Where do I think technology fits? More on that in the next post.... (from the last blog)
I left the last blog taking about school improvement processes and some of the successes that were occurring. At both Brazosport ISD and Fontana USD, the improvement was remarkable. Remarkable from the standpoint of what they achieved in their mix of student populations. I think that both districts probably had very strong leadership and were able to foster the culture change that was necessary.
I read an article about the superintendent at Duvall County who is retiring. Duvall has been experiencing solid gains in student achievement, though they are experiencing some flat performance recently. The focus of the Superintendent, John Fryer, has been on two primary things: staff development and data-driven decision making.
I have long thought that using data to support strategic decision making is a good thing. But I have long worried that districts and vendors were not giving the required focus to professional development that helps teachers and administrators. By professional development, I mean helping district staff understand what the data means and how they can effectively use it to differentiate instructional planning and delivery.
But that is only a first step. Benjamin Bloom, Mastery of Learning, always said that all kids can learn, just on different time lines. Another item to add to that thought is in "different ways." This where technology steps into the improvement process. We use data to slice and dice and examine different groups of kids and their achievement or lack of achievement. But we are not there yet in taking the next step, which makes it very easy for teachers to quickly identify a student's learning style and align content to that style.
For districts employing a Mastery of Learning approach or an 8 Step Instructional Process approach, such an ability would be a very nice thing. I envision a teacher reviewing the results of formative assessments and linking immediately to content aligned to and in support of those standards. If a class is experiencing trouble for a specific standard, a teacher should be able to click a link in a report and immediately be taken to content that supports that standard. In a perfect world, that content would be categorized by learning style (audio, visual, textual, etc.) Content is king and those districts that effectively use content will succeed.
Technology and school improvement processes. The average superintendent tenure is about three years I believe. The recent successes in school improvement take twice that long. Where I think technology fits in is to accelerate that process. If we can effectively use technology to personalize education, I think we can dramatically speed up the school improvement process. How do we do that? By making sure that the technology is at the classroom level and is easy to use for teachers. Here is an example of my thinking:
A school district is implementing an improvement process aligned to Mastery of Learning. They develop instructional calendars that are aligned to standards. Teachers work together to develop instructional plans that will enable their students to master those standards. They deliver instruction and they frequently assess to ensure mastery of the standards. For those students who do not achieve mastery, there is remediation efforts and re-assessment. Or those who do, there is enrichment to challenge them further. Maintenance of mastery occurs throughout the cycle as students move towards the time when they take a high stakes assessment that will test their knowledge of the standards. Processes are monitored frequently and professional development is provided where needed. So what?
If we could use data analysis and link it immediately to content, that would be a good thing. After a teachers gives a three week assessment, whether by bubble card or on-line, he/she should have the ability to look at the data and immediately determine non-mastery of standards. Using existing technology, the teacher should simply be able to click and be taken to an instructional management system where relevant content aligned to the standard and to learning styles is displayed.
Prior to the school year, teachers should be able to view reports on their upcoming rosters of students that display historical results around mastery of standards. By grouping students with like weaknesses, and strengths, teachers should be able to easily access content from those reports and use it to differentiate instruction.
This use of technology should effectively target intervention and accelerate the school improvement process. If we can do that and reduce the improvement time to three years, we and extend the tenure of superintendents who will be successful over time.
And for those who say we are teaching to the test. If the standards are challenging and the test manages the mastery of those standards, what's wrong with that? More on aligned technology systems next time.
