A tech-centered
journey to transform
teaching and learning
In Romoland
School District, the
superintendent, board,
educational services
and tech leaders created
a plan for instructional
technology with an equity
focus that’s transforming
the classroom experience
for students and teachers.
8
Leadership
Educational equity is a topic
that is at the forefront of what we, in the
K-12 system, are talking about and work-
ing toward in our respective districts. Ac-
cess to information and knowing how to
use that information are the equity issues
of our time. We must provide our students
the opportunity to access information from
sources like the world’s instruction manual
(YouTube) and the world’s democratic ency-
clopedia (Wikipedia).
In the Romoland School District, access
to technology was the initial driver for our
efforts while creating an instructional envi-
ronment that is centered around technology.
This is our story.
Like with any major change or educa-
tional shift, an appropriate place to start is
with the board of education. We were for-
tunate in Romoland to have a board that
believed in educational equity and also be-
lieved that access to information was criti-
cal. The members supported the idea of our
administrative team working with our com-
munity to build a coalition of early adopt-
ers and supporters for the idea of providing
every student with access to instructional
technology every day.
First, we needed someone to lead this
work. This is where the superintendent
provided the board with information and a
request to eliminate the technology coordi-
nator position in favor of a chief technology
officer (CTO), a cabinet-level position. The
superintendent used the Consortium for
School Networking (CoSN) Framework of
Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO.
This document makes the case for the
CTO-level position and ensures that in-
structional technology becomes an inte-
grated component for student learning.
In structional technology went from being
someone’s additional assignment, to being
someone’s complete focus.
With the board support in place and the
CTO hired, it was time to co-create the vi-
sion and plan for sustainability.
Embarking on a venture of this mag-
nitude can be intimidating. What are the
By Julie A. Vitale, Trevor Painton
and Vince Butler