East Detroit Public Schools
HOMEPAGE

The community of East Detroit Public Schools has been extremely supportive of the integration of technology into the teaching and learning processes. The school district serves 6,800 students in grades K-12.  There are eight elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, one alternative high school center as well as preschool and adult education programs. The success of their educational technology program is due to the following factors and initiatives:

Planning:

• Developed a 70 person Technology Task Force with representation of every faction of the community.
• Developed a Strategic Long-Range Plan and Integrated Curriculum that was based on the Technology Task Force identified beliefs about technology.
• Hired a technology designer to build a state-of-the-art infrastructure for data, video and voice.
• Analyzed the curriculum in terms of student outcomes and identified curricular and application software that could be integrated into units and lessons to improve student learning.

Building the Infrastructure

• Purchased and mounted large monitors in each classroom. They are connected to the video infrastructure to display video signal from the classroom computer, media retrieval system (banks of VCR's, laserdisc players, and CDI's), cable television, sat elite transmissions, educational television, distance learning programs, and school broadcasts.
• Purchased and installed telephones with access to voice mail in every instructional and office location in the district.  Teachers are able to call for help in case of emergency, make calls to parents about students progress, call for assistance with the classroom technology, and connect to voice mail to leave curricular updated and class information for parents to access 24-hours a day.
• Installed a data network that provides Internet access, access to reference and circulation information (from school, public and university libraries) as well as data exchange to and from every classroom in the district.
• Purchased and installed a new multimedia computer system and color inkjet printer for every instructional room in the district.
• Purchased and installed new multimedia computer systems, laser and color inkjet printers for every computer lab in the district.
• Purchased over $530,000 worth of software that is highly correlated to student outcomes.

Educational Technology Leadership Initiatives:

• Hired a Director of Educational Technology to provide leadership for both the instructional and management technology programs.
• Hired 8 full-time media center teachers for the elementary schools to teach information technology to students 60% of the time and 40% of the time they consult with classroom teachers to assist them in effectively integrating technology into their lessons/units.
• Hired 4 full-time computer resource teachers for all secondary schools whose primary role is to work with classroom teachers to effectively integrate technology into the curriculum.
• Hired a full-time technical resource facilitator to manage the video and data networks, manage the elementary media retrieval system, facilitate the use of the district student record-keeping system, coordinate the repair of district computer-related equipment.
• Hired a full-time assessment/evaluation administrator to begin to develop effective strategies to evaluate whether the integration of technology into the curriculum is improving student learning.

Staff Development

Since 1991, the district has offered many staff development opportunities for staff members.  From the spring of 1997 until the present time, staff development schedules have been sent out quarterly that offer opportunities nearly every day-- Monday through Thursday, as well as some Saturdays.

Grants Received

Since 1996 the district has received one Goals 2000 and three Technology Challenge Literacy Grants for software acquisition and staff development that total more than $880,000.

Technology Volunteer Program

In 1991, the district began a volunteer program called C.A.S.T. which stands for Computer Aids for Students and Teachers.  The program began with 5 volunteers and has expanded to over 150 active volunteers.  CAST Volunteers help in every aspect of the educational technology program.  The district recently won an award for this program from the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB).