Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross is Superintendent of Ypsilanti Community Schools in Michigan and CEO of AZR Leads, which supports leaders in developing themselves before building their capacity to lead others.
Staff in school districts across the country are spread thin. A majority of superintendents report they have more vacancies this year than last. At Ypsilanti Community Schools, a school district near Detroit, our staff of 700 works tirelessly to support our students while shouldering additional roles and filling in vacancies. As the staff shortage stretches into another year, superintendents, like myself, are tasked with introducing technology to advance student progress while avoiding exacerbating staff burnout. It's a careful balance that requires rethinking edtech selection in four key ways.
Embrace collaboration
One of the norms of collaboration our district follows is that people support what they help create. Whenever the district introduces a new strategy or technology, our first step is to gather all stakeholders for question-storming. During our question-storm, participants are only allowed to ask questions -- even responses must be in the form of a question. Question-storming puts the focus on exploration instead of ideation, helping our team speak with candor and avoid judgment.
Once a list of questions has been produced, they're prioritized to be answered. Some of the queries can be addressed immediately, but often we contact the vendor. Involving staff in this way gets early buy-in which helps when it comes to implementation and adoption.
Emphasize edtech that creates efficiencies
Doing more with less or the same amount is a familiar philosophy in education. That focus on efficiency is one we apply to edtech as well. It's not just technology for classrooms either.
While teacher shortages often make the headlines, all over the country districts lack paraprofessionals, administrative support, and support staff, such as librarians. Solutions that enhance the experience for students while creating efficiencies for staff members in every part of the district are more important than ever.
For example, district libraries may seem as streamlined as possible, but there are opportunities for efficiencies, in critical areas like tracking library inventory and media assets. This is especially true as students now need to access materials from home or prefer digital materials like eBooks.
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Librarians support classrooms by creating reading lists for different grade levels or times of year -- like a summer reading list. Our librarians used to do all of those tasks at a local level, either by building or on their own. Then we found a library management system that streamlines how our librarians manage assets and collections and explore materials. With greater capacity, our librarians can help even more students access the materials they want and need.
Elevate products with proven efficacy
When evaluating edtech, our district places a premium on a product's proven efficacy, particularly when it is used in districts that share our profile.
Ypsilanti Community Schools is an urban-suburban district. We're located 40 minutes outside of Detroit but our 3,800 students reflect the racial diversity of urban districts. We prioritize products that work for our students and staff and within our community context. Taking this approach isn't a guarantee for success, but it does provide an effective starting point.
We continue our commitment to efficacy by practicing strategic abandonment and continually assessing a solution's impact after it is implemented. Holding vendors accountable is a role our board of education takes seriously, asking vendors regularly for impact measurements and offboarding tools that don't deliver.
Continuous professional development
Recognizing that effective technology integration requires ongoing support, we've embraced a model of prolonged professional development. One-time training sessions are insufficient. They cannot cater to diverse learning styles and are challenging to schedule because of coverage constraints caused by the staff shortage.
Instead, we opt for vendors who provide ongoing training to support staff members during evolving learning contexts and technology updates. Committing to continuous training not only supports current staff but puts a plan in place for new hires once they're onboard.
Our district's commitment to students and staff is led by the core values of heart and innovation. The same goes for the way we adopt edtech. We'll never stop striving to improve how we support students with technology, but we'll continue to do it in a way that recognizes the needs, capacity and benefits of our staff.
By prioritizing collaboration, efficiency, efficacy, and ongoing professional development we know we'll more effectively navigate the staffing shortage while continually enhancing our students' paths to success.