Masconomet Regional School District Teaching and Learning Initiatives Update

1. Masconomet Regional School District Teaching and Learning Initiatives Update Art Athletics Business & Computer Ed. English Foreign Language Guidance & Health Services Mathematics Health & Physical Ed. Music Pupil Personnel Services Science, Technology & Engineering Social Studies

2. National Initiatives • 21st Century Skills • Technology Standards • Common Core State Standards (CCSS) • Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) • New Educator Evaluation • Edwin- state’s vision for an integrated suite of tools to help educators

3. 21st Century vs. Industrial Age • Communication • Collaboration • Critical Thinking • Creativity • Global Awareness

4. 21st Century Skills Implementation Issues • Need time to develop activities that incorporate these skills • Need a standard set of tools for staff and students to use • Need training to teach best practices and strategies

5. Technology Standards • Identify specific computer skills students need to master by grade level prior to graduation • Defines digital literacy as an essential skill

6. Technology Standard Implementation Issues • Determining how to weave these skills into existing course activities where possible • Determining skill level when entering into Masco • Determining what experiences are best taught in separate units and who will teach these units

7. Common Core State Standards • A common set of learning standards. • These standards merge the MA curriculum frameworks with technology standards (digital literacy) and 21st century skills for math and ELA

9. Difference

10. Common Core State Standards - Tasks • Teachers must develop curriculum maps that tie classroom activities to the new standards • Teachers must design and/or redesign lessons (identify resources, create activities, and develop assessments). • These new lessons must then be evaluated and monitored to ensure the new standards are met.

11. Common Core State Standards Implementation Issues • This process could be done much quicker if we could record and share lessons and practices in a way that was searchable • Need tools to create/design interactive, dynamic, personalized, engaging lessons to meet the standards • Need staff training related to preparing con-tent and resources in this new environment

12. Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) • Assessment tool that will likely replace the MCAS test for Math and ELA • Current target date for change FY15 for Middle School, FY17 for High School • Online vs. pen and paper test – training and orientation will be needed for staff and students

13. PARCC Implementation Issues • Transition details are currently unavailable • Schools, including Masco, do not currently have the front or back end infrastructure in place to administer and online test • Students will need testing experience and practice in an online format prior to taking the new high stakes test

14. New Educator Evaluation • 4 Standards • Curriculum, Planning, and Assessment • Teaching all Students • Family and Community Engagement • Professional Culture • Evidence Based Evaluation Rubrics – (evidence portfolios)

15. New Educator Evaluation • Eventually student performance will be linked to evaluation (to be defined by state) • Must negotiate certain aspects of the new evaluation with applicable employee bargaining units (teachers, administrators, principals, and superintendent) • Implementation plan on some level must commence for Masco by September 2013

16. New Educator EvaluationImplementation Issues • Need portfolio product to store exemplars and evidence • Need tools to help facilitate the evaluation process • Staff need to be trained in all aspects • Final details are currently unavailable because we are in negotiation with staff

17. Edwin • Cloud based software • DESE vision for a comprehensive integrated suite of tools and resources to help educators

18. Edwin Implementation?? • May or may not be useful to Masco • Limited pilot to a few RTTT school districts in late winter, early spring of this year • Not free, must pay to access and utilize system. Details not yet available.

19. Implementation - need to: • Develop, store and easily share instructional resources • Store artifacts as evidence for the new educator evaluation • A common set of instructional tools that are available to staff and students

20. Implementation - need to: • Analyze the effectiveness of resources, activities, assessment, and pedagogy on student performance so that we can identify good practice, personalize instruction, and improve learning outcomes • Tie new standards to course activities • Train staff

21. Some solutions: • Institute a 1:1 program with associated infrastructure upgrades • Learning Management System

22. Mobile Device Pilot Update • Pilot teachers and students completed pre-pilot surveys. • Pilot teachers are documenting classroom experiences and evaluating impact on student learning • Teachers will switch device types this month

23. Mobile Device Pilot Update - Infrastructure • Back End Infrastructure • Firewalls & Routers • Content Filters & Email Filters • Servers & Storage • Switches & Cabling • Internet Bandwidth • Wireless Access Points • Monitoring Software • Internet Bandwidth & Content Filter Low/UnderPowered for Mobile Classrooms • Wireless Density (Concentration of Access Points) Insufficient to Support 1:1

24. Mobile Device Pilot Update – What We’ve Learned • What Is Working Well • Firewall & Router • Servers & Storage • Cabling & Some Switching • Internet Providers • Email Filter • Wireless Access Point System

25. Mobile Device Pilot Update – What We’ve Learned • What Needs Improvement • Internet Bandwidth • Content Filter • Some Switches • Wireless Access Points • Monitoring Software

26. Mobile Device Pilot Update – Corrections • What Needs to Be Done • Add Internet Bandwidth w/ Existing Providers • Replace Content Filter • Upgrade Needed Switches • Add Wireless Access Points • Procure Monitoring Software for Device Mgmt

27. Mobile Device Pilot Update – Balanced Approach • Shifting Resources • Shift to Bolster Network, Bandwidth, Wireless • Shift Away from Big Data Center & Draw Down Old Servers, Desktops, Labs, Printers • Reduced Cost to Maintain Data Center • Maximize ROI of Existing Resources

28. Learning Management System (LMS) Platform to facilitate teaching and learning in a 21st Century educational environment. Student Information System (SIS) A software product used to manage the administrative aspects of student information (attendance, discipline, schedules, transcripts, etc.)

29. LMS Study History • June 2010, applied for & received a grant to look at the use of technology in teaching & learning . Those involved recommended the formation of 2 study groups (LMS/SIS & MDP) • The group was established in the Spring of 2011 along with the Student Information System study group. • SC made an initial appropriation of $100,000 for the procurement of the system.

30. Study group charge • Review the district’s current systems; • Review systems that others are using in the industry; • Determine the district’s particular requirements;

31. Study group charge • Establish criteria for Masconomet’s system; • Prepare an RFP to procure any software and/or hardware needed; • Evaluate the responses; and • Prepare an implementation plan.

32. Role of LMS • Facilitate the consistent delivery of course content • Provide a structure for course management • Provide tools for: Curriculum development Communication Collaboration Calendaring Task management

33. Important Elements Overarching goal - Keep the focus on teaching and learning, not on being a technology expert Three areas of focus used to evaluate LMS’s: 1) Environmental 2) User Interface and Tools 3) Support

34. Important Elements - Environmental • Provide a secure environment for teaching digital literacy skills • Single sign on to access information • Tools to aid in differentiating instruction

35. Important Elements – User Interface and Tools • One system with all teaching tools • Simple User Interface • Robust assessment and content delivery tools • Searchable content repository • Ability to tie standards to instructional activities • Ability to view student performance profile in one place

36. Important Elements - Support • The District retains ownership of all resources • Minimize the total cost of ownership • Breadth and depth of product support • Stable company that is committed to meeting the needs of the K12 market

37. Evaluation Process • Request for Proposal developed based on criteria noted in this presentation • Paper review of Proposal submissions • Product demonstrations – presentations and sandbox product testing

38. Evaluation Process 4) Targeted investigations based on study group concerns 5) Site visits 6) Evaluated products against the criteria 7) Write a report of findings and recommendations for next steps

39. Summary • To implement the CCSS, PARCC, the technology standards, and teach 21st Century skill fluency, a 1:1 (hardware) environment is necessary. • To achieve the national standards and expectations established for teaching and learning, as well as provide the software platform for a 1:1 program, an LMS is needed.