1. Integrating Technology in the Garland Independent School District – Action Plan
Superintendent of Schools
Flow of
Resources The Superintendent of Schools is the Chief Executive Officer of the Board and the Chief Education
Officer of the Division. Responsibilities include board relations, strategic planning and reporting,
organizational management, communications and community relations, policy, financial, personnel,
educational leadership and student welfare.
Superintendent’s Cabinet
Assistant Superintendent for the Division of
(Includes Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent of Administration, Executive Business Operations
Administrator of Technology, Assistant Superintendents of Administration,
Student, Services, Business, Educational Operations, Administrative Assistant to It is the responsibility of the Assistant Superintendent
the Superintendent and a representative from the Communications Department)
for the Division of Business Operations to head the
It is the responsibility of the cabinet to support the Executive Technology Department.
Administrator of Technology.
Executive Administrator of Technology
It is ultimately the responsibility of the Executive Administrator of Technology to implement
technology throughout the district.
Director of Educational Technology Group Director of Informational Technology Group
The director of the Educational Technology group answers directly The director of the Informational Technology
to the Executive Administrator of Technology. It is the Group answers directly to the Executive
responsibility of the Director of Education Technology Group to Administrator of Technology. It is the
oversee the Campus Technology Assistants responsibility of the Director of the Informational
Technology Group to ensure the technology
systems throughout the district.
School Principals
Campus Technology Assistant
It is the responsibility of the school principal to employ
and train technology-savvy teachers and Campus It is the responsibility of the Campus Technology Assistant to
Technology Assistants. maintain and address computer and technology issues at the
campus level. Campus Technology Assistants answer to the
It is also the responsibility of the school principal to create
training sessions for his or her teachers to ensure principal of the school as well as to the Director of the Educational
continuous and current knowledge of technology. The Technology Group.
principal must also answer to the Directors of the
Educational and Informational Technology Groups as well as
directly to the Superintendent.
Teachers
It is the responsibility of the teachers to use and implement technology in their classrooms. Teachers
must attend training sessions on a regular basis to ensure the most current knowledge of the campus
technology equipment and systems.

2. The role of the principal in the integration of technology on campus is a vital one. The principal is
the one person who interacts with all other members of the technology team. The principal
serves as the ‘glue’ that keeps the other members in communication. One important
responsibility the principal has is to incorporate innovative and productive staff development
sessions intended to train teachers in the use of new and advancing technological tools. The
principal must also monitor data-input sources to be aware of what areas the staff needs the most
training in. This data may come from the current STaR report, AEIS information or even in
communications with his or her staff.
The principal must maintain strong communication with each level of technology integration in
order to keep the information flowing. Any hiccups in the system will likely go through the
principal at some point.

3. Action Plan for Garland Even High School
Garland Independent School District
Staff Development Planning
Professional Development Activity #1:
Title: “Digital Data Analysis”
Summary: Participants will be trained on a variety of programs used to collect and analyze data. The focus of this
data will be on technology, but many of the processes can also be used to analyze subject data as well. The
programs to be addressed include AEIS charts, benchmark analysis programs, the District Technology Plan, the
STaR chart and the TEKS state objectives.
Rationale: The intent of the training sessions is to allow teachers and administrators to become familiar with
campus and district assessment tools. The participants will be able to not only become familiar with the data but
also how to read and understand what the programs are showing. This allows the campus and district
accountability measures to be assessed and analyzed in a knowledgeable and thorough manner.
Setting: The sessions will be available online for participants to view and participate as time allows. The online
session will be in a blog format allowing participants to make comments, ask questions, etc. The blog format
allows the sessions to be ‘viable’ in that the district technology staff will maintain the blog site to better serve the
participants. The blog questions will lead to further discussions. The sessions will then be updated on an annual
basis both to cover the additional information as well as to keep up with the most current technology.
Session Information: The sessions will be available beginning January 25, 2010. The sign up information can be
navigated to on the district website.
Professional Development Activity #2:
Title: “Technology Boot Camp”
Summary: Participants will learn the basics of typical computer programs and applications used in the school
district. The session leader will focus on reviewing the most fundamental concepts in these programs to ensure all
teachers are aware of and comfortable with the use of the programs in their classrooms. The session leader will
create an open and patient learning environment to allow even the most inexperienced participant to feel
comfortable. Each session will cover a different topic, and it is intended to continue throughout the school year.
The session’s topics will initially consist of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Discussion Boards, Wiki Searches, Podcasts
and Blogs. As the sessions begin and the participants realize other concepts that need discussion, the sessions will
grow to adapt and add the needed topics. The campus technology assistant will serve as the lead in the sessions
with help from department heads.

4. Rationale: School district personnel can often assume that teachers are more aware of certain programs than they
actually are. Many teachers have not had any sort of training on some of these fundamental principles. Some
may not even be aware that they exist. The intent of this program (continual training sessions throughout the
school year) is to reach out to those teachers who may not feel comfortable asking for help. Teachers and staff
who are more comfortable with technology are more likely to use these concepts habitually in their classrooms.
This advancement in the use of technology can only benefit our ‘digital-hungry’ student population.
Setting: Initially, the sessions will be face-to-face with the participants attending the sessions during after-school
sessions in a computer lab. Eventually, it is the intention of this district to record the sessions and produce
podcasts containing the sessions. The participants can then view the sessions on their own time and can even
review if need-be.
Session Information: The sessions will begin January 13, 2010 and continue every other Wednesday until all topics
have been addressed. The sessions will occur initially in a computer lab setting on campus and will eventually be
offered online.

5. Action Plan for Garland Even High School
Garland Independent School District
Evaluation Planning
In order to analyze the effectiveness of staff development sessions, there must be an appropriate and effective
evaluation process. The goal of the evaluation process is to improve upon the existing methods. Evaluation is an
ongoing process and should be used at any staff development session. This process may include surveys and
questionnaires as well as face-to-face communication with the participants. The surveys or questionnaires need
to be standardized in some way so that the participants become familiar with the questions and are comfortable
answering them honestly and completely. The surveys should include open-ended questions that allow the
participants to leave feedback in an anonymous manner. This allows the participants to be honest about their
evaluation of the session.
Campus leaders may also view the STaR charts each year to gauge where the staff feels the technological use of
the campus is. Data may also be collected after the implementation of the sessions to gauge its effectiveness on
improving student performance. This data may include benchmark scores, AEIS reports, campus and district
reports cards, etc. The process may also be evaluated by simply having awareness as to what is happening in the
classrooms. The academic leaders should be in touch with the daily activities of their teachers and students. It
should be a routine occurrence to see a principal or assistant principal walking through classrooms. The leader
should be aware of what technology is being used in the classrooms. They can also view the teacher’s lesson
plans. A section of the lesson plans may be dedicated to the integration of technology into the classroom.