Are you part of a vertical silo excellence? Are you working to eradicate one? When the decision makers exist in their own enclave who suffers? All stakeholders. So where is this coming from?
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On October 21, 2010, the Augusta Chronicle reported, Richmond Schools ranked in technology communication.
When you talk to the students, educators, parents, in this school system you would think that we are talking about another school district. This is the same school district that bans social media and cell phones. When you read the article and determine responses to the 5WH model, you can see the disconnect. The opening statement from Converge magazine's article, Top 10 US School Districts in Digital Technology:
Top school districts have been announced in the seventh annual Digital School Districts Survey by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Education and the National School Boards Association (NSBA). From the Center for Digital Education site, the description of the survey purpose is to, "Examine how school boards and their districts are applying information technology to better engage local communities and improve service delivery and quality of education in public schools" (2010).
So while the district not the schools tout this award...those of us with boots on the ground know that is award was meant for the school board aka The Puzzle Palace, The Tower of Power, or The RC Vertical Silo of Excellence. It may brief well but when we look behind the curtain we see the real deal.
We know Mr. Svelha does a great job of broadcasting information for RCSS through Facebook, Twitter, and the RCSS website but effective communication is a collaborative process. I give him props because he did get the Richmond County School System enrolled for the SpeakUp Survey and he does respond to emails, which can be challenging because we still run different domains. We never know if the person we send email to is using the @rcboe.org or @boe.richmond.k12.ga.us.
How much better would it be if the system went to Google Apps for Education? We will keep working to eradicate the FUD perpetuated in the community and we still review the $250,000 report from 2008, Performance Review of the Richmond County School System produced by MGT of America, Inc.
So do you exist in a vertical silo of excellence or do you work to eradicate one?
I continue to thank my PLN that keeps me connected and continues to share with me the great things that are happening in the realms of learning, education, technology, our future leaders, and the intergenerational connectivity. Please continue to do the great things that you do and know that no matter how trivial the accomplishment means to you...it is that one little tidbit that hooks the curious to research to a root cause and find a way to implement it in the real world, regardless of where they may be or how oppressive a bureaucratic entity may try to squelch their positive actions.
