EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership: The Technology Link

Week Two: Blog #1 The Texas Long Range Plan for Technology

Denise Chuick
Lamar University Masters of Education – Educational Leadership
EA 1198

I have chosen to discuss the third listed area (Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support) for this assignment. This area encompasses most, if not all, of the mid-management functions required between acquisition of the needed equipment and connectivity products (Infrastructure for Technology) and the use of the technology in the classroom (Educator Preparation and Development).

In 2006, the Long Range Plan for Technology (LRPT) showed that technology education at the Educational Service Centers was “critical to the success of technology integration in Texas and must be funded and staffed accordingly”. (TEA, 2006) The TEA centered recommendations in this area around the use of the existing professional development venues (Regional Service Centers and TEA) to provide effective and efficient methods for school districts to obtain the necessary training programs for their employees.

In the area of what educators know and what skills educators have, our state has progressed quite a distance since 2006. The most recent update report on the LRTP, published in 2010, the state acknowledged the significant accomplishment of the state agencies and the school districts in implementing technology in the classroom. Over the last four to five years and with the data collected annually through the use of the School Technology and Readiness (STaR) chart, appropriate funding lines have provided Regional Service Centers and school districts with the ability to provide professional development for educators and to promote future thinking in the same group by encouraging attendance at conferences and technology trainings.

This most recent LRTP update also shows that the trend for the state of Texas is toward online learning communities, both for professionals and for the public school students. A Virtual School Network has been established to enlarge the catalog of opportunities for Texas school children from the elementary ages through post-graduate matriculation. STaR chart data indicates a decrease in the number of teachers that self-report a “beginning” level of skill. Through changes in the classroom TEKS, data indicates an increase in the number of teachers requiring students to use technology to solve the classroom assignment problems, instead of merely using the technology to show learning has occurred.

The foremost and primary recommendation I can make in this area is continual funding of both infrastructure and professional development. In order to keep pace with the technology growth globally, the state of Texas will need to fund exploration of what the “21st Century School District” will look like in 2020. How will students learn? How will students be taught? Who will be able to stay ahead of the students? And, most seriously, when will we give up this most antiquated and cumbersome public school structure to join the global learning community?

Reference:
Texas Education Agency. (2006). Long Range Plans for Technology, 2006-2020. Austin, TX: Author.