Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support via the Texas Long Range Plan

The Texas Long Range Plan was designed in 2006 to build technology skills to aid students leaving public education. It was created to have students reach technology mastery level by the end of their 8^th grade year. Each core subject has TEKS standards in which technology must be integrated. Since teachers are bound to teach the TEKS, technology should be a natural integration in the curriculum.

According to the TEA website, Texas has four categories in which schools are rated: beginning tech, developing tech, advanced tech, and target tech. Target tech is the aim of every program, especially before students leave the 8^th grade. The national standards have more critical components: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts. Teachers rate themselves, in Texas, in four categories: teaching and learning, educator preparation and development, leadership, administration, and instructional support, and infrastructure for technology.

At the local level, the campus in which I am currently employed has rated themselves in advanced tech in all but one area. The other area was rated target tech. This can be attributed to the time spent since the opening of the campus in which technology has been the main focus. The administrative team has spent countless hours putting the vision into place through the use of technology experts at the district level. These experts came to campus numerous times throughout the school year to educate teachers on specific tools and how to implement them seamlessly and effectively in the classroom.

I believe that the STAR chart needs to be revamped. Some of the teachers that are asked to complete the chart have no classroom of their own. The special education, instructional coaches, and PE classes do not utilize the systems of technology on a regular basis and thus bias the results. I also know that on some campuses, the results are not even utilized. I know that the state has put time and effort into implementing the chart, but if the results are not being used, the what is the point?