SUPPORTING A SCHOOL COMMUNITY IN TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE AND USE TO BENEFIT STUDENT SUCCESS

The use of technology is a growing part of the educational environment inside and outside of the classroom. In addition, all of the actors in a school community, families, teachers, and community members, play a role in the academic success of students. The convergence of the use of technology and the increased role of community in student success is important for educators and policymakers to understand. The deeper understanding of how all the actors in a school community can work together is nothing new, but it is how these actors participate and support technology initiatives through collective impact that makes this study unique. Educators across the country have begun to focus their attention on the work of implementing one-to-one technology devices for each and every student. Such implementation has taken place on a small scale in some districts with just a few hundred students and was attempted in one of the largest school district in the nation, Los Angeles Unified School District but was quickly discontinued. In 2003, New Mexico was one of the first states to start such an initiative with the investment of $8 million, but found there needed to be more training and coordination between the state, district, and teachers. This study answers three questions: Which technology devices and what kind of access do students from a large urban elementary school have? What are parents perceptions and knowledge of the impact of technology access on student success? What supports does the school community need to contribute to technology knowledge and use at home to benefit student success? I found that there is a presence of devices in households and there was far more connectivity than I would have predicted based on national and local studies. The families in the Emerson community support the use of technology inside the classroom but are split on their support of purchasing technology over textbooks. Finally, there is a strong request for classes and engagement of families, community members and teachers so that they, too, can know and understand the devices and software that are being used to support the educational environment of students.\u2