COSA Technology Assessment
Chicago Public Schools District #299
Chicago, IL
Introduction/Overview
Organizational Change
Budget & Finance
Professional Development
Technology Infrastructure
Outcomes
Evaluation
Contact Information
Introduction/Overview
As the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) prepares its students to enter a world strongly dependent upon technology, it recognizes the necessity for teacher expertise in the basic computer skills. The primary purpose of COSA is to assess the current level of technical skills related to basic personal computer (PC) operations and to identify any knowledge gaps that can be enhanced through targeted training that addresses specific technology needs. As such, COSA will serve as a critical step in developing the foundation of a skill set required to utilize a wide range of computer programs in the classroom and in school administration. Any Chicago Public School employee may take the assessment and may retake the assessment every 7 days. The standards that are addressed with the assessment align with the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for teachers (http://cnets.iste.org/currstands/cstands-netst.html) I-A.
Project Timeline:
November 2002
· High school COSA rollout
January 2003
· Elementary school COSA rollout
· Begin basic skills training districtwide
Organizational Change
· COSA is currently owned and managed by the Office of Technology Services eLearning
· COSA Help Desk is operated by eLearning program support staff
· Area Instructional Technology Coordinators continue to support COSA participation districtwide
· Qualified classroom teachers are compensated to provide basic skills training for other teachers
Budget & Finance
COSA development and training costs are part of the No Child Left Behind Act, Title IID Technology Competitive Grant Funding provided to the district through the Office of Technology Services eLearning.
Professional Development
The Office of Technology Services eLearning has developed a program to design and deliver COSA basic skills technology classes to all CPS teachers. The Office of Technology Services eLearning began this project by developing a consistent curriculum for all COSA classes that reflects effective instructional design principles. The Office of Technology Services eLearning has expanded the project through its eMentor program, which develops teacher leadership capacity by preparing classroom teachers to become COSA instructors. The training includes the appropriate combination of professional development workshops, shadowing qualified instructors, team-teaching, and stand-alone teaching to ensure the success of each COSA instructor. As of August 2004, there are 32 COSA instructors, 12 of whom assist in the training of new COSA instructors. This team of instructors is the core team who will receive additional training and support to offer the Office of Technology Services eLearning’s more advanced classes in the Professional Development Continuum. Investing in own teachers in this way supports the following CPS Education Plan Goals:
· Goal 1: Building instructional capacity
· Goal 2: High quality teaching and leadership
· Goal 3: Learning communities and professional development
COSA Class Evaluation Summary
The best features of this activity were: · Hands-on activities · Practical classroom uses · Introduction of activities and time to practice · The whole class · Patient instructor · Great examples · Very practical · Visual reinforcement very helpful · Interesting and necessary · Continuation of programs throughout the school year · More time and more practice
Suggestions for improvement include:
· NO suggestions; this was great! · No improvement needed Other comments and reactions I wish to offer: · Too much rushing at the end · An excellent class with knowledgeable teachers · Excellent instructor · Wonderful workshop · Very helpful for daily school activities · Knowledgeable, patient instructors who deserve a big raise · Excellent handouts; good for additional practice at home · I liked trying out the things we learned
Technology Infrastructure
Area Options
Hosts Web Server, Database Server
OS Windows 2000 Server
HTTP Server Internet Information Server 5.0 (IIS)
Application Server IIS, MS Component Services (COM+), Active X Data Objects (ADO) .NET Framework
RDBMS MS SQL Server 2000
Business Logic VB COM Components (DLL’s), .NET classes
Security SSL (currently not used)
E-mail SMTP
Web Interface ASP, ASP.NET, HTML, DHTML, Flash
Browser Support IE 4 and above, NS 4 and above
The web server hosts the COSA portal and all business logic components. The server is configured with the following:
· MS Windows 2000 operating systems
· IIS 5.0
· Microsoft Component Services
· .NET Framework
Storage Requirements
Storage requirements are based upon the database design and the population of 28,000 teachers that could potentially participate in the survey. The table below summarized the data storage requirements.
Table Est. Rows Est. Row Size (Bytes) Est. Max Table Size (bytes)
User Profile 28,000 222 6,216,000
User Status 28,000 54 1,522,500
User Answers 1,680,000 85 143,430,000
Answer Key 60 35 2,108
Computer Buy 28,000 156 4,361,000
Total Bytes 155,531,608
Total in KB 151,886
Total in MB 148
As indicated in the table, an estimated maximum of 148 MB storage is required for the survey application tables. Additional storage will be required for other database structures such as indexes, views, and stored procedures.
The COSA portal and services are developed using a variety of tools. The following tools are used:
· Visual Studio .NET
· Macromedia Dreamweaver Ultradev
· Visual Studio InterDev
· Visual Basic 6.0, .NET
· Macromedia Flash
· SQL Server 2000
· Microsoft Web Application Stress Tool
Application Pages
Application pages are developed in Dreamweaver UltraDev and Visual Interdev. HTML pages are used for the basic site pages and static content. Active Server Pages (ASP) are used for application logic and interfacing with the VB COM Components. Pages are designed and developed to the CPS development standards and guidelines.
COSA Portal
.NET was used in the development of the Portal and newer services. ASP.NET was used with VB.NET pages for logic.
Assessment
Visual Basic is used to develop COM Components that contain the application logic and business rules for the application. These VB components will accept user submitted data, apply logic and rules, and store data in the RDBMS. Stored Procedures are used to efficiently access data stored in the database. Stored procedures are created in Transact SQL and stored in SQL Server.
COSA Portal
Application logic is coded in VB.NET classes. The COSA Web site logic is contained in a single assembly located in the /bin directory of the root Web site. ASP.NET code are used behind pages to process all logic related to page events.
Multimedia
The assessment will contain interactive questions. Macromedia Flash is used to create the interactive questions.
Outcomes
The overall outcomes of the COSA assessment are to:
· Increase overall participation districtwide
· Allow participants to plan professional development
· Improve overall proficiency through ongoing professional development
COSA will be the prerequisite for access to all CPS applications and technology related professional development but will not be limited to just basic skills. COSA will include a series of assessments that will compliment and address each phase of the eLearning continuum.
Evaluation
Support from the Chicago Public Schools Instructional Management Program and Academic Communication Tool (IMPACT), Area Instructional Technology Officers, Coordinators, Technology Coordinators, and eLearning team was essential in promoting teachers’ participation in completing the COSA basic skills assessment throughout the district. Currently, elementary teacher participation is 84.5% and high school participation is 92.8%, with basic skills proficiency levels around 14% districtwide.
Contact Information
Sharnell Jackson
sjackson@cps.k12.il.us
773-553-1308
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