A look back and a look ahead for WDM Technology

The start of a new calendar year is a great time to take a look back and take a look ahead regarding technology in West Des Moines Iowa Schools.

//Looking back on 2011

Teacher Laptops
Providing laptops to teachers by itself isn’t innovative, however,  we made some significant changes in how laptops are deployed by giving teachers full administrative rights to their own devices.  The intent was not to push the tech support on to teachers – but instead, to provide them with full rights to install and test any software they need and choose.  More info>> http://wp.me/p1JF02-2A

iPads
Like many other districts, its been the year of the iPad.  We’ve begun our exploration of iPads through an application process where teachers could apply for 3 iPads for their classroom.  Why only 3 iPads? Our goal is make sure that its more than just a teacher tool, but also a tool that will help promote small group differeniated instruction.  At this time, we’re exploring which content areas and grade levels are most effective with iPads.  More info>>http://wp.me/p1JF02-9S

Social Media Tools
2011 will be remembered as our starting point that the district started using social media with our community.  All 14 schools now have Facebook pages and the number of groups and individuals using Twitter is on the rise.  How Twitter is used in WDMCS>>http://wp.me/s1JF02-twitter

Edmodo
The most popular addition to the online classroom tools this year has been Edmodo.  You’ll commonly hear kids refer to it as a “Facebook” look alike and it’s true.  Judging from the usage stats, it appears that Edmodo won’t be a passing “fad”..  Using Edmodo for discussions>> http://wp.me/p1JF02-d4  and Edmodo at Crossroads Park: http://wp.me/s1JF02-edmodo

State Technology Presentations
This fall, we had 7 staff members involved in 6 presentations at the state technology conference – the most we’ve had in years!  It’s great to see staff members out sharing their best practices!  More info: http://wp.me/s1JF02-itec11

Oct 15th PD day
On Oct 15th, the district technology team organized a district wide professional development mini-conference for staff.  Multiple sessions were offered for various grade levels.  The two most frequent feedback/remarks from the training… 1) They loved that sessions were conducted by our own staff, sharing their own best practices and 2) The mini-conference structure allowed staff to choose the sessions that were best for themselves.  More info>>http://wp.me/s1JF02-oct10am

//Looking ahead to 2012

More iPads
During Janruary, we’ll deploy the next round of 250 iPads to various grade levels.  Each time we’ve offered iPads, we have had twice as many applications as we have iPads, so it appears we still have plent of interest.  One of our goals this coming year – to dig deeper into which apps are most beneficial and WHY.  Everyone is excited about the large number of apps available, but our attention needs to turn towards HOW to use WHICH apps for the most benefit.

Digital cameras
This winter, we’ll be deploying new digital cameras to our schools.  It’s been a while since we’ve replaced digital cameras/video cameras and we believe that at around $100 each, they are a highly underrated classroom tools.  We’re working out the details now,  but we are looking to abandone the “check out” model that was previously used.  The belief is that the cameras are better used when they are assigned to a classroom that receives training.  Individuals can still borrow or check out the devices from the classrooms with cameras. In December, we conducted a course for the digital camera trainers and we’ll be announcing the deployment plans/courses in the next few weeks.

Safari Montage
We know that our subscription for Discovery Education Streaming will end on June 30th and we’ve been looking for a suitable replacement.  We’re currently running a pilot test of Safari Montage.  The pilot will end on Jan 14th.  We will then collect our last round of feedback and determine if we are going to proceed with Safari Montage or continue to shop for other options. More info>> http://wp.me/s1JF02-montage

1:1 conversations
Each year there are continued conversations among neighboring districts about going 1:1 (providing some type of mobile device for each child at certain grade levels.)  Individuals who are interested in this topic are typically asking “When?”  However, I think the conversation that needs to begin is “Why?”   Asking “why” does not imply it won’t happen – but instead signifies that it’s more important to discuss why we want it, what we expect from it, and what changes will happen because of it.  Do we expect to see exactly what we are currently doing – just electronically?  Do we expect to see students doing different tasks?  Do we expect more creation and less consumption of knowledge?   These are the conversations that need to be started….

Update on District Registrar proposal

Earlier this month, we announced that West Des Moines Schools is reviewing a proposal to move new family registration to a centralized district registrar (posted at http://wp.me/p1JF02-aL)  

What is the status of this proposal? 
What happened at the focus group meetings about this topic?

In mid-December, we held 4 focus group sessions that were open to any district staff member.  The purpose of the focus groups was to provide additional details on the proposal and then collect questions/feedback. 

Right now, we are still reviewing the questions/feedback to determine what issues need to be addressed before the proposal can go on to the next step.

Information discussed at the December focus groups meetings………

1. Prior to this year: Certified enrollment was handled separately from Infinite Campus.  Certfied enrollment is the process where students are counted and the district is thereby paid according by the state according to our enrollment.
2. This year:  Certified enrollment was automatically taken from our Infinite Campus/Student Information System. 
3. In the coming years, the state of Iowa is looking to use SIF technology to allow them to pull student records at any point in time, directly from our system.

What does this mean to our enrollment/registration process? 
There will be a higher level of accountability for making sure that our enrollments are correct in Infinite Campus.  Our district currently has 120 individuals who have access to edit/modify student enrollment information.  With this many individuals, it is extremely hard to maintain accurate records. In addition, our current method is causing families with multiple children to register at multiple schools, sometimes filling out the same exact paperwork multiple times.

 

What is the proposal to address this problem?
In discussions with the Department of Education, Infinite Campus, and other areas school districts, it was recommended to shift all student enrollment tasks to a centralized District Registrar.  This would be a hourly employee that works the full calendar year, housed at the Learning Resource Center, with the  primary job role of assisting new families with school registration.  In addition, the Registrar would also ensure that all student enrollment fields are marked properly to ensure accurate records.

What tasks/roles would the Registrar do? 
Based on other district registrars, he/she would….

1. Handle all student enrollments (in and out)
2. Data entry related to state reports
3. Family demographics/updates
4. Data entry for all new families
5. Verify family address information
6. Handle parent infinite campus accounts

What tasks/roles, might the Registrar do? (items that are still being discussed)

1. Handle student records requests?
2. Send reminders to parents for demographic info updates?
3. Send reminders for fees?
4. Determine school placement?  (most likely would have to work with the schools to determine placement issues)

What tasks will the Registrar NOT DO?

1. Will not record medical info
2. Will not schedule into homeroom/course
3. Will not provide schedules to families
4. Will not be contact for non-english families
5. Will not be preschool registrar
6. Will not handle open enrollment approval
7. Will not work at school based registrations

Could you give us some scenarios of what the process might look like for a new family?

During school year, a family visits school in person…..

1. Office provides a standardized district enrollment packet.
2. Family fills out initial student page – if they submit it to the school office, then the school can add the student to Campus
3. Remaining packet is mailed to District Registrar for data entry.

During school year, family calls to the school…

1. School office can either… invite the family to the school and follow the previous process or refer them to the District Registrar.

During school year or summer, family visits the central office…

1. The receptionist calls the District Registrar to the front desk to meet the family. Take them to a more private location to provide registrar packet and assist them with completing it.
2. Registrar notifies school, works out placement.
3. Registrar adds student and family info to Campus

If we proceed with centralizing enrollment through a District Registrar, how might the transition take place?

1. The first task would be for the District Registrar to standardize all the school based registration forms into one uniform packet.
2. Second task would be work out any changes in the process with service areas such Welcome Center, Nutrition, Transportation, etc.
3. Once we ready to proceed, we envision that the transition would occur on school at a time, with the entire transition taking up to a full year if needed.

 

What feedback/questions were obtained from District Registrar Focus Groups

1^st focus group……….

1. Concern about lag time… the information needs to be added to Campus right away as teachers and staff need this information right away.
2. Arrangements for transportation can’t occur until information is in Campus
3. Parents who don’t want their child to attend their home school – how will this be handled?
4. How will changes to student enrollment codes be handled during the school year?
5. What is the relationship between the Welcome Center and the District Registrar?
6. How will Free/Reduced Lunch applications be handled?
7. Will the Registrar handle money? Who’s in charge of accepting money?
8. What about families with multiple building families.. how are they impacted by the roll out?
9. Kindergarten needs birth certificates and other documentation.. how is this handled?
10. Can we really handle the workload with just one person, especially in August?
11. When change of address occurs, how will buildings/transportation be notified?
12. How will address verification be done, so that we know that they do, in fact, live where they say they live.
13. Who is the backup when the registrar is sick or on vacation?
14. During the school year, can secretaries make changes to Campus? What fields?

 

From 2^nd focus group……….

1. We need to standardize the enrollment forms first before we start rolling this out.
2. Can we really handle the workload, especially during the start of the school year?
3. Will the registrar be bi-lingual? How do we accommodate non-english speaking familes?
4. What is the relationship between the Welcome Center and the District Registrar?
5. The phones aren’t answered at Valley during the summer – and this is causing issues for parents/families.
6. School voicemail messages aren’t being changed during the summer – and they need to be. Phone lines need to be directed to someone who will answer the phone!
7. Shouldn’t we be verifying where they live instead of just putting them right into a classroom?
8. How are verifications and documentation related to immunizations handled?  How about birth certificates?
9. Who starts the cum folder? Does the Registrar?
10. Make the forms online, to make them more accessible to everyone
11. Could we please eliminate the usage of fax machines and stick with email and scanned documents?
12. Could we consider grade level rollout vs building rollout?
13. What would the registrar work hours be?  Would they need flex work schedules due to workload?
14. Does the district registrar go out to the buildings during peak times?
15. Can we estimate what the peak time volumes will be, so we can better understand how overwhelmed the registrar might be?

3^rd focus group feedback………………

1. What about kindergarten registration, the forms are different?
2. Will the open enrollment process change?
3. How will international students be handled?
4. Who will handle Campus edits, what about DO NOT CONTACT requests?
5. How will kindergarten cap outs be handled?
6. What forms will be included in the registration packet?
7. Who collects the birth certificate/immunizations?
8. Will the registrar collect fees?

 

4^th focus group feedback……………..

1. Exactly how much information needs to be done for preschool enrollments?
2. Do we roll Pre-K to K? why? Why not?
3. Our school currently handles A LOT of parent calls for getting campus accounts unlocked.. I’m not sure the registrar can handle all of that..
4. Does the position have to be called the Registrar?  We already have a registrar at Valley, isn’t this confusing? Can’t the job title be something else?
5. Do building secretaries still register pre-k students that attend pre-k in their schools?

Now that you have this feedback… what’s the next step?
During the month of  Jan, we are still taking feedback, questions, and suggestions from staff, parents, and community.  We’ll be sorting through the questions and feedback to determine what issues need to be addressed before further exploration.

Can I still provide feedback regarding this?
Yes, If you are a parent/community member, we encourage you to either submit your questions or feedback using the comment field below, or you may contact Brian Abeling, abelingb@wdmcs.org directly.