Introduction

  • The mission of Atlanta Public Schools (APS) states that “With a caring culture of trust and collaboration, every student will graduate ready for college, career and life.” Being college and career ready in an ever-changing global economy means acquiring knowledge and skills in academia, through the use of technology, to communicate, collaborate, and solve problems.

    The Information Technology (IT) Division has built this five–year technology plan to align goals and guardrails with the District’s 2020 – 2025 “We Are APS – Building on our Legacy” strategic plan. The planning process involved gathering feedback from students, teachers, staff, and the community through surveys and collaboration with other departments. The process also involved research and identifying the best practices for educational technology tools.

    The plan is structured by the Information Technology department, with each program summarizing its current access and use of technology, how it operates to support technological implementations, its future vision to enhance technology access and use, and the challenges that must be addressed to achieve the future vision, or gap analysis. The five goals, listed below, emerged in response to the collective current reality, future vision, and growth areas. This plan outlines the technology response to support the strategic goals of the APS 5 overall vision, of being a high–performing school District where students love to learn, educators inspire, families engage, and the community trusts the system.

     

    APS 5

    1.       Data

    Utilize Data to drive all instructional decisions and ensure equitable outcomes for all students

    2.       Curriculum & Instruction

    Educators provide rigorous, culturally relevant content, taught well

    3.       Whole Child & Intervention

    Implement a Whole-Child system of support that integrates social-emotional learning behavior, wellness, and comprehensive academic intervention plans

    4.       Personalized Learning

    Utilize flexible learning tools, technology integration, and targeted instruction to allow students to take ownership of their learning and growth at an adequate pace

    5.       Signature Learning

    Strengthen the implementation of signature programming across all schools