Analysis of the Situation Page 1

Characteristics

The three new K-3 schools in the Ashtabula Area City Schools District will be staffed by 74
teachers and each will be run by its own principal. The staff will be comprised of 45
classroom teachers, 11 Special Education teachers, 3 intervention specialists, 6 title
teachers, and 9 specials teachers. 100% of the staff has a bachelor’s degree while 58.2%
have earned a master’s degree; all core teachers are highly qualified.

Combined the three buildings will have 1,323 students. Throughout the district 66.1% of
students are classified as economically disadvantaged and 20.5% have identified
disabilities. The ethnic makeup of AACS is as follows:

· 8.8% African-American

· 10.1% Hispanic

· 9.5% Multi Racial

· 71% White

· 0.6% Other

High percentages of city residents live below the poverty line, according to the 2010
Census. Nearly one in three individuals live in poverty, as do 22.5 percent of families (Terry
2011). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last updated April 6, 2011,
Ashtabula County faces a 12.5% Unemployment rate. As is the case with many “Rust Belt”
cities and towns, the majority of factory jobs have been lost and never been replaced. One
of the few bright spots for the communities should be new schools, not just within AACSD,
but many of the neighboring Ashtabula County school districts as well.

*Update*

Ashtabula County packed on 100 jobs in March, driving down the county’s unemployment
rate to 11.6 percent, the first time since November that the rate was below 12 percent
(Feather 2011).
Analysis of the Situation Page 2

Standards

The plan intends to meet a variety of Ohio Department of Education and National
Education Technology Standards. However, with the implementation of a device such as
the ENO Flex Interactive White Board, the overall educational goal is not to necessarily
meet technology standards. Rather the goal is for the user to have the knowledge and
comfort of use that allows them to seamlessly use this technology to facilitate the
instruction and learning of the ODE standards across the curriculum.

With this type of a product there are very few NETS standards for teachersthat should not
be expected to be met. However there are three major standards that this plan addresses:

1. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.

2. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students,

colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.

3. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to

new technologies and situations.

This plan will provide teachers with the Professional Development needed to meet these
standards through the dissemination of product knowledge. This plan begins with
Polyvision, the company that produces the ENO Boards, providing hours of professional
development to a select number of “tech savvy” teachers and technology department
employees based on total purchase. This group will in turn become the district trainers and
will provide remaining staff with training before, throughout and beyond the 2011-2012
school year. Additionally, these trainers will be in place and prepared to impart their
knowledge to the staff of the Fourth through Sixth buildings the following year.

Key Factors for Success

For a project of this size there are a number of key factors that must be in place in order
for the plan to succeed. The first and maybe most obvious two are the purchase and
installation of hardware. Next comes time and commitment to provide professional
development. Finally, there is the need to compel teachers to learn the ENO software and
insert it into their instruction.
Page 3 Analysis of the Situation

The design of the ENO board made follow through of the first two factors less complex and
much cheaper. The district purchased 117 ENO Boards at $1650.00 per unit. Initially the
plan was to buy SmartBoards with technology levy funds because that was what was done
in the past. Leaders in the district discovered that since the ENO boards were technically
white boards they could use the money from the building project fund, already set aside
for white board purchase, towards the ENO boards, thusly, saving the district money.

As for the installation portion of the plan the ENO boards design makes them easy to hang
on the wall. They will stick to any magnetic surface and/or can be bolted to the wall just as
easily as a typical white board. There are no wires, therefore no power must be provided,
cables run or outlets created. Due to this simplicity the ENO Board installation is currently
half way completed. Compare that to when Lakeside Junior High opened two years prior
and the SmartBoards were the last portion of the construction process; contractors
scrambled to get them hung and many ended up off center or even crooked.

Another piece of hardware that must be considered is the projector. These will also be
purchased with project monies and must be installed before the opening of the school or
the ENO boards will only function as white boards.

With this plan the district will be dedicated to making sure all teachers are more than
merely casual ENO users. If there is failure in the professional development process many
staff will have little use for their new technology other than as a glorified overhead
projection screen, if they use it at all. The intent is to use off time, in services, staff
meetings and common planning times to facilitate the growth from novice to master.
Much of the structure for this was put in place two years ago when the district began
adopting the Occipinti Model.

All of these previous, “key factors” are meaningless however if teachers do not buy into
the new technology. From the trainer to the neophyte if they are not motivated to learn,
this plan falls apart. This plan will employ a blueprint for professional development based
on the Concerns Based Adoption Model to encourage future users early on to embrace the
ENO boards by making them aware of the possibilities and benefits in their classrooms.
Analysis of the Situation Page 4

Major Considerations

There are a number of factors to consider when designing and implementing this plan the
first of which is the staff. With 74 teachers, plus three administrators, needing training the
task can seem overwhelming, especially taking into consideration the various degrees of
background knowledge. While these are not SmartBoards, the concept is similar and most
of the software attributes are present, just accessed differently. Among the 77 trainees
there are people who have used Smart products for up to eight years, to those who have
never touched a SmartBoard, all bringing their own styles and prejudices with them. It is
important to note that based on personal conversations it is fair to say the majority of
teachers without one, have been quite envious of those who have one. Even more so in
the cases where a teacher had one in their room before having their placement altered
because of a reduction in force or a district restructuring caused by buildings closing and
combining in the process of opening of new buildings and necessitated by fiscal
responsibility.

The next issue is the community. The residents of the district have been split for years on a
number of issues, rarely involving what’s best for education. The biggest issue was quite
possibly the elementary campus. Many were already upset that the high school and junior
high, which were once two high schools and 2 junior high schools, were moved out of the
city to Saybrook Township. They were not at all pleased, and understandably so, that they
would be losing their neighborhood elementary schools as well. Especially to a location
many were uncomfortable with because of its proximity to government housing projects
and a low income trailer park. They were told when they voted for the levy that after
combining the middle and secondary schools, neighborhood elementary schools would be
built. However, after much consideration about factors such as cost savings, a large
transient student population, and unbalanced class sizes most within the district, and then
Board of Education members agreed that the campus style would be more cost effective
and eliminate many of the issues we face, thereby improving performance. These are the
people watching every move AACS makes, minimizing our gains and celebrating our
setbacks. A goal of the district must be to get these people back, they are needed and one
can only conclude that they are upset because they care. If this portion of the public
learned the price of this technology and that a proper plan for professional development
Analysis of the Situation Page 5

was not in place it would be seen as one more fiasco to complain about to friends, on
message boards, on social networking sites, or in letters to the editor of the local
newspaper. Their scrutiny must be transformed into support; being awed by the use of
advanced technologies in their child’s or grandchild’s classroom would be a great place to
start.

A final issue is the cost of Professional Development. With the seemingly unrepentant
tightening of the purse strings at the state level coupled with a recurring inability to pass
an operating levy, finding money to provide PD is difficult. This is a major reason for the
train the trainer method this plan will employ. While it might not be ideal, it will be cost
effective and realistic.

Problems and Opportunities

Many of the examples from both of these categories have been addressed previously.
Certainly having staff with little experience with this type of technology presents a
problem which is the purpose of this strategic plan. However, it is preferable to view this
as an opportunity. The simple fact that the district is faced with the issue to at once train
the entire K-6 certified staff to use these powerful and expensive devices must be
recognized as a blessing and not a curse. The original SmartBoards in the district were
purchased in different ways; tech monies, school improvement funds, grants, etc… With
each wave of new devices a small handful of teachers received training. Later as the
district was reconfigured teachers received SmartBoards after they were taken from a
school building no longer in use, these teacher received little to no training. Ashtabula
Area City Schools now has the opportunity to provide every teacher with an ENO Flex
Board and the Professional Development needed for teachers to maximize their potential.

Therefore the biggest problem, once again, is funding. This plan must get the most out of
the limited dollars available and instruction provided from the retailer.

Players in the Change

Beneath the oversight of all things school related by Superintendent Mr. Joseph Donatone
and Assistant Superintendent Patrick Colucci there is Construction Manager Mr. Ben
Pintabona and Technology Coordinator Mrs. Marianne Hornbeck. The ENO board project
Analysis of the Situation Page 6

itself is in the hands of future Principal of Ontario Elementary, (currently Principal of

McKinsey Elementary), Rebecca Evanson and District Network Administrator John
Radwancky. Mrs. Evanson and Mr. Colucci will shoulder the bulk of the professional
development implementation. With the implementation of a train the trainer system the
next people on board will be the computer intervention specialists, these staff members
are among those most comfortable with technology and knowledgeable about best
practices of SmartBoard use. They are also the most comfortable and confident when it
comes to instructing others to use technology. The group will need only to convert that
knowledge to ENO Board use.

It will be part of their responsibility to continue training throughout the school year and to
discover other advanced users within building, grade level, and content cohort groups so
that they may become trainers and/or resources for remaining staff.
Analysis of the Situation Page 7

References
Ellsworth, J. B. (2000). Surviving change: A survey of educational change models. Syracuse,
NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology.

Terry, Shelley. (2011, April 21). ‘Bula’s population down 9 percent in 2010 census. Star
Beacon. *Retrieved+ April 21, 2011, http://starbeacon.com/local/x69805979/-Bula-s-
population-down-9-percent-in-2010-census.

Feather, Carl. (2011, April 21). Ashtabula County jobless rate drops in March. Star Beacon.
*Retrieved+ April 21, 2011, http://starbeacon.com/local/x333449506/Ashtabula-County-
jobless-rate-drops-in-March.

International Society for Technology in Education, (2008) National Education Standards for
Teachers. International Society for Technology in Education. *Retrieved+ April 15, 2011
http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx.