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Stafford County Public Schools
Technology Lead Teacher Program Bill Warrick
Dave Mirra
Mike Ballard
Stafford County Public SchoolsRecent guidelines from the Virginia Department of Education emphasize technology competencies for all instructional personnel. Supts. Memo. No. 2 , Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel, 8 VAC 20-25-30 (April 17, 1998, attached) , set a goal that, "all instructional personnel meet the [technology] standards prior to the 2002-2003 school year." The requirement that all instructional personnel are to meet these eight standards places responsibility for training on the school division. In order to address the training needs of over 1,400 licensed instructional personnel, Stafford County Public Schools is instituting the Technology Lead Teacher program. The goal of this program is to provide a cadre of Technology Lead Teachers with training at Mary Washington College and that those teachers will return to their schools and provide training to meet the technology standards.
Once the Technology Lead Teachers have completed their training, they will be required to provide technology training at their school site. This training will be prescribed by the Coordinators of Instructional Technology with the emphasis on meeting the technology standards set forth by the Department of Education. each Technology Lead Teacher will be required to provide ten hours of technology training per semester in the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 school years. This training will be the primary means by which Stafford County instructional personnel will meet the technology standards. As the teachers attain the technology standards, the Technology Lead Teacher will communicate this to the Professional Growth Coordinator who, in turn, will notify the principal. The attainment of these standards will be noted in the teacher's annual evaluation. As stated in the recently revised SCPS Technology Plan, our goal is for all instructional personnel to meet the technology standards prior to the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year.
The implementation of the Technology Lead Teacher Program will proceed through the following phases:
Contracting and Adapting Mary Washington College Courses
Creation and Scheduling of Cohorts
Development of Training Curriculum
1. Identification of Participants
Based on the available funding and the expense of contracting for the MWC courses, it was determined that training would be provided for 70 teachers within the county. Since the number of trainers needed at a school site is determined by the size of the staff, the number of participants was tied to the number of students within each building. A breakdown of the number of Technology Lead Teachers from each site is attached.
Experience with training for teachers has shown that requiring participation significantly lowers motivation to succeed and builds resentment. For this reason, it was strongly recommended to principals that the participants from each building be volunteers. Those teachers who have an interest in participating were asked to complete an application form and submit it to the principal. While it was left to the principal to make the final determination as to who would participate in the program, the Coordinators of Instructional Technology and the Professional Growth Coordinator suggested that the teachers be:
Voluntary participants;
On continuing contract in good standing;
Broadly endorsed;
Committed to technology lead teacher model;
Willing to satisfactorily complete six, one-credit college courses offered on approximately one weekend per month during the school year and also during the summer months;
Willing to teach ten hours per semester of Technology Integration and Competency Training for four semesters beginning in the fall 1999;
Willing to be a contributing evaluator of peers with regard to VDOE required assessments Instructionally skilled, effective teachers
Innovative/open to new teaching methods
Knowledgeable of curriculum and methodologies;
Able to Relate well with fellow teachers and the administrative staff
Strong instructional educators
The philosophy behind these criteria was that the Technology Lead Teachers were to serve in their buildings as models of excellent teachers integrating technology. It is thought that these teachers, by virtue of their standing within their buildings as outstanding teachers would provide the best model for the instructional use of technology. Hence the emphasis on participants being outstanding teachers rather than technologically competent.
2. Contracting and Adapting Mary Washington College Courses
For several years Mary Washington College has offered a Technology Certification program for teachers. This program is designed to provide training for in-service teachers in order to meet the Commonwealth's requirement for technology competency. To complete this program, participants must complete five of the six courses offered (four are required, participants must choose one of the two remaining electives) which are typically held on Friday evenings and Saturdays.
By virtue of its proximity to Stafford County, and the basic design of its Technology Certification program, SCPS has contracted with MWC to provide its program on-site for the Technology Lead Teacher program.
It was determined that, in order to provide for the specific training needs of SCPS staff and the requirements and responsibilities of the Technology Lead Teachers, certain modifications would need to be made to the MWC program. Specifically, since the Technology Lead Teachers would be providing a significant amount of training at their schools, an adult education component was added. Also, instruction in the evaluation of teacher's technology competencies will be provided to prepare the Technology Lead Teachers to effectively provide training in those competencies and evaluate their student's (teachers within their buildings) mastery of those competencies.
It was determined that the most efficient manner in which to train the Technology Lead Teachers would be to offer a series of six courses, all of which would be required for certification by the college. A description of the six classes to be offered is attached.
3. Creation and Scheduling of Cohorts
Four cohorts will be created from the 70 participants in the program. Each cohort will attend all six classes as a group. The four cohorts will be comprised of teachers from Elementary (cohorts 1 and 2); Middle (cohort 3); and High School (cohort 4). Participants from the Central Office, Rowser Instructional Center, Instructional Annex, Head Start, and Alternative Education will be placed in appropriate cohorts.
In order for the Technology Lead Teachers to receive training using software and hardware appropriate to their level, the cohorts will meet in two locations. The elementary cohorts will meet at Stafford Elementary and the Middle and High cohorts will meet at Brooke Point High School. (note: because of the difficulties in moving and storing the equipment required for the Assistive Technology course, all of its classes will meet at Stafford Elementary).
Since the classes offered are to meet on Friday evenings (4:00 pm - 10:00 pm) and all day Saturday (9:00 am - 4:00 pm) it was necessary to stagger the scheduling of each class. An attempt was made to offer classes approximately every 3 - 4 weeks for each cohort. This provides the opportunity for the Technology Lead Teachers to return to their classrooms and practice skills learned in each course prior to the next course.
4. Development of Training Curriculum
The goal of the Technology Lead Teacher program is to create a cadre of teachers who will be responsible for providing training at each site in the county. The Technology Lead Teachers will be providing training opportunities for teachers to meet the technology standards. Thus, the curriculum for the hours of training that the Technology Lead Teachers provide will be created prior to the completion of the Technology Lead Teacher training. This curriculum will be designed to adequately meet the training needs of the school site and provide sufficient opportunities for teachers to receive training in the technology standards.
To insure that the training that is provided by the TRTs is meaningful, the program of instruction will be designed to promote mastery of all skill areas and develop proficiency in utilizing instructional technology. Effective use of the hours of training provided by the Technology Lead Teacher and may involve classes which are more extensive than the typical five-hour PDSs allow. The key to the instruction and success in the training is the enhancement of instruction through technology, and not technology skills for their own sake. It is anticipated that meetings will be held between the Coordinators of Instructional Technology, Professional Growth Coordinator, and Director of Curriculum and Staff Development will be held prior to the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year to review the training curriculum.
5. Providing Training at School Sites
The Technology Lead Teacher, in concert with the Coordinators of Instructional Technology, will provide their required hours of training in their buildings. The training will be advertised to the staffs and care will be taken to insure that all technology standards are addressed.
Once the teachers have mastered a particular standard the Technology Lead Teacher will communicate this to the Professional Growth Coordinator. She will then make it known to the building principal. At the teacher's annual evaluation conference, the principal will review the teacher's progress towards attaining all of the technology standards. Once all eight of the standards are met, the teacher will receive a certificate to that effect and will be exempted from participating in these training sessions.
Teachers must participate in the training sessions offered by the Technology Lead Teachers in order to meet the technology standards. These are the only building level sessions which will provide that opportunity. If a teacher believes that he/she can meet the standard without participating in the classes, they will have the opportunity to 'test out' of that particular class. As teachers demonstrate that they have mastered the standards, records of that completion will be sent to the Professional Growth Coordinator and the building principal. This will provide the means by which SCPS can certify to the Department of Education that the teachers have met, or are in the process of meeting the technology standards.
The Technology Lead Teachers will provide SCPS with the personnel qualified to teach and evaluate the skills mandated by the Commonwealth. Through the training they provide to their schools all staff members should have the opportunity to learn and master the skills needed to become successful integrators of technology.