Archives: Craft Data

Beyond Brick and Mortar Podcast: Gem Prep Online’s Whole-Community Approach to College and Career Readiness

In The Learning Accelerator’s new podcast series, Beyond Brick and Mortar, hear from leaders of established virtual and hybrid learning programs from across the U.S. about what makes their programs a success – and what they had to learn along the way. In this episode, we chat with Laurie Wolfe, Chief Academic Officer at Gem Prep Online, about their whole-community approach to preparing students for college, career, and beyond, emphasizing unique partnership opportunities, family engagement, flexibility, and supports to help students at every level of their learning journey.

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Running an Effective Pilot Program

This document provides a step-by-step approach to designing and executing an edtech pilot program, reflecting on the data collected, and deciding whether to ditch, scale, or iterate on a tool. Users can utilize this note-taking resource to capture learnings, discussion questions, and observations throughout the pilot.

(This resource is part of the supplementary workbook found in theMA DESE EdTech Systems Guide.)

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Digital Tool Pilot Evaluation Rubric from Mendon-Upton Regional School District

The technology team at Mendon-Upton Regional School District (MURSD) designed this evaluation rubric to score edtech pilot proposals submitted by their teachers. Teachers can nominate specific edtech tools to pilot in their classroom that they believe would meet their students’ unique needs and have an impact on learning. Once teachers submit a proposal form, the MURSD technology team determines whether or not to approve the tool for a pilot program by reviewing district-identified non-negotiables (e.g., tool aligns to the district’s priorities, meets privacy requirements including FERPA and COPPA), teacher criteria (e.g., high perceived impact on learning, low perceived number of challenges, strong implementation plan), and technology criteria (e.g., interoperability, single sign-on, data visibility). After all factors are scored on a numerical scale, the technology team can approve or reject a proposed pilot.

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Digital Tool Pilot Proposal Form from Mendon-Upton Regional School District

Mendon-Upton Regional School District’s educators can propose a pilot of an edtech tool using a Google Form. The form collects technical information (e.g., integration with single sign-on), intended usage, features, challenges, and perceived impact on student learning. Educators can also identify other colleagues who plan to join the pilot, providing additional context to the district about planned usage.

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Gill-Montague Regional School District

The Gill-Montague Regional School District is a regional school district in Massachusetts serving the students of Gill and Montague as well as 7-12 graders of Erving. The district consists of five campuses including three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, and offers a preschool program. The district’s vision is to become a community that empowers every student for continuous learning, active citizenship, and personal fulfillment.

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Focus Group Analysis Report

School and district leaders can use this template to share the results from a focus group analysis to a broader audience. This concise template includes sections for detailing stakeholder engagement, key takeaways, implications, and limitations of the focus groups.

(This resource is part of the supplementary workbook found in the Massachusetts DESE EdTech Systems Guide.)

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