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Gallup-McKinley County Schools - A Technology Profile Of One New Mexico School District

Quality Education Data (QED)

QED’s white paper on Microsoft Settlement Funds somehow landed on a desk in the technology office of Gallup-McKinley County Schools in Gallup New Mexico this spring. The paper, which states that $15.4 million in vouchers had been mailed to New Mexico schools last fall raised eyebrows. Gallup hadn’t received its vouchers. So Lindy Swain, the district’s Technology Support Teacher called QED. We gave her the settlement administrator’s phone number. Not long after, Swain called back with good news. The district was due almost $1 million dollars in vouchers. It seems the vouchers were mailed to a person whose name only vaguely resembled David Oakes, Gallup’s technology director, and ended up in the netherworld of return mail.

All this confusion around vouchers was our good fortune, as Oakes and Swain agreed to a telephone interview to share their district’s technology past, its challenges, and hopes for the future. The following profile is from that conversation in late May of 2007. Read more about the Microsoft Settlement vouchers at www.QEDdata.com.Gallup-McKinley County Schools

Gallup New Mexico sits on Route 66, just off Interstate 40 in the middle of a vast expanse of sky and desert—originally home to the Acoma, Hopi and Zuni Pueblo Indians, and later, to the Navajos. By the late 1880s, Europeans, Asians and Mexicans had come to the area to build the southern transcontinental railroad. Today Gallup, a town of 20,000 people, still reflects its rich heritage. So too does the school district, which encompasses Gallup and the land around it. "We cover over 5,000 square miles," said David Oakes, the district’s director of technology and

telecommunications. "We have a school 100 miles away from the central office. We have schools 45 and 65 miles away. Take Thoreau, for instance. It has one of the largest attendance areas – about 1,000 students. But if you were to drive into Thoreau, you would wonder where the people live. We bus students to Thoreau from 45 to 50 miles away—east and west and north." About 35 percent of the district’s 12,300 students are English language learners. Seventy-seven percent are poor. Eighty percent are Navajo. Many live on the Navajo reservation.

Impact of E-Rate

When Congress enacted the E-Rate program as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it held particular promise for this geographically and culturally isolated school district—a promise then superintendent Robert Gomez and a handful of technology savvy

administrators and teachers, including Oakes, quickly grasped. Oakes volunteered to spearhead the effort to build the network. "The challenge I was given when I foolishly raised my hand and committed to do it for all. As we built the network, we didn’t leave any school out. That

took some doing. "We needed technology to shrink the size of the district, so to speak. We needed a WAN (wide

area network) that we could use for instructional purposes and for professional development, and administration," Oakes said. In 1996 there were no fiber networks in the Gallup area and the district’s long distance phone bill was $250,000 a year, mostly for calls between the

central office and the district’s schools. By 1999, largely through E-Rate discounts, the district had acquired broadband access and a robust network. Today, the school district boasts one of the largest phone systems in the state, which provides five-digit dialing to every classroom with no longdistance charges, accomplished through a ‘voice over ATM’ (asynchronous transmission mode) system. The district’s next E-Rate project, when it’s funded, will implement VoiP to-the-switch technology via the WAN from the district’s central office out to the schools, an enhancement that will increase the efficiency of the district’s bandwidth. On the instructional side, through the district’s WAN, students access worlds far beyond McKinley County, worlds unimaginable just a decade ago. The Internet also offers avenues home, through links to sites about Navajo history and ancient cultures that went before.

Professional Development / Technology Integration

The district participates in the Intel Teach to the Future program. Through Intel classes, teachers have access to hands-on professional development programs, where they learn to integrate project-based learning and 21st Century technology tools into their lesson plans. So far, 80 teachers have graduated from the Intel program, and 20 new teachers began Intel training at the end of May. The district’s technology Web site displays units across a variety of grade levels and subjects areas, created by Intel-trained teachers. A number of them weave present-day life around Gallup with the richness of Navajo history. Among them is a course titled Water and the Navajo Nation, where students at Navajo Middle School study water conservation issues from a past, present and future perspective across math, science, and social studies frameworks. At the end of the unit, students synthesize what they’ve learned to create brochures, Power Point presentations and Web sites. Student work is evaluated for its content, appearance, ease of navigation, and organization—skills key to success in the 21st Century workplace. In another Intel-inspired unit, a class of English language learners at Chee Dodge Elementary School hones their writing skills using visual images. In the first part of the course, students examine historic scenes of the Navajo Nation from the Library of Congress Web site. The teacher uses these images to engage students in their own history, while at the same time creating lessons around word choice, parts of speech, and sentence and paragraph construction. In the second phase, armed with digital cameras, students take their own pictures to document scenes of school and home life, which serve to stimulate interest and ideas for writing. During the unit students use a variety of digital software to build writing skills through visual experiences, including ‘Kidspiration’ by Inspiration Software, Inc., ‘Framing Your Thoughts’ by the Language Circle Enterprises,

Inc. (which uses both visual and tactile experiences), and Microsoft Power Point and Publisher software. "Navajos are very visual learners," Oakes said. "Herding sheep and being in the outdoors, observing what’s around them . . . is really a keen strength." Technology tools can build on that strength—LCD projectors, interactive white boards, digital cameras, Internet images, and software such as Power Point, all contribute to teaching and learning, and are especially helpful for visual learners and English language learners, Swain said.

Gallup-McKinley County Schools Technology Profile Case Study, August 2007Despite their many successes, professional development and integration of technology into the classroom remains two of the district’s biggest challenges, Oakes said. In addition to Intel training, a few years ago with funds from the federal Enhancing Education through Technology program (E2T2), Oakes launched a district wide professional development program. However, only 230 of the district’s 1020 teachers have been trained so far. "We have a ways to go," he said. Geography poses particular challenges for district wide delivery of professional development. The turn-over rate of teachers in the district is typical of other remote rural areas (higher than most urban and suburban districts) and travel costs for training staff (there are just three) to cover the district’s 35 schools are high. The district will offer some online professional development courses this fall, but they won’t replace the need for face-to-face training, Swain said. Both Oakes and Swain are big believers that for professional development to be successful, training and technology tools must go hand in hand. "We have found that it doesn’t make any sense to give teachers technology if they don’t know how to use it, or to train them in technology if they don’t have the tools," Swain said. The district now works on an incentive system, offering new technologies such as interactive white boards, LCD projectors, digital cameras and scanners to those who are willing to invest in the time for training. "Those teachers are going back into their classrooms and doing interesting

things, and other teachers are peeking in the doors, seeing what they’re doing, and they’re becoming interested," Oakes said.

Funding

But new technology tools and quality on site and online professional development doesn’t happen on-the-cheap. Deep cuts in federal support for educational technology (funds for E2T2 dropped from $496 million in FY 05 to $272 in FY 06 and 07) have made their mark on district technology programs across the country. Oakes had been funding his Technology Support Teachers through E2T2 until this year. Fortunately, when funding plummeted, the district opted to preserve the program and fund it through Title II at least for this school year. Oakes, like many of his colleagues, is keeping a close eye on Washington and the ATTAIN ACT (Achievement Through Technology and Innovation), introduced in the House of Representatives in May. ATTAIN would overhaul E2T2 to provide more support for professional development, bolster funds for

21st Century technologies, and require states to assess the technology literacy levels of eighth grade students.

Gallup-McKinley County Schools Technology Profile Case Study, August 2007In the mean time, Oakes is pleased by his own district’s support for technology. Recently the district committed to a 3-5 year refreshment cycle for classroom computers. "We take the old computers out as we bring the new ones in the door. In the past we’ve used computers until they were dead," Oakes said. "We’ve got to be able to have, not bleeding edge, but leading edge technology in our classrooms, particularly at the high school level, but even at the elementary level. A lot of schools have plans where they get the new tech at the high school and shift the older tech down so that the elementary teachers are left with the ancient dinosaurs. That makes some financial sense, but it doesn’t make educational sense. We need to have our kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students using technology that is really going to be beneficial to them," Oakes said.

Microsoft Settlement Funds

Recently, Gallup-Mckinley County Schools received almost $1 million dollars in Microsoft Settlement vouchers–$948,856 dollars and change to

be exact. "It’s an opportunity to do things we haven’t been able to afford," Oakes said. The vouchers result from the settlement of a New Mexico consumer class action lawsuit against Microsoft Corporation. As part of the settlement, needy New Mexico schools are receiving a portion of unclaimed funds in the form of vouchers to be used for platform neutral hardware, software and related professional development. Oakes plans to use the vouchers to purchase LCD projectors and provide professional development for teachers receiving them. The need for projectors

is great, Swain said. "Some teachers go to the lumber yard and buy that white bathroom wall board so they can have a screen on the wall." Although Gallup has spent a substantial portion of its technology budget equipping classrooms with computers, as in many school districts, one-to-one computing is far from a reality (the district’s computer-student ratio is 1-5). LCD projectors enable a teacher with 25 students and just one computer in her classroom to bring the power of the Internet as a teaching tool to the whole class, in a collaborative learning experience, Swain said. The Microsoft vouchers will help them do that.

Distance-Learning

One of the district’s top priorities over the next two years is to develop a distance-learning program for students and the community at-large. Again, geography is a big driver behind that effort. Like many rural school districts, Gallup-McKinley County Schools finds it difficult to hire licensed teachers in certain subject areas, and in some schools there simply aren’t enough students to justify offering particular classes. "A lot of our schools will teach classes like chemistry and physics every other year. That doesn’t always fit with what the students need. Students have to be able to take chemistry when it fits their schedule, not when it fits the school’s schedule," Oakes said. The state of New Mexico now requires that students take some kind of online or distance-learning course in order to graduate from high school. "We’re well positioned for that, we have that capability. But it’s a shift in thinking for our principals, in how to deliver classes." Professional development is the key to making distance-learning happen, Oakes said. "Training principals and finding our best teachers, who also have the capacity to use technology, and helping them to develop online classes—that’s the next major challenge." The school district currently uses its network during after-school hours to deliver college courses in local schools where people live. It also is making a strong effort to recruit Native American people to become licensed teachers—especially the district’s teaching assistants, Oakes said. "There are TAs that have been in classrooms for 10, 15, 20 years, making half of what they would have been making as a teacher, now going into college programs. We have a secretary, a Navajo woman, who worked in one of our schools. I think she could have retired by the time she finished her master’s degree, but she’s now teaching at the same elementary school where she was a secretary. And we had a custodian, a Navajo man, who worked in one of our schools. He’s now a teacher." But it’s been a slow process, Oakes said. With more access to online college classes in the small communities surrounding Gallup, Oakes expects many more local people will take advantage of the opportunity to become teachers through online courses. "We need to have positive Navajo role models, Navajo men and women, teaching in our schools, teaching our Navajo children."

School Security

In addition to improved communications systems, professional development, technology tools for student instruction, and increased distance learning opportunities for students and local people, building security is also on his list of department priorities, Oakes said. "We’ve just completed, this year, installation of wireless networks in every building in the school district. So now I’ve gone back to the business office and the superintendent’s office and said, ‘We’ve got the infrastructure, we’ve got the technology, we can actually put in the video cameras to monitor our buildings after hours.’" A few of the district’s schools already are equipped with cameras, but Oakes plans to make a strong push for video surveillance cameras in all the schools. "But we need the money to do it," Oakes said. Oakes also has installed RFID chips (Radio Frequency ID Chips) on inventory items that have "a tendency to walk away." RFID chips could be used for other purposes as well, Oakes said. For example, the chips could be placed on all student ID badges, so when students get on a school bus or enter a school, there would be a positive ID logged of their presence in a given place at a given time. "It’s somewhat controversial. Some people are not sure they want that much of a ‘Big Brother’ surveillance going on," Oakes said, and presently the district has no plans of that kind.

A Parting Thought

Asked if he had any parting thoughts about technology in public schools, Oakes was quick to respond. He stressed that for him and his technology team, technology is not a fad, but a tool for teaching and learning. He started as a teacher and still considers himself first and foremost a teacher. The same is true for his team of Technology Support Teachers, he said. They began as teachers and remain as teachers in their new roles. "We promote the use of technology not to replace teachers, but as a way for teachers to enhance the education of their students and take them to places where we can’t physically take them—to better and more challenging learning environments."

Gallup-McKinley County Schools

Gallup-McKinley County Schools Department of Media and Technology

Gallup-McKinley County Schools Technology Profile Case Study, August 2007

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