What:  A major component to fulfilling the principal's charge to produce a long range technology planning document was defining the state of the district in terms of instructional technology. An extensive state developed survey was conducted at each school site. This survey includes statistics on level of equipment access, equipment support levels, as well as administrator, teacher and student use. The TST representatives at each site were given the charge to collect this information. My office staff compiled this data and submitted it to the state department. The information was then posted on the CDE, Edtech website for review and to be used to compare one school to another. Two useful files were produced from this information and included in our technology use plan. They were the overall school equipment profile and the technology use data.

So What:  CPSEL standard one references the importance of decisions based on relevant data. A leader is to facilitate the development of a shared vision for the achievement of all students based upon date from multiple measures of student learning and relevant qualitative indicators. Student learning is supported with a respectable access to technology. At the state level, this base level is 10 students to 1 computer in grades 4-8 and 5 students to 1 computer in high school. Comparing out data with the state expected level helped us to define our short comings and allow us to make better purchasing decisions.

The method of involving all sites in the collection of this data and to convey to the TST representatives the purpose of this data mining was important to the process of developing a shared vision. When those who will be most responsible for the reality of the vision take an active role in its development, they are much more likely to embrace its value. 

What's Next: Now that this data has been collected and placed in a template, it will be easier to collect next year and keep an ongoing record of our progress. I have always known that best decisions are made on the bases of clear data. This activity cemented this notion for me and clarified the value of distributing the work to all stakeholders. Other projects that I can see this apply to are task to better quantify technology's impact on student learning and to allocate funds in this direction.