I have been involved in many discussions with site and district administration about the many plans, reports, documents that they have to be updated yearly. In the past couple of years, one question that keeps coming up in those discussions is if there is a way or system that will streamline the process of updating all these documents? For example, the Title I Resource Teachers collaborate to update the LCAP and SPSA. In the process they have identified many similarities between the two documents and discussed how they can simplify the process; however, they haven’t found the time to brainstorm this idea, let alone develop a system to streamline it.
These thoughts came to my mind as I attempt to tackle the question, is it a good practice for a district to combine their “education plan” and “technology plan” instead of having two separate documents? I must admit that I still have a lot to learn about Enterprise Architecture (EA); however with my new learning on EA, I believe that it would be good practice to combine these two plans. According to the US Department of Education Reform Support Network Education Enterprise Architecture Guidebook, “Education enterprise architecture, or EEA, is a strategic framework that can provide the structure, plan and processes to achieve an education agency’s vision and goals by aligning its business and program side with information technology (IT)” (p. 5). An EEA will provide the alignment and structure, for combining both an education and technology plan, and ensure that a district reaches their mission and vision and maximizes its resources and expertise.
The EEA has four main components: business, information, application and technology. An organization can choose to take a segment or comprehensive approach to implement an EEA, “the agency will follow the same high-level process for the development of each of the four architecture components” (p. 14). My district has an education plan and a separate technology plan. Each required a separate committee, a separate number of hours to complete, a separate set of goals and a separate set of resources. The EEA is a strategic framework, that will combine all these elements to maximize the district’s potential in increasing student achievement.
Education Enterprise Architecture Guidebook - Home | U.S ... (2014, March). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/implementation-support-unit/tech-assist/education-architecture-guidebook.pdf
These thoughts came to my mind as I attempt to tackle the question, is it a good practice for a district to combine their “education plan” and “technology plan” instead of having two separate documents? I must admit that I still have a lot to learn about Enterprise Architecture (EA); however with my new learning on EA, I believe that it would be good practice to combine these two plans. According to the US Department of Education Reform Support Network Education Enterprise Architecture Guidebook, “Education enterprise architecture, or EEA, is a strategic framework that can provide the structure, plan and processes to achieve an education agency’s vision and goals by aligning its business and program side with information technology (IT)” (p. 5). An EEA will provide the alignment and structure, for combining both an education and technology plan, and ensure that a district reaches their mission and vision and maximizes its resources and expertise.
The EEA has four main components: business, information, application and technology. An organization can choose to take a segment or comprehensive approach to implement an EEA, “the agency will follow the same high-level process for the development of each of the four architecture components” (p. 14). My district has an education plan and a separate technology plan. Each required a separate committee, a separate number of hours to complete, a separate set of goals and a separate set of resources. The EEA is a strategic framework, that will combine all these elements to maximize the district’s potential in increasing student achievement.
Education Enterprise Architecture Guidebook - Home | U.S ... (2014, March). Retrieved April 3, 2016, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/implementation-support-unit/tech-assist/education-architecture-guidebook.pdf