STaR Chart--Educator Preparation

Educator Preparation is one the key areas assessed by the Texas STaR Chart. Teachers are asked to assess themselves with regard to use and integration of technology in their classroom in six domains. The first domain is the type of professional development achieved in technology, while the second and the fourth domains are concerned with how often development occurs and the amount of technology training obtained, respectively. The third domain deals with educator capabilities regarding the SBEC’s Technology Applications Standards; the fifth domain deals with how much understanding educators have about the technology available to them and how educators use this technology. The last domain is mainly concerned with the type of professional development educators themselves receive in online learning opportunities and creating these opportunities for their students.

Once an educator has completed the STaR Chart, they then categorized themselves as either a “Early,” “Developing,” “Advanced,” or “Target” Techs based on the number of points they earned. The Early Tech has minimal interaction with technology while the Target Tech has fully integrated technology into their lessons on a regular basis. NCLB has mandated that technology standards be fully implemented by the completion of the 8th grade year, while Texas has mandated that technology is part of all enrichment curriculum used to enhance foundation courses. At West Rusk the middle school campus is still at the Developing Tech stage, which is where 74.2% of Texas educators fall as well. The good news for Texas is that only 5.4% of Texas educators are in the Early Tech stage, while 19.9% of Texas educators fall into the Advanced Tech stage.

Moving from the Developing Tech stage where so many Texas educators fall to the goal of becoming a Target Tech will take a full team effort. Educators will have to be willing to change to become more technological literate, they will have to be willing to take risks in the classroom, and most importantly, they will have to give away some of the control of the hands-on learning to their students in order to formulate and implement student-centered learning. Administrators also need to provide the necessary training, funding, time, and most important, support to their educators to ensure a more learning-based community that utilizes effectively its technology.