Technology Program Administrator

Part A: Program Evaluation

Executive Summary
I conducted an interview of Altama Elementary schools media center specialist, Mrs.
Fennell. She answered questions on the media centers programs, goals, budget, and
challenges. In my evaluation of the media center, I give suggestions that Mrs. Fennell can
implement to make the media center more productive and to get the students involved with
and excited about reading and technology.

Organizational Chart

Teaching & Learning Services

The goal of this Division is to help all students reach their
learning potential, with teachers and leaders focused on
providing curriculum, instruction, and assessments that are
rigorous, relevant, and aligned.

Curriculum & Instruction

Develops and implements curriculum, creates and/or provides
instructional resources and materials, manages instructional
programs, leads school library and media programs, and
communicates and collaborates with stakeholders.

Professional Learning
Supports teaching staff by providing instruction-related
training

Instructional Technology
Provides support and training for media specialists

Media Specialist
(See Appendix B for list of duties)
Methods
The methods that I used to complete the program evaluation were an interview and a review of
existing documentation. I interviewed the media specialist of Altama Elementary School. I
recorded the interview with a memo app on an iPhone and typed the interviewees responses
as they were given. Please refer to Appendix A for more details. The document that I reviewed
was a weekly schedule given to me by the media specialist. It was titled, Mrs. Fennells Revised
Weekly Schedule. Please see Appendix B for more detail.

Appendix A
The protocol for conducting the interview was to privately ask the media center specialist the
following questions after school had been dismissed. The text in red are the answers to the
questions.

Interview Questions
Center Context and Goals
1. What is the media centers history? Well, as far as I know, at one time it was a very
active part of the total school program. Unfortunately, its not as integrated into the
total school program as it was before.
2. What is the mission of the media center? The mission of the media center as it is now is
two-fold: to integrate reading and literacy and technology skills into the wider, bigger
school program; as well as to instill a love of reading.
3. What are the goals of the media center? The goals of the media center at this time are
pretty much my personal goals, which is to increase collaboration with classroom
teachers to integrate media skills and technology in their curriculum.
4. Who are the stakeholders? Well, the stakeholders are the entire school community as
far as from administration, teachers, students, parents
5. What are the job titles and brief position descriptions for key personnel who staff the
center? The media specialist is responsible for running the programs of the media
center and assisting the staff with school technology needs. See Appendix B for more
detail.
6. What is the current status of the center? I would say its an active part of the school.

Center Activities
1. What are some of the programs and activities carried out by the center? Mrs. Fennell,
the media specialist teaches specials for K-2. She also facilitates the schools AR
(accelerated reader) program. Of the media centers resources, she said, Its somewhat
difficult with only 9 computers and no laptops anymore. Theyve taken the laptop to
testing.
2. What is the purpose of the activity? The purpose of instruction during specials is to
teach the students library use skills as well as literacy skills (reading and technology use).
3. Who is the audience? The students are the audience.
4. Where is the activity conducted? The activities are conducted in the media center or in
the teachers classrooms during testing or special circumstances.
5. What is the media centers budget for the year? The total budget is $7600. Thats not
much, and thats for everything. Thats for your media center, print materials, non-print
materials, supplies, and media center tech equipment, not school tech equipment. Like,
I had to buy the projector that went in here, not in the classroom.

Evaluation
The mission of the media center is to integrate reading, literacy, and technology
skills into the overall school program; as well as to instill a love of reading in the
students. Its my opinion that the media center has room for improvement on instilling a
love of reading in the students. One reason for this opinion is because the AR
(accelerated reading) program, which incentivizes students to read, is not made
available to all students at the school. Kindergarten students are left out of the program,
therefore, they are unable to reap the benefits and rewards of the program. Reading
and literacy are interwoven throughout the curriculum, and the media center does play
a role in the integration of these skills into the overall school program, but there is room
for the media center to play a bigger role.
I would recommend that the media center consider some of the following ideas
to bolster the students feelings about reading and to develop and grow the students
technology skills: start a book club, include student reviews of books on the morning
announcements, create a reading partnership between upper grades and kindergarten
students, take a student-and-parent fieldtrip to the public library to register the
students for a public library card to encourage Summer reading, start a technology club,
start a student-centered and operated school blog, take a field trip to the Brunswick
News. The media center also needs to branch out and offer more programs. It is my
recommendation that the students be surveyed to find out what their interests are. The
media center should then align and incorporate as many of those interests into its daily
schedule and programs as possible. The media center also needs to do a better job of
marketing the resources that it already has to students and teachers, such as the makers
space.
The goal of the media center is to increase collaboration with classroom teachers
and to integrate media skills and technology in their curriculum. Again, there is a lot of
room for improvement in this area. Collaboration with teachers is minimal.
My recommendation is that the media specialist provide teachers with
technology-focused professional learning based on needs assessments findings. The
media specialist should also meet regularly with each grade level to determine ways
that she can reinforce and contribute to the current standards that they are covering.
Appendix B
The document that I reviewed was Mrs. Fennells Revised Weekly Schedule. The document
lists the media specialists duties. The schedule includes a list of Mrs. Fennells administrative
media center duties as well as her technology support and professional learning duties.

Part B: Monthly Report

The Brag Sheet displays a gallery of photographs from the media centers programs and tells
the story of the media center. Some of the things that the media center specialist does are
supervises the morning student announcement crew on a daily basis. She is also responsible for
tracking the students AR points, teaching reading and technology skills to the students during
their specials, making sure that obsolete technology is weeded out, updating the schools
website, and for running the media center.