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Utilizing the Matrix Format to Create Effective Planning DocumentsBy Dixie Conner
 In this time of state budget cuts and spending restraint -- when school districts face a federal mandate to increase student achievement and academic accountability, even as state education funding dwindles -- effective planning is critical for our nation's schools. Now, more than ever, districts must set priorities and develop detailed plans on how to achieve their goals.
Writing strategic plans, school improvement plans, and/or technology plans can seem like a daunting task; often it's a chore no one seems to have time to complete. And no wonder! Most of those planning documents are written as endless narratives. Seldom utilized, they aren't seen as useful tools for getting a job done -- they're seen as onerous jobs in themselves. Technology plans, in particular, have been written primarily to plan for hardware acquisition, not to outline how technology integration can increase student academic performance.
About the Author
Dixie Conner, a former classroom teacher, is a member of EDmin's Performance Planning Department, which provides school districts with a variety of technology-based planning services.
Learn More
To find answers to more questions about technology planning -- the process and the product -- contact planning@edmin.com or log on to TechBuilder, a no charge, Web-based technology planning tool. |
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If school districts are going to meet the dual challenges of No Child Left Behind legislation and budget cuts, future district-wide planning documents need to contain well-organized action steps; steps designed to reach curriculum and professional development goals, and to meet the needs of every child, teacher, administrator, and parent the district serves. In other words, planning documents need to be both usable and effective!
To accomplish that end, district planners need to replace those hard-to-read 100-page narratives with documents created in a more user-friendly format. Personally, for outlining specific, measurable, attainable, responsible, and time-bound (SMART) goals and objectives, I recommend the matrix format. A matrix format allows districts to see clearly -- on a single page -- where they want to be in 3-5 years, and to visualize the steps they need to take to get there. In addition, a matrix can be set up to demonstrate alignment among all your planning documents, resources, funding sources, and state and national requirements.
Examples of matrix-formatted planning documents that districts have used successfully are provided below. Those examples include sample goals, objectives, benchmarks, and action steps. Note that column and row headings for each matrix can be set up in many different ways, depending on your district's focus and specific needs.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Using a matrix format such as the ones above for each main component of the plan -- curriculum, professional development, infrastructure, hardware and technical support, funding, and monitoring and evaluation -- can:
- enable districts to identify their main goals and objectives.
- enable districts to find all the answers to who, what, when, where, and how those goals will be achieved.
- make the monitoring process a breeze by using the matrix as a checklist to see what has and hasn't happened according to the plan!
- allow adjustments to be made in a timely manner if some objectives aren't being met.
- make it easy to apply for funding opportunities. Many of the same areas need to be identified for specific grants. For example, for E-rate funding, districts must identify funding sources for their technology projects and prove that they can pay for undiscounted portions of their invoices. Writing this information directly into the technology plan can save time when it comes to those pesky Program Integrity Assurance E-rate audits.
Now do you have the time to complete your planning document? If so, the following 5-step process will help you complete it efficiently and effectively:
- Visit the Web sites and school sites of some successful districts in your state and read their technology plans (They're usually a matter of public record.).
- Gather ideas from state and national educational resources (see below).
- Form a broad-based technology committee and work together to identify your goals and objectives.
- Develop the specific steps you need to take to achieve those goals and objectives.
- Organize those steps in a matrix format.
It's just that easy to create an effective planning tool that can be utilized by all, adjusted to monitored results, and submitted for many funding opportunities!
NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PLANNING RESOURCES
Guidelines for Planning and Writing Technology Use Plans
TechBuilder: This free online technology-planning tool includes Survey Builder, a tool that allows district administrators to send out surveys and participants to take these surveys via the Web.
International Society for Technology Integration: ISTE's role is leadership; they provide their members with information, networking opportunities, and guidance as they face the challenge of incorporating new technologies into their schools. An organization of great diversity, ISTE leads through presenting innovative educational technology books and programs; conducting professional development workshops, forums, and symposia; and researching, evaluating, and disseminating findings regarding educational technology on an international level.
National School Boards Association
The National Center for Technology Planning: NCTP is a clearinghouse for the exchange of many types of information related to technology planning. This information may include school technology plans available for downloading via a computer network, technology planning aids (checklists, brochures, sample planning forms, PR announcement forms), and/or electronic monographs on timely, selected topics. The NCTP was created for those who: need help, seek fresh ideas, or seek solutions to problems encountered with planning.
NetDayCompass.org: This comprehensive education technology Web site is designed for technology decision-makers working in K-12 schools. NetDayCompass.org is an initiative developed by NetDay, a national non-profit organization that works to connect every child to a brighter future by helping educators meet educational goals through the effective use of technology.
The Technology Source:The purpose of The Technology Source (ISSN 1532-0030), a peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical published by the School of Education, UNC-Chapel Hill, is to provide thoughtful, illuminating articles that will assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching and into managing educational organizations.
The Technology Coordinator's Home Page:The primary purpose of this site is to catalogue resources that can assist the technology coordinator or educator in integrating technology in a wider school context. While primarily oriented to K-12 schools and districts, this site also contains resources that will be of interest to technical colleges, community colleges, and some other post secondary educational institutions.
Technology-Integrated Curriculum
Scholastic: Click Teacher to access Scholastic's standards-based and classroom-tested lesson plans.
Education World: Education World offers lesson plans and activities, worksheets, articles and commentary on current educational issues and trends, and a complete resource guide to the Internet for educators.
FutureKids: This site provides school technology solutions from technology-integrated lesson plans to professional development and assistance with developing and implementing effective technology plans.
Encarta Schoolhouse: Home of the Encarta Lesson Collection and other educational resources.
eSchoolNews Online: Publications and resources related to education technology.
Professional Development
Technology Standards for School Administrators: This site's purpose is to develop a national consensus on technology standards for school administrators.
TAPPED IN: K-12 teachers and librarians, professional development staff, teacher education faculty and students, and researchers engage in professional development programs and informal collaborative activities with colleagues.
SkyLight Professional Development: This Pearson Education company is an internationally recognized company exclusively dedicated to the continuing education of K-12 teachers and school administrators. Distance learning is an extension of Skylight's renowned professional development programs that are grounded in best practices.
Teacher Universe: Provides professional development courses designed to help teachers raise student achievement through integrating technology into the curriculum and classroom experience.
Beyond Teaching: Professional development in project-based learning. Bring active learning into the classroom by taking content standards and building active learning lessons to assess.
Infrastructure, Hardware and Support Services
Citrix: Solutions in education.
K-12 Education: Hewlett Packard inspiring the use of technology.
EDmin.com: As an Application Service Provider (ASP), EDmin.com provides professional computer services to improve your technological capabilities.
Funding and Grants
Guide to Education Programs: From the U.S. Department of Education.
Ed Tech Grant Programs: From the U.S. Office of Educational Technology.
Resource Guide for Federal Funding for Technology in Education: From the U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology. .
Grants and Opportunities for K-12 Schools: Information on School Grants.
USAC Schools and Libraries
Monitoring and Evaluation
EDmin.com: Virtual EDucation System (V-ED), a suite of Internet-based applications that empower educators to make critical curricular decisions with confidence.
Baldrige National Quality Program: The Baldrige performance excellence criteria are a framework any organization can use to improve overall performance.
Article by Dixie Conner
Education World®
Copyright © 2003 Education World
03/05/2003
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