Val Verde School District helps close the achievement gap with Google for Education tools

Val Verde School District helps close the achievement gap with Google for Education tools

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Thursday, November 6, 2014 3:00 pm EST / 12:00 pm PST

Sponsored by:

In this webinar, you’ll hear from Val Verde Unified School District, a rural district with 22 schools (and growing) spread out among Moreno Valley, outside of LA. Val Verde serves a predominantly Hispanic student body with 74% of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch. The district aims to close the digital divide and provide a high quality education for all students to ensure their academic success and beyond. Administrators are also using Chromebooks to deliver new online state-standardized tests.

In 2013, Val Verde decided to adopt Google Apps, helping facilitate collaboration and real-time feedback among their 20,000 students and 826 teachers. In 2014, the district purchased 6,000 Chromebooks for students to use in the classroom and for testing purposes. They have had great success in administering the Smarter Balanced assessments with Google for Education tools and will discuss some of their experiences.

Take-aways for the audience
Participants will:
● Get an overview of the Google for Education solution
● Hear the story of Val Verde Unified School District and the details of what made their Chromebook roll-out so successful for students, parents, educators, and administrators.
● How to use Google Chromebooks as secure devices for online state academic assessments
● Learn how Google tools are being used in the classroom and how this is improving student learning, collaboration, and innovation.
● Be able to pose their questions to Val Verde and Google

Agenda
Approximate timing for webinar
● 5 minutes: Kick-off (T&L)
● 10 minutes: Google for Education Overview (Stephen Fang)
● 20-25 minutes: Val Verde Unified story (Val Verde team)
● 20-25 minutes: Question & Answer

Presenters:

Stephen Fang, Google for Education Team

Stephen Fang is currently a Regional Manager for Google for Education and has been on the Google Enterprise Education team for 4 years. Prior to his current role, he worked with large school districts and higher education institutions nationwide to get them up and running with Google Apps for Education. He is excited to work with schools and help guide them through their technology plans and how to take advantage of the resources available on the web.

Michael R. McCormick, Assistant Superintendent for Education Services

Michael McCormick has been the Assistant Superintendent for Education Services in the Val Verde Unified School District since 2009. He has been an administrator for 17 years and an educator for 23 years. He is the President-Elect for the Association of California School Administrators Region XIX (ACSA). He is a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
Mr. McCormick was named Administrator of the Year by the Riverside County Office of Education in 2012. Val Verde Unified School District has been recognized by Education Trust West as tops among California districts Closing the Achievement Gap, was named College Board AP District of the Year in 2012, and the National Center on Educational Outcomes featured Val Verde Unified School District in their publication Moving your Numbers for success with Special Education.

Matt Penner, Director of Information and Instructional Technology, CCTO

Matt Penner is the Director of Information and Instructional Technology, CCTO, for the Val Verde School District. In this role he is passionate about building teams that thrive on exceeding expectations. Matt believes that right now is one of the most exciting, and transformative eras in educational technology. He earned his B.S. in Computer Science from the California Polytechnic University (Cal Poly) of Pomona, California and is a CETPA Certified Chief Technology Officer. Matt's other passion is his family where he enjoys time with his wife and three children being involved in their church, little league, playing music, playing games and occasionally the prince at his daughter's imaginary castle.

Phil Harding, Technology Integration Specialist, CCTO

Phil is a lifetime journeyman in the uses of educational technology with students and teachers in the Val Verde Unified School District. He has spent 26 years teaching from fifth grade to secondary and serving as the Technology Integration Specialist in the IT Department. He raised ~$12Million in funds from state, federal and corporate grants for technology to be used by students and teachers in the classroom. Phil has a degree from Ball State University and a Masters from Azusa Pacific University, in Educational Technology. He received his teaching certification from UC Riverside and holds a CETPA Chief Technology Officer certification. He enjoys helping his teachers become 10X thinkers and making an impact on learning.