| State: Maryland | Number of Students: 82,354 |
| School Type: Public School District | Free and Reduced Lunch: 64.7% |
| Grade Level: PK-12 | English Language Learners: 5.6% |
School Context
Academic Access: BCPSS aims to give students access to highly engaging curriculum that meets the Common Core standards,using targeted interventions when necessary to increase student progress.
Staff Support: BCPSS is focused on recruiting, developing, and retaining high quality staff.
Keeping It Positive: BCPSS aims for a positive culture in all schools, where students and staff feel safe and thrive in teaching andlearning.
Making Connections: BCPSS highly values family engagement and is focused on strengthening family communication withschools in order to boost student success.
State of Technology
PD Gets Priority: The school district highly values the impact of professionaldevelopment. To support tech topics, the district supports a “Tech LeadersProgram” where designated school members attend monthly PD sessionsto learn more about integrating technology. These individual members thenreturn back to their school sites to share their learning with their peers.
Dispensing Devices: Since May 2011, Baltimore City has been on the huntfor devices. They have deployed around 7,200 total devices throughout thedistrict, including 14 carts of Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga computers distributed toschools in January 2015. The district will continue purchasing more devicesgradually. Most common are Yoga laptops, iPads and Virtual Desktops.
Rec and Tech: Liberty Elementary has built out a full service communitycenter with a special focus on technology, called the Rec and Tech Center.The center has a full service tech lab filled with iPads and desktop devices.Students use the tech lab for working on assignments or even relaxing witha game of Minecraft. The Rec and Tech Center also offers access and classesto parents, so they have a place where they can build their own tech skills.Liberty Elementary teachers lead after-school clubs on topics such as webdesign, video editing, digital music and robotics. The nonprofit Code in theSchools teaches video game design and programming at the center as well.But technology isn’t the only thing going on. The Center has even been knownto provide horse riding as part of its afterschool program.
Patterson High School: This high school includes four career-themedacademies, which offer a variety of pathways in Career and TechnologyEducation. The Academy of Engineering Technology, which is affiliated with Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a STEM program focused on project-based learning, cooperative learning and integration of STEM education to solve complex, real-world problems. The program provides curriculum,professional development and partnerships that support STEM education.
Rolling Out 365: The largest project for Baltimore City Public Schools in2014-15 has been the rollout of the Office 365 suite. The district aims to usethe tool to support student and teacher collaboration, give students emailaddresses and increase communication across the board. Currently, all staffmembers and students in grades 6-12 have accounts. The district will work onrolling out accounts to elementary students by the end of the year. Office 365integration will become a big priority in the coming year.
Rocking RTT: With a $52.7 million Race To The Top grant, won in 2010, the district has supported professional development and transforming low-performing schools. It also focused on developing CCSS aligned curriculum and assessments, boosting the rigor of instruction. Funding was alsoused to build out the technology infrastructure including linking data withinstructional tools to help teachers to use data in meaningful ways.
Tech Needs & Requirements
Integration with Office 365 is preferable. Tools are vetted based on how they support communicationskills, collaboration skills or college and career ready skills. The district is interested in digital literacy tools that prepare students for PARCC assessments. Baltimore City is also looking for classroom response and collaboration tools that allow teachers toquickly share information to students, while students formulate their answers and efficiently send them back to the teacher.
Initiatives
Office 365: The biggest push in 2014-15 school year is to roll out Office 365 to all students and staff. The district expects this workwill be complete by the end of the academic year.
SIS Switch: Due to the sunsetting of the district’s current Student Information System tool, Pearson Student ManagementSystem, the district is in the process of looking for a new SIS tool for next year. The needs of the district have evolved since theimplementation of their current tool, so leaders will spend the rest of the year going through a formal requirements process andwill then put out a request for proposal in 2015.
Single Sign On: The district is in the process of thinking through a single sign on solution. They will most likely start working ona project to build their own in-house tool by July 2015, while also building a partnership with Clever to help manage their rosterdata.