A technology plan for Springfield Public Schools calls for educators to make careful choices aligned to safety, curriculum, learning and service goals as the school district makes decisions about what devices, curriculum and software to purchase. And in the short term, the district will improve communication platforms used to inform parents and guardians about their students.
SPS Deputy Superintendent Nicole Holt and Chief Information Officer Bruce Douglas walked Springfield Board of Education members through the technology plan during a meeting on June 11. Developed with a team of teachers, principals and other Springfield Public Schools employees, the plan will help keep the district focused on students’ education as it invests in tech, Holt said.
Goals fall into four key areas
Divided into four areas of core values, labeled as “elements of success,” the plan has 11 goals to track:
- Curriculum alignment, to ensure that teachers and students are able to use tech that backs curriculum, and that the use of the tech helps improve the learning experience.
- Learner development, to help expand opportunities for students beyond the classroom and develop active learning experiences.
- Safety, to protect students while using the district’s platforms and to bolster digital citizenship and health.
- Technology services, to maintain and improve devices and ensure students and parents have the access they need, while also making responsible purchasing decisions.
Douglas said those four keys helped define what should be tracked, in order for matching recommendations from the International Society for Technology in Education, and for creating evaluations that would measure success.
“That vision of those core values really rooted us in how we developed the rest of the plan,” Douglas said. “As we look at the elements of success, we look at the goals related to those elements, and then we look at continuums, and how do we know that we are making progress.”
The continuums help define specific progress for each of the 11 goals, outlining three stages of success for each goal. Holt said work to measure how much progress the district has made will begin in the fall semester.
The plan was developed by a team of eight elementary and six secondary teachers or librarians, as well as three principals and 15 others from Launch and other district programs. They worked with an advisory committee comprised of teachers, principals, parents and members of the Springfield National Education Association, as well as university partners and other community members.
Though a request last year from board member Maryam Mohammadkhani prompted the plan, Holt said that such a plan was called for in the district’s strategic plan, approved by the board at the end of 2022. Holt said that this tech plan is part of Governing Priority No. 1, and that a specific strategy called for implementing a plan for tech guidelines and digital citizenship.
“This was something on your radar when we were developing the strategic plan together,” Holt said. “We wanted you to be reminded of specifically what was asked within there, and then you’ll see more comprehensively how we address other items around the technology plan within the larger document.”
Immediate changes in Springfield schools
While the self-assessment isn’t set to begin until school starts, Douglas said Springfield Public Schools is already making some changes that will be in place for the start of school in August.
One of the biggest changes will be to cut down on the number of communication platforms used to keep in touch with families. Douglas said Seesaw will be used for all early childhood and elementary schools, and Remind will be used for middle and high schools.
“We’re going to streamline that communication, because that is something we have heard loud and clear from parents,” Douglas said. “We want to make sure that we continue those efforts to improve that communication.”
Other actions already in the works include refreshing and replacing older Chromebooks, the introduction of digital citizenship lessons for students in kindergarten through fifth grade and matching the district’s procedures to ISTE standards.
School board members react
Springfield Board of Education members reacted favorably to the plan, noting its connections to the school district’s broader strategic plan, its glossary of commonly-used terms and its depth.
The only point of disagreement expressed during the meeting was whether the board should give a vote of some sort.
Board member Kelly Byrne said that a vote from the board would help enshrine the technology plan deeply into the school district’s mission and obligate future boards to check it, without crossing a line of micromanagement.
“What I want to do is set up accountability in the future,” Byrne said. “Us making a commitment to how important this is, to use it as a tool to have the best outcomes with our kids … I think is really important. Us as the elected representatives could be that layer of accountability.”
Other members felt that the plan’s connection to the overall strategic plan was enough, and that a board vote may be too close to micromanagement upon regular reviews.
“If voting on this says to the public we support this, then I’m for it,” board member Judy Brunner said. “If voting on it means we are going to start micromanaging what the experts in the district have told us, and what community members have told us, I’m not in favor of that.”
SPS Superintendent Grenita Lathan said that a regular, annual review can help reaffirm its inclusion in the strategic plan.
“At the beginning of the document, where we talk about the board and the strategic plan, we can add a comment about making sure it’s clear there is an annual review,” Lathan said. “As future boards adopt a strategic plan, they can look at incorporating a new technology plan, or making those revisions.”
