| Archdiocese
of Newark Vicariate for Education |
| 973.497.4260 · FAX: 973.497.4249 |
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The Archdiocese of Newark includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties and 511 square miles of northeastern New Jersey. There are 104 elementary schools and 34 high schools enrolling over 44,000 students and staffed by more than 4,200 teachers. The Archdiocese includes both urban and suburban areas along with a diverse cultural and economic population. The Office of the Superintendent of Schools is located in the city of Newark. The Office of the Superintendent of Schools of the Archdiocese of Newark views technology as integral to education and an effective and necessary tool, capable of enhancing both the communication skills and productive capacity of our students, staff and parents. The integration of technology in education has the potential of reinvigorating the way in which teachers teach and learners learn. The students in Archdiocesan schools must be competitive in an ever changing world. The opportunity to develop technological proficiency will enable our students and staff to maximize their access to information, enhance problem-solving skills, encourage collaborative and life long learning, and become effective communicators and responsible citizens. We want our students to learn with excitement, a sense of discovery and a sense of wonder within a Catholic educational environment. The challenge before us is to envision what is possible, to assist teachers to understand the power of technology and to plan realistically for the future. The use of computers and other technology will be fully incorporated throughout school buildings and will be utilized throughout the entire curriculum. All staff members will be technologically proficient. All teachers and administrators will be able to utilize word processing, spreadsheets, databases, e-mail, and the internet with a reasonable level of proficiency. All classrooms within each school will be connected together via a Local Area Network (LAN). Every school will be connected to the Internet so as to communicate outside the school campus. Each school will provide educational programs for teachers and administrators to facilitate the objective of total tecnology integration. Students and staff will have easy access to computers with computers in every classroom as well as clustered computer resource centers. Schools will begin to replace all written communication within individual buildings and among buildings with electronic communication. Students will use technology as an integral tool in their academic and non-academic development. Students will be comfortable with and competent in the present technology. Students and staff will continue to be open to any and all future developments in technology. The classroom of the future, a classroom to prepare the students for a lifelong learning process, is seen as being a true multimedia environment in which children have access to the latest technology in a collaborative environment both for learning and for teaching. All schools in the Archdiocese of Newark will continue to acquire the latest technology to support instruction on all levels from Pre-K through Grade 12. The computer technology to be acquired will include, but not be limited to, multimedia computers, scanners, printers, servers, handheld computers and other related peripheral devices. These will be networked within our buildings and provide access to on-line resources. In addition to this, we will also be integrating the use of video technologies including digital video cameras, video projection systems, digital cameras and video capture devices. Distance learning projects for students have begun already and will be expanded each year. All schools are rapidly integrating wireless technology and mobile computing into their technology environment. The Office of the Superintendent believes that members of our staff must model for the schools, principals, faculty, support staff, parents and students the proper use of current technologies in an educational setting. To this end staff members continue to use the latest technologies in their presentations, workshops, seminars and communications both internal and external. Since December 1993 the Office of the Superintendent has used e-mail as the primary means of communications with schools and principals. Since members of the Office of the Superintendent spend much of their time on the road they also rely heavily on both voice mail and cell phones to keep in contact with the schools and with the Superintendent's Office. The Archdiocese has initiated a very aggressive program of staff development matched with the acquisition of a variety of new technologies to assure appropriate integration of technology into the curriculum as a tool to support instruction, rather than an end in itself. We have conducted technology training for all administrators since 1993 and have established a program of technology training for all new administrators, since their role is critical to the success of our technology plan. In addition to training, we are also concerned with implementing quality educational software. To address this need, we make available on-going opportunities for principals and teachers to view and examine new educational software. This puts software in the hands of interested classroom teachers who take the initiative and can give us an honest evaluation of the quality of the software. They also provide guidance regarding how it fits into our curriculum and assists learning before larger school funds are committed. The following points highlight some of the ways technology will continue to be used to support instruction. In addition to the local administrators, the key individuals in implementing technology are going to be the school librarians and computer coordinators. They already manage many of the building resources used to support instruction and this is one of the main focus points of our technology plan. Librarians have established procedures for working with the teaching staff to stock the libraries with relevant text and multimedia resources to support classroom instruction. The librarian is frequently charged with coordinating the use of audiovisual equipment. As the acquisition and use of various types of software increases, their knowledge of copyright issues is becoming increasingly important. They are the local experts with regard to information. They teach search strategies and how to evaluate sources. Most of our high school libraries have acquired CD-ROM resources. The introduction of Internet resources to the buildings is going to come through the libraries. We will need the expertise of librarians and computer coordinators to make the best use of these resources and establish a model to be followed as their use is expanded throughout our buildings. Training Resources And Ongoing Professional Development Since December 1993 every administrator and teacher in the Archdiocesan schools has been asked to attend technology training sessions on a regular basis. Accommodations have also been made for support staff. Instruction is provided at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. A major concern is that computer training for beginners be a very positive experience that will provide them with practical tools that can be put to immediate use in supporting instruction. We want to train teachers in the use of technology to enhance classroom learning. In-house instructors will primarily conduct this level of training. Some intermediate and advanced application training will also be handled by in-house staff at existing facilities, but the majority of training at this level will be coordinated with local groups, the Archdiocesan Center, colleges, and universities. We will also be conducting training with some of the local public school districts to maximize use of facilities and training staff. Specific in-service time has been allocated during each school year. We will be prioritizing technology in many of our professional development projects funded through the various government funded programs. We will closely look at the technological expertise of all new teachers being hired. The local principals will be responsible for coordinating the training sessions in which their teachers participate. We see the building principals as being key individuals in the implementation of our technology plans. As the local instructional leader, the principal needs to be directly involved with staff development and integration of technology. The principal must act not only as a role model but also as a catalyst in procuring funds, coordinating in-service training, and challenging teachers to embrace new technologies to support instruction.Overall technical assistance for this process will be provided by in-house staff members, individuals from the other schools, paid consultants, Archdiocesan Center staff, college, and university staff. Because of the large geographic area we cover and the way finances are handled, schools are expected to contract with local providers for hardware support and specific technical assistance. We continue to be involved with the local business education partnerships. School-level technology planning committees will have a similar makeup and will be utilized as one of the major resources to implement our program. Costs have been projected for the integration of computer technology into the curriculum and are included on an enclosed table. Due to the structure of our system, these costs are the responsibility of the local school and must be budgeted accordingly. Schools in the Archdiocese spend millions of dollars annually in actual costs and contributed services across the Archdiocese for computer technology alone. Distance learning activities and other video technologies will add significantly to this. Some of these items have been budgeted, others have not. We do acknowledge that these costs may change considerably due to a number of factors. The Universal Service provision of the Telecommunications Act (e-rate) results in deeply discounted rates for education. Schools within the Archdiocese receive over $1,000,000.00 a year in e-rate reimbursement funding. Federal and State grants absorb some of the costs. Computer hardware costs have continued to come down as equipment becomes more commonplace. The financial variables are moving in both directions and creative solutions must continue to be implemented to keep the situation manageable. While staff development and acquisition of hardware have already begun in many areas, we realize that this is an on-going process to appropriately acquire and integrate technology. We will continue student distance learning activities within our system making use of the latest technology. Multimedia integrated learning systems have been utilized since 1993 and will continue to be utilized to support the acceleration of gifted and special needs students. Much of our high school science curriculum is now computer based. All schools are expected to have a multimedia research/writing center in their library with a minimum of six networked computers available for student and staff use. These computers have access to CD-ROM resources and are able to access information from the Internet. Appropriate software will be made available on these systems for students to be able to manipulate the information and generate reports. we anticipate that all schools will be completely networked so that each classroom will be connected and have access to the internet as well as local building resources. Workstations in the classrooms will be made available for both students and staff. Many schools already have television networks in place. Each year classroom computer systems are expanded, and mobile computer labs are installed in each building so that adequate resources are available to support instruction. We are bringing technology into the classroom and this may mean more effective use of existing space if it is to be done successfully. New school buildings and existing facilities that are being renovated now make accommodations for technology use in the classroom as well as in expanded library/media centers. Appropriate staff development activities have been conducted and will continue to occur as needed to assure the proper use of equipment acquired to support instruction.The Archdiocesan office will consult with building principals in the utilization of government and other technology funds on the local level. There is a need to coordinate the acquisition of hardware, software, and teacher training with existing programs, programs supported with state funds, and those developed as a result of other grants. Most of our buildings already have elaborate and well developed technology plans in place to support instruction. Others continue to need guidance and assistance to put these plans in place. Community Involvement/Adult Literacy We will continue to involve parents, business and community leaders, school staff and librarians in the refinement of our Archdiocesan plan and the development of local plans. We will be opening our technology facilities to our local communities for access by teachers, parents and other interested individuals. Many of our schools have already developed relationships with local centers in their communities and these relationships will now involve technology issues and use of facilities. Parents need to know more about the technology being used by their children and this is an excellent opportunity. Many of our parents and community leaders already communicate with us via e-mail. Partnerships with local public school districts have now tied us to the district adult literacy programs in a more meaningful fashion. Our involvement with the public school sector has brought outstanding human resources to our schools, and we wish to expand upon that to build stronger bonds with our communities. In addition we seek to establish stronger ties with the other Catholic Dioceses in the state of New Jersey to be able to share resources, talents and expertise. Ongoing evaluation of the implementation of technology will be provided in a variety of ways. This evaluation will be refined as the technology evolves. Curriculum Articulation Meetings are conducted annually in individual subject areas and review how technology is used to support those curriculum areas.Archdiocesan staff will review administrative and support staff use during their on-site visits to schools.Archdiocesan staff will review curriculum integration during their on-site visits to schools in order to evaluate how effective the local principals have been in providing leadership to this process.Technology will receive higher priority in discussions at our regular principals meetings and during in-service programs.Local principals will be expected to review the progress of integration in the individual classrooms.Newsletters to parents will serve to inform them of the new directions we are taking in our schools.Survey forms have already been put into place to evaluate acquisition and integration of technology; these surveys will continue and additional ones will be initiated as needed.Student achievement will continue to be evaluated by standardized tests, classroom tests, portfolios and teacher observation. We have already seen the impact of graphing calculators and computers in reducing teaching time. Complex concepts which used to take as much as two weeks to present to students are now covered in two days in a much more thorough fashion. On-line libraries are putting vast resources in the hands of students and teachers. Science experiments using the most dangerous of chemicals can now be safely simulated on a computer. We can now go on-line and travel live with explorers from outer space to the depths of the sea. We can plunge into the deepest, darkest jungles and climb the highest mountains or watch a live volcano while world renowned experts answer our questions. Technology is helping students take a more active role in their learning and is leveling the playing field for the economically challenged, minority groups and the handicapped. Stereotypical role models are changing as fast as technology. The best teaching practices and curriculum resources are now being made available to students, teachers and parents. Team teaching and collaboration are increasing. Parents are being invited to take a more active role in education. This is bringing about a very positive and dramatic change. Our schools will be ready to support any performance standards that may be developed as well as the National Education Goals, and our students will be prepared to surpass those goals. Technologies in the Instructional Areas: Art
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