Six Strategies to Connect Tech
Integration with School Improvement
After leading a team of technology integrators for many years, I have dis- covered six cardinal steps to ensure that
effective technology integration is part of
school improvement.
1. Connect with Your School’s Vision and Mission
Synthesize your school improvement plan’s (SIP)
objectives. Review and learn the instructional and
curriculum goals of students based on analysis of
disaggregated data. Probing into skill gaps, subgroups, and test scores will allow you to analyze
staff development needs. Talking with the faculty
will yield information about the school’s culture
and climate. To assist schools effectively, the integrator must become a part of the school’s fabric.
2. Manage Your Time
Establish long-, medium-, and short-term time-frames to plan, implement, and evaluate your
progress. However, make sure you also systematically monitor the plan implementation and use
online tools to measure teacher feedback.
Maintain a balance of classroom integrations,
staff trainings, and technical support, and schedule them to help pace your workflow. Also, allow
planning time for every classroom integration
or modeling activity in your schedule as well as
for record keeping and data analysis. Leave some
time in your schedule to allow for flexibility
around unexpected demands, and don’t forget
to schedule professional growth and learning
time for yourself.
3. Learn the Standards
Learn the content, process, and context stan-
dards from the National Staff Development
Council to improve learning for students, teach-
ers, and yourself.
AS I SEE “IT”
By Fred Scott
Fred Scott is the instructional technology
integration manager
for Chesterfield County
Public Schools in Virginia. Scott has been
a teacher, technology
trainer, and staff developer for more than 25
years and has presented
at local, state, and national conferences.
