Office of Instructional Technology

Crystal Lindsay, Director

Dear Principal:

In order to better understand how schools participating in the I3 program are using instructional
technology, Design and Development Resources for Education and the Arts (D&DR) in
collaboration with the Bronx Office of Instructional Technology has prepared a site visit process
that will be used in schools participating in the program. The purpose of this process is not to
evaluate individual schools, but to build a picture of how program participation is impacting
teachers’ and students’ use of technology, and to identify schools with exemplary practices that
can be used as models from which other school teams can learn.

In order to collect this data, a team of reviewers from D&DR, the Bronx OIT, and Fordham
University’s Regional Educational Technology Center (RETC) will be conducting site visits in
each selected school using a set of interview questions and observational checklists developed
for the project. The complete evaluation protocol for this visit (interview questions, observation
protocols, etc.) can be found on the I3 wiki space for your review:
http://i3title2d.wikispaces.com/Title+IID+Surveys+and+Evaluation+Documents. We intend to visit your
school again in the spring in order to gauge the impact of technology integration efforts over the
course of the school year.

We need your support in organizing this visit and collecting the documentation needed for this
project. Below is an outline of the activities that we will conduct during our visit.

During the visit, the reviewer will complete three activities:

1. A brief interview with you, the building principal.
2. A brief meeting with the instructional team participating in the I3 program.
3. Three brief (15 minute) classroom observations of teachers using technology (these
lessons should feature teachers using technology in a core content area, e.g., math,
language arts, social studies, science, etc.).

Everything possible will be done to minimize disruptions to teachers’ and students’ routines. In
general, the reviewer will observe in classrooms very briefly and will place as small a burden on
your schedules as possible. Overall, he or she will spend approximately two hours at your
school.

Interviews
We will need to schedule an interview with you as well as with as many of the I3 team members
who are available on the day of the visit. Ideally these interviews should take place prior to the
classroom observations since they will set the context for our observations. Each of these
interviews should be about 20 minutes.

Classroom Observations
Please help us by selecting three teachers for classroom observation. These should be
teachers with varying experience using technology, and during the lesson, a typical use of
technology within the core content area should be demonstrated. If possible we would like to
see a classroom with a teacher who has worked with the I3 team in some way this school year.
In advance of the observation, the reviewer will need information regarding the context of the
lesson observed. This can be provided through a unit plan or description (if available), through a

Adapted from © 2004 SETDA/Metiri 2

 Office of Instructional Technology
Crystal Lindsay, Director

brief “Pre-Observation Survey” (attached to the sample teacher letter included in this packet), or
through a brief conversation with the teacher prior to the observation. Once again, it should be
stressed that we are not evaluating teachers or their practices; we are attempting to establish a
baseline so that future change can be noted. The reviewer will observe in these teachers’
classrooms, or in the lab as appropriate, for about 15 minutes each. Instructions for these three
teachers are included in the teacher letter. Please distribute this letter to three teachers who fit
the descriptions provided.

Artifacts

Please support the I3 team in collecting the following documents from your staff and posting
them to the school wikispace, http://i3title2d.wikispaces.com/, for review and analyses.

o Vision Representation
o Action Plan for Developing School’s Capacity to Integrate Technology
o Technology Plan
o Curriculum Maps showing technology integration
o Teacher Lesson Plan Sample (3)
o Student Work Sample (3)

If you or any of your staff have questions about this visit or its purpose, please do not hesitate to
contact me at CLindsay@schools.nyc.gov. If you have any questions regarding the overall
evaluation you may also contact Dr. Josephine Imbimbo at jimbimbo@dndrea.org.

Thank you for your assistance in making our site visits a success.

Sincerely,

Crystal Lindsay

Adapted from © 2004 SETDA/Metiri 3

 Office of Instructional Technology
Crystal Lindsay, Director

Dear Teacher:

In order to better understand how schools participating in the I3 program are using instructional
technology, Design and Development Resources for Education and the Arts (D&DR) in
collaboration with the Bronx Office of Instructional Technology has prepared a site visit process
that will be used in schools participating in the program. The purpose of this process is not to
evaluate individual schools or classrooms, but to build a picture of how program participation is
impacting teachers’ and students’ uses of technology.

In order to collect this data, a team of reviewers from D&DR, the Bronx OIT, and Fordham
University’s Regional Educational Technology Center (RETC) will be conducting site visits in
each selected school using a set of interview questions and observational checklists developed
for the project. By repeating this process in spring and next year, we hope to be able to gauge
the impact of technology integration efforts.

Our school has been selected for participation in this process and will be visited on [DATE].
With your permission, during that time, the reviewers would like to observe a lesson in your
classroom.

For this observation, we are requesting that you plan a technology-supported lesson that
represents what you would consider to be a good example of the way you use technology for
teaching and learning. In order to minimize disruption to your schedule, please plan a lesson
that is appropriate to the content you are currently covering in your curriculum.

Observers will visit your classroom for approximately 15 minutes. You will be told the date and
time of the observation in advance. To help the reviewer understand the context within which
your lesson will take place, any print materials you have that describe the lesson and the unit
within which the lesson is taught would be appreciated. If these materials are not readily
available, please take a moment to respond to the questions on the attached Pre-Observation
Survey.

Again, the purpose of this observation is to document the range of ways in which teachers are
using technology in their classrooms. The visit is not intended to be an evaluation of your
teaching or of our school. In fact, the names of teachers observed will not be recorded during
the observation. In order to document the improvements that we hope to see in the next couple
of years, we simply need to know what practice looks like today.

If you have any questions about this visit or its purpose, please do not hesitate to contact the
Bronx Office of Instructional Technology at CLindsay@schools.nyc.gov or Design and
Development for Education and the Arts at jimbimbo@dndrea.org.

Thank you,

[PRINCIPAL NAME]

Adapted from © 2004 SETDA/Metiri 4

 Office of Instructional Technology
Crystal Lindsay, Director

Pre-Observation Survey

(Please complete and return to the principal in advance of the observation)

Date of Lesson___________ Time ______________________________

Grade Level _________ Subject Area(s) ____________________________

Where did the idea or design of this lesson originate?

District curriculum Self-designed Teachers’ guide Colleague

Online resource (please name) ______________________________________
Other (please describe) ____________________________________________

Brief description of the unit within which this lesson will take place:

How would the student work resulting from this lesson be evaluated?

Adapted from © 2004 SETDA/Metiri 5