Background and Demographic Information:

Marco IS is a K-12 independent study school. K-6 students are homeschooled and, along with a parent, meet with their supervising teacher weekly to review work, evaluate progress, establish learning goals, and receive any other necessary support. Additionally, they are invited to attend workshop style classes on site, for a total of four hours of additional instruction. 7th-12th grade students also meet with a supervising teacher for an hour a week to discuss and review completed work, receive direct instruction, and pick up new assignments for the following week. Most of these students are enrolled in math classes that meet separately, two or three times a week, with a credentialed math teacher. They also have the option to take a few other site-based courses or to enroll part-time (no more than three classes) at one of the traditional junior high or high school sites. Approximately one-third of the students are enrolled in elementary grades (K-8) and two-thirds high school (9-12), fairly evenly balanced in gender school-wide. As reported by parents, the ethnic distribution of students is 67% white, 18% Hispanic, 7% black/African American, 4% Native American/Alaskan Native, 1% Asian - Chinese, 1% Asian - Japanese, and 1% Asian Korean. Though there are ten students, school-wide, for whom English is not their first language, this textbook-driven program requires that students are proficient in English to enroll, thus there are no ELL services on site. Because of its small size and limited number of students participating in state testing at each grade level, MIS does not have a current API score. There has been a push over the last several years to get more students to test, but the culture at this alternative education site, situated in a well-educated, college town, tends to favor the parental right to waive participation in standardized state testing. Most graduates go on to college or vocational schools. The school has a 50% principal who holds an administrative credential and recently graduated with an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership; she has been the site administrator at Marco IS for five years. The certificated team is comprised of ten part or full time independent study teachers who are either credentialed in multiple subjects or are NCLB certified as highly qualified through assessment under the H.O.U.S.S.E. process, one single-subject credentialed math teacher, one single-subject credentialed biology teacher, one special education teacher, and a school counselor. Support staff consists of a full-time administrative secretary, a part-time records clerk, a part-time library clerk, and a part-time instructional computer specialist. Marco IS has a very low rate of staff turnover; nine of the thirteen teachers have been at the site for at least ten years.

Maturity Model Rankings:

Administrative Filter: Emergent Stage
Overall technological maturity, as it relates to the categories within the administrative filter, ranks as being in the Emergent Stage. While laptops and administrative software tools are available and used by staff school-wide, the sites technological maturity is being held back by an underlying lack of planning and no policy in place to formalize planning for educational technology. Policy - Behavioral: Emergent Stage While technology use is considered, in practice, formal policy doesn't govern most technology use. Effective technology use is sporadic based on individual preference. Policy - Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Stage Some formal policies exist, but they are not comprehensive in nature. Formal policies exist only for recording attendance and reporting end-of-term marks. Planning - Behavioral: Emergent Stage No formal planning process exists. No technology use plan in place. New technology projects or purchases are considered by the principal as they arise and are granted based on available funding. On occasion, if funding cannot be provided through the general budget, requests are taken to the School Site Council for approval, where decisions, again, are based on no formal criteria. Planning - Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Stage There are currently no formal plans or procedures in place related to new or existing technology projects or purchases. Budget - Behavioral: Emergent Stage Consideration is given to the importance of technology, but there is no formalized budget line for it. Approval is based on weighing project importance, primarily from the perspective of the principal and the requesting party, and the ability to find money in the budget. Budget - Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Stage Tech does not have a separate line in the budget. funding comes from wherever it can be found within the general budget. If a project can be framed as fitting into a categorical budget line that doesnt get used much, then it has a greater chance of moving forward. Administrative Information - Behavioral: Intelligent Systems Stage

Electronic systems are used daily and required for support activities. Many tasks that used to be performed on paper are now performed electronically. Primary means of communication is email. Attendance, grades, and student records are reported and accessed using Zangle. Administrative Information - Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent System Stage All staff members are issued computers and user credentials for systems used for administrative support.

Curricular Filter: Islands Stage

Overall technological maturity, as it relates to the categories within the curricular filter, ranks as being in the Islands Stage. Many teachers are using a variety of technology resources on a daily basis in the creation and delivery of curriculum, but in limited ways. Incorporation of technology in the curriculum is dependent on individual teacher interest and experience, resulting in a disparity of experiences for students. Because the school hasnt emphasized the use of technology in support of curriculum school-wide, adoption of new technologies has been inconsistent. Students use technology on site in some classrooms and in the computer lab, primarily for research and word processing. They would likely welcome the opportunity to explore the curriculum using more 21st century tools, but this ability is impacted by the aging state of lab computers, an absence of student-accessible technology in most teaching areas, and a districtlevel web filtering system that prevents access to many useful resources. Electronic Information - Behavioral: Islands Stage Staff members utilize a variety of information resources (websites, online teacher communities, teacher resource CDs, database subscriptions) in the creation and delivery of curriculum. As well, students are somewhat dependent upon information resources and use them frequently in completing their schoolwork. Electronic Information - Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Stage An open lab provides access to all students during school hours, but not many resources are available beyond internet access and some limited software. Students often encounter difficulty accessing information because of restrictions imposed by district web filtering. Teachers have a higher level of access, but still encounter problems on occasion. There has been some improvement in this area recently and teachers can now bypass the filter for some blocked sites. For sites that teachers cannot access, they are able to submit a request to the district technology department to unblock a site. This process is quite inefficient. Assessment - Behavioral: Emergent Stage

Some use of online assessments by a few staff members. High school teachers use a subscription to Turn-It-In for evaluating student work for plagiarism. Test bank CD Roms are used by some teachers to create assessments, but they are then given to the students as hardcopies. Assessment - Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Stage Lack of awareness by staff of readily available electronic tools for assessment indicates they are either not in place or not readily being used. Curricular Integration - Behavioral: Emergent Stage Curriculum is still largely textbook driven. Some assignments require students to use technology related resources or applications, but they are not widely adopted or incorporated into shared materials. Curricular Integration - Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Stage Because of our multiple subject, independent study model, students' experiences with technology integration varies based on teacher placement more than subject matter, but with some latitude to adjust this specific evaluator, the site does experience a limited integration of technology into the curriculum. Teacher Use - Behavioral: Integrated Stage Teachers use technology on a regular basis to create curriculum, collaborate with peers, record assignments, access records, and communicate with students and parents. Teacher Use - Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Stage Teachers all have internet-connected, laptop computers in their work areas. Not all teachers have convenient access to other technologies (document camera, projector). No computers available for student use in the elementary classroom. Student Use - Behavioral: Islands Stage Students are using technology often, but in limited ways. Computers on site are used primarily for internet research or word processing. Most students have computers and internet at home. The majority of students are using email off site, but district web filtering prohibits that access from student accounts on site. Some teachers incorporate technology into their assignments, but only on a limited basis. Student Use - Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Stage Some students have consistent and regular access to appropriate technologies. Students have access during school hours to internet connected computers in the lab. Web filtering prevents access to some essential tools, such as email and our aging computers struggle with many newer Web 2.0 tools. Math department students benefit from current technology (document camera, mounted LCD projector) in the classroom. While elementary students have access to the same

computer lab as secondary students, what they have available in their classroom environment is not on-par with what is available at the other end of the building.

Support Filter: Islands Stage

Overall technological maturity, as it relates to the categories within the support filter, ranks as being in the Islands Stage. The site principal is involved in the start-up of new technology projects, ongoing support is rare, generally driven by staff members. Though training opportunities are limited and optional, many members of the staff prioritize participating. Staff has expressed interest in more support, but implementation has been hampered by a lack of human and capital resources. Most noticeably absent is an educational technology adoption policy that formalizes planning, support, and training to ensure the success of technology projects. It is key that all stakeholders be involved in the planning and implementation phases to facilitate equity and buy-in. Stakeholder Involvement - Behavioral: Emergent Stage No formal, site-level planning exists. This limits the involvement of stakeholders in planning and implementation of new technology because decisions tend to occur informally, in isolation. Certainly, the principal is always involved, but staff involvement is generally limited to the teacher proposing the idea and possibly others who have been recruited for support or brought in by the principal to gather more opinions. Students and parents tend to be left out of the loop completely unless funding needs to go through Site Council. Two staff members participate in the newly-created district technology advisory committee. Stakeholder Involvement - Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Stage Key stakeholders are typically left out of project involvement. Decisions generally involve administration, requesting parties, and additional parties only when funding is required from outside the general budget. Administrative Support - Behavioral: Islands Stage Site principal is involved in start-up for technology projects, but ongoing support for practice and implementation is rare unless driven by staff. Administrative Support - Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Stage While some formal administrative time is occasionally dedicated to technology issues during staff meetings, most involvement is driven by staff members requests for follow-up. There is no dedicated administrative time for technology planning or implementation. Training - Behavioral: Islands Stage

There are occasional trainings when new technologies are being considered or have been adopted. Staff participation is optional, generally scheduled during prep time; many choose to prioritize these trainings. Training - Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent Stage Very limited opportunities for technology training are offered. They are generally provided as pre-sale engagement or are pushed in one time by the district to accompany major new technology adoptions. These isolated opportunities present issues when they conflict with other meetings or occur at times when staff members cannot attend. Only training for the most urgent administrative tasks, such as attendance and grading, are included in new teacher training. Technical/Infrastructure Support - Behavioral: Islands Stage Formal support is utilized on an as-necessary basis. Procedure for obtaining support is clunky and impersonal, slow. Use is limited by a complex engagement process. Many teachers rely on informal support from outside parties for tech support. Technical/Infrastructure Support - Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Stage Budget cuts have reduced staffing in the IT department, but there are still support people available. The process for engaging the assistance of district tech support is fairly time consuming and extremely impersonal - utilizing a third-party, online, system for requesting support, so staff avoid making requests unless they are absolutely necessary. A computer tech is on-site to supervise in the lab a few hours a week and can help out with some issues, but she has limited network rights and authority

Connectivity Filter: Integrated Stage

Overall technological maturity, as it relates to the categories within the connectivity filter, ranks as being in the Integrated Stage. Students and teachers at the site are connected; every classroom, lab, and office has a network connection with full WAN and Internet access at high speed. Though there are students and parents who have expressed an interest, the school has not yet adopted network video and voice services. Notably, students are not provided with school email, nor do they have access to webmail from the school network. Local Area Networking (LAN) - Behavioral: Emergent Stage Staff and students use the available network, but the only LAN shared resources are printers. Local Area Networking (LAN) - Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Stage All classrooms, work areas, and offices have high speed network access. District Area Networking (WAN) - Behavioral: Integrated Stage Teachers access multiple tools via the WAN, but all are limited to sharing data. A shared drive on the district server provides storage space for each individual teacher and also a shared folder

that contains a lot of the administrative paperwork teachers sometimes need. Some groups of teachers use shared folders for collaborative work. Applications provided by the district such as attendance tracking and student data systems are accessed via WAN, as well as internet access and our district email server. District Area Networking (WAN) - Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Stage Wide Area Network links provide connectivity between all schools and the district office as well as the County Office of Ed for internet access. The WAN link from sites to the D.O. is 1Gbps, though that is not the effective speed to the classroom. Internet Access - Behavioral: Islands Stage The internet is widely available and used by staff and students. Integration into instructional tasks varies by teacher. Internet Access - Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent Systems Stage Network ports are present in all classrooms and offices and computer labs to provide internet access for credentialed users. Wiring can be problematic in some areas where ports are poorly configured for the space and require running cords across the room; administration is in the process of investigating wireless connectivity. Communication Systems - Behavioral: Intelligent Systems Stage Email is the primary method of communication between all parties within the school. It is also preferred for communicating with parents and students. Communication Systems - Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Stage Email is available to ALL staff, but NO students.

Innovation Filter: Islands Stage

Overall technological maturity, as it relates to the categories within the innovation filter, ranks as being in the Islands Stage. While staff members are ready to adopt new technologies, unfortunately the school hasnt provided many opportunities to incorporate new technology. A declining state budget has limited capital resources to districts, and thus sites, resulting in little funding for projects that are not yet recognized as essential. New Technologies - Behavioral: Islands Stage Many staff members are eager to embrace new technologies, but have had very limited opportunities due to aging hardware, lack of funding, and limited exposure. New Technologies - Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Stage Opportunities to learn new technologies are limited by budget and bureaucracy. Aging hardware has presented problems for the last several years.

Comprehensive Technologies - Behavioral: Emergent Stage Most staff technology use is limited to laptops, printers, and digital cameras. There are televisions with VCRs in two classrooms, an AV cart equipped with a TV and DVD player, and a bank of televisions with DVD players in the library. The elementary classroom utilizes an overhead projector and the math classroom is equipped with a document camera. The school owns two LCD projectors, one is mounted in the math classroom, the other is portable. Additionally, individual teachers use their personal devices (iPhones, iPads) to expand technology available for teaching and learning. Comprehensive Technologies - Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Stage Limited technology present is well-utilized by both staff and students.

Conclusion
Overall, I would place Marco IS in the Islands Stage. A purely mathematical evaluation of the levels of maturity across the board reveals that the site has 14 areas that rank as emergent, 14 ranking as islands, 6 ranking as integrated, and 4 ranking as intelligent. This information demonstrates that the school has seen enough growth in technology adoption to move beyond the Emergent Stage. But because the bulk of rankings fall in the bottom half of the model, with only isolated pockets of maturity, in Administrative Information and Connectivity Issues, reaching the Intelligent Stage, it seems fair to conclude that Islands is an appropriate maturity ranking. Connectivity is this sites strongest area because it is being driven by the districts focus on providing hardware. While these resources are essential, they do not stand alone. The absence of planning and support for incorporating technology into the curriculum, has led to a culture where teachers who have interest in using personal time and resources to forge ahead have done so, un-tethered, but others have been left behind, held back by the limitations of available technologies, training, and support. This is creating a disparity of experience for stakeholders across the board as funding continues to be driven by individual teacher requests, further isolating those who are waiting for needed guidance. Teachers with a high level of interest in technology choose to pursue additional knowledge and training on their own time. This gives them an advantage in the current process because they know what to ask for. Stakeholders are not equally represented in decision making, further isolating those who already arent in the know. This leads to a disparity in the allocation of technology resources. Because some teachers are more readily incorporating tech into the curriculum, their students are offered the benefits of more engaging, up-to-date delivery, as well

as an opportunity to build the 21st century skills necessary for college and career readiness, while other students are left unprepared for success. The most essential need at this point is a technology use plan to help all students and teachers take advantage of technology. This umbrella of policy would provide a structure for evaluating technology needs and connecting them to curricular necessity. It would unite the staff with common goals and generate a clear direction for future growth. Additionally, its provisions for training and support would facilitate a broader integration of technology into the curriculum.