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Strategic Plan Analysis:

Medina City School District

Carolyn M. Bajaksouzian

BGSU EDTL 6320: Summer 2017

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Introduction of the Strategic Plan for Medina City School District

I could not locate a strategic plan document for my school district, but I did discover a

plan written for Medina City School District. The plan I found for Medina City School District

Technology is a few years old, but was created using a template from the Ohio Department of

Education. This five part plan covers pre-planning (with vision and mission statement),

curriculum alignment and instructional integration strategies for the content areas, analysis of

technology policy and leadership, infrastructure, management, and support for technology, and

the budget and planning. This plan showed me that the Medina City School District has a clear

plan for the incorporation of P21, NETS-S, NETS-T, and a philosophy based on transformational

change. Since I cannot find a public document for our school, I will be setting up an appointment

with my district technology leadership to share my findings and compare that with the plan they

have for my district.

Comparison to P21

According to Partnership for 21st Century Skills, our students will need a certain set of

skills in order to be successful. These skills include collaboration, communication, and the ability

to think critically and solve problems (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011.) Also crucial to

achieving success after graduation is having the ability to use different technologies to enhance

those skills mentioned above. The combination of the reading, writing, and arithmetic with

communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation, and problem solving and thinking

critically is the essence of P21. It can be noted that in section 2.6 of the plan, the Medina High

School science classrooms have digital lab sensors that allow students to collect real time data,
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which allows them to use the P21 skills and solve real world problems (Medina City School

District, 2009.)

Comparison to NETSS

A list of technology skills that all students should have in order to be successful is the

National Educational Technology Standards for Students, abbreviated as NETS-S. There are six

parts that make up the NETS-S. They consist of Creativity and Innovation, Communication and

Collaboration, Research and Information Fluency, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and

Decision Making, Digital Citizenship, and Technology Operations and Concepts (ISTE, 2007).

While NETS-S is not specifically mentioned, these standards are woven into the plan that

Medina City School District has implemented. One way that this is incorporated is that in each

content area, the grade levels are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 show where students are in terms of

meeting technological goals. From 1 to 5, the scale is as follows Entry, Adoption, Adaptation,

Appropriation, and Invention. Entry level would be very basic and mainly focuses on learning.

Adoption would focus on using technology to support more traditional practices in the

classroom. Adaptation would be an actual integration of the technology into those

aforementioned practices. Appropriation extends on adaptation and focuses on interdisciplinary

and project-based learning. Invention, as expected, would be coming up with new ways to use

the technology. Also present for each content area are sections discussion how these goals will be

achieved, what will indicate that the goals are met, and how will momentum and focus on those

goals be sustained (Medina City School District, 2009.) The plan is focused on integrating

technology into the education of the students in order to prepare them better for their futures.
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Comparison to NETS-T

The National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) are just as

important as the NETS-S. Because technology is becoming omnipresent in our society, ISTE

states, it is paramount that teachers possess the skills and behaviors of digital age professionals

(ISTE, 2008.) The five NETS-T standards are to Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and

Creativity, to Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, to Model

Digital Age Work and Learning, to Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility,

and to Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. Once again, Medina doesnt specifically

name the NETS-T, but in addition to incorporating technology into the content, there is a section

on teaching students about technology (Medina City School District, 2009.) The same levels of

technology integration mentioned above apply to teachers as well. While students need to be

fluent enough to meet the expectation, teachers must integrate technology enough to allow

students this opportunity (Medina City School District, 2009.)

Philosophy for Transformational Change

Medinas philosophy for transformational change can be examined through their vision

and mission statements, which can be found in the first section of their strategic plan. The

mission of the plan is to help students reach their maximum potential, instill enthusiasm for

learning, [and to] engage in partnerships with involved families and community. (Medina City

School District, 2009.) The vision expressed in the strategic plan is to assist in the realization of

the mission of Medina City Schools through instructional integration and innovative application

of technology. Recognizing Potential - Maximizing Achievement. (Medina City School District,

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2009.) The plan lists things, such as communication and literacy, that technology will help

support in the process of reaching the goals set out in the mission.

Suggestions for Modifications/Recommendations

While the plan used by Medina City Schools is solid, there are minute changes that could

be made to advance it further. While the strategic plan lends itself to them, if the NETS-S and

NETS-T were specifically cited, the plan could be tailored to better suit the standards. Another

change that could fortify the strategic plan would be to outline precisely what professional

development courses would be offered. This also could support the NETS-T if it were explicitly

listed because the professional development courses offered to teachers could also be aligned

with the NETS-T. Teachers need to be meeting the NETS-T standards because the conversation

has shifted from whether technology should be used in learning to how it can improve learning to

ensure that all students have access to high-quality educational experiences. (Thomas, 2016.) If

the NETS-S were also cited, the plan could reference those standards in regards to what

technologies are used in each content area and grade level. The clear expectation that students

must meet the NETS-S and specific technologies and how they would be used could add muscle

to the strategic plan. The vision and mission are on point, but these changes could help bolster

the plan.
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References

ISTE. (2007). National Educational Technology Standards for Students. In iste, National

Educational Technology Standards for Students (pp. 1-9). Washington, DC: International

Society for Technology in Education

ISTE. (2008). National Educational Technology for Standards for Teachers. In iste, National

Educational Technology Standards for Students (pp. 1-5). Washington, DC: International

Society for Technology in Education.

Medina City Schools. (2009). Educational Technology Plan for Medina City SD. Medina, OH:

MCS.

(link to plan:

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2011). Retrieved July 8, 2013, from Partnership for 21st

Century Skills: http://www.p21.org/index.php

Thomas, S. (2016, January). PDF. US Department of Education.