My opinion piece on the Texas STaR Chart

Educator preparation and development is without doubt a very important part of the Texas Long-Range Plan (TLRP) in which my campus and district are lacking. This components refers to ongoing professional development to keep educators abreast of the latest technology implementation and how to apply them to their content areas. It is essential for all teachers engage in continuous professional learning in order to transform learning from teacher-centered to student-centered. The TLRP demands that teachers must "develop a new learning environment that utilize technology as a flexible tool where learning is collaborative, interactive, and customized for the individual learner." For this to occur, teachers must be well trained and demonstrate effective use of technology. The data from the Texas Campus STaR Chart Summary, further reinforces my point why this is an area of need. In the past three years, my school has received a classification 2 (developing tech). A lot of the teachers at my school need retraining. All professional development offered at my district should point toward this and each campus should have a set technology instruction leader who is there solely for that purpose and not just a teacher tech. There should be set nonnegotiable technology requirements that teachers must have, include in their lesson plans and demonstrate.