The Technology-Ready School Administrator: Standard-Based Performance

By Clinton Born

The Technology-Ready School Administrator: Standards-based Performance (3rd ed.) is an excellent resource for school leaders and teachers in developing and advanced countries who desire to improve their school's performance in technology-related tasks. Aligned with the International Society for Technology in Education's Technology (ISTE) Standar

• Language: English
• Publisher: LitPrime Solutions
• Release date: Mar 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798887032962

Clinton Born

Dr. Clinton Born is an educational practitioner with a distinguished career in public schools where he served as a Superintendent of Schools, Principal, Assistant Principal, Guidance Counselor, and Teacher. He also served as a Professor in the Graduate Education Program at Franciscan University of Steubenville where he taught the following courses: Computers in Educational Leadership (online), Computers in Education, Instructional Leadership, School and Society, Planned Field Experiences, Secondary School Administration, School Law, Supervision, School Finance, Educational Leadership, School Law II,Business Affairs and Physical Resources, and The Superintendency. Teaching these courses and administering in schools have uniquely prepared him to write about a number of the book's topics, such as the change process, school funding, social inequities, professional development, staff evaluation, legal concerns, and public relations. In preparation for his lifelong love of education, Dr. Born has a bachelor's degree in Comprehensive Social Studies Education from The Ohio State University, a master's degree in counseling and school administration fromXavier University, and a doctoral degree in school leadership from Ohio University.

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© 2024 Clinton Born. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by LitPrime Solutions: 03/01/2024

ISBN: 979-8-88703-295-5(sc)

ISBN: 979-8-88703-296-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023916806

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Contents

Preface

Equity and Digital Citizenship

Ensure Skilled Teachers

Guarantee Accessibility and Connectivity

Model Digital Citizenship

Cultivate Responsible Online Behavior

Summary

E-ventures

References

Visionary Planner

Create a Shared Vision

Develop a Strategic Technology Plan

Evaluate the Existing Technology Plan

Communicate with Stakeholders

Share Best Practices and Challenges

Summary

E-ventures

References

Empowered Leadership

Personalized Professional Learning

Bolster Educator’s Confidence and Competency

Inspire Innovation and Collaboration

Back Educators in Advancing Individual Student Learning

Amplify Personalized Learning Assessments

Summary

E-ventures

References

System Designer

Establish Robust Infrastructure and Systems

Ensure Resources to Support Technology Utilization

Secure Student and Staff Data Privacy

Connect with Partners

Summary

E-ventures

References

Connected Learner

Emerging Technologies

Online Professional Learning Networks

Reflective Practices

Continuous Improvement Planning

Change Management

Summary

E-ventures

References

Index

To my dear, departed parents who inspired my life accomplishments—Doris I. and Clayton W. Born, Sr.— and my wife, Monna Born, who supports my endeavors and endures my endless hours on the internet and computer.

Preface

Technology revolutionized the world and its population since its inception. Technical advances continually change the school landscape too as administrators, teachers, and students have been touched. These transformations underscore the need for informed school leaders.

Because school administrators greatly influence curriculum and classroom practices, their knowledge of tech-related issues boost these domains. Technology noticeably impacts the way school administrators led. Today’s school leaders, therefore, must possess up-to-date technology understandings, dispositions, and skill sets.

Although many nations have adopted leadership standards as well as technology ones, graduate preparation programs remain slow to incorporate technology standards into student learning. Practicing school administrators, similarly, must become more engaged in the standard’s implementation to advance meaningful technology infusion in their schools.

Technology standards, published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), provide competencies for learning, teaching, and leading. For over 20 years, these standards have been examined, applied, and updated to reflect the best research-based practices that define success in employing technology to learn, teach, lead, and coach. These standards, aligned to UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals, are available in nine languages. Standards exist for students, educators, coaches, and education leaders. The leadership standards may be located at https://iste.org/standards/education-leaders.

This book presents standards-related content for education leaders, enrichment activities (e-ventures) for deeper understanding an application, and numerous illustrations to complement the subjects. In sum, this work describes practical information to advance the technology wisdom and performance of present and future school leaders referred in this book as technology-ready school administrators (TRSAs).

NEW TO THIS EDITION

The intent of this edition is to enrich the reader’s understanding in the development and implementation of a school’s technology initiative in alignment with the 2018 International Society for Technology in Education’s Technology Standards for Education Leaders. The subsequent goals of this revised text are:

to provide an international review of technology issues and practices around the globe,

to offer a user-friendly format aligned with ISTE’s Standards for Education Leaders,

to deliver the latest content regarding technology topics and challenges that face aspiring as well as practicing school administrators, and

to incorporate practical information that will assist aspiring and practicing school administrators improve their school’s performance in technology-related tasks.

The following summary outlines this new edition’s content:

Chapter 1, Equity and Digital Citizenship Advocate, examines technology equity and access around the globe, offers best practice surveys and teacher evaluation processes, describes exemplary digital citizenship, and addresses matters to cultivate responsible online behavior.

Chapter 2, Visionary Planner, presents in-depth strategic technology planning and evaluation processes that align with the district’s shared vision and mission statements.

Chapter 3, Empowered Leadership, explores approaches for the education leader to support teacher and student digital literacy, investigates professional learning approaches and teacher evaluation processes from various countries around the world, and suggests a culture of innovation and collaboration.

Chapter 4, System Designer, considers the education leader as a system designer who leads teams to establish a robust infrastructure, ensures scalable resources, and secures staff and student’s data privacy.

Chapter 5, Connected Learner, investigates emerging technologies for today’s school personnel, recommends participation in online professional learning networks, and unveils a leadership mindset to advance a school’s continuous improvement process, including steps to lead a change initiative.

FEATURES

Illustrations. A humorous graphic introduces each chapter, and many chapters display instructive tables with data from various countries around the world.

Bold, Italicized Text: The book highlights foremost terms in bold, italicized text.

Chapter Summary. Each chapter concludes with a summary to focus the reader on key concepts.

E-ventures. Real-life learnings apply each chapter’s content and extend technology competences.

HOW TO USE THIS TEXTBOOK

This book prepares aspiring school leaders as technology-ready school administrators and extends the technology competences of current administrators, human resource staff, and professional development personnel. This text, additionally, may be utilized to:

design administrator preparation and professional development programs,

detail essential strategies on technology implementation for school leaders, and

establish individual and system accountability, and

generate opportunities for self-appraisal, personal goal setting, and professional growth.

To fully benefit from this textbook:

review the ISTE Standards for Education Leaders.

read each chapter and reflect on the subject matter relative to your experiences.

assess and reflect on your competency levels at each chapter’s conclusion by setting personal advancement objectives.

This author hopes that the readers will find the book’s contents, tables, e-ventures, summaries, and index beneficial in preparing and nurturing them to become contemporary educational leaders. With ISTE’s Standards for Education Leaders as the text’s foundation, the writer submits this book to help create technology-rich schools for all staff and students.

Disclaimer:

The text’s content remains for informational purposes only. This author’s experiences and hours of research interweave throughout the book’s material. The illustrated details accurately express the author’s best knowledge prior to publication. This writer, furthermore, holds no affiliation with any of the stated products or websites, which were active at publication. Last, he provides no assurance regarding the correctness, trustworthiness, or completeness of the book’s content after publication.

Chapter 1

Equity and Digital Citizenship

This chapter describes content related to ISTE Section 3.1 for the education leader as an equity, inclusion, and digital citizenship advocate.

Government officials in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and other nations around the globe aim for inclusion and equal opportunities for their schoolchildren from all walks of life. Disadvantaged students in prekindergarten (PK)-12 schools worldwide, however, obtain less access to digital technologies (i.e., infrastructure, platforms, hardware, peripheral tools, software, apps, and internet) than advantaged students (Hersh, 2020). To comprehend these matters, one must acknowledge the terms.

Inclusion confirms that students and employees feel a sense of belonging in a school, meaning every student feels comfortable with support from students, teachers, staff, and administrators. Every employee, likewise, experiences wellbeing from colleagues in an inclusive setting.

Equity guarantees that practices and programs in a school remain impartial and fair, offering equal outcomes potentially for every pupil. Diversity signifies the presence of differences within a school among students’ socioeconomic classes, races, ethnicities, genders, gender identities, and sexual orientations (Hersh, 2020).

Combining the virtues—inclusion, equity, and diversity—distinguishes the value of varied voices, while emphasizing inclusivity and equal opportunities for all students as key conditions in flourishing schools. To bring these values to life, schools must implement programs and initiatives that actively highlight diverse, equitable, and inclusive spaces (Urwin, 2023). 

School personnel recognize that every student ought to feel comfortable and accepted in the school and classroom. Administrators identify at-risk students who academically perform poorly in school. Academically and emotionally at-risk students often live in low-income households, possess language barriers, or become birthed as a child of color. Beyond these defining characteristics, many students remain at risk simply because their families do not meet their basic emotional or physical needs (Bordia, 2022).

Research reveals that teaching quality persists as an influential factor for student academic achievement. Time management, self-motivation, engagement, behavior, and attitude also prominently influence student academic success (Kang & Keinonen, 2018).

At-risk youngsters remain a multidimensional challenge that transcends continents, nations, ethnicities, religions, economic levels, and cultures. Many risk factors stay rooted in the interplay between a young person’s environment and individual characteristics. Distinct personal traits refer to physiological, cognitive, and psychological characteristics along with physical attributes, such as ethnicity, gender, linguistics, or disability status (McCluskey, 2017; OECD, 2017).

At-risk youngsters’ environments around the globe, in general, relate to the following:

family situations, including household poverty, migrant status, lack of family support, or household violence;

community circumstances, such as rural or isolated areas, poor quality schools, negative peer influences, or community unrest; or

public norms and values, concerning gender social customs or restricted civil liberties (Greatbatch & Tate, 2019; OECD, 2017).

Across OECD countries, 12.8% of children reside in income-impoverished homes, although rates differ considerably from country to country. Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Turkey, Scotland, and the United States declare more than 20% of their children live in income poverty; Costa Rica rates stay the highest at 27% (McCluskey, 2017; OECD, 2017).

Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, and Sweden proclaim less than 10% of their children dwell in income poverty. Denmark and Finland’s income poverty rates for children stand the lowest of OECD countries at 4% (OECD, 2021).

Social norms, including gender roles, responsibilities, and behaviors, in certain countries around the world tend to restrict girls’ full access to internet opportunities and an array of digital technologies. Middle Eastern countries, India, and Azerbaijan, hold the highest gender inequality occurrences (Fitzgerald, 2022).

Germany’s migrant student populace, identified as academically disadvantaged, improved scholarly performance through reforms to the schools’ ability tracking system for refugee children assigned to secondary schools. Estonia’s reform efforts to advance students’ academic performance in ethnic Russian-speaking communities where Estonian is a second language also met success (Greatbatch & Tate, 2019).

Finland and Taiwan with high-performing education systems support disadvantaged pupils. Finland’s curricular approach to assist pupils without Swedish or Finnish as a first language encountered less success than anticipated. Taiwan’s school initiative to upgrade academic outcomes for students who reside in low socioeconomic circumstances or rural areas remained unproductive due to the lack of teacher commitment as well as inadequate training to implement the plan productively (Greatbatch & Tate, 2019).

At-risk U.S. PK-12 students—English learners (ELs) together with students from poverty, of color, and with disabilities—also face exclusion and inequities. School administrators must scrutinize U.S. public school student enrollment in these categories to impact conditions favorably.

Identified English learners (ELs) participate in language assistance programs to ensure they attain English proficiency, achieve academic content standards, and accomplish expected achievement benchmarks compared to other students. EL programs typically upgrade students’ English language proficiency, translating to higher educational outcomes. The public school EL population in the United States multiplied from 4.5 million in the fall of 2010 to 5.1 million students in the fall of 2019 (Irwin et al., 2022).

Based on the U.S. federal poverty level, 21% of children under 18 years of age reside with families living in poverty. Students with disabilities, another disenfranchised group, often lack technology access. Public school students served by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in the United States swelled from 6.5 million to 7.2 million students, representing 15% of the total primary and secondary public school enrollment (Irwin et al., 2022).

Table 1.1 denotes the U.S. PK-12 public school student racial compositions with their percentages of the total 49.4 million students enrolled in the fall of 2020 (Irwin et al., 2022).

Table 1.1. PK-12 Public School Student Racial Composition in the United States

Source: Irwin et al. (2022).

Note: The total percentage stands above 100% due