6.+Management+Strategies

= = =**Management Strategies**=

The training plan for the online grading system is separated into 3 categories of users: Teachers Users (new and existing users), Classified Staff Users and Parent Users. Teacher training for both new and existing users and the Classified Staff training will be introduced during the in-service day scheduled for the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. Parent user training will be introduced at Parent Orientation in September. The training plan will accomplish the following:

1. New and existing users will be able to promptly access and update student data, providing a tool for immediate communication with parents. 2. Teachers will develop greater skills, efficiency and confidence with the online grading system resulting in a higher level of acceptance and the elimination of manual gradebooks. 3. Teachers and other staff members will have a resource available for all current procedures and updates to the online grading program. 4. Parent progress monitoring will increase resulting in more efficient tool for parent/teacher communication.

**Teacher Training:**
The District Technology Integrationist will work with the Technology Teaching staff to create training materials for the online grading system. The materials, along with video tutorials will be used during the in-service training sessions and will be posted on the district's Blackboard. It is the responsibility of the Technology Integrationist to maintain the training materials and add system updates to Backboard when changes are made to the program. The Technology teachers will lead the training sessions during the in-service day along with a few other staff members who have mastery of the system to assist with questions during the training sessions. Two sessions will be running simultaneously for the teachers; one session designed for new users that are just being introduced to the program and one session designed for existing users that are ready to learn some of the more advanced options the program has to offer. The New User Training Plan includes step-by-step instructions and print screen handouts explaining the process for setting up a gradebook, creating assignment categories, creating new assignments, posting grades, choosing grading scales, completing report cards and writing report card comments. The Experienced User Training Plan for existing users includes more advanced system options like creating student groups, streamlining score entry, using score analysis features, creating parent newsletters, running student reports, creating seating charts, copying assignments, using a behavior referral tool, and gradebook exporting to other applications. The training will take place in various technology labs throughout the district in order to utilize the SMART Board and computers for training purposes. Teachers will have the opportunity to log on to the online grading program during the training session. The groups will also be created based on grade level: Elementary teachers, Middle School teachers and High School teachers. Each elementary school will attend the training session led by their school technology teacher. The Middle School and High School teachers will be divided by subject area creating an opportunity for teachers to collaborate with other department members.

**Classified Staff Training:**
The District Technology Integrationist will also be responsible for creating training materials for the classified staff. The materials and video tutorials will be used for the in-service training session and will be posted on Blackboard. The Technology Integrationist will also be responsible for maintaining the training materials system updates that effect the classified staff. The Classified Staff will all be together in one of the district technology labs for their session. Their training will take place on the second in-service day scheduled at the start of the school year. This allows the Technology teachers to be available for the training. A few other staff members who have mastery of the system will assist the Technology teacher with the training session. The Classified Employee Training Plan, provided primarily for school secretaries and other office staff, will include the process for adding new students to a class, creating parent letters for gaining access to the online grading system, accessing the Parent Directions Guide, adhoc reporting guidelines, entering attendance and lunch counts and processing student fees.

**Parent Training:**
Parent Direction Guides are already available on Blackboard. This guide will be converted to a SMART Notebook file and used as the training materials that will be presented to parents at all Parent orientation at the start of the school year. The comprehensive handout includes step-by-step instructions with print screen for each step and a copy will be available for each family to be used as a reference during training and as a resource for home. The elementary classroom teachers are responsible for providing the overview for the parents but the technology teacher will be available at school during orientation for questions and parent access code information. Middle School and High School technology teachers will be responsible for the training sessions at their level since parents follow the student's schedule during orientation. The parent training will take in the large auditorium before the regular class schedule portion of the orientation begins. During the overview the following items will be discussed: accessing student schedules, accessing student fee information, accessing student reports (missing assignments & report cards), changing account information and passwords, and getting IT support.

** Special Circumstances: **
Although most family households have a computer with internet access, not all do. The district will accommodate families with no internet access by providing computer access to parents at all the schools located throughout the district. Printed report cards will also be sent home to those families that do not access the online grading system after 2 weeks of the report card posting date.

** Follow-Up Training Plans: **
To ensure all staff needs for ongoing training support are met, there will be quarterly review sessions available during "Tech Tuesday". The training sessions will highlight material covered during the fall in-service training, offer a Q&A period and introduce some useful features within the online grading system. "Tech Tuesday's" are thirty minute technology session run by the technology teacher and are held monthly right after dismissal. Attendance is optional but hours may be applied toward the required in-service hours for all certified staff. Parents will be offered a short Q&A period during fall parent conferences in November and again during Spring parent conferences in March.