Expectation Propels Success

The rich data provided in the Texas STaR Chart points to lots of good things happening at Vistas High School Program. In the school's first three years of existence, the campus posted Advanced Tech and Target Tech ratings in the four areas assessed in the STaR Chart - Teaching and Learning; Educator Preparation and Development; Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support; and Infrastructure of Technology. In the reviewed three-year window, growth was reported in all four areas. Infrastructure of Technology initially earned a Target Tech rating and has maintained that top rating each year. However, the key to Vistas' consitently solid STaR Chart ratings should be attributed to Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support.

When campus director Peggy Ekster interviewed prospective staff members, she was clear in her vision and expectation for technology use on the campus. "You will be expected to integrate technology into your instruction and student assignments in every class, every day if you are offered a position here," she told each person she considered. That expectation was a vision that became a reality. She knew that to set and hold that expectation, she had to have the tools in place to make the expectation the school's reality - the best equipment in student and staff hands, the most reliable campus infrastructure supported within the district's solid intranet and infrastructure, campus-specific teacher professional development and constant support for technology issues and instructional incorporation. Individually, each of those components is worth highlighting, but together they yielded Advanced Tech Teaching and Learning in years one and two and Target Tech Teaching and Learning only three years after opening the door. Campus administrators' expectation that technology was integral - not optional - to the success of the small campus mission serving at-risk teenagers set the tone that all stakeholders in the school adopted and internalized. Teachers expect students to use the technology tools available to them, embedding technology applications skills into all subject areas daily, and students expect teachers to engage and challenge them with meaningful, real-world-relevant instruction, assignments, and projects. It began with clearly communicated expectation that technology would be a key to the excellence the campus yielded, thanks to administration, leadership, and instructional support for the 1:1 community of learners.