Carteret County Public School System District Technology Assessment

The Technology Planning and Support Section of the Instructional Technology Division of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction was asked by Joe Poletti, Director of Media and Technology, and Dr. David Lenker, Superintendent of the Carteret County Public School System, to conduct a district-wide assessment of Carteret County’s overall Media and Technology Program.  Acacia Dixon, Instructional Technology Consultant, conducted the assessment during the winter of 2004.  Central office administration, principals, technology contacts, media specialists, and teachers were interviewed at randomly selected schools.  In addition to these interviews, Carteret County’s Technology Plan, AMTR (Annual Media & Technology Report) data, and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) data were analyzed.   This assessment identifies both strengths and weaknesses of the current technology program and makes suggestions for improvements in the technology program to best meet the needs of the students enrolled in the Carteret County Public School System.

Strengths:  degrees of media and tech staffing, local allotment for media and tech resources, access to and utilization of resources, bandwidth upgrades, unique logins, remote access, web keepers, proximity to state-wide initiatives.

Areas for Improvement:  continual flex access, consistent use of performance appraisal instruments specific to media and tech jobs, balance of instructional innovations with assessment and integrated learning system programs, training (policies, systemic initiatives, security), video monitoring systems, classroom telephones, community outreach, continual replacement of obsolete technology, on-line technology work order system, NCWise Readiness, and communication, communication, communication!

Some ways to focus on the areas for improvement might include media coordinator focus groups, technology facilitator focus groups, and an “overdrive” communication plan to share media and technology initiatives.

Media Coordinator Focus	Tech Facilitator Focus	“Overdrive” Communication
Flex Access Comprehensive Reading Program v. Accelerated Reader MCPAI (performance appraisal instrument) Staff dev relating to media center and resources AMTR (inventory) analysis	Instructional innovation v. assessment and integrated learning system programs TFPAI (performance appraisal instrument) Wireless laptops NCWise readiness Desktop Security	Comprehensive, multi-faceted approach Share findings globally Tech Fair Revitalize Web Sightings Newspaper / Report Card