October 21, 2011 Teresa Bader & Valrie Edwards Personalized Learning Systems Lessons Learned

What Worked Well in Year One 85% of teachers trained before school year began Schools received infrastructure upgrades and hardware prior to beginning of school year Students were more engaged and on task Teacher buy-in increased after training and observing students on task Vendor school-based support was very effective Increased use of electronic whiteboards First Leadership Summit for Principals

Principal Recommendations: Provide funding for curriculum alignment and lesson planning Important to schedule multiple common planning periods Integrating PLS programs require additional time for scheduling for non 1:1 grades/classes that are required to share carts Difficulty releasing SPOC to assist teachers can be alleviated by empowering teachers with troubleshooting strategies Develop communication tool (distribution list/ ARIS/iZone community / newsletter) for dissemination of information and best practices directly to teachers Develop private online community for iZone administrators to discuss best practices The tone of the building is more subdued and respectful since students are engaged and spending more time on task and less time in the halls Use of headphones facilitates a quieter more peaceful learning environment and students who would normally be restless and disruptive are able to focus and achieve success because the content meets their instructional needs

Lessons Learned: Infrastructure and Technical Support DIIT needs to be engaged in the beginning of the process to test and approve software and determine hardware specifications All iZone technicians should receive an overview and troubleshooting tips for all iZone programs and have experience configuring electronic whiteboards, in addition to DIIT infrastructure and hardware expertise Technicians should supervise hardware setup and installation Setup needs to include configuring teacher machines to print All SPOCS (Single Point Of Contact) should be carefully selected and trained prior to implementation SPOCs should be trained to turnkey out of the box PD to teachers, who will in turn train students SPOCS should participate in an overview of all iZone programs and have knowledge of process for adding/deleting user accounts

Lessons Learned: Planning & Implementation Anticipate and plan for all enhancements and websites needed for program implementation and add to device image Principals’ input into program and implementation design is critical at the beginning of the pilot to get their feedback, recommendations, needs, etc. Overview of programs and long term implementation plans should be discussed and shared with all stakeholders (schools, network leaders, DIIT & vendors) Better communication with principals to articulate program, responsibilities and deadlines Train teachers in spring/summer so that they can review programs and plan lessons over the summer Schools should plan time for curriculum alignment in spring/summer Schedule a follow-up session just before school opens, giving teachers usernames, password, names of support coaches, schedule of onsite PD and support, etc.

Lessons Learned: Planning & Implementation (cont’d) DOE needs to manage PD planning and implementation PD schedule to be created for the year and shared with all stakeholders Create a site to communicate with schools and share best practices Plan out-of-the-box session for teachers and students Budget for a 1:1 laptop program and excess machines to swap out Create a one page document with overview of iZone, programs, and school responsibilities for dissemination at the school level Vendor to provide other options to reduce time and printing by schools, such as student workbook Teachers should have 1-2 spare devices turned on and ready for login so they can do a quick swap if device freezes or shuts down unexpectedly to minimize the loss of instructional time

Lessons Learned: Vendor Program Implementation Onsite vendor support is crucial to initial implementation success Process for adding/removing students or teachers in programs should be easy and expedient Strategies for including modifications for special education, ELL, and gifted and talented students should be reviewed and identified Better training of vendor coaches Get teacher’s schedule and common prep time before school year begins from principal to allow for scheduling of PD and push-in support Vendor fingerprinting process should be completed early and prior to the beginning of school Vendors need to collaborate with central and school-based staff to align content to curriculum

Lessons Learned: Initial Assessments Performance Series and Renzulli Profiler training needs to be included in teacher PD and SPOC training Site ID and login Information should be provided during training for SPOCS / Data Specialists Testing modification strategies should be identified and shared Clarity regarding coordinating testing with other alternate assessment tools administered by school Better communication regarding testing participants, dates and protocols