Questions
The following are miscellaneous questions posed for consideration and reflection.
Part 1 - Key School District Questions
Compiled by Miguel Guhlin; shared under CC-Sharealike-NC-Attribution
Budget
- What is the District's free and reduced rate, or eRate?
- Will the District consider using free, open source solutions (e.g. netbooks running Linux) in lieu of more expensive solutions? Response:
- Would the District consider purchasing refurbished computers to save money?
- How much technology money is to be found or available in other department budgets?
- How did you deal with the budget shortfall? What programs were cut and did the District implement an incentive program?
- What is the District's Purchasing Policy and/or process?
- Does the District use Cooperatives?
- At what level do you have to do a request for proposals (RFP)?
- Does the District use BuyBoard, TCPN, and/or DIR?
Campus Support
- Are there campus level representatives/liasons and, if yes, are they volunteer or do they receive a stipend?
- Are there ongoing meetings for campus support?
Curriculum
- How is technology used to support curriculum? (e.g. Read180, System44, Study Island, Education City)
- What credit recovery software is used (e.g. A+, Odysseyware)?
- What is used to accelerate learning at the high school (e.g. Early College, TxVSN)?
- Do District solutions involve single-sign-on (SSO) or is there a different password for each system?
- What plans are there to remediate kids who get failing results in June but passed in May?
- How is C&I having conversations about student performance data and addressing the issues?
- Is any benchmarking going on and what is technology department's role in that?
- How are you blending Eduphoria Aware/Forethought and how are they being used to support C-SCOPE implementation?
Culture
- What is the superintendent-school board relationship?
- When are superintendent and leadership team due to retire?
- Any big emotional impact issues, such as STAAR, EOC, that have impacted the District?
- What major professional development have all administrators gone through recently (e.g. Crucial Conversations, Capturing Kids Hearts, Schlechty’s Strategy for District Transformation, other?)?
Remote/HelpDesk Support
- How many HelpDesk staff are there to answer phones/emails?
- How many technicians are available?
- Are technician/helpdesk staff member salaries competitive?
- Is the response time for issues 48 hours or less?
- What are top priority or hot item issues that are given top priority?
- What kind of Helpdesk system do you have in place? If a call ticket system, how are trouble-tickets assigned to technicians?
- How do you verify technicians are actually on campuses rather than off-task (e.g. staying at home, going out to eat)?
- Is there remote control of technology available on all devices (e.g. Dameware) so that HelpDesk staff can work on user computers?
- How is technician job performance assessed?
Professional Learning Expectations
- How is the District leveraging online learning—that is at least as effective as face to face per research—to facilitate required professional development? (e.g. Bloodborne Pathogens, Sexual Harassment)
- What learning management system (as opposed to a course management system) is the District using to facilitate management and delivery of professional learning? (e.g. Alchemy Systems’ Avatar, Eduphoria Workshop, ESCWorks)
- What specific requirements do teachers/administrators have to meet before they are issued technology?
- What certifications do in-house professional learning facilitators enjoy and is their work aligned to state/international standards?
- For technicians, are any of the following expectations in place?
- Certification/continuing education?
- Cross-training between employees (e.g. network management or server support)
- Documentation (e.g. knowledge management) of critical systems
- Signed copy of an ethics document
- Confidentiality training (and FERPA) for online testing
Technology Director
- Does this position report to the Superintendent?
- Would you consider changing the title to Chief Technology Officer?
- What are the specific areas of responsibility?
- Who is responsible for the Student Information System?
- Who handles account management and data imports/export for external systems (e.g. Eduphoria, PBWorks)? Is there a basic expectation that solutions should be automated when possible?
- What happens in the case of an emergency? Is social media (e.g. Twitter/Facebook/G+) setup to facilitate prompt dissemination of information, as well as engage community in reciprocal dialogue?
Technical Questions
- Bandwidth and connectivity
- Does the District have separate wireless networks for mobile devices (e.g. iPads) and/or BYOD? What requirements for connecting to the network are in place?
- What bandwidth throttling/packet shaping solution is the District using?
- 1 gig between campuses, fiber connection?
- Who is the Internet Service Provider (ISP)?
- What is your Internet bandwidth? (e.g. Abilene has 150 megabits, Amarillo 300 mbits, San Antonio ISD 300mbits)
- What are your solutions for antivirus, content filtering, email, user/account management, app management/mobile device management?
- Are you a Cisco-based district? Meraki? Meru?
- What kind of network hardware are you using?
- What kind of backbone?
- What kind of network operating system?
- What management software/image deployment software are you using? (e.g. Altiris, Zenworks, FOG)
- Do you have gig to the desktop?
- Campus/Classroom Setup
- Are there sufficient wireless access points (WAP) in each classroom?
- How many wired drops per classroom?
- Is there sufficient electrical power?
- Has an assessment been done of building and network?
- Device Management
- Does the District support Bring Your Own Device/Technology (BYOD/BYOT)?
- What is the replacement cycle for campus equipment?
- Has the District standardized on technologies deployed at campuses (e.g. IWB model, digital projectors, document cameras) and when are these due for replacement?
- Does the District use a Mobile Device Management Solution for iOS/Android devices?
- Is the District a “Dell” or “HP” shop?
- Are you virtualizing servers and, if so, which solution?
- Digital Signage Solutions (read more)
- Disaster Recovery
- What disaster recovery plan is in place?
- How is off-site recovery planned?
- Is data encrypted?
- Data back-up system include off-site and out of area and is it available from any location?
- Are there redundant power supplies?
- Does the District have detailed inventory records of hardware deployed?
- Who knows how to re-establish software programs?
- Are there satellite phones for key personnel?
- If VOIP system is in place, is there a call manager system in two locations?
- Food Services
- Maintenance
- Password Protected Copiers
- Printing Services
- How many PCs, network printers, inkjet printers do you have?
- Transportation Software
- Video Cameras for Security/Monitoring
- What solutions are currently in place for video surveillance at campus and district offices?
- Has District policy been amended for video cameras placed in classrooms/computer labs/common areas?
- Visitor Management Systems? (read 5 selection criteria)
- Voice Over IP
- Is the District using voice over IP?