Technology Plan

Captain Shreve High School

6115 E. Kings Highway

Shreveport, Louisiana

January 13, 2003

Technology Committee

Members:

Dr. Sandra McCalla, Principal

 captainshreve.com

or

melrod@caddo.k12.la.us

Captain Shreve High School

Technology Plan

Table of Contents

Mission Statement                                            

Vision Statement                                     

General Introduction                                         

Committee History                       

Committee Members                       

School’s Organizational Structure                       

Purpose of the School in the Community                       

Long term and short term goals                       

Funding Sources                       

Purchasing Priorities                       

Curriculum, Instruction, and Evaluation                       

Networking     

Publicity                       

Appendices                       

Mission Statement    

Captain Shreve High School’s mission, as an effective school is to provide a variety of learning opportunities within a safe and caring environment, thereby empowering students to become productive citizens.

Vision Statement

Captain Shreve High School is committed to graduating students who possess the skill needed to succeed in an increasingly complex information society.  It is imperative that all students are comfortable with and proficient in using technology in all its forms as information resources and possess the skills to interact with individuals, organizations, and agencies through computer telecommunications.

General Introduction

Captain Shreve High School is a suburban school in southeast Shreveport, LA.  Of the 1218 students at Captain Shreve, 17 percent are on free and reduced lunch.  The enrollment consists of 8^th – 12^th grade students consisting of two Asian students, 424 African American students, 20 Hispanic students, 2 Indian students, and 77o White students for a total of 1218 students.  The faculty consists of 1 principal, 3 assistant principals, 3 counselors, 2 librarians, and 66 teachers.

Committee History

The technology committee was reestablished this school year (2002-2003) after many of the original members retired or moved to other schools.  While the vision for technology use at Captain Shreve High School has been leading the purchase of equipment and use of software, this is the first formal technology plan for our school.  A committee that is diverse in content area teachers and technology use was selected to write the formal plan in August 2002.  Those involved and their committee assignments are as follows:

Committee Members

Executive summary – A. Williford, K. Ivy, W. McPhearson, M. Davis

Demographics – R. Neugart, M. Elrod

Committee Memberships – M. Elrod

General Introduction – M. Elrod

Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting – S. Cassard

Public Relations – A. Watkins, C. Alexander

Equipment – T. Smith, L. Hamilton

Implementation – S. Cassard

New and Emerging Technologies – L. Hamilton, K. Fanning

Professional Development – M. Elrod, S. Cassard, A. Williford

Incentives/Reward System – M. Davis, T. Smith

Purchasing – R. Neugart, K. Chretien, A. Williford

Community Resources – M. Davis

Legal Aspects – M. Elrod

Curriculum, Instruction, and Evaluation – R. Neugart, M. Elrod, K. Fanning, S. Alexander

Networking – M. Nelson, M. Elrod

Special Needs – R. Neugart, K. Chretien

Funding – R. Neugart, M. Davis, K. Chretien

Evaluation – all members

School’s Organizational Structure

Captain Shreve High School is a neighborhood school, which is comprised of two magnet components - the Engineering Magnet and the Liberal Arts Magnet program.  These programs allow students who are not in district to attend our school.  In addition, many of our students attend the Caddo Career and Technology Center and the Fair Park Medical Career program. 

Purpose of the School in the Community

The purpose of Captain Shreve High School is to provide a variety of learning opportunities within a safe and caring environment, empowering students to become productive citizens.  Through the use of technology, varied learning opportunities take place with resources that traverse the walls of the school.  The use of technology in our school will assist faculty in preparing students to be successful learners and prepare all students to be information literate.

Long term short and term goals

The Caddo Parish District Technology Plan states the overarching goal as:

All Caddo Parish educators and learners will benefit from technology-rich environments that support student achievement and produce lifelong learners able to succeed in an information society.

Objective 1:Access

All learners will have access to current and appropriate information technology resources.

Objective 2: Integration of Technology

Technology will be integral to standards-based student learning and school improvement.

Objective 3: Professional Development

All teachers will have access to ongoing professional development that prepares them to effectively use and integrate technology into the curriculum to enhance standards-based teaching and learning.

Objective 4: Instructional and Technology Leadership

Building and district administrators will demonstrate leadership in the use of technology to support standards-based school improvement.

Objective 5: Technology Policy, Accountability, and Leadership

The district will provide continuous leadership, guidance, and resources to schools to meet the rise and demand of educational technology.

Objective 6: Partnerships

Partnerships will be developed with key education stakeholders to maximize the effective use of technology resources.

Objective 7: Public Awareness and Understanding

All stakeholders will be made aware of key proceedings and opportunities that impact educational technology as it relates to standards-based school improvement.

Funding Sources

2001-2002

Title II

Math teachers received stipends for planned inservices - $20.00 per hour. 

$1000 was made available for the math teachers to use for classroom supplies.

Funding will not be made available to individual schools this year.

Title VI

5 Dell Optiplex PC 700’s were purchased for the engineering lab - $4841.00.

No funds available this year; Title VI has been combined with Title V.

Pathway to Excellence

$284.00 was spent on calculators for the 10^th graders to use on the GEE21 test in March.

$363.83 was spent on test disks for the Accelerated Reader books.

$1180.00 was spent on textbooks for the European History AP class.

$895.98 was spent on videos, CD-ROMS, DVD’s and world atlases for social study classes.

$2723.81 Total

Alliance for Education

$654.75 for Engineering Lab supplies.

$1404.25 for overheads and screens.

$2240.00 for textbooks for Liberal Arts II.

Not sure of the availability of this funding this year.

Tech Prep

$2500 was spent on 16 Auto Cad textbooks and 2 Dell computers for the Engineering Lab.

$2500 was available again this year (2002-2003) and it was spent on Robotic materials for the Engineering lab.

Materials and Supplies

All money allocated to the school was spent on materials and supplies; none was spent on small equipment.  The allocation has not even covered the materials and supplies needs for the school for the past 5 years.

Purchasing Priorities

1.      Computer for each classroom

2.      Increased acquisition of hardware and software

3.      Telephone line/Internet connection in every classroom

4.      Large display screens with Smart Boards for student and teacher presentations

5.      Continue to upgrade the engineering lab with the necessary computers.

Curriculum, Instruction, and Evaluation

Students have become proficient at gathering information from textbooks, teacher lectures, notes on the overheads, etc.  It is our desire to create a classroom where they can also gain the ability to gather and distribute information through electronic communication.  In order to accomplish this end, there would first be a need to train faculty and staff to develop instructional programs and teaching strategies and then to find the hardware and software to enhance their programs.  Teachers would be encouraged to attend technology seminars, workshops, and conferences such as our special education teachers did last summer ( 2002). 

While the staff development is taking place, there would be the need to provide the computer, Smart Board, and Internet connection.  We would need to work with the parish to see if a purchase plan could be made available to buy computers, accessories, software, and modems.  Grant writing would be necessary to acquire whatever the parish is not able to purchase.

Our goal for our students would then be to see them using technology as a tool for learning.  Evaluation would assess to what degree students are mastering technological skills, how well they interact with world-wide information, how well they use e-mail as a communication with the world, and to what degree they can find creative and innovative solutions to problems.

Networking

Introduction/Case for Action

Several aspects of the Technology Plan require a level of networking between workstations within the school (internal network) and outside of the school (external interfaces).  Requirements for these interfaces stem from teaching and learning needs in the content areas, coupled with the following foundations skills as identified by the Louisiana DOE:

q       Communication

q       Problem solving

q       Resource access and utilization

q       Linking and generating knowledge

q       Citizenship

The purposes of this section of the school technology plan are threefold;

1)      to define the need for networking capability based on specific teaching and learning needs found within this plan,

2)      to initiate an assessment of existing networking capabilities within the school, and

3)      to define a path forward for planning and implementing networking solutions for the school.

Internal Networks

Internal networks include local area network (LAN) connections and other means of linking workstations.  Internal networks provide the following benefits to the classroom:

q       Resource Access:  Students and teachers can access and share internal information and applications programs.  Data files can be shared between multiple users.  This accessibility can extend to all classrooms, allowing teachers and student access to information and applications that might otherwise be available only in a limited number of areas, on a limited number of workstations throughout the site.

q       Reliability/Maintainability:  System administrators can maintain/upgrade system software and deter changes to system configurations that could be detrimental to operations and performance.  This is particularly important to the school in light of the limited resources for this type of maintenance at the school board office coupled with the need to keep teachers focused on classroom instruction.

External Network Interfaces

External network interfaces include dedicated lines/servers such as the CPSB file server, as well as phone/cable connections to the World Wide Web.  External network connections provide the following benefits to the classroom:

q       Resource Access:  Within a controlled environment, students and teachers can access the wealth of information available from the internet based sources as well as the school board file server.

q       Currency:  Internet based information is updated regularly in many cases and therefore provides students and teachers with the latest information relevant to particular area of interest.

q       Relevancy:  Students and teachers can develop skills in linking and generating knowledge in much the same manner as is accomplished in business and government.

q       Administrative Coordination:  Teachers and administrators in the school can provide access data in a coordinated manner with the school board office.

Existing Networking Resources

The school currently has six primary areas of networking/interface.  These networks are isolated from other workstations in the school.  In all but 9 classrooms, no network interfaces exist.

Library LAN

The library staff currently maintains a file server with 2 CD ROM towers and internet access.  This network links all of the library workstations.  In addition, 5 classrooms share LAN connections with this network.

Business Center LAN

The business center has LAN servers in three rooms, linking PC based workstation used for business application instruction.  Two of the three business center servers are also linked to the internet.

Engineering LAB LAN

The engineering lab maintains a file server with multiple workstations for technical writing and engineering graphics instruction.  Several applications/programs are maintained on the file server.

School Board WAN

The school board maintains a dedicated wide area network (WAN) which is used to track absentees and grades (in addition to other functions).

Administration Offices

The school administration area currently houses a number of workstations with internet access.

Telecom Upgrade

In addition to these networks, the school board is in the process of adding a telephone based network to the school.  The details of this network in terms of scope and content need to be communicated to the school administration (and the Technology Committee) before implementation of this portion of the technology plan can be addressed.

Networking Needs

The needs for networking capabilities are derived from the teaching and learning needs identified elsewhere in this plan and the capabilities that currently exist within the school.  To meet the needs defined, networking within the school will need to evolve from its current state to include the following:

q       Internet access in all classrooms to allow for resource access and utilization in all of the content areas.

q       Network based access in all classrooms to general applications used in all content areas (e.g. word processing and presentation software)

q       Network based access in all classrooms to content area specific applications (e.g. LEAP practice programs)

q       Network based capability for future automated input of administrative information (e.g. grades, absentees, etc.)

Planning and Implementing Network Solutions

The plan for moving forward in the planning and implementation of network solutions for the school included the following steps:

1)      Coordinate with cognizant CPSB personnel: As the school board office provides much of the funding, installation, training and technical support for PC based networks in the school, it is imperative that an open and reliable line of communication be established with the school board office.  The Captain Shreve administration must be made aware of what is planned for the school, along with an estimated time of completion for individual components.  Expertise from the CPSB office is needed to fully understand the capabilities of (and potential growth options) for existing networks.  Clear lines of responsibility must also be defined to insure that the school staff and CPSB personnel understand their roles in the success of this plan. 

2)      Complete definition of existing and planned networks/interfaces:  The technology team, working with cognizant CPSB office personnel, will document the existing networks/capabilities, as well as network capabilities planned by CPSB.

3)      Plan and implement network upgrades and new installations in stages:  Plans will include both leveraging existing resources and connecting in with new servers/networks.

4)      Coordinate software installation and training:  As hardware and software capabilities are developed, teachers and students will have to be trained in their use.  Training in the networking aspects of these systems needs to be integrated with applications training.

Publicity

Publicity of the school technology plan will be through publication in the student handbook and on the school web page.  Publicity of the school web page will occur by posting the web address on all communication (e.g. letterhead, email) and through informational pamphlets and bookmarks.

Appendices

Overall, there is shared belief among all Captain Shreve High School stakeholders that technology is important for student learning. The faculty and administrative staff are using the technology that is currently available and are willing to implement new technology as it becomes available.

Priorities for Improvement

•                     to build on the school’s strengths by

-   continuing to demonstrate to students the usefulness and necessity of using technology in today’s society

-   building and strengthening student involvement and motivation in their classwork by providing additional opportunities to use technology in the classroom

-   strengthening collaborative efforts among teachers to share successful uses of technology, ensuring success by utilizing resources within the school, providing additional training in technology use, and by improving input from all resources within the school and local community

•                     to address limitations and