After an overly long hiatus, my incredibly scintillating action research is back in action! Now, today, I'd like to analyze my campus' Texas STaR chart results for the academic school years 2008/2009, 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. As you may know, the chart meaures the growth in technological acumen and usage in schools throughout the state of Texas. As I explored the data for my campus, I found our areas of greatest strength and weakness and will delve into these further in the coming paragraphs.
Our campus’ greatest strength, according to the available data for the three academic years in question, would seem to be our infrastructure for technology. I would agree with this assessment as the district and the campus have been very proactive in purchasing and maintaining our technology and digital resources. Moreover, we have managed to continue to use several vital software tools despite budget cuts. Thus, working in concert with the district, our campus has been able to maintain the facilities and equipment necessary to allow students to learn in digital ways and with digital platforms. This is made all the more impressive by the severe budget cuts our district has faced, as has every other district in the state and around the country.
Our educator preparation and development in the use of technology is the weakest as shown by the STaR chart and I would also agree with this assessment. The reality is that while our technological resources have steadily grown, we have not had a great deal of accompanying professional development on how to integrate these resources as teaching tools in our daily instruction. We have a few tech savvy teachers who share with the rest of us, and a few scattered staff developments on the subject, but not a comprehensive plan.
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