KETS 2018 - 2024 Master Plan

​​​Contents - The Vision < Technology Planning > Master Plan Areas of Emphasis

Technology Planning

District Comprehensive Planning

Kentucky's school districts perform comprehensive planning activities to determine long-range measurable areas of emphasis for each school with identified indicators. The process encompasses identification of strengths and weaknesses with each school and development of strategies to leverage the strengths and mitigate weaknesses. The coordination of applicable funding sources to support activities and strategies is a key component of this initiative.  District technology plans should also inform the comprehensive district and school improvement plans. Click here for more on comprehensive planning.

District Technology Planning Requirements

Through the legislation associated [Appendix D] with the development and maintenance of a master plan, districts are required to develop strategic technology plans that span at least one but no more than three years. Components of a district strategic technology plan include establishing specific areas of emphasis related to the following categories.

• Curriculum and Instructional Integration – Identification of curriculum and instructional strategies that promote effective integration of technology into classroom instruction, leading to improved student academic achievement
• Student Technology Literacy – The plan must have clear goals and a specific implementation plan detailing how students will acquire technology and information literacy skills as adopted by the Kentucky Board of Education in the Kentucky Core Academic Standards (including clear areas of emphasis and specific implementation plans detailing how student technology skills will be applied and integrated into demonstrated technology proficiency).
• Professional Development – Strategy for administrators and teachers to ensure awareness regarding the use of new and existing technologies to improve education
• Technology – Planned initiatives to meet the areas of emphasis of the district through the identification of technology solutions designed to provide ongoing support to the educational environment, both academically and administratively [Figure F-1, F-2]
• Evaluation Process - This is required to be incorporated into the plan to enable the district to monitor progress toward the specified areas of emphasis and perform mid-course corrections in response to new developments or opportunities
• Budget Summary – Planned professional development purchases along with funding sources to be acquired each year of the plan in support of the district's technology planned initiatives

As with the Master Plan itself, the identification of funding sources is a critical component of the district strategic technology planning process. The plans must include a budget that describes all available resources at the federal, state and local levels. The Kentucky Education Technology System offer of assistance is a state level funding mechanism intended for implementation of district technology plans.

Strategic technology plans at the district level fit into and should be informed by KDE's overall strategic planning cycle depicted in the figure below (Figure 4). There are well-defined and repeatable processes within all levels of the department that occur during specified timeframes. As this planning cycle [Figure 4] continues, KDE strives to align all strategies and associated goals to ensure careful consideration at both the state and local levels toward continued improvement of Kentucky's education system.

Figure 4: Technology planning cycle (Accessible Description )

An important focus for the Master Plan is to identify leadership and support opportunities directly tied to goals and deliverables for KDE and school districts. When doing so, targeting measurable indicators presents an opportunity to gauge the overall efficiencies and effectiveness of the KETS program. Like the Master Plan, the district technology strategic planning process is intended to provide the local level with control over the decisions related to integrating technology into instruction and administrative functions, and efficiency based on the situation and capabilities such as culture, policy and available funding sources. Just as the National Education Technology Plan cannot dictate standards and specific requirements for all 50 states, the Master Plan cannot define a step-by-step process to follow, nor can it advocate one solution over another for 173 districts.

The Master Plan can be considered a guide for districts to reference and consider when developing their own strategies for technology integration. The areas of emphasis and performance of KETS (which in turn support the strategic goals of the Kentucky Board of Education) can be measured through the technology strategic planning process.

The Office of Education Technology provides districts with a District Budget Planning tool and technology plan template for completing their district technology plans. The Office of Education Technology works with districts to provide accurate commodity codes to assist with budgeting. Both documents may be found on the KETS Funding and Reporting webpage.

National Education Technology Plan

National Education Technology Plan - The U.S. Department of Education plan provides states with key concepts, recommendations, and examples on using technology to transform learning experiences providing learners greater equity, accessibility, and opportunities for both personal growth and to remain competitive in a global economy.

Kentucky is in sync with the five recommendations within the National Education Technology Plan:

1. Learning – Engaging and Empowering Learning through Technology - All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences in both formal and informal settings that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable and ethical participants in our globally networked society.
2. Assessment – Measuring for Learning – Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use assessment data to improve learning.
3. Teaching – Teaching with Technology – Educators will be supported by technology that connects them to people, data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more effective teaching for all learners.
4. Infrastructure – Enabling Access and Effective Use - All students and educators will have access to a robust and comprehensive infrastructure when and where they need it for learning.
5. Leadership – Creating Cultures and Conditions for Innovation and Change – Embed an understanding of technology-enabled education within the roles and responsibilities of education leaders at all levels and set state, regional, and local visions for technology in learning.

Future Ready Framework

Future Ready Framework – The framework emphasizes collaborative leadership in creating an innovative digital learning environment for students. Featuring seven key areas, referred to as gears, the framework allows district leaders to create action plans using a dashboard tool that ensures smoother implementation of new infrastructure and strategies.

Kentucky recognizes the seven gears of the Future Ready Framework. The Areas of Emphasis section of this document is organized to show the identified areas for the Master Plan linked with a Future Ready gear.

Contributing State Plans

State level digital learning plans provide insights, recommendations and research to advise Kentucky's digital learning work. The following section provides brief summaries with links to the publication.

North Carolina Digital Learning Plan - Prepared by The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University with input from educators and stakeholders, this plan offers recommendations and goals in six areas: technology infrastructure and devices; human capacity; content, instruction and assessment; local digital learning initiatives; policy and funding; regional and state support systems.

Wisconsin Digital Learning Plan - Utilizing the Future Ready Framework, this plan focuses on learning environments that are equitable, personalized, applied and engaging.

Kentucky District Plans

Each of Kentucky's 173 school districts performs long-range technology planning to identify trends, strengths and areas for growth. They are reviewed by Office of Education Technology (OET) staff annually and the information is used in Master Plan strategic planning efforts to inform technology need and other key components.

Contents - The Vision < Technology Planning > Master Plan Areas of Emphasis

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