Alabama
Cherokee County School District
Cherokee County can best be described as a rural agricultural community whose solid economic environment is comprised of fertile lands and an abundant water supply. Agriculture is the countys largest industry, involving not only row crops but also new agri-businesses such as seed production and ornamental plants. Weiss Lake makes tourism a vital part of the local economy. Little River Canyon National Preserve, historical sites, points-of-interest, and town festivals compliment the countys appeal as an attractive place to visit.
The county school system offers the more than 3500 students of Cherokee County extensive learning opportunities, including the traditional curriculum, fine arts, vocational training, and technology. Furthermore, with the many athletic programs and extra curricular activities at each school, students are assured a well-rounded, quality education.
Our commitment to a quality technology program has been the single "thread" that runs through all areas of the curriculum. Our technology program had its beginnings some seven years ago when our local telephone company (Peoples Telephone Company) asked if we would like to have dial-up access to the Internet supplied to the schools and also be responsible for managing the server. This was a true learning experience for both parties. They succeeded as an Internet Service Provider, and the dial-up Internet access opened up the world to our students and teachers. Since that first connection, technology has been a main focus in our curriculum. Three years ago the Cherokee County Board of Education voted to provide the matching funds necessary to install a LAN at each school and "tie" everything back to a central location so that information could be shared from school to school and with the Central Office. The design, installation, and maintenance of the LANs and WAN would be based on the concept that we would have to rely on ourselves for almost everything. We were operating on a "shoe-string" budget and could not afford the luxury of hiring outside consultants or contractors. In a four month period of time, with hundreds of hours of volunteered time eight students and two teachers wired every school in Cherokee County. Over 15 miles of Category 5 wire was installed, along with the hundreds of connectors used to terminate the wire ends. The eight student technology team wired each equipment rack, installed the patch panels, hubs, switches, Novell servers, and connected all computers at each school to the newly established LAN. The Cherokee County WAN consists of HDSL (786 kbs) connections at six sites and the four remote schools are connected to the WAN via 10 Mb wireless spread spectrum links. Wireless connectivity was the only affordable option and has proved to be as strong a telecommunication link as the conventional sites, only less expensive. With the help of Trillion Digital Communications, we became the first school system in Alabama to have a wireless WAN connecting schools. This hybrid network is the backbone of technology in Cherokee County. It is unique and one of a kind that serves the students and teachers well. Internet access, administrative data transfers, and e-mail are the main functions of the network at this time. In August 1999, distance learning becomes a reality in our rural school system. Jacksonville State University and the Cherokee County School System will partner a dual enrollment project that will allow students and teachers to take college courses via a video conferencing system between JSU (some 45 miles south of Cherokee County) and Cherokee County.
Our newest partner, Lucent Technologies, will assist us in taking our technology plan to our ultimate goal. It has always been our plan to eventually bring video, data, and, audio to the desktop. With a very limited budget we knew that this would be something that would be years down the road before we could obtain this goal. With Lucent Technologies newest products, MMCX and Virtual Lecture Hall, we will be able to meet our goal of desktop video conferencing and even surpass it. We will now be able to share resources from all over the county, as well as utilizing resources from neighboring systems. We will now be able to offer advanced courses to small groups of students at all our school sites from a central location. Collaboration and sharing of ideas and best practices between teachers, students, administrators can now be easily facilitated over our
WAN and across links to distant sites.
We are exactly where we wanted to be, only about two years ahead of schedule thanks to the help, support, and expertise of Lucent Technologies, Trillion Digital Communication, Peoples Telephone Company and a great deal of local effort and support.
Florida
Okaloosa School District Technology
The Okaloosa School District has a comprehensive plan for technology which includes technology infrastructure, teacher training, access for students and instructional software. The following is an overview of these areas of technology:
The District has an Okaloosa Metropolitan Area Network (OMAN) and each school has either a T1 or 56KB line. We have two T1 lines for Internet access, one provided by the State of Florida FIRN network. The District also has a BESS Proxy Server from N2H2 that filters unwanted Internet sites. All schools have as a minimum 10 Internet lines in either the media center or a lab. This gives access to the Internet for all students. Many schools are completely retrofitted for voice, video and data. During the next 5 years, the rest of the schools will be retrofitted.
The State of Florida has developed Sunshine State Standards for students. These standards have technology woven throughout them. The District selected Student Standards for Technology from the Sunshine State Standards. Based on the student standards, the District developed Basic Technology Competencies for Teachers. This is what teachers need to know in order to teach the students. Training for basic competencies if provided through school-based mentors, District trainers, and other modes of training. The District has developed a model for training teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum, TOOLS 2000. In this workshop teachers learn basic computer skills, use of a digital camera, instruction on the writing process, technology based activity centers, theory of multiple intelligence, authentic assessment using a rubric, managing a classroom with technology and planning thematic units. The workshop has been very successful and is now being piloted online for teachers to take from school or home. The District has implemented an incentive program called Top Notch Teacher. When teachers complete basic competencies, take a test on them, and show by means of a portfolio that they are integrating technology into the curriculum, they receive three new computers for their classroom.
Through grants and State Technology funds the Okaloosa School District and schools are purchasing instructional software programs for students. This year two elementary schools received a TLCF grant for reading. Computer Curriculum Corporation reading software and Lightspan Home School programs were purchased. One of our high schools received a TLCF grant to implement a two-year Algebra I class to assist students who normally don't take Algebra. The State recently required that all students complete Algebra I. The District also received a TLCF grant for distance learning and instructional television, Best Practices in Action. In this grant, a tower is being constructed in Bay County that will connect all the counties in the Panhandle for instructional television, put the TOOLS 2000 training online and produce training and parent awareness videos for technology.
As you can see, there is a lot going on in the Okaloosa School District. We are proud of our accomplishments and are looking forward to the future with technology as a tool for learning.
Georgia
Edgewood Elementary School
Muscogee County School District
Columbus, Georgia
Six years ago, the leadership and faculty at Edgewood Elementary School made a commitment to provide our students with the technology that we considered imperative for success in the twenty-first century. Our progress in this endeavor has not come easy, nor has it been painless. Since our school district provides no technology budget, the funding of our goal has been, and remains, a major concern. Primarily, our technology has been purchased through the wise utilization of Georgia State Lottery funds and an initiative by the Georgia Department of Education called Pay for Performance. We feel that we have made prudent purchases of hardware, software, and provided our staff with sufficient training to feel comfortable with the technology.
As we began to focus on providing our students and staff with state of the art technology at Edgewood, our hardware consisted of five Apple 2E's on roll around carts. These computers were shared by 21 regular classrooms and various special programs. The students and teachers used these computers mainly for drill and practice and games.
When the Georgia lottery was established, the funding for technology became a very real possibility. Within 2 years, we were able to purchase one Macintosh computer for each classroom, automate our media center, and purchase the Accelerated Reader Program. Lottery funding has also provided a satellite dish, two fax machines, and four Internet connections.
Edgewood is one of two schools in the state of Georgia to be awarded Pay for Performance money each year since the Georgia Department of Education incentive program was initiated five years ago. Targeting technology as our main objective, the professional staff at Edgewood has voted each year to put our money back into the school, rather than take the rewards home. Thus, our faculty has contributed more than $100,00.00 toward technology in the building. Through this money, over the past five years, we have provided to each classroom; two Macintosh computers, one printer, one scan converter, and a 27" color monitor. We have established The Edgewood Technology Center, consisting of 24 IMac computers, one Internet connected teacher station, and one data projector. We have supplied our staff and students with four Powerbook laptop computers, three digital cameras, and two scanners. Broadcast equipment, enabling students to create and edit videotaped productions was also purchased with Pay for Performance funds.
At the onset of our technology initiative, training was driven only by individual teacher motivation. A few computer courses were offered through staff development, however, there was no specific focus. Four years ago, the Muscogee County School District hired five technology specialists an established a designated site for technology instruction. The following year, our technology specialist offered to provide our faculty with "site based" staff development courses because we felt that we were ready to focus on Edgewood's specific goals. This preliminary training proved invaluable because, in January of 1998, the State Department of Education implemented the InTech (Integrating Technology into the Curriculum) program, and Edgewood had a team of five teachers who felt ready to undergo the intensive, 50-hour training.
The five members of the original InTech team, in turn, trained the remainder of the faculty using the "Peer Teaching" concept. The instruction focused on using technology to supplement and enhance the curriculum already in place, rather that learning a particular piece of software. Our entire faculty completed the training in January 1999. Since the completion of InTech training, we feel that we are ready to begin to fully implement the technology we have purchased for our building.
Evidence of the use of technology is apparent throughout the school; in the required technology projects for grades one through six, in the required Invention Convention projects for third grade, required Media Festival ,projects for fourth grade, required Science Fair projects for fifth grade, and required Social Studies projects for sixth grade.
Kentucky
Kenton County Public Schools
With the Kentucky legislative action of 1992 awarding schools district Ed-Tech funds to be matched dollar for dollar by the local school district, Kenton County Schools began a technology implementation to support the curriculum. 12 months were spent in organizing a district technology committee and planning for the future implementation. It was decided that as funds were disseminated from the state on an annual basis, we would purchase a few computers and printers and combine the remaining 1st year funds with the 2nd year funds and cable all of the buildings. In combination with construction going on in the district, we felt that creating the infrastructure was the key to a long-range success. All future funds would be assigned to the schools based on their enrollment and inclusion of technology in the building consolidated plan.
After completing the cabling to each classroom, library and administrative area, Kenton County Schools began adding school buildings to the WAN (wide area network). Professional development began by focusing on writing and using a word processor as a tool for that activity. Teachers were also trained in the instructional uses of E-mail. As teachers acquired these skills PD began to focus on instructional aspects of the Internet. As each year passed a new concept, either tool or supplemental content software, was introduced into the professional development plan.
As more equipment was installed in each school the district hired several full time technicians. While that took care of hardware failure, it did not address the day to day operator issues that occurred. The district staff implemented Technology Teams in each building to build capacity in each school. We complemented that with students who became part of the Student Technology Leadership Program. We found it necessary to have a team of teachers, staff and students that were on site and could support minor failures and one-on-one training needs. In organizing this support structure, we held annual summer training sessions for each group, correlating the trainings to cover the same material.
With the addition of the TLCF (Technology Literacy Challenge Fund) offers, Kenton County Schools was able to purchase items other than computers and printers that added to the curriculum. The first year digital cameras and scanners were purchased. The professional development was focused on using that equipment to create web pages. It exceeded our expectations. The second offer of TLCF was used to train 1/6 of the teaching staff on the instructional use of a presentation tool (Hyperstudio). Each participant had to complete 3 projects including a student project from their classroom. A web page was created with links to the projects for teacher sharing. The Year 3 offer will be used to purchase projection devices for students to present multimedia presentations incorporating the items from Years 1 and 2.
While each year we continue to add more up-to-date workstations and printer to each school based on their enrollment, we have found that the TLCF offers have made a huge impact. As this is a district with low free and reduced lunch students (rated at 52%), we qualified only for communication reimbursement from the E-rate. This has reduced the annual cost of leased lines for Internet access to our schools.
With this school year we added a teacher as a district trainer to the technology staff. This person conducts a weekly 3-hour technology PD based on the various tools and curriculum software available to teachers. She is also made available to schools, as requested, to work one-on-one with teachers during their planning or school created time. We currently focus on the Teacher Standards adopted by the Kentucky Professional Standards Board and make sure each person is informed which standard each training addresses.
We are looking for measurable progress in the area of technology with our students. We participated in a survey from the Milken Family Foundation focusing on teachers, principals and the districts perception of technology and its integration. We also survey schools annually for needs, implementation and perceptions.
Mississippi
Drew School District
Technology Goals
Implementation
North Carolina
Carteret County Public School System
Carteret County is a rural, fairly isolated County on the coast of North Carolina. The Public School System is composed of 15 schools with a population of 8,500 students.
The Technology Plan for Carteret County School System forms the foundation and the guide for all the roles of technology in the District. Support for the Plan has been widespread and effective, from top-level administration, faculty, staff, students, and community. Without this foundation of planning and this platform of support the level of technology integration now evident in Carteret County Schools would not have occurred.
In review, the District has met or exceeded expectations in most areas and progress continues towards stated goals. Because of this progress the 1998 revision of our Technology Plan focuses more on the seamless integration of technology into the learning environment which is our ultimate goal.
Earlier iterations of the District's Technology Plan emphasized the acquisition of hardware and the use of software as a supplement and enrichment for the traditional classroom setting. The current Plan focuses on the evolution towards integration of technology into a student-centered, project-based learning environment. In the 1998 revision telecommunication technologies, web publishing and wide area networking are more in evidence.
Accomplishments over the last three years include:
having completed Parts I and II as defined in the technology staff development outline
These things have been funded or made possible through:
It is anticipated that the coming years will see the same or increased progress towards the goals, objectives and strategies of the School System's Technology Plan.
South Carolina
Richland County School District One
Richland School District One covers 482 square miles and serves the capital city of Columbia, South Carolina encompassing urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods. A diverse student enrollment of 27,000 students in 51 schools and an equal number of adult education students, give the district its character and strength.
Richland School District One has embarked on a significant, aggressive plan to acquire, support and use technology throughout schools and the community. The establishment of the Information Resource Management Department in 1995, combining and expanding the former Educational Technology, Media Services, and Electronic Repair Units, signaled the beginning of the districts focus on the integration of technology in the instructional arena.
The successful 184 million-dollar bond referendum in 1996 enabled the district to support new school construction, school renovation and renewal and the establishment and expansion of the district wide technology infrastructure. A three year, four-pronged infrastructure plan, funded by the bond at 9.23 million dollars, was initiated in the spring of 1997 that:
Coupled with these initiatives was the expansion of the technology education program. Courses, modules and workshops offered throughout the school year and summer months are keyed to the districts technology competencies that all employees are expected to master. District-level instructors are full-time technology educators experienced in technology training and integration. Classroom teachers who have demonstrated skill in using technology effectively provide training for evening and summer courses. Additionally, media specialists provide training during and after the school day.
Supplementing the districts technology implementation is a five-year, 4.3 million-dollar Technology Innovation Challenge Grant awarded in October 1997. The grant, titled Richland Clicks! focuses on improving student achievement and community involvement through technology. A wide array of grant activities provides a comprehensive approach to using technology as a tool. An instructional website, curriculum connections lessons, laptop lending program, technology van, and strong community partnerships define the scope of the grant.
Richland One is a beneficiary of state-level initiatives focused on enabling school districts to move forward with successful technology programs. Funded by the state legislature, and administered under the direction of the State Department of Education, millions of dollars have been appropriated to establish infrastructure, Internet and telecommunications, purchase hardware and software, and support the professional development needs of educators. A recently revised State Technology Plan, curriculum frameworks, achievement standards and regional technology centers increase the depth of resources to meet local needs.
Much has been accomplished in Richland One in a few short years. Preparing our students, parents and community for the future will continue to challenge our skills and creativity.
Tennessee
Anderson County
In virtually every state in the nation, reform efforts are dramatically raising expectations for students, and consequently, for teachers. In response to these reform initiatives, educators are being asked to master new skills and make necessary changes in their classrooms. To meet these new expectations, educators must deepen their content knowledge and acquire new methods of instruction. They need more time to work with colleagues, to critically analyze the new standards being suggested, and to revise curriculum. Educators need opportunities to develop, master and reflect on new approaches to working with students. All of these activities fall under the general heading of professional development.
A key lesson learned about school reform from the past decade is that far more time is necessary for staff learning and planning than is currently being made available. Staff development days, typically workshops, and brief meetings before, during, or after the school day when other responsibilities tug at the participants are grossly insufficient for the profound learning and planning which are essential to successful improvement in teaching and learning.
The importance and placement of professional activities will require the support of all stakeholders, including parents, students, and community members. Before redesigning professional development activities, it is important to understand the research on best practices in professional development. Research clearly defines the following assumptions:
Ongoing professional development is required if it is to result in significant change. School change is the result of both individual and organizational development. The goal of professional development is to support the inquiry into the study teaching and learning. Teachers learn as a result of training, practice, and feedback, as well as individual reflection and group inquiry into their practice. Professional development is essential to school development. Professional development should be primarily school focused and embedded in the job.
Professional development programs based on these beliefs are quite different from those based on traditional assumptions. While district wide workshops still will be appropriate on occasion, most professional development should be school based. Educators should attend hands on workshops and conferences, and be involved in a variety of ongoing, job embedded learning activities, such as study groups, action research, peer coaching, curriculum development, and case discussions.
In Anderson County In Anderson County, the Office of Technology developed a system wide technology plan, which allowed school sites to develop their technology plans. After evaluating school, teacher, and student needs in the school technology plans, professional development activities can be developed.
System Technology Plan (Handout #1, Sections 1Ä3) Because KÄ12 education has traditionally been restricted by limited budget funds, it was imperative that whatever funds were expended on technology be made to serve the most students possible. This has forced most purchases to focus on meeting today's needs only. Unfortunately, as changes in technology come more rapidly and software becomes more demanding, technology bought with only today in mind become obsolete very quickly.
Virginia
Henrico County Public Schools
Technology
The Department of Technology is responsible for the technical implementation, maintenance and support of instructional technology initiatives, ongoing technology programs and for technology production services in the school division, kindergarten through grade 12.
Department of Technology functions include:
HIGHLIGHTS:
Henrico County Public Schools has historically been and continues to be a state and national leader in the application of technology to K-12 instructional applications. Henrico began televising high school distance learning courses in 1984 and has implemented computer Integrated Learning Systems (ILS), videodisc applications for Science and Mathematics, a student/teacher electronic mail system and is currently working on the implementation of a county-wide Metropolitan Area data communications Network (MAN) utilizing an Instructional Cable Television Network or I-NET. This system will provide data communications between all schools and direct internet access to all computers on school networks while avoiding typical high costs for telecommunications charges.
Major Technology Initiatives already in Place in Henrico Schools
Virginia
Mantua Elementary
Fairfax County Public Schools
Mantua Elementary School--Mantua Center, located in Fairfax County, Virginia, is home to a diverse student population of 820 general education, deaf, English as a second language, gifted, and learning disabled students. The school encompasses three connected school programsthe Total Communications Center for the Deaf, the Gifted and Talented Center, and the base school.
Mantua A Basic School Powered by Technology integrates a technology-rich, interdisciplinary environment within the framework of the Basic School, the educational philosophy of the late Dr. Ernest Boyer.
At Mantua, technology is viewed not as an end in itself, but rather as a tool that augments the following four pillars of the Basic School:
Students and staff use technology to make connections across disciplines and to integrate and apply literacy skills in language, mathematics, and the arts. The Basic School accommodates many learning styles and theories and involves parents and other community members in the learning process. Rather than focusing on a specific learning paradigm, our teachers select to integrate coherently the methods that are most appropriate for the objective at hand, while providing an environment that supports an effective education for every child. Technology is one tool that empowers this acquisition of knowledge; students use technology to simplify, facilitate, and enhance the learning process.
The curriculum of the Mantua Basic School includes all of the traditional fields of elementary study. The eight commonalties of the Basic School are unique lenses through which we view the traditional disciplines and create interdisciplinary connections. Teachers are seen as leaders, facilitators, and mentors, well grounded in the art of teaching and well trained in the use of the most current computing equipment and software applications. Children exposed to interdisciplinary units of study arc becoming literate, cooperative, problem solving, self-motivated learners and that is what Mantua is about. What most distinguishes education at Mantua Elementary--Mantua Center is that our students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but rather, active participants in the full educational process
West Virginia
Hundred High School Technology Profile
Hundred High School is located in a small rural community in West Virginia with an enrollment of approximately 170 students enrolled in grades 9-12.
During the 1998-99 term, the school began with the implementation of the NetSchools solution. With this program, every student in the school was provided a durable StudyPro" laptop, which could be used both as a stand-alone computer and as a wireless, networked computer. The laptops were loaded with a number of applications including MicroSoft Works word processing, spreadsheet and database software as well as a popular browser, email, a presentation creation package and a graphing program.
Not only does every student have a laptop, but also every teacher was given a laptop for instructional as well as classroom management tasks. In addition to the same application packages, teachers were provided with an email package, an Internet browser, and special classroom management tools. These tools include AIS Desktop Monitor which allows each teacher to control student laptops from their desks, and the Curriculum Browser/Search Tool developed by NetSchools for access to a large database of tested Internet sites that have been correlated to the West Virginia Instructional Goals and Objectives.
The teachers have incorporated this technology into daily classroom instruction in a number of ways. Through the use of several application software packages students are able to complete assignments using the application tools, using email for receiving and submitting assignments or collaborating with other students on group tasks, accessing information using the Internet browser, creating presentations to share with others and participating in mentoring projects.
Through the Wetzel County Board of Education, an important vehicle for enhancing schoolà home communications has been added. Students and teachers have local dial-up access to the school server which provides the opportunity for accessing files stored on the server as well as the Internet from home during the evenings and weekends. Parents/guardians were included in the initial training and dissemination of the technology, and were encouraged to communicate with teachers and students using the technology provided to their children. Parents also have the opportunity to observe what their children are doing in the classroom by viewing assignments and files on the laptops.
To increase the level of success for this program, the package purchased from NetSchools provides on-site teacher and student instructional training, and technical support throughout the first year of implementation. Evaluation data of the program is being collected on a continual basis to establish the effectiveness of the program in terms of student learning as well as teacher progress in delivering instruction through this new technology model.
West Virginia
Ohio County Schools
In November, 1992, the Ohio County Schools Technology Implementation Committee was charged with studying the current and future technological needs of the school system, as well as developing an implementation plan for the effective use of technology in instruction and administration.
This charge resulted in the development of "Technology: Our Future Now A Five Year Plan and Beyond". This initial technology plan served as the basis for implementing the hardware, software and infrastructure throughout the system.
The funding for this project was realized through a bond levy that was approved by more than 70% of the voters. The initial implementation was phased in over a five-year period. Some of the highlights of this implementation are as follows:
As the technology plan was a dynamic document, it was revised and updated by the committee. In addition to the original implementation, the Bell Atlantic World School Project was supported. This project provided internet access to all schools via a 56kB Cisco router. Two other statewide projects also were implemented. The Governors Basic Skills Program provides for software and hardware in grades K-6. The WV-SUCCESS (Student Utilization of Computers in Curriculum for the Enhancement of Scholastic Skills) is now in its third year. This project provides internet computers in grades 7-12, along with office suite and career exploration software.
In addition, Ohio County is actively involved in local, state and federal grant programs. Examples of these include:
West Virginia
Sherman Elementary School
At Sherman Elementary School technology is incorporated in our curriculum in a number of creative and innovative ways. Our school has four Jostens Basic Skills Computer Labs that children in grades Kindergarten through Six work in daily through the departmentalization of classes. The Jostens Basic Skills labs promote reinforcing and reteaching of basic reading, math and writing skills. Children work at computer stations on their own level and at their own pace to review basic skills daily. Teachers place students on appropriate levels with the Basic Skills Inventory (BSI). The computer lab teachers are also able to track students progress with several reports the program generates. Our Fifth/Sixth grade computer lab has recently been upgraded with ten new IBM computers, programmed with Comptons Encyclopedia, Office 97, and the Tomorrows Promise program. This was accomplished using funds received from the Technology Literacy Challenge Grant and with funds from Boone County Schools. Sherman Elementary plans to completely upgrade this lab with additional computers purchased with Budget Digest Grant Funds through the office of WV Senator Lloyd Jackson. Our Preschool children will benefit from this grant funding by allocations for the purchase of new learning software for the Preschool Computer Lab.
Sherman Elementary staff will be trained in the use of Power Point technology to enhance lessons and for presentations on local, state, and national levels. Plans are now also being made to purchase the Accelerated Reader Program through funds from grant writing sources, Business Partners and school/community funding. Accelerated Reader is a computerized reading program and with the STAR database program tracks students progress and reading growth. This program will enhance our current reading program at the first through sixth grade levels and allow students to progress at their own pace.
Children at the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth grade levels participate in our Higher Order Thinking Skills (H.O.T.S.) Computer Lab. The H.O.T.S. classroom is a computer lab with 13 new Internet accessible IM computers equipped with Comptons encyclopedias, a trained H.O.T.S. teacher and a H.O.T.S. Aide. This computer lab is unique in that it utilizes technology to promote positive self-concepts and to increase higher level thinking. The program targets priority students, but all Fifth and Sixth graders utilize the lab once a week.
Sherman Elementary offers parents an opportunity to take-home computers with our Take-Home Notebook Computer Program. Windows 95 and the Emerging Literacy Program Training are offered three times a year for the notebook computer program. Parents are trained in a daylong training, on the use of these programs to assist their children in learning. This program is exceptional in that it was created by Boone Countys Title 1 Director, Carolyn Miller. Another innovative program Sherman Elementary offers is the Lightspan Program. This program utilizes Sony PlayStations as a tool for learning, along with interactive software in a game format for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Writing. Family Training is provided throughout the year for parents who wish to work at home with their children. The PlayStations are also used in the Title 1 classrooms for instruction and reteaching.
Sherman Elementary Comprehensive needs Assessment (CAN) is conducted using computer technology. Information gathered from our need assessment, such as standardized test scores, is logged and stored on the Sherman Elementary Title 1 Needs Assessment Database. This database was created by a member of our school community, Bruce Williams, who is principal of Whitesville Junior High School. Our schools Unified School Improvement Plan highlights our Use of Technology, Technical Assistance, and Support Plan along with our current Technology Infrastructure Diagram. This document is updated yearly in conjunction with our Local School Improvement Council, Principal, Technology Team and staff.