Learning and Innovation

Learning takes place when three cohesive components work together towards a shared vision. One piece is leadership. The leadership sets the vision for the district and has a deep understanding of what effective technology integration looks like. Leadership is responsible for educating the teaching staff on the vision so that they can put it into practice. Teaching is the next step and one of the most influential components in this process. The classroom teacher has the unique ability of exposing the students to the technology and igniting their passion for learning. Assessment is the final step in ensuring that the learning takes place. With assessment we can understand where our students are, where they should be, and how we get them to that end result. This is a constantly evolving and flowing process. It is imperative that each piece of the process is in place so that the end goal can be achieved: student learning.

We believe that technology can transform a learning experience when purposefully and intentionally incorporated into the established curriculum. We also understand that the world of technology is constantly changing. As technology changes we recognize that the role of the educator is changing. In order to be current with educational technology research, standards, and strategies, all educators should be seeking new knowledge along with their students. This shared vision will help to implement broad changes throughout the district.

Assessment

What we do:

Facilitate the administration and analysis of all federal and state requirements. This includes the following:
- National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
- Smarter Balanced Assessments: English language arts (ELA) and mathematics for grades 3 - 8 and high school
- Washington Comprehensive Assessments of Science (WCAS): Science testing for grades 5, 8, and 11
- Conduct and produce the Peninsula School District Healthy Youth Survey
  - Press release here
  - Most recent results here
- OSPI - Developed Assessments
District reading, math screening, and diagnostic assessments for grades K - 8
Coordinate staff development opportunities in the area of student assessment and grading
Monitor federal and state accountability requirements
Assist school leaders, staff, students, and parents in the effective use of assessment data to set goals, inform instruction, and monitor student academic progress
Facilitate graduation assessment requirements and alternatives

Curriculum

Department Responsibilities

Alignment of the district curriculum with the state standards
Professional development for paraeducators, teachers, and administrators
Alignment of curriculum, instructional materials, and professional development

Our focus is to communicate clear standards and achievement goals to instructional leaders and staff so that all students are able to reach their full potential. We believe that an aligned K-12 curriculum along with quality instruction and focused classroom assessments must be in place in order to provide a meaningful and rigorous experience for all of our students. The Department of Learning and Innovation works with all departments and teacher leaders to select quality resources for the classroom, determine professional development needs, and provide leadership and support to instructional staff.

Technology and the Curriculum

Schoology, our district learning management system, is used in all secondary and some elementary schools. It provides a dynamic student-centric learning environment.

With the combination of access to Chromebooks throughout the school day and at home and quality instructional practices, our students will be able to:

leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving, and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences;
recognize the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning, and working in an interconnected digital world, and act and model in ways that are safe, legal, and ethical;
critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts, and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others;
use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful, or imaginative solutions;
develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions;
communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats, and digital media appropriate to their goals; and
use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). ISTE standards for students.
Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students

Common Core
Professional Development
School Improvement Planning

Technology

Below you will find our educational technology plan for the 2016-2021 school years. As you read through the plan, you will see a focus on: one-to-one devices for every student grades 3-12; greatly expanded professional development across all staff including administrators; substantial increases in our work on digital citizenship and tech literacy; and a solid, sustainable, and expandable infrastructure. The plan is also directly tied to the PSD Board-adopted strategic plan as you will see via the goals of each of the associated sections.

2016-2021 Peninsula Educational Technology Plan

all the time learning

Teaching & Learning

Possibilities

Why we are sending home devices with students

Our goal is to foster a learner-focused environment where all learners have voice, choice, time for reflection, opportunities for innovation, opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving/finding, self-assessment, and connected learning. PSD Possibilities will provide a device for every student in the Peninsula School District. Students in grades sixth through twelfth will take their assigned Chromebook to and from school each day. We understand that providing a device alone will not make this change happen, although it will accelerate the possibility for change. By ensuring our learners have equitable access to the tools needed to learn, we are empowering learning that will extend beyond the classroom.

Learn more about the PSD Possibilities program here.