA President The PTA President would be able to provide information related to expectations from involved parents and teachers. In addition, the PTA can be a source of funding so it would important to include information from the President in the overall interview process. The president uses the auditorium to conduct meetings and will need access to budget graphs and spreadsheets to project for the parents and teachers in attendance. The president would also be able to discuss the maintenance of a web page to encourage community involvement in fundraising efforts (that would benefit the increase in technology tools).

17. Interviews…Who and Why? School Support Staff: NCWise Operator, Bookkeeper, Clerical Support, School Nurse There are others within the school environment that have technology needs. It is important to include this group in the assessment process. Interview information obtained from this group would include: Hardware and Software needed to maintain NCWise, Accounting Records, Student Files and Records Appropriate training where needed .

18. Interviews…Who and Why? Administration and Curriculum Specialist On the Administrative Level, Principals and Curriculum Specialists can add a dimension to the overall plan that includes important information regarding legal issues that need to be considered as well as best practices that can benefit the student population as well as the faculty and staff.

19. Focus Groups There are certain items that cannot be accessed based only on quantitative data. There are times when qualitative information is vital to appropriately assess needs. To get this information, forums will be held with the following focus groups: teachers, the school’s support personnel, the PTA, and community groups during two open sessions. Responses will be recorded during each forum. The responses will be organized by similar content, tabulated, and listed with the most common responses listed first and the least common responses listed last.

20. Important Open Ended Items to Discuss The following questions could serve as prompts for the focus groups: What type of activities involving technology are engaging to your children/students? What type of technology skills are essential for 21 st century students as they further their education or enter the job market. How do you feel about paperless assignments? What type of technology aside from computers do you feel is important to have in the school?

21. Reporting Method The results of the recommendations for our technology plan will be sent to the school (principle to share with staff) and the county office (superintendent and county technology coordinator). We will request feedback. When all feedback is received, the Technology Planning Team will review it and make changes as needed. A committee consisting of the principal, six teachers (one from each grade level), the PTA president, and two representatives from the county office will review and fine tune the revisions. The finalized report will be sent to the Board of Education for review and approval.

22. Simulated Report 85% of teachers surveyed felt that they had average ability in technology. 75% of teachers surveyed are using technology for new concepts infrequently. 90% of teachers surveyed are using technology to review once a month. 64% of teachers surveyed are using the visual media infrequently. 97% of the tools requested are available on a multimedia cart: document camera, projector, mimeo. 100% of the teachers surveyed wanted to collaborate with someone to either watch the process, plan or team-up. 88% of the students surveyed felt that they knew the same as their classmates. 82% of the students surveyed only have access to the desktop computer. 90% of the students surveyed use the computer for getting help from the Internet, playing educational games, using the Internet for research, and taking a test online. 70% of the students surveyed felt that computers are not available. Upon the careful review and analysis of all data collected, the following statistics have surfaced from our needs assessment:

23. Simulated Report Technology workshops will be designed to help teachers improve their computer skills and develop lesson plans that use technology. Teachers will be required to take at least 1 skills workshop and 1 curriculum development workshop. New equipment will be purchased to provide at least 2 multi-media carts per grade level. The carts will have grade appropriate equipment. Professional Development funds will be set aside for at least 2 teachers per grade level per year for the next 3 years to spend a day participating in a collaborative activity. This activity could be visiting another classroom in another school, or planning with a colleague. One new computer lab with 30 computers and a color laser printer will be added to provide students with more access opportunity. The following recommendations will help address the issues raised in the focus group forums: