Evaluation -  conducted by Jana Beth Francis, District Assessment Coordinator

The Daviess County Pubic Schools Technology Standards  will be a guiding principle in evaluating the effectiveness of this instructional program. The eTeam is comprised of teachers who will be mentors during each high school planning period for those teachers lacking in technology proficiency. They will suggest time saving computer techniques and online resources for classroom integration. Over the course of a two-year period we will advance our teachers from minimum standards to exemplary standards. At the conclusion of this grant all high school teachers will exhibit 75% of the exemplary standards.

It is our goal that the academic index will increase by 4% in the areas of reading, math, and writing according to the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS).

Training of the SOM and SCU surveys will be conducted annually during summer professional development sessions. The instruction will assist teachers in teaming and designing interdisciplinary units using content and skills integrated across the curriculum. A large part of this training will focus on a course management system called Moodle (similar to Blackboard). This system will serve as the district vehicle for collecting, analyzing and sharing lessons. Moodle serves as an online calendar, assignment exchange, depository, chat room, survey server, class web resource links server and a place to store student journals. This online management system is capable of sending and receiving any type of electronic file such as a Word document, PowerPoint presentation or movie. Teachers can grade these assignments online and send results to students by e-mails. Unlike textbooks, use of the laptops will encourage students to place emphasis on real world situations rather than mundane facts. Using online surveys we will assess teacher needs and wants. Following the annual Technology Academy, the eTeam mentors and high school staff developers will continue to offer on-sight professional development.

Members of the DCPS Curriculum Team will conduct 10 to 15 minute observations in approximately 180 classrooms monthly. The results of these observations will be compiled and shared at the bimonthly meetings of the Curriculum Team. An overall summary will be submitted to the superintendent, members of the governing board and principals quarterly.

The final evaluative component is a document, YES! I’m an eLearner!, designed by a DCPS staff developer to chart the web subscription resources used each grading period (9 weeks) by every teacher. This instrument will be submitted for compilation to the staff developer. They will disseminate the results to the teachers, principals, and curriculum team for review. 

A non-traditional assessment we will use to evaluate teachers perception of the use of technology in their schools is the online TAGLIT (Taking A Good Look at Instructional Technology) which evaluates technology skills, use in teaching and learning, classroom management and the availability of resources such as hardware, software, technical and instructional support. Teachers will be encouraged to participate in the NetDay Speak Up Day For Teachers, which allows teachers to give their opinion on the future direction of technology in their district.

Additionally, the Northwest Educational Research Association will conduct a study using Measures of Academic Progress to compare the academic achievement of DCPS students to a control group matched to similar students in the nation.