Education Week - Managing the Digital District - October 2, 2013 - S10

Linda Clark, the superintendent of
Joint School District No. 2 in Meridian,
Idaho, seeks to support innovative
teachers and practices.
BUILDING A CULTURE
OF INNOVATION
For instance, many of the teachers in the district were
writing grant proposals for classroom sets of technology, so
to support them, Ms. Clark hired a grant facilitator in the
central office for those teachers to consult.
Her district also set aside federal E-rate dollars to give
away as grants to individual teachers to spur classroom innovations
through the use of technology.
During the first round of grants, the district gave away
more than $80,000 to roughly 40 teachers, said Ms. Clark.
Then the district held an expo attended by 900 teachers that
allowed those who had received the grants to share what
they’d done in their classrooms.
“We’re supporting their efforts when they do them and
giving credence to what they’ve done by sharing it with others,”
she said.
But it’s not all up to the teachers, said Ms. Clark. She is
constantly scanning the technological horizon for the latest
applications and software to see what might be applicable
for her teachers and students.
“You have to lead by example,” she said. “You have to empower
people and give them the tools to help them.”
And she emphasized that educators should not use new
CONTINUED FROM PAGE S8
attracts a steady flow of visitors from all over the country
wanting to understand how Mooresville embraces and uses
digital innnovation to improve teaching and learning.
“For any superintendent or school district that’s really serious
about building a foundation for innovation and excellence,
everything comes from the culture,” Mr. Edwards said.
“It’s so important early on to establish an understanding in
terms of job responsibility that teachers, principals, office
staff, and the board and superintendent need to embrace
learning, growing, and evolving, just as digital resources are
evolving.”
Although much attention has been paid to the laptop computers
that have been provided to students in the district,
Mr. Edwards insists that the conversion isn’t about devices.
“Laptops and hardware will never replace teachers,” he
said. “The secret to our success in Mooresville has been
teachers being vibrant users of digital resources and understanding
how to teach and inspire students as they’re using
digital resources.”
The digital conversion happening in Mooresville has re-
quired everyone in the district—including students—to “aggressively
embrace continuous learning,” said Mr. Edwards.
For instance, educators should continually be working toward
their own professional goals and expanding their instructional
knowledge, just as students are expected to add
continually to their knowledge base.
Such a culture can’t take hold, however, unless a district’s
leaders encourage teachers to experiment and assure them
that they will not be penalized if they try something new
and it fails. (See related story, Page S9.)
“You have to clearly send signals that mistakes, bumps,
and turbulence are part of the landscape. It happens, and
it’s OK, and if things don’t go right, that’s normal,” said Mr.
Edwards.
In the 3,600-student Joint School District No. 2 in Merid-
ian, Idaho, outside of Boise, Superintendent Linda Clark
works to spotlight teachers embracing innovative teaching
techniques and support those classrooms with extra funding
and other resources.
S10
EDUCATION WEEK | October 2, 2013
Managing the Digital District >>www.edweek.org/go/digitaldistrict-report
technologies just for the sake of trying them out. Rather,
there should be a purpose and a goal for using them, and
the effectiveness of those efforts should be closely examined.
Depending on what those evaluations find, the district can’t
be afraid to change course if something’s not working, Ms.
Clark said.
SETTING MEASURABLE GOALS
For instance, in one pilot, the district distributed hand-
held computers to 5th graders, but quickly learned that the
devices were better suited for principals than they were for
the students. So the district made a quick adjustment, Ms.
Clark said, and bought Android devices and distributed
them to 5th graders, which encouraged more collaboration
between peers.
Karen Cator, the CEO of Digital Promise, a Washingtonbased
nonprofit technology advocacy organization, emphasized
the need to connect a district’s technology and innovation
initiatives with measurable goals.
“If you don’t know what you’re going to measure, and carefully
collect data along the way, you will not have that story
to tell six or 18 months later,” said Ms. Cator, a former director
of the office educational technology for the U.S. Department
of Education. That could be a challenge for some
efforts that may not have a direct impact on test scores, so
it’s important to have those conversations about what defines
success before the initiative is rolled out, according to
ed-tech experts.
She also noted that students have a place in pushing a
district’s innovative goals forward.
“Young people have different kinds of ideas, and it’s really
helpful to understand them, listen carefully, and take it to
heart,” Ms. Cator said.
In Albemarle County, for instance, students sit on the
district’s tech advisory committee, participate in surveys
about the district’s strategic goals, and provide feedback
about budget initiatives, virtual learning, and other strategies
through a county student advisory committee, said
Ms. Moran.
“We see a culture that democratizes the voices of young people
in their learning as key,” she said, “and we purposefully
build and scaffold our adult work to create that culture.” n
School leadership experts
outline several ways districts
should work to create an
atmosphere in which good
ideas can flourish, including:
l Develop strong leaders who
encourage informed risk-taking
and experimentation rather than
protection of the status quo.
l Establish an expectation
of continuous learning and
improvement from every person at
every level of the organization.
l Craft a clearly defined and articulated
vision for the district, and make sure
everyone understands it and adheres
to it.
l Foster an environment in which
people have the power to change
course quickly if a project or
initiative isn’t working.
l Empower everyone in the district,
from students to teachers and
administrators, to take on leadership
roles.
l Ensure a seamless infusion of
technology throughout every sector
of the district to produce efficiencies
and collect meaningful data.
SOURCE: Education W
eek
Glenn Oakley for Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/go/digitaldistrict-report
Education Week - Managing the Digital District - October 2, 2013

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