TAGLIT:
A Tool for Measuring a Project's Results
How
can administrators make informed decisions that result
in successful uses of technology for teaching and learning?
How can they know if their decisions are having an impact?
To many administrators and school technology leaders,
these questions present major challenges. However, a
growing number of educators have discovered a solution.
They are using TAGLIT (Taking a Good Look at Instructional
Technology) to determine the perception of technology
use and impact at their schools and to measure changes
resulting from technology projects and initiatives.
Mississippi administrators are among those using TAGLIT
to evaluate technology initiatives.
TAGLIT
is an online suite of self-assessment tools for school
leaders, teachers, and students that provides measurements
of progress over time (www.taglit.org).
Dr. Sheila Cory and Jennifer Peterson developed the
tools for participants in the Principals Executive Program.
The Web version was initially supported by the BellSouth
Foundation and is currently Web-enabled by SAS with
support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
As a result of this support, many educators are aware
of and have used TAGLIT tools. Why? Every state has
a Gates Foundation state challenge grant for technology
leaders, and a requirement of the grant is that all
participants—mostly principals—in the grant
must complete the TAGLIT assessment for school leaders.
In turn, the school leaders are to have their teachers
complete the teacher tool, and they have the option
to have their students complete the student tool.
The
Mississippi Department of Education was one of the earliest
users of TAGLIT as a component of the Gates Foundation
challenge grant. The grant established the Technology
Academy for School Leaders (TASL). Participants in the
week-long academy and follow-up sessions have discovered
that TAGLIT data help them accomplish the TASL goals:
- To facilitate the integration of technology in the
total district/school environment.
- To
enhance the principals' and superintendents' technology
leadership skills in support of teaching and learning,
and data-driven decision making.
- To
facilitate the creation of learning environments that
empower staff to infuse technology into teaching and
learning.
- To
assist school leaders in the definition of local issues
and the development of solutions and strategies to
address them.
In
the Mississippi TASL project, the suite of assessments
is explained to participants during the academy and
during the Day 1 Follow-up Activity conducted three
months after the academy. Participants are trained to
interpret the Data Summary Report and generate their
Final Report. Each participating principal in TASL is
responsible for monitoring the administration of TAGLIT
to 100% of the instructional staff and 50% or higher
of the student population in grades 3-12 and for completing
the leaders' assessment for his/her assigned school.
TAGLIT generates valuable data for administrators about
ways technology is being used in their schools. Administrators
did not previously have a means to collect and analyze
this type of data, especially in the quantity that TAGLIT
provides. School leaders answer 69 questions on technology
planning, hardware, software, instructional and technical
support, budgets, polices, and community involvement.
Teachers answer questions (61 for elementary teachers
and 71 for middle and high school teachers) on skills,
frequency of use, how technology affects classroom activities,
technology planning, hardware, software, and instructional
and technical support. Students complete questions on
skills, frequency of use, and how technology affects
classroom activities—15 questions for elementary
school students and 53 for middle and high school students.
With this quantity and range of data, school administrators
who administer the assessments periodically have a means
of measuring progress of technology use and impact at
their schools.
For
our administrators, TAGLIT has played an integral part
in helping them better understand the following:
- The role of technology in enhancing teaching and learning.
- The
present status of teachers' and students' technology
skills and use.
- School
technology planning, budgeting, and professional development
needs.
- The
availability of emerging technologies in the schools.
The
results of the TAGLIT assessments have been an eye opener
for many of the TASL participants. One of the statements
on the Day 2 Follow-up Activity (conducted nine months
after an academy) was "The TAGLIT information provided
my district/schools was valuable information that has
impacted our professional development program and technology
integration." On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5—Strongly
Agree, 4—Agree, and 1—Strongly Disagree,
78% of the participants rated this question a 5 and
22% a 4. Comments made by some of the participants included:
- "The
TAGLIT results identified technology training as our
number one professional development need."
- "
Significant training is needed in getting our teachers
ready to effectively integrate technology into classroom
instruction."
- "More
time must be spent in training our teachers so that
they can be successful in preparing our students for
this technological age."
Many
of the participating principals have used the TAGLIT
assessment results to document the considerable need
for training in the area of technology use and integration.
As a result of their analysis of the data, they have
scheduled the Phase Technology Trainings offered through
the Mississippi Office of Educational Technology and
the MarcoPolo Training (online classroom technology
integration). Additionally, principals are also sending
teachers to technology training sessions to become school-site
technology trainers and placing more emphasis on technology-based
professional development. Many are encouraging teachers
to either take courses online or participate in interactive
video (distance learning) course offerings to receive
advanced degrees, licensure renewal, and/or technology
professional growth.
Increased
emphasis on technology professional development is not
the only result of having the TAGLIT data available,
At the state level, we have used it as part of our project
evaluation and to help improve the activities of the
TASL project. Certainly the data will be useful for
future grant proposal writing and for state program
policy development.
Whether
at the school level or with the state project, TAGLIT,
as a tool for measuring a project's results, is making
a difference in the Mississippi school districts.
Note:
The Taking a Good Look at Instructional Technology (TAGLIT)
assessment tool is an element of each state's Bill and
Melinda Gates Technology Leadership grant. For further
information on the use of TAGLIT, contact the administrator
of your state's Gates Technology Leadership Grant.
—by
Katherine Tankson, Director of the Mississippi TASL
Grant,
and Betty Lou Pigg, Information Technology Planner
with the Mississippi Department of Education
Originally
printed in SEIR*TEC NewsWire Volume
Five, Number Three, 2002
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