INTEROFFICE CORRESPONDENCE

Los Angeles Unified School District

OFFICE OF CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND SCHOOL SUPPORT

INFORMATIVE

TO: Members, Board of Education DATE: October 8, 2014
Dr. J ohn E. Deasy, Superintendent

FROM: Dr. Ruth Prez, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction
Matt Hill, Chief Strategy Officer
Ronald Chandler, Chief Information Officer
Mark Hovatter, Chief Facilities Executive
Gerardo Loera, Executive Director, Curriculum and Instruction
Bernadette Lucas, Director, Common Core Technology Project

SUBJECT: COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY PROJECT- DEVICES GOING HOME

Based on the demands of the Common Core State Standards, the Los Angeles Unified School District is
working to meet the needs of students to develop lifelong learners who are digitally responsible and
digitally literate. A goal of the Common Core Technology Project (CCTP) is to close the Digital Divide
by providing unprecedented access not only to technology, but also to anytime/anywhere learning that
until now, has been available only to those who could afford it. The CCTP devices have not been allowed
to go home for approximately one year. The District has worked diligently to revise its policies and
procedures, and supports the devices to go home with students. Principals and teachers at the CCTP
schools have reiterated the importance of sending the devices home as a critical instructional need and to
ensure the ultimate success of the project.

Although secondary school principals and their communities have been the most vocal about this need,
many elementary school principals also have requested the discretion to send the devices home. Students
being able to take devices home make our education technology integration more instructionally robust.
Detailed descriptions and rationales about devices going home are included on Attachment A. Schools
have respectfully requested that a decision be made on devices going home for the 2014-15 school year as
soon as possible, so that faculty and school communities may make long-term instructional plans.

The CCTP staff will work with the Educational Service Centers and school principals to ensure that
devices go home only after schools complete preparations that include a school wide Digital Citizenship
education campaign for their teachers, students and parents. Parents will be provided the option to opt in
and are required to sign a parent acknowledgement form prior to devices going home. Devices will begin
going home in alignment with activities related to Digital Citizenship Week which is October 27 October
31. This will allow students, teachers and parents an opportunity to focus on the training and education of
being a responsible digital citizen every day. The District will work with a select number of schools at a
time to ensure schools are prepared. Additional District and school responsibilities are outlined in
Attachment B.

It is crucial to note that the safety and security of our students is the overarching priority. The CCTP team
has established guidelines regarding student safety and security that have been and will continue to be
communicated to schools. Additionally, the CCTP team has implemented internal measures to fortify our
recommendation that devices go home with students. After completing preparations, the schools will
decide when to begin sending devices home with the goal that every student ultimately will engage in a
24/7 educational technology program. If you have any questions, please contact CCTP Director
Bernadette C. Lucas at 213-241-5532.
Attachment A

Rationale for Devices Going Home with Students

Foster college and career readiness for all students. Learners from low-income
communities and underserved minority groups are less likely to have computers at home.
This leaves them at a competitive disadvantage in their college and career pursuits,
especially as more colleges and universities are demanding technology-based learning and
the use of online collaborative tools. Allowing students to take the devices home will
capitalize on our existing 1:1 investment to empower all of our students to close the
Digital Divide.
Support English Language Learners. The challenges of mastering content and skills,
along with language and literacy, required by the Common Core State Standards are
heightened for students whom English is their second language. Recent advances in
translation technology provide powerful tools that reduce language barriers. Providing
24/7 access to these tools, and to the multiple modalities offered by technology, increases
English Language Learners access to core content.
Enhance learning for students with special needs. Many students with IEPs have
special needs that require accommodations to access content and reach achievement levels
equal to those of their peers. Powerful assistive technologies, available 24/7, make
possible learning opportunities and outcomes that would have been unimaginable just a
few years ago.
Transform homework. Take-home devices allow students full access to the digital
curriculum. Learners can collaborate on group projects from home; teachers can create
assignments that allow students to cover the basics at home, allowing class time to be
dedicated for in depth explorations that require teacher guidance.
Break down time and space barriers to learning. Access to the devices and content at
home empowers students to learn anytime, anywhere. A growing infrastructure for
lifelong learning is available in a digital world of libraries, labs, museums, workplaces,
and homes throughout the world, and at their fingertips. Teachers can connect with
students outside of the classroom and provide new learning opportunities.
Increase parent engagement. Parents can be more engaged in student learning when
devices go home because learning is right there for daily student-led conferences.
Education and support empower parents to guide their childrens use of the device.
Schools can leverage at-home technology to strengthen the school-parent-child
relationship through more consistent, two-way communication.
For secondary schools having devices go home is a prerequisite for using the devices
effectively. These school communities have expressed ongoing and deep concern that the
positive impact of learning in a 1:1 environment has been extremely limited because
devices were not approved to go home. Scheduling logistics in secondary schools make
daily distribution and collection of devices challenging if not impossible.
For elementary schools, devices going home allows for homework that is more
consistently aligned to classwork. Additionally, devices going home will facilitate
parental engagement with the process of learning using 21
st
century approaches and tools.




Attachment B

The CCTP staff has identified the following dependencies for success with devices going home.

District Responsibilities
Web filtering. The Information Technology Division has implemented an Internet
filtering system. The system will limit access to inappropriate websites and social media
networks even when the devices are outside of the District network. Some students will
find a way around even the most robust web filtering system; thus, a comprehensive
digital citizenship program is essential to helping students act responsibly online in
addition to parental engagement.

Lock and Freeze a device The latest version of the Apple operating system registers
each device as a district-owned device with restricted activation. If a user tries to reset
the device, it automatically restores to the Districts secure settings.

Furthermore, the operating system does not allow the Mobile Device Management (MDM)
software to be removed from the device. The MDM software automatically locks
and freezes all functions of a stolen or lost device when it connects to a network.
This basically renders the device useless.

New Parent-Student Acknowledgement will include parent opt-in. The District has
prepared the Parent-Student Acknowledgement form for schools. It is incumbent on
schools to ensure that parents sign both documents and track opt-in status. The District
will provide a system to track opt in status.


School Responsibilities
Parent education. With the support of CCTP, schools will effectively communicate
parental responsibilities and will provide educational workshops related to educational
technology integration, device use, and digital citizenship. While the Districts network
complies with federal laws intended to ensure student privacy and safety on the Internet,
the District will install web filtering on all devices, parents ultimately are responsible for
monitoring student Internet use while students are away from school. This responsibility is
noted in the Districts long standing Acceptable Use Policy that has been updated by the
new Responsible Acceptable Use Policy and the revised Parent Acknowledgement form.

School principals receive information regarding safety practices pertaining to in-
school use and take-home. CCTP team members include a Los Angeles School Police
Deputy Chief, sergeant, detective, and officer who coordinate a Safety Committee with the
singular focus of establishing practices for our students safety. These practices and
recommendations are clearly communicated to schools. In addition, LASPD will partner
with schools in participating in school assemblies and parent nights relative to the devices
going home.

Mandatory ongoing digital citizenship education for students. A component already
included in schools receiving devices is the delivery of the initial digital citizenship
lessons. CCTP will also provide schools with online resources from Common Sense Media
to conduct ongoing digital citizenship education in helping students act responsibly online.

New Parent-Student Acknowledgement will include parent opt-in. This form
outlining responsibility will be signed by the students parent/guardian before the device
goes home. Students whose parents do not opt in receive alternative commensurate
assignments that do not require the use of the digital devices. At the schools discretion,
students also may be able to complete assignments on the devices during an after-school
program, if they are enrolled in one.

Access and Equity as they pertain to students Internet access at home. Project staff
recognizes that not all students have Internet access once they leave school. In order to
ensure equity and access in regard to student take-home assignments or homework, CCTP
will communicate to principals and teachers that all homework assignments must be
accessible for all students regardless of internet access. In other words, homework may
not be assigned that requires the use of the internet at home.

c: Michelle King
Donna Muncey
David Holmquist
Steve Zipperman
Earl Perkins
J ose Cole-Gutierrez
Thomas Waldman
Lydia Ramos
J efferson Crain
Instructional Superintendents