Technology decisions that affect the direction of the school should not be delegated in entirety to the IT department;
A leader adds value to an enterprise, school included, by having a perspective that is all inclusive and holistic. Inasmuch as a leader is only as strong as the integrity of the information supplied him, in this case by an IT department head, his accountability to the purpose and vision of the enterprise, could very likely lead to a decision other than one made by the IT department exclusively. Surrendering the decision to IT means that business or education outcomes, profit or learning, respectively, could be compromised if the intentions of the IT department do not correspond well with overall enterprise goals. In an effort to satisfy the needs of a single unit or department, a separate system may be developed that clumsily communicates with the rest of the school; and ultimately, without the appropriate metrics being considered that affect the bottom line, unclear accountability can contribute to a disastrous slide. (Ross and Weill, 2002). Enterprise Architecture = strategy + business + technology, (Scott, 2012) can serve school districts by reducing the likelihood of supporting redundant, overlapping, or unnecessary projects; As leader and change agent, I would have to first perform a comprehensive systems analysis, carefully noting the existing duplication. I would then have to communicate clearly to each of the different departments from teaching and learning, to back office, the degree of waste involved. Paying close attention to the expenses being absorbed, I would need to get a consensus that the status quo was unacceptable, looking for allies to support my cause. The next step would involve looking outward to like districts, in the effort of identifying best practices to guide the purchase and, or development of a more comprehensive system. Accepting the fact that a system that does too many things may not do any one perfectly, the alternative of having taxpayer funds serve a need other than clearly outlined in our school’s mission statement, is exceptionable. Paying attention to the fifteen different roles of the Governance model, will direct smaller districts as to the specific areas of focus of education enterprise architecture. The fifteen different jobs to which the NASCIO Enterprise Architecture Tool-Kit refers would require immense work in order to justify the salaries that would accompany their existences. Districts pay a great deal of attention to the ratio of administrative salaries to the overall budget. Ignoring that reality invalidates searching for efficiencies. Combining roles, inevitably, is the only way to incorporate enterprise architecture into smaller entities. In full, as daunting as the list of roles may seem to a small school district, it does make it clear that there are distinct responsibilities to be carried out with fidelity if the enterprise architecture is to be effective. Ross, Jeanne W. and Weil, Peter (2002). Six IT Decisions Your IT People Shouldn't Make. Retrieved October 25, 2016, from https://hbr.org/2002/11/six-it-decisions-your-it-people-shouldnt-make. (NASCIO). (2004). NASCIO EA Development Tool-Kit: Introduction & Architecture Governance, version 3.0. Retrieved on October 24, 2016 from https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-sEe_sOSebYcWVibHhVM0RJU00 Bernard, Scott A. (2012-08-13). An Introduction to Enterprise Architecture: Third Edition. AuthorHouse. Kindle Edition.
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R. Roger Rowe Elementary and Middle Schools make up the excess-taxes, Rancho Santa Fe School District. This public school which has 450 students at the elementary, K-5 level, and 225 at the middle school 6-8 level, is well situated with an endowment fund and separate parent foundation fund, enjoying the leadership of two principals and a new superintendent. The school board is aggressively responsive to parent criticisms, and demands that the school SBAC test scores lead the forty school districts in San Diego County.
This year all adult stakeholders, including staff, parent body, and community, are excited about leadership that while steadfast in its pursuit of excellence, is more transparent and accessible. The district’s strongest trait and its Achilles heel is its flexibility and its ability to go from standing to sprint, from idea to implementation, in no time flat. In a larger district, too many considerations need to be accounted for, like funding, a union, teacher training, etc., that make decisions more conservative. It can be exciting and frustrating in equal quantities to be a part of decisions. The organizational chart places the Superintendent at the top, reporting, of course, to a five member school board. Below him sits two principals and the director of special education, who in large part are responsible for certificated staffing decisions. On equal par, in that he reports directly to the superintendent, is the director of technology, who in turn manages three technology specialists and a data specialist (largely in charge of the student information system, SDOL). These leaders comprise Cabinet, playing a critical role in all significant decisions of funding and philosophy at Rowe School. No published education plan or technology plan is accessible through the school website. The SARC does list the following: “Vision and Values We first and foremost remain committed to being a “School of Choice” within our community, and we believe the following report supports our resolve in this area. In turn, we have developed an overarching Vision for our District—to provide a unifying goal behind our ambitions and commitment. “Inspiration through Revolutionary Education” Simply stated, we are devoted to preparing our students for the world that awaits them—a world of scientific discovery, ever-shifting paradigms, and increasingly competitive markets.” (RSFschool, 2016) It is difficult to think of developing a technology plan without considering the educational plan; quite frankly the value and content of one informs the other. Currently at Rowe School, the IT director reacts to the needs of the teaching staff. His decisions are based upon feedback of teaching staff; investigative visits to credible, like districts to observe best practices are part of the decision making process. However, a systematic integration of the technology would exponentially increase the worth of the investment. The disruption of new technology would be better accommodated by teachers more motivated to exploit the apps and laptops with focused and reinforced professional development. Teachers would be more motivated as measured by value of and confidence in incorporating the new technology. In that light the district education plan and the tech plan should exist as separate documents, however like a spreadsheet cell referred to in another cell formula, a change in one should not occur without consulting the other. Resources: Financial Audit Reports. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2016, from http://rsfschool.net/sarc/ Brick Topic: Email Solution Description: Messaging client software includes applications that run on workstations and/or the web and enable peer-to-peer, asynchronous communications. The “Brick” graphic organizer above, as originated in the National Institute of Health, outlines present and future technologies being used. It allows decision makers to, at a glance, access knowledge about the commitment the school has made toward using and funding existing technologies. In my current capacity of fifth grade teacher, I can see how this graphic organizer could be used to sketch my options for technologies, hardware or software, that could help in my delivery of instruction. It’s value, however, is directly correlated to the flexibility I would have in choosing how to teach. Rowe School insists on parity between classrooms -- all students must have the same educational experiences. Whereas this may appear smothering, and sometimes it does on the surface seem so, it really encourages me to form more closely knit relationships with my teammates. As such, the brick would have to be agreed upon in a PLC (Professional Learning Community) before I could use it. For example, one ELA Common Core standard (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.6) refers to multimedia publishing of written work, and the question came up as to how we would do so, and using which applications. A brick table could have us organize which apps have worked in the past, which are available to use now (paid licenses etc.), and which we are no longer willing to support using. In subsequent years, referring to the brick would allow us to quickly build upon the work already done, and save us the time loss of indecision. It is true that Rancho Santa Fe, Rowe School, a one campus school district has applications with overlapping functions each set up to meet the specific needs of different departments. What exaggerates these inefficiencies, is the fact that with such a small student base (450 @ elementary, and 250 @ middle school), there are no economies of scale to make up for the waste. For example we currently have seven different ways of communicating information with the parent body. This state of affairs evolved slowly over time, morphing into the beast it is today. Some of the systems were add-ons, tailored to meet a specific need, while others were parts of a larger system that while not needed, requested, or valuable, had a built-in communication function. What was at first convenient has become burdensome, as it is virtually impossible to know the source of the messaging, making it unlikely that future correspondence will be received. Take for instance the scenario where a parent uses our LMS, Canvas to send a note to the child’s teacher while checking on an incomplete assignment. Having received the note, reflexively bounced to our Luisa email system, the teacher responds to the parent’s email address which autofills on the reply. Expecting the reply in Canvas, the teacher reply goes unnoticed, and creates an aggravating situation, all because of overlapping systems that end up working against one another. Multiple methods to perform the same function also puts the onus on staff, parent, administrator, and student to be fluent in the workings of those systems. As leader and change agent, I would have to first perform a comprehensive systems analysis, carefully noting the existing duplication. I would then have to communicate clearly to each of the different departments from teaching and learning, to back office, the degree of waste involved. Paying close attention to the expenses being absorbed, I would need to get a consensus that the status quo was unacceptable, looking for allies to support my cause. The next step would involve looking outward to like districts, in the effort of identifying best practices to guide the purchase and, or development of a more comprehensive system. Accepting the fact that a system that does too many things may not do any one perfectly, the alternative of having taxpayer funds serve a need other than clearly outlined in our school’s mission statement, is exceptionable. |
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October 2016
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