| State: Massachusetts | Number of Students: 6,794 |
| School Type: Public School District | Free and Reduced Lunch: 28.4% |
| Grade Level: PK-12 | English Language Learners: 7.9% |
State of Technology
Devices: When it comes to devices, Cambridge Public Schools aims to create uniformity across classrooms, so a teacher can walkinto any room and have the same experience, regardless of location. Currently, the district supports one device for every twostudents. However, by fall 2015 the district will move to a 1:1 ratio with Chromebooks for all students in grades 3-8. The elementaryclassrooms also have pods of 5-10 iPads in each classroom, which they use as a station. The high school has 20 different computerlabs, as well as three desktops in every classroom. By fall 2016, the district plans to provide the high school with 1:1 Chromebooks.
Dream Team: The district has eliminated silos between departments that are complementary to each other in order to providebetter tech support to schools. Across the district, IT, library and media staff are all organized under the Chief Information Officer.The library has become the center for the delivery of technology services, and in each school the IT, library and media specialists allwork together to support technology across the district. In doing this, the district reports that it has been able to build more capacityto support technology and has become more agile and responsive to the needs of teachers.
Tech Needs & Requirements
All tools must integrate into the district’s current environment. All tools must meet CPS Student Privacy Contract terms. The district is focused on continued replacement cycle for hardware. The district is looking to find a unified, district-wide, digital assessment systemthat would allow teachers to build their own homegrown assessments andprovide analytics tools based on the results.