Demographics

Kennedy High School is located in rural Pennsylvania. The school teaches grades 9-12 with a total of 2,480. There are 1,203 males students and 1,277 female students. The school is not very diverse. There are 2,390 White students, 24 Black students, 40 Hispanic students, and 26 Asian students. The average household income in this area is $77,450. Approximately 19% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Administrative: Integrated
Policy Behavioral Islands: The school has a lot of technology available (iPads, Laptops, SmartBoards) for use but it is largely unused by the staff. This may be because a lot of the technology is brand new this year, so it is still being introduced to the staff. According to staff, there havent been training sessions on the newer technology yet. Resource/infrastructure - Intelligent: The school has a well-written, detailed multi-year technology policy written by a large committee of teachers, technology directors, community representatives and administrators. The policy was approved by the board of education and is available for anyone to view on the schools website. Planning

Behavioral Islands: Planning for technology use is done separately by individual classroom teachers. Teachers create technology projects as desired and sometimes share with other classes. There is no school-wide comprehensive planning. Resource/infrastructure- Emergent: Technology use in the classroom is not specified within the curriculum. Only informal planning takes place within individual teachers lesson plans. Budget Behavioral- Integrated: Technology is budgeted for with high priority in accordance of the schools technology policy. Technology goals are set in place and are continuously fulfilled each year. Budgeting is done year to year based on the schools allotted funds. Resource/infrastructure- Integrated: There is a specific technology budget every year. Staff may also request line items within individual classroom budgets. Administrative Information Behavioral- Integrated: An electronic system is required to be used by the entire staff. This system is used for attendance, grading, and student information. However, lesson plans are still submitted using a paper-based system. Resource/infrastructure-Intelligent: Administrative system is available to all administrators and staff.

Curricular: Islands
Electronic Information Behavioral Islands: Students and staff are somewhat dependent on electronic information though it is infrequent. Students mostly use paper-based textbook with electronic information used to supplement them on occasion. Teachers use electronic information to reinforce concepts in the classroom. Resource/infrastructure - Islands: Some classrooms have more technology available than others but the entire school has access to technology labs. Resources are beyond basic and include various software and educational website subscriptions. Assessment Behavioral Intelligent: Teachers are required to maintain electronic grade book, which students and parents can view at any time.

Resource/infrastructure- Intelligent: Fully integrated electronic grade reporting system is used. All grade reports are printed from this system. All staff, students and parents have access. Curricular Integration Behavioral- Emergent: Curriculum is not dependent on technology although technology is available for use if desired. Teachers use the technology in different ways. All teachers use technology in some way, but their curriculums are not dependent on it. Resource/infrastructure- Intelligent: Technology and related resources are available for all curricular areas. All subjects have access to technology labs and the use of them is encouraged. Teacher Use Behavioral- Islands: Teachers must use technology on a daily basis for administrative purposes. However, for curriculum, technology is used on occasion for enrichment and material generating purposes. Resource/infrastructure- Integrated: Most teachers have access to appropriate technology in their work area. Some teachers need to visit technology labs to use appropriate technology. Student Use Behavioral- Islands: Students use technology for certain projects but not all the time. Some classrooms use technology more than others. Resource/infrastructure- Islands: Students can use computer labs during certain periods of the day. They also use technology when teachers use them for projects. Access is not consistent and regular for all students because most of their access depends on the teachers use of technology for lessons.

Support: Islands
Stakeholder Involvement Behavioral Emergent: There is a technology committee used to create school policy, which has members from groups in the school. However the committee members do not involve the rest of their group members and the committee is small. Resource/infrastructure Islands: Many of the groups are represented but their representation is limited to one or two members.

Administrative Support Behavioral Intelligent: Administrators are very supportive of any technology being used and are willing to help for planning in anyway they can. Administrators want to grow the use of technology in the school. Resource/infrastructure- Intelligent: Administrators will allot time as needed for planning and implementation of technology use. This includes classroom assistance, discussion, and support of technology projects. Training Behavioral- Emergent: Few staff members participate in technology training, but this is largely because training is not offered. Resource/infrastructure- Emergent: Extremely limited formal training. Technology is available, but as of now, training sessions have not been provided for several years. Technical and Infrastructure Support Behavioral- Intelligent: Teachers can report technical issues very easily and technical personnel are very responsive. Resource/infrastructure- Intelligent: Full time technical support is available and problems are fixed at a fast pace. Technical personnel are friendly and willing to help. Steps are taken to update old equipment and keep infrastructure running smoothly.

Connectivity: Integrated
Local Area Networking Behavioral Islands: Students and staff use network regularly for basic needs. Resource/infrastructure Integrated: High-speed Internet access is available to all areas. Wireless networks are also being put in place. District Area Networking Behavioral Islands: Staff uses district network regularly in a traditional manner. Resource/infrastructure- Integrated: High-speed district area network available.

Internet Access Behavioral- Islands: Staff uses the Internet frequently. However, curriculum integration is sporadic. Some teachers use the Internet for projects where as other teachers may not. Students have access to the Internet when it is used for a classroom lesson. Resource/infrastructure- Intelligent: Internet access available in all areas although some rooms have more computers available then others. Communication Systems Behavioral- Intelligent: Email is an integral part of the schools learning and support communications. Most communication between staff is done through email. Resource/infrastructure- Integrated: Email is available to all staff. Email is not available to students.

Innovation: Islands
New Technologies Behavioral Islands: Staff is interested in new technology but training is not provided and there is little time allotted to experiment with new technologies. Resource/infrastructure Islands: Staff members rarely implement new technologies, but this is mostly due to lack of training and time. Most staff indicates interest in using new technology. Comprehensive Technologies Behavioral Integrated: Technology is fairly comprehensive and continues to grow every year. Technology available includes iPads, SmartBoards, laptops, computer labs, and more. Resource/infrastructure- Islands: Available technology is limited to one of two devices per teacher, but teachers are interested in utilizing newer technology with proper training.

Conclusion Using the Maturity Model Benchmarks Kennedy High School falls in-between islands and integrated. This is because the school is not fully integrated, but it does have a lot of growth potential. The biggest gap in the school is between the technology available and the training available. The school has many new technologies available that are not being used because of the lack of training offered and time to experiment with the technology. Administrators and teachers are excited about the new technologies and wish to use them in the classroom. It should also be noted that many of the technologies are new this year so technology use will most likely change drastically over the next few years as teachers become more familiar with the technology. The school has a strong technology policy, infrastructure, technical assistance, and technology budget in place. Another way to improve the technology use would be to add required use to the curriculum for certain units so that all students are using the technology equally. However, due to high digital inequality within the district teachers are not able to assign homework that uses technology, which is also a factor when writing curriculum. With more training, experimentation time, and adding to the curriculum Kennedy High Schools technology maturity will grow greatly.