Large District Vanguard Center
Technology chiefs in big districts face a difficult balancing act in striving to meet the diverse needs and goals of teachers, administrators, students, parents, and other stakeholders. The larger the school system, the greater this challenge becomes. Add in the fact that schools can be notoriously slow to implement change, and you have a minefield of potential pitfalls on the way to progress. Yet despite all these challenges, a respectable number of large K-12 districts have visionary leaders achieving genuine successes. To help K-12 administrators in school systems of all sizes--but especially in other large districts--learn from the successes of their peers, the editors of eSchool News present the Ed-Tech Vanguard Report, a publication dedicated to documenting the ed-tech successes of America's greatest school districts. |
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Florida's Orange County Public Schools |
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Orlando Magic Technology helps take Florida’s Orange County Public Schools to new heights. Read how Florida’s Orange County Public Schools--the nation’s 11th-largest school system--has been transformed through the successful and ongoing implementation of innovative technology solutions. As a result of a district-wide shift in culture, student achievement is on the rise, and OCPS is widely recognized as a high-performing school system. Cultural shift Driven to succeed Learning beyond the bell Key OCPS vendors |
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| Chicago Public Schools |
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Enterprise-Inspired Education Technology and freeenterprise propel thewinds of change in CPS This report chronicles the remarkable transition of the Chicago Public Schools from a lumbering, last-century institution toward a 21st century learning enterprise, a model of technology reform in a major urban district. A Better Way to Bring Computers to Schools The Chicago Public Schools' unique governance structure --all schools are given full autonomy over how they spend their technology budgets--poses some significant challenges for the district's Office of Technology Services (OTS). For instance, how can it ensure the equipment each school buys meets certain minimum standards and will work together? How can it ensure each school is getting the best value for its dollar? And, how can OTS meet each school's support needs? [ more... ] Agents of Change South Loop Elementary, one of CPS's 602 schools, is a public neighborhood school centrally located in Dearborn Park, in the heart of Chicago's South Loop. The walls are decorated with murals, an alcove has been turned into a jungle, and "I Can" statements adorn the bulletin boards. These statements are written by the children and serve as goals for the year. One such statement reads: "I can use the internet to research information about a topic." [ more... ] How to Eliminate a 40-Year-Old Mainframe For the Chicago Public Schools' Office of Technology Services, switching from an ancient mainframe to a series of state-of-theart information systems was not a one-size-fits-all initiative. [ more... ] Calling on New Technologies With approximately 24,000 school district phones (including 2,700 at its central office), 600 PBX and key systems, 16,000 centrex lines, and more than 1,200 data circuits, the Chicago Public Schools' telecommunications infrastructure was massive. To bring the system into the 21st century--and ultimately save millions of dollars in telephone line charges--the district's Office of Technology Services decided to make the switch to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. [ more... ] |
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| Broward County Public Schools, Fort Lauderdale, FL | ||||||||||||
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Ed-Tech's Place in the Sun This report tells the remarkable story of the Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale, FL. As school systems large and small grapple with the challenges. Blueprint for success |
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| Fairfax County Public Schools Features(June 2006) |
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New take on Ed-Tech in the Old Dominion In the vanguard of education, the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in metropolitan Washington, D.C., are committed to expanding the frontiers of learning with their stellar use of technology. [ more... ] Data-driven instruction When Oak View Elementary School Principal Debbie Lane discovered her fourth-graders were struggling to pass a state-mandated exam on social studies skills, she didn't panic; instead, she turned to her computer, and the district's data warehouse, for answers. [ more... ] Round-the-clock education In Virginia's Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), technology and the internet are helping to transform learning--a practice that, at least in most school systems, traditionally stops and starts with the school bell--into a round-the-clock enterprise. [ more... ] Lights, cameras ... interaction Housed in a former elementary school and tucked away in a quiet suburban neighborhood in Fairfax County, the campus of the Nancy F. Sprague Technology Center seems an unlikely place for a modern technological marvel. [ more... ] Self-made manipulatives Used to be, when the school year ended, teachers would start planning for the following year by sifting through mail-order catalogs and ordering supplies, never really knowing for sure if what they were buying ultimately would resonate with a new batch of students--many of whom they might never have met before. [ more... ] |
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| Clark County School District Features (November 2005) |
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Meet the High-Tech High Rollers of CCSD This report tells the remarkable story of the FairfaxCounty Public Schools (FCPS) in Northern, Va. As schoolsystems large and small grapple with the challenges. • Ed-Tech Bonanza In the land of silver mines and slot machines, the Clark County School District's multi-million dollar gamble on technology is paying off • Video Vanguard Clark County's use of streaming video for everything from instructional support to professional development and staff communication makes it a clear leader in this still-emerging medium • Transforming Old Notions of 'Schooling' Clark County’s Virtual High School is giving students more instructional options—while saving the district millions of dollars in staff and facilities costs • Managing change In embarking on a $25 million project to install a complex Enterprise Resource Planning system, Clark County aims to succeed where others have failed • Self-made manipulatives |
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