Evaluation

Valley Elementary School Demographics

Valley, Idaho is the second largest city in Idaho. It is one of many cities and towns included in the Treasure Valley area of southwest Idaho. It is located approximately 20 miles from Boise, the state capital. The 2010 census reports the population of Valley as 81,557. The median income in Valley is $43,973. (Pseudonyms have been used for both the city and school in this summary.) Valley Elementary is just one of the sixteen elementary schools in Valley, Idaho. There are 467 students enrolled in the K-5 elementary school. Valley Elementary has been successful in exceeding state goals in reading at 88.8% and in math 86.6% of students reaching the benchmark. But missed the goals for Hispanic students in reading and math. Nearly 62% of the students at Valley elementary and nearly 63% district wide are receiving free and reduced lunches. In the last several months Valley School District discovered several accounting errors that total in the millions of dollars. These errors are not in the favor of Valley School District. There are millions of dollars that have to be paid back to the responsible parties. These errors have had very damaging consequences to the schools, staff, and students. The district is making budget cuts and outsourcing some services to save money. These budget cuts will take years to correct so the chances of a budget increase for technology in the schools is highly unlikely. Therefore, the mediocre technology in existence already at Valley School District will not improve and may possibly decrease versus staying the way it is. The fact that Idahos education is one of the most poorly funded programs in the U.S., as compared to other states, will explain a lot about why the level of technology integrated in schools is less than ideal.

Maturity Benchmark Survey Summary

Administrative The Policy category under the Behavioral type for Valley Elementary school, it is identified as Emergent and the Resource/Infrastructure as Intelligent. The lack of funding being available to schools in Idaho have prohibited technological growth. However, there is technology available in the schools in Valley but other than computer labs (usually only 1 lab per school) and some classrooms having one or two computers for student use that about sums it up. Computers are mostly used for testing and random projects. Computer literacy classes are given usually once a week in the elementary schools. (High schools are given semester long computer/computer program literacy courses.) There is a district-wide policy for the use of computers in Valley schools that every student must abide by. At the beginning of every school year, students bring home the policy to have parents and students sign agreeing to the policy

requirements. If any students fail to bring in their signed policy agreements, then they are not allowed to use computers at the school at any time. The Planning category under Behavioral type is identified as Emergent and the Resource/Infrastructure as Integrated. Because the budget is not technology focused, it takes a long time for new technology to be budgeted, if it gets budgeted at all. Even technology that is intended to accommodate someone with a disability can be extremely difficult to get, if at all (in spite of the fact it is the law to provide the disabled with appropriate accommodations). Many times the only way to get the appropriate accommodations is for the parents to continually demand it and unfortunately, many times parents do not do this. The Budget category under Behavioral type is identified as Islands and the Resource/Infrastructure as Integrated. Unfortunately, the lack of funds available for many educational needs means that technology in Valley School District is at the bottom of the list. However, if there has been determined a high need for technology the school tries to provide the budget for it but it still could take months or years before that can happen depending on the expense. The Administrative Information category under Behavioral type is identified as Integrated and the Resource/Infrastructure as Intelligent. All staff and administration have administrative systems available to them. However, many of the teaching staff do not actually get the time during school hours to use it. Many check their email and do other technological class and school related needs after hours or at home.

Curricular Filter
The Electronic Information category under Behavioral type is identified as Emergent and the Resource/Infrastructure as Islands. Because the school only has one computer lab and some classes having one or two computers available, teachers generally give assignments that use technology (computer) only on occasion. The Assessment category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Integrated. The majority of technology usage in the school is by the teachers and administration. The teachers keep their grades on computers and have the grades connected to an online program so parents and students can access grades and the status of current and past assignments for the quarter. However, the majority of student usage of technology (computers) is for word processing assignments and assessment testing. The Curriculum Integration category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Islands. Lesson plans include the use of the Internet for YouTube or other videos and other information as well as the electronic overhead projector that is used very frequently.

The Teacher Use category under Behavioral type is identified as Integrated and the Resource/Infrastructure as Intelligent. All teachers and staff have their own computers (with the exception of the resource teacher staff who have shared computers) and the computers and other technology is available at all times of the day. The Student Use category under Behavioral type is identified as Islands and the Resource/Infrastructure as Integrated. Students do have consistent access to computers but again, it is generally limited to special projects and assessment tested. With only a small amount of computers available to students, it is just impossible to have all students using computers for more than they currently do.

Support Filter
The Stakeholder Involvement category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Islands. Most groups are represented and aware of the planning and implementation process but some are not as comfortable or familiar with some of the technology. The Administrative support category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Islands. There is involvement by the administration but the involvement is not consistently given appropriate time or support for the planning and implementation process. The Training category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Integrated. There is ongoing training whenever new technology is introduced. Most staff members participate in technology training but only if it applies to them or their curriculum directly. The Technical and Infrastructure Support category under Behavioral type is identified as Integrated and the Resource/Infrastructure as Intelligent. Technical support is available to staff and administration and it is utilized as often as needed.

Connectivity Filter The Local Area Networking category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Islands. Usually only staff and administration have regular access to Internet (high speed). Student usage rarely occurs. During ISAT (Idaho Standard Assessment Test) the Internet is extremely slow because testing occurs online and occurs at all schools which results in the district network to get bogged down. The District Area Networking (WAN) category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Integrated. High-speed Internet is

available. However, even though it is high-speed, it really does not behave as though it is highspeed. It is very slow most of the time and goes down frequently. Another issue that cause complication is that staff Internet passwords must be changed every couple days. The Internet Access category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Integrated. Most staff, but not students, use the Internet frequently. Students use the internet occasionally. There is direct LAN Internet available in some locations within the school; generally with the administration staff.

The Communication Systems category under Behavioral type and the Resource/Infrastructure both, have been identified as Integrated. E-mail is used frequently but generally for staff and parent communication but not learning activities. E-mail is available to all staff but not for students.

Innovation Filter The New Technologies category under Behavioral type is identified as Islands and the Resource/Infrastructure as Integrated. New technologies are welcomed by most staff. Many are eager to use technology to improve instruction. Those who are less welcoming are usually less comfortable and less familiar with technology. The Comprehensive Technologies category under Behavioral type is identified as Integrated and the Resource/Infrastructure as Islands. The majority of classrooms utilize computers with Internet and electronic overhead projector. The technology is fairly comprehensive, but the district needs faster and more reliable Internet to streamline technology use in the schools. A major issue for Valley Elementary is that there is only one printer available to the entire staff and administration. In order to save money this year, the district made the policy to have little to no printing to be done for classrooms. Only exceptions are the resource teacher who by law have make copies for IEPs.

Conclusion To conclude this evaluation, Valley Elementary (Valley School District) has a fair amount of technology available but unfortunately most of it is for staff use only. Most of the evaluation benchmarks were within the Integrated state (and Island at a close second) but there really is a long way for Valley to go. However, for the Maturity Model Benchmarks many, of the descriptions would fit for teachers and administration but did not fit students. So, it seems that maybe Islands would be a more appropriate overall assessment of Valley Elementary. It seems that they have the support available but not the resources. However, time is a big hinderance

when comes to practicing and using technology. Hopefully, in the next year or two, Valley School district will be able to pay back their budget errors and start focusing strongly on increasing their technology availability to students and integrating more technology in the school system and curriculum.