echnology has become as integral a part of education today
as textbooks and report cards. It is a proven learning tool,
and more and more districts are integrating technology into
the curriculum to advance student learning and improve student
performance. But with this growth have come challenges --
primarily, the challenge of maintaining the technology infrastructure.
The most important component of a technology system, schools
are finding, is not necessarily the equipment, but the people
who make it operational and seamless.
Pillars to Progress, the 1997 report from the CEO
Forum on Education and Technology, noted that although "technology
is being leveraged in the classroom, lack of on-site technical
support ... may discourage teachers from using technology
to its fullest potential." In fact, an effective technology
program relies on the understanding that the technology
alone is useless and cannot advance student learning if
it is not used and maintained properly.
Educators are beginning to address this challenge. As Randall
Bagley and his coauthors write in their recent book Plans
and Policies for Technology in Education: A Compendium,
"Adequate technical support is a key concept of effective technology
integration and should be provided for in technology plans."
These authors believe comprehensive technology support includes
a technology coordinator, technicians who install and repair
equipment, and resource personnel who assist teachers and students
to use hardware and software. 
Here in the Cache County School District in North Logan,
Utah, we're trying to follow that advice. Our district has
13,000 students in 21 schools. We have 49 file servers,
a wide-area network (WAN), and 4,000 computers. Keeping
the infrastructure operating smoothly is a daily endeavor,
let alone improving or upgrading the system. Our current
technology staff -- a part-time technology director, a WAN
specialist, a network specialist, a computer repair specialist,
a software specialist/ programmer, a trainer, and three
students who help part-time -- keeps the infrastructure
from crumbling. And although it's been a struggle to keep
our system operational, we have done it by prioritizing
our staffing needs, selecting staff members carefully, and
changing how we fund the technology program. With the aim
of providing stable funding for technology, we've added
technology staff as a line item in the management and operations
budget. The long-term solution, however, is a board-supported
tax levy.
Some schools, however, have yet to obtain even a technology
coordinator. A 1999 study by the Milken Exchange on Education
Technology found that, in 1996, nearly 30 percent of schools
did not have a technology coordinator. The poorer the school,
the less likely it was to have a coordinator. According
to 1999 statistics from the National Center for Education
Statistics, for example, schools with high-income students
were 50 percent more likely to have a full-time technology
coordinator than students from poor districts.
But whether a district is just beginning to build a technology
support staff or is seeking to strengthen an existing staff,
the process of recruiting and hiring qualified employees
is similar.
The search for the right technology specialist is a formidable
endeavor. The process is fraught with frustration and disappointment
in selecting, training, and then retaining quality technical
staff -- only to lose some employees to high-paying private-sector
jobs. Last year there were more than 8 million computers
in schools, making the demand for technology staffers who
fix, maintain, and upgrade computers extremely high. According
to the International Data Corp., schools, on average, have
approximately one technical support person for every 500
students. For businesses, the ratio is only 1 to 50. This
imbalance is yet more evidence of the need for technology
support in schools.
Potential technology specialists can come from applied-technology
jobs in the private sector, or perhaps from the teaching
staff. In fact, many excellent trained and self-taught candidates
for technology positions come from within the ranks of classroom
teachers.
The market for qualified technology personnel is very competitive,
however, mainly because public education has to compete
with the private sector for good people. The education marketplace
is not organized to compete with private-market salaries
and benefits. Salaries and benefits in the private sector
are at least 1.5 times higher than in public education.
In fact, technology specialist Martin Ringle predicted three
years ago that "recruiting and retaining high-quality staff
is going to become the single biggest financial challenge"
for organizations that have technology -- which includes
public education.
Clearly, it's important to put together the best possible
salary-and-benefits package to attract qualified technology
personnel. (More on this later.)
The process of hiring a qualified technology specialist
can be divided into four major steps:
1. Develop a job description. A job description
should contain information about the school district, required
qualifications, general responsibilities of the position,
and information related to salary and benefits. The requirements
of the position should be specific, yet general enough to
encourage many applicants from a variety of backgrounds.
You will probably draw more applicants if you do not mention
a specific salary, thus keeping open the possibility of
negotiations. The closing date for applications should be
open-ended, to allow for flexibility in reviewing and then
adding new candidates to the interview pool.
2. Set a salary schedule. Most school districts
today have two salary schedules: one for certificated teaching
personnel, and one for classified, or noncertified, employees,
such as clerical staff. The importance of establishing a
separate professional salary schedule for credentialed technology
specialists, or other professional nonteaching positions,
cannot be overemphasized. The professional salary schedule
needs to be clearly defined. Grade levels and salary increments
should reflect level of training and service to the organization.
School compensation is usually driven by the certificated
teachers' salary schedule. As a result, insurance and benefit
packages will be on par with or better than those in the
private sector. Contract flexibility is another benefit.
It allows the technology specialist to build a schedule
that meets the school district's and the individual's needs.
After-hours work should also be considered. It's often necessary
to work after school hours so as to have uninterrupted time
to maintain the infrastructure, as well as repair hardware
or upgrade software in labs and classrooms.
3. Conduct the interview. The interview can tell
the real tale about the candidate. Before the interview,
of course, it's important to contact references to determine
the extent of the candidate's real expertise with technology
applications. Once you're convinced that the candidate has
the skills needed to do the job, select an interview committee
and schedule an interview.
Here are some questions you might ask:
•
Tell us about yourself, focusing on your training and career
experiences.
•
You've read the job description. Tell us why you believe
your credentials are the best fit for our needs.
•
What do you expect from this job?
•
If needed, are you willing to work on other technology-related
projects?
•
Describe a technology project in which you have had to work
with others to find a workable solution.
•
What was your most difficult job-related project, and how
did you overcome the problems?
•
Are there any other issues you would like to discuss?
•
Do you have any questions for us?
It's important to develop a rubric for the answers so that
each candidate is fairly evaluated. The interview committee
should be representative of the school community, with school
technology staff, administrators, and teachers as part of
the interview process. Each committee member should have
a copy of the questions and the rubric so that they all
will evaluate the candidate's responses on the same terms.
4. Select a candidate. In making your selection,
look for the "best fit" for the school district. This is
usually an individual who understands technology and public
education. This person also is able to communicate with
others and work effectively in the school environment.
Other factors to consider include:
•
Ability to multitask; that is, knowledge of hardware and
software issues alike and ability to juggle multiple jobs
at once
•
Ability to get along with certified staff and administrators
in a one-on-one situation
•
Ability to work under stress and meet deadlines
•
Ability to work independently and make decisions
•
Patience with a variety of clientele -- teachers, parents,
students, and administrators
•
Ability to teach others how to do things and share information
•
Understanding of how public education
operates.
In addition, you should consider whether your top candidate
is likely to stay in the position for a reasonable amount
of time, as well as where the candidate fits in the professional
salary schedule.
Once a candidate is chosen, the position should be offered
in a face-to-face meeting with the district's hiring official.
The hiring official should carefully explain why the candidate
was chosen for the position, emphasizing the candidate's
strengths in meeting the district's needs. The hiring official
should also share with the candidate a detailed description
of the benefits, pay scale, retirement package, and vacation
and leave policy, and should ask whether the candidate has
questions about the work environment. Finally, the candidate
should be offered the position in confidence.
Technology in public schools has increased at a rapid pace.
In 1984, there was only one computer for every 125 students.
A little more than a decade later, in 1995, that ratio decreased
to one computer for every nine students. According to statistics
from the National Center for Education Statistics nearly
90 percent of all public schools are connected to the Internet.
The increasing rate at which technology has been integrated
in school curriculums has spurred the demand for high-quality
technology support staff. But as many districts have found,
combining a high level of technical skills with the personality
to service folks in a public school setting is a difficult
proposition. And once you find them, your goal is to retain
quality technology staffers.
It all starts with a careful selection process.
Stephen
W. Zsiray is the executive director
of curriculum and instruction at the Cache County School
District in North Logan, Utah. Kirk
McRae is director of human resources; Michael
Liechty is ATE director; and Alan
Gibbons is technology maintenance coordinator at the
Cache County Schools.
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