Institutional demographics

East End Middle School has a diverse student body of approximately 1100 students. Our largest ethnic group is Hispanic with 46% of the student body. Whites make up 27% while the black population comes in at 25%. Almost 80% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch. The school is located in an urban district but resides in the more well-to-do section of town, less than a mile away from the country club. The school itself is divided into three houses that are aligned vertically. Each house has its own Principal, Vice Principal and approximately 1/3 of the school's population of sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. In terms of the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT), our scores for both math and reading have ranged between 52% and 62% over the past seven years. Our CMT rating scores in reading have been in a similar range, though a few points higher, in most years.

Administrative
Policy Behavioral: Islands; Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Administrative policy behavior is formalized in the decision of administration to install Smart boards in most classrooms, with the majority of math teachers also receiving graphing calculators. Some teachers use the Smart boards in lessons but most only use it in place of a projector screen set up. When the district rolled out graphing calculators for use in the math classes, they were first used appropriately and often. However, due to staff turnover and a lack of resources for replacing calculators, connection infrastructure, and batteries, the use of the graphing calculators has dropped off over time. In terms of policy, there are some ideas about using technology but no formal technology policy exists that describes how technology will be used. Planning Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent I have been on staff at my school long enough to see the technological rollout of two iterations of Smart boards for general staff use, and the rollout and implementation of graphing calculators for the math department. In terms of the Smart boards there was no planning involved. Our principal at the time simply found the funds available to purchase Smart boards using Commpact school money. There was never any discussion with staff regarding the decision and there was really no plan in place to drive usage. The only planning involved the rollout and installation of Smart boards. The same process was followed when the district decided to purchase graphing calculators for our math teachers. The Math teachers were not really consulted and were just basically told that the district had decided to purchase them and that they should now use them. Budget Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Technology budgeting is handled almost exclusively at the district level. Building principles have money in their budget but none specifically allocated for technology. A decision to fund technology at the building level is left mainly to the principles discretion, though obviously the district is aware and gives informal approval. In the last year the supervisor for science and technology left for a job in another district. The superintendent made the decision not to fill the position in order to save money. Therefore, for those of us who teach technology, there is no supervisor to oversee the technology budget for our department. We have been given no

indication of how the formal budgeting process for technology will work. We are not sure if we even have money or a budget anymore. If there was some way to give a negative score for this section, I believe it would rate one, due to the decision to not hire a technology and science supervisor. Administrative Information Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Administrative systems are utilized by most staff. Administration and staff use e-mail to communicate regularly. Additionally, our district uses a product called progress book as an electronic grade book. We are several years into the implementation of progress book, and now the majority of teachers use progress book for entering grades. There are still many teachers that use the system only to enter final grades. These are generally veteran teachers who don't trust technology and can't be bothered to change their ingrained habits. Since the district has still not formally directed teachers to use progress book for entering all grades, some holdouts still remain. In terms of resources, administrative systems are available to all staff in terms of progress book, and all administrators in terms of both progress book and the AS 400 system administration uses as a backend mainframe system to schedule classes.

Curricular
Electronic Information Behavioral: Islands; Resource/Infrastructure: Islands The use of electronic information varies significantly depending on the subject area and the teacher. Teachers use technology daily, however the majority of classrooms only have one computer, usually only for staff use. Teachers do use the smart boards but mostly for display purposes and not on a consistent basis, though again it varies by department. The math department uses graphing calculators for polling and quick answer questions, though their use is declining over time due to resource limitations. Our school does have access to the Renzulli learning website, but it is a pull out class and not integrated into any particular part of the curriculum. Assessment Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent The use of technology to perform assessments is extremely limited. There are no resources available for the use of electronic assessments. There appears to be no teachers using electronic assessment tools. Since there are no classroom computers, tablets, or other electronic devices and no resources to perform electronic assessments, this finding is to be expected. Curricular Integration Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Most East End teachers have smart board technology installed in their classrooms. There is one glaring omission and that is with the Art department. The Art teachers could probably use the Smart Board capabilities and applications more so than most given their subject matter. Yet they were one of the few areas of our building that lack smart boards. For those who have smart board technology, it is used on a limited basis. Teacher curriculum is not reliant on Internet access or smart Board applications. Most times the smart boards are used to enhance or augment what is being taught.

Teacher Use Behavioral: Islands; Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Teachers regularly use technology in the classroom. On most days the Smart boards are at least used to display assignments or to watch educational video. Some teachers have appropriate technology available to them. Technology teachers have Smart boards and computers. Our physical education department recently received a grant for new gym equipment. Some of this equipment is technology based in that there are videogame setups available to work out as well as stationary bikes and treadmills with computer controlled programs and video screens to display workout information and path information. Both the bikes and treadmills allow one to choose a particular workout path/trail/location and see it displayed on the screen as progress is made. The Family and Consumer Science department uses a computer program that is integrated into their curriculum. This program is designed to inform students about career paths in their field. Student Use Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Student use of technologies sporadic and is related to what particular unified arts courses they attend and in what house within the school they are assigned to. Students might have access to technology if they are in a particular technology class for that marking period. However they can only take that class for one out of four marking periods for the year. During the few times that students are in a particular class that has computers for student use, the use of the technology is sporadic, with no particular curricular tie in. Computer use in the classroom is mostly for enrichment activities. Classroom outcomes are almost never dependent on the use of technology.

Support
Stakeholder Involvement Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent There have been two major rollouts of technology in East End over the last five years. Teachers were not really aware of any planning or implementation procedures relating to the Smart boards. The faculty was not engaged in any planning for Smart Board use. We were just told that we were getting them. No groups were really represented in the planning and implementation process. The graphing calculators used by the math department were also planned and implemented with little to no staff involvement. Basically the Math department was directed by the district to use the graphing calculators. Some basic direction was given to them but nothing approaching a formal plan. Administrative Support Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Administrative support is found to be lacking. At most there are peripheral discussions about planning, practice and implementation, but nothing advances past that stage. Training Behavioral: Islands; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent In terms of technology training, our district has been, in some years, very supportive of technology training, particularly as it relates to professional development. However there are other years where we do not receive any technology training. When progress book was first rolled out, there were multiple training sessions available for staff to learn how to use the program. Other than professional development which most teachers are required to attend,

there is little in the way of the ongoing formal training. At best, we can get a teacher or two some advanced training. Those teachers are then looked at as training resources and are expected to lead trainings with teachers to disseminate their knowledge. I volunteered to take advanced progress book classes. Over the course of the next three years, I did multiple trainings with staff and new teachers. This year and last though, there has been no technology training during professional development days. Technical/Infrastructure Support Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Technical and infrastructure support is a bright spot in this benchmark survey. We have a computer and network support specialist that is at East End a minimum of two days a week, sometimes three depending on support needs. Since I run the computer lab I interact with him on a continuing basis. East End tech support is reliable, knowledgeable, and keeps our computer systems running optimally. The majority of our staff knows how to use the help desk link to submit problems/work requests. When tech support is not around, I am also consulted fairly regularly to troubleshoot computer or AV equipment.

Connectivity
Local Area Networking (LAN) Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated East Ends use of the local area network is limited. There are shared printers in each of the house offices and a select few others scattered across the building. That is the extent of the LAN use. Attempts to connect the copier to the LAN were discouraged by the administration. There are not enough devices to allow students to use the LAN and currently no purpose for them to use it anyways. Surprisingly, even though LAN use is minimal, the building is wired for high-speed network access to virtually all classroom and office locations. In the last year, highspeed Wi-Fi routers have been added to the main areas of the building to provide additional connectivity. District Area Networking (WAN) Behavioral: Islands; Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Administration at East End uses the districts network in a very traditional manner. There are veteran administrators resistant to technology, but the true bottleneck in this equation is the archaic mainframe system that the district is hesitant to give up. The AS 400 is a 70s era IBM mainframe computer system, complete with green screens and MS DOS like prompts. This ancient relic is unfortunately at the heart of the schools District area networking, so any attempt to modernize basic data sharing is not possible. There are a few other alternate systems available for specific data collection, the SWIS being the one used most for compiling behavioral and suspension data. Like our schools LAN, the districts WAN is expansive and high-speed. Internet Access Behavioral: Emergent Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent High-speed network access is common at East End, with direct Internet access being available in virtually all locations. Unfortunately, the lack of Internet capable classroom technology limits the amount of Internet access students have. If students do not have a Tech Ed class and are not lucky enough to be in one of the few classrooms that have a few student computers, students can go weeks or longer without ever accessing the Internet. Teachers do access the Internet quite frequently, though there is little curriculum integration apparent. Technology

education courses in the unified arts area do have curricular integration, but this is the exception not the rule. Communication Systems Behavioral: Integrated Resource/Infrastructure: Islands E-mail is used frequently at East End to communicate amongst the staff and administration. From time to time the staff has been known to miss e-mails. Some significant communication to staff still occurs via paper placed in staff mailboxes, which would prevent this category from being scored "intelligent". Though there are occasional glitches with new staff members, e-mail is available to all staff. However there is no student e-mail nor are students really allowed to check e-mail in school. Since the category contains both student and staff e-mail access, it is difficult to score with the staff having complete e-mail access and the students having none. A ranking of "Islands" was chosen to split the difference.

Innovation
New Technologies Behavioral: Islands; Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The acceptance of new technology at East End has been decidedly mixed. On the one hand, the district started using progress book four years ago with the intent of having teachers use it to enter all grades. After four years, there are still many teachers who only use progress book to enter final grades, as is evident by the lack of assignment grades in progress book whenever I check on the progress of one of my students. I typically find that my grades throughout the marking period are there, but few if any other grades appear where the assignments for the marking period go. Contrast this with a sort of middling acceptance of smart board technology. Most staff members have accepted the smart boards and use them in the classroom, but for the majority of the time they are used as a projector type set up to display assignments or play video. Few teachers actually use the smart board applications and touch features. The Math department on the other hand has readily accepted the graphing calculators provided to them by the district. They use them frequently, though mostly as devices to aggregate student responses to classroom questions. Some graphing is done, but that is a small section in the math curriculum, so curriculum integration is only moderate. The Math department also makes frequent use of the Smart Board in their lessons with some tie-in to curriculum. Comprehensive Technologies Behavioral: Islands; Resource/Infrastructure: Islands East End's technology has become more comprehensive with the addition of the smart boards and graphing calculators. Their use however, is limited to basic techniques. There is no advanced technology like the iPad or digital video equipment and even our technology section has dated equipment in both the computer and wood labs. If technology is available, it's typically limited to one type.

Final Summary
In considering where to place East End in the technology maturity model, an analysis of the maturity benchmarks survey sheet is instructive. A look at the survey reveals that the emergent

column has sixteen data points, Islands has thirteen, integrated seven and Intelligent two data points. This shows a fairly even distribution of on either side of the island's column. In just looking strictly at the numbers, the tendency might be to score East end as Islands in the Islands of Technology stage. However, a deeper look at the results shows that East End belongs in the Emergent stage of technology in the technology maturity model. A closer look at the data points revealed that the majority of integrated results were related to hardware and system requirements or the acceptance of technology but not for areas of comprehensive technology integration. Technology has not been integrated into the curriculum at anything but a basic enrichment level. East End, and really the district as a whole, suffers from an obvious lack of planning for technology. In reviewing multiple year district improvement plans, technology only receives passing mention, usually in the form of "integrating the latest technology". The lack of planning is apparent when one considers how the last major technological rollout occurred. Time and money was spent acquiring and installing smart board technology with little thought given to how it would actually be used. Staff was only tangentially consulted. The lack of staff buy-in to smart board technology is evident in their use of the smart boards. The majority of the staff uses the smart board as a projector and takes very little advantage of the inherent smart board touch capabilities or the applications that use them. Another area where the school and district fall short is in the amount and quality of training provided. Technology training is basically an afterthought. Staff received more technology training on how to use progress book, then how to use the smart boards. Two years ago East End lost one of our smart board gurus to another district. Administration has yet to send anybody else to advanced smart board training and the school now lacks the strong smart board advocate we once had. Additionally, in the past two years there has been no technology training provided for teachers during professional development days. The district has also seen fit to leave open the position of Science and Technology supervisor. Without a supervisor, the technology department is left with no one directly responsible for the technology budget. Worse yet, there is now no one to advocate for technology at the district level during administrative and planning meetings. To think that this will somehow result in better technology planning and acquisition is unrealistic. East End is that an emergent level of technological maturity. The opportunities for students to use technology are limited to Tech Ed courses and a few classrooms that have computers for student use. Teachers have limited technological options and the ones that are available lack the planning and training necessary to bring them past the enrichment level on any sort of consistent basis.