Instructional Media Proposal

Instructional Media Proposal

The economic pinch felt across the United States is encroaching more on school districts, which are seeing its effects in the form of layoffs, larger class sizes, and cuts to resources, programs and curriculum. At least 18 states have cut K-12 education, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and more is expected as legislatures return this year (Schools, 2009). The spending trims and cuts come as no surprise given the scope of the economic downturn, but K-12 education has been relatively protected in recent years. That is simply not true anymore. More than 30 percent of school districts have moved to larger classes in response to the downturn, according to a survey released by the American Association of School Administrators (Ellerson, 2008). And state legislatures, which have made K-12 education the largest line item in their budgets, are targeting schools as a way to help expenses match rapidly declining revenues.

Problem Statement

AISD must adopt strict and concise procedures when applying for alternative funding methods for the acquisition of technology and instructional media in its schools.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this paper is to explain a concise process and procedure that should be implemented prior to seeking alternative funding methods for technology and instructional media in AISD.

The Issues

Aldine Independent School District (AISD) one of the largest school districts in Houston is undergoing major reconstructive efforts due to budgetary issues and constraints. The district is working on budget cuts to offset the reduced state revenue by implementing a hiring freeze to reduce staff, but future state funding cuts will require more reductions at the district level. On Tuesday, January 11th, Texas Legislators began work for the 82nd Legislative Session. AISD has the challenge of being faced with a 26.8 billion dollar education deficit. Public education is 44% of the state budget so if the state has to make cuts, school districts certainly can't expect any new money in the next two years. In fact, AISD is predicting less funding from the state.

Over the last three years, AISD has made budget cuts to ensure that we would have enough money to keep the district financially sound. Aside from the hiring freeze, the district has raised class size, eliminated some extended day bus services and revised bus routes, eliminated five magnet school programs, and made cuts in all district level departments including reorganizing funding efforts for Extended Day Tutoring, and Summer School and all but eliminating funding for technology and instructional media. Technology and instructional media are very necessary parts of the education because they prepare students with the necessary tools to compete with the 20th century technological society (Henson, 2010).

To compete for alternative funding measures in AISD the district should engage in strict data gathering procedures in an effort to become more comprehensive in the needs and concerns that vary from campus to campus. Additionally, a plan must be in place in an effort to become more competitive when seeking funding opportunities. By having a strict and comprehensive plan in place, AISD may gain an edge over other districts that are being met with similar financial challenges and obstacles that inhibit an increase of technology and instructional media in schools.

Recommendations

Dramatic cuts in technology and instructional media spending could have significant long-term effects on educational outcomes. Studies have demonstrated that up-to-date and well-integrated hardware and software can improve educational outcomes (Jennings, 2003). Similarly, mastery of technology itself is now an important part of the learning process. Work activity increasingly centers on the Internet and other technological tools and students entering the workforce without exposure to these tools will be at a profound disadvantage compared to those with technology experience. Keeping in mind that the labor market that could be controversial for the foreseeable future, this could evolve into a significant national, social and economic concern.

A foreseeable recommendation for financing technology and instructional media in AISD would focus on alternative funding methods. Alternative funding methods include additional grants and financial opportunities that can be attained after surveying the needs, interests, and opportunities available on each campus. While AISD can draw on in-house grant and proposal writing expertise and have successfully obtained grant awards in the past, Harris Academy specifically has been denied financial awards due to a lack of assessment of campus, student, and teacher need. For this reason, an assessment must be conducted to determine what services were necessary, which instructional media would be most utilized, and which teachers felt comfortable enough assessing free training modules independently. Gathering the "hard data" from a focus group would prove to serve as valuable information during the grant writing process while also serving as valuable data to improve on or amend for future needs (Harper, 2002).

A precursor to planning the focus group is to identify the issues that must be identified before the grant writing process as a whole. The intent here is to bring the right players to the table to provide grassroots, key-player input (Tainsh, 2007). For example, elementary education instructional media needs are best identified by elementary educators, rather than by administrators or school personnel that are not actively involved in the classroom, and technology needs from learners would be more useful if gathered from those students that will be using the technology.

Once campus needs have been assessed, alternative funding searches can begin. Those funding sources must be in direct correlation with the problems and concerns that were identified in the needs assessment. This is important because of the time utilized with the grant writing process is not one that can be wasted on attempts to obtain resources for which there may not be a need. Finding an agency that has goals and objectives similar to your own is the most difficult step when obtaining external funding (Harper, 2002). This step places primary concern with locating resources that fit the school's purpose, fit, and need.

Once the funding opportunity has been achieved and it has been ascertained that the needs of the campus reflect the needs of the funding opportunity, the crucial step of community building and team partnership relationships can be built. This step is important because the "ownership" of the