Key Questions and Indicators

The key questions and indicators for this chapter relate to annual expenditures for items covered in other handbook chapters. Technology planners and administrators may want to refer to the relevant chapter for the development of further budgetary indicators. The time period of a year which the key questions imply is arbitrary; a different time period may be chosen, such as 5 years or less.

The important point of the indicators is that measurement units are ratios, such as expenditures as a percentage of amount budgeted, or amount spent per student, per teacher, or per building. Raw numbers are not interpretable without context, and creating uniform indicators such as those below allow data to be compared.

Classifying expenditure indicators as capital or consumable is complicated by the fact that coding thresholds differ widely from one state to another, and sometimes even within states. (See the sidebar to the right on differing thresholds.)

Key Question 1. How does your school district compare in technology expenditures with others in your state?

The first thought that occurs to technology planners and administrators when facing the costs of technology programs is whether or not their expenditures are comparable to those of other schools and districts. There are a variety of indicators that can be used for making comparisons; alternatives are detailed in the indicators below. Schools can also compare their expenditures to those of other schools in their district, regardless of school size, or they can choose comparable schools in other districts in their state.

INDICATORS (for term definitions and categories)

Expenditure comparisons for technology equipment	Expenditures for administrative equipment as a percentage of total technology expenditures.
	Expenditures for instructional equipment as a percentage of total technology expenditures.
	Average expenditures for instructional equipment per student, per teacher, per building.
	Average expenditures for administrative equipment per building.
Expenditure comparisons for technology applications	Expenditures for administrative software as a percentage of total technology expenditures.
	Expenditures for instructional software as a percentage of total technology expenditures.
	Average expenditures for instructional software per student, per teacher, per building.
	Average expenditures for administrative software per building.
Expenditure comparisons for maintenance and support	Expenditures for maintenance and support as a percentage of total technology expenditures.
	Average expenditures for maintenance per student, per computer, per building.
	Average expenditures for support personnel per student, per computer, per building.
Expenditure comparisons for professional development	Expenditures for administrative professional development as a percentage of total technology expenditures.
	Expenditures for instruction-related professional development as a percentage of total technology expenditures.
	Average expenditures for instructional professional development per student, per computer, per building.
	Average expenditures for administrative professional development per administrative staff member, per building.
Expenditure comparisons for connectivity and infrastructure	Average expenditures for connectivity per student, per building.
	Average expenditures for infrastructure upgrades per student, per building.

Key Question 2. How much was spent in the past academic year for instructional and administrative equipment purchases?

Probably the most important aspect of tracking equipment costs is the replacement cycle that the indicators below cover. (Coding would most likely not differentiate between replacing obsolete equipment and purchasing new equipment.) It may be helpful for technology planners and finance professionals to keep in mind that the generally accepted life cycle of equipment is about five years in education versus two to three years in business, though different schools and programs may have shorter cycles (for instance, laptops will have shorter replacement cycles than desktop machines). Also, a replacement cycle may not apply to some indicators that this key question includes, such as leasing equipment and server space.

INDICATORS (for term definitions and categories)

Expenditures for instructional technology equipment	Expenditures as a percentage of the amount originally budgeted.
	Average expenditures for instructional equipment per student, per teacher, per building.
Expenditures for administrative technology equipment	Expenditures as a percentage of the amount originally budgeted.
	Average expenditures for administrative technology equipment per building.

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Key Question 3. How much was spent for instructional and administrative applications and software?

Indicators include software purchases, leases, and service subscriptions, including online content services. Software upgrades are most likely not distinguishable from new software purchases. The school's approach to software purchases, as well as the professional development and knowledge level of instructional staff, are likely to markedly affect these costs.

More detail on software purchasing patterns (for instance, separating expenditures for system-wide licenses from those for individual class or school subscriptions, and from expenditures for one-time purchases) and separation of general instructional technology costs from administrative or instructional software and systems expenditures might be clearly desirable. Separating out expenditures for classes of administrative software (by major business function) or instructional applications (by grade level or curriculum area) might also be desirable. However, it is unlikely that such information will be obtainable from currently available financial categories.

INDICATORS (for term definitions and categories)

Expenditures for instructional technology applications	Expenditures for instructional software as a percentage of total expenditures for instructional materials.
	Average expenditures for instructional software per student, per teacher, per building.
	Instructional software expenditures as a percentage of the amount originally budgeted.
Expenditures for administrative technology applications
	Expenditures for specialized administrative technology applications as a percentage of amount originally budgeted.
	Average expenditures for software per building.

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Key Question 4. How much was spent for maintenance and support?

These indicators include overall maintenance, personnel, and support contracts. Maintenance and support expenditures may be difficult to precisely ascertain because teachers and even students may be doing maintenance on a volunteer basis, or as staff hired only to perform those duties. Loss of productivity is another aspect of maintenance and support that may or may not be able to be determined or even considered in expenses. The important factor to quantify for any school district in maintenance and support is the cost per student and ratio of support personnel to computers.

INDICATORS (for term definitions and categories)

Expenditures for maintenance and support	Expenditures for technology support personnel as a percentage of the amount originally budgeted.
	Expenditures for maintenance agreements and contracts as a percentage of the amount originally budgeted.
	Expenditures for replacement components as a percentage of the amount originally budgeted.
	Average expenditures for overall maintenance and support per student, per building.

Key Question 5. How much was spent for instructional and administrative professional development?

The indicators below include contracts, personnel, and reimbursement. One difficulty of ascertaining the costs of professional development for technology is differentiating those costs from those for staff development in general. See Chapter 6 for further discussion of this topic, including the need to quantify training by context. Job-specific training is key to successful programs, and the need to present or perform certified technology skills in order to advance may help make some professional development programs more effective.

INDICATORS (for term definitions and categories)

Expenditures for instructional professional development	Expenditures for training materials such as videos and related publications as a percentage of total expenditures for instructional professional development.
	Expenditures for external consultants as a percentage of total expenditures for instructional professional development.
	Expenditures for presentations and workshops delivered in district, as a percentage of total expenditures for instructional professional development.
	Average expenditures for professional development per teacher, per building.
Expenditures for administrative professional development	Expenditures for training materials such as videos and related publications as a percentage of total expenditures for administrative professional development.
	Expenditures for external consultants as a percentage of total expenditures for administrative professional development.
	Expenditures for presentations and workshops delivered in district, as a percentage of total expenditures for administrative professional development.
	Average expenditures for professional development per administrative staff member, per building.

Key Question 6. How much was spent for connectivity and infrastructure?

This indicator covers line charges, subscriptions for system software, and contracts with Internet service providers (ISPs). However, some connectivity and infrastructure costs can relate to specific technology facilities' requirements, such as HVAC, security and electrical capacity expansion, and even lead and asbestos abatement. See Chapter 1, Technology Planning and Policies, for an explanation of planning for these costs.

It is particularly important for this key question to separate capital investment costs-that is, non-recurring expenditures such as wiring or rewiring, the purchase and installation of wireless components and communications servers-from annual, recurring expenditures such as Internet access provision.

INDICATORS (for term definitions and categories)

Expenditures for connectivity and infrastructure	Expenditures for telecommunications and Internet access as a percentage of amount budgeted, as a percentage of total expenditures for connectivity and infrastructure.
	Expenditures for networking maintenance agreements and contracts as a percentage of original amount budgeted, as a percentage of total expenditures for connectivity and infrastructure.
	Expenditures system or network monitoring software as a percentage of amount budgeted, as a percentage of total expenditures for connectivity and infrastructure.
	Average expenditures for connectivity per student, per teacher, per building.

Unit Record Structure

The unit records below reflect the many levels at which finances are typically analyzed, based on the category of expenditure and record time period. These are units of measurement that would be determined by technology planners and/or administrators according to their own school or district's needs.

EXAMPLE OF UNIT RECORD STRUCTURE: SAMPLE UNIT RECORD FOR ANNUAL TECHNOLOGY EXPENDITURES

Direct technology expenditures:

• Expenditures for new computers (LEA total, building total, per pupil)
• Expenditures for upgrades to existing computers (LEA total, building total, per workstation, per pupil)
• Expenditures for maintenance and support to existing computers (LEA total, building total, per workstation, per pupil)
• Expenditures for new software (LEA total, building total, per workstation, per pupil)
• Expenditures for updates to existing software (LEA total, building total, per pupil)
• Expenditures for network access (LEA total, building total, per pupil)
• Expenditures for dedicated technology personnel and support (LEA total, building total, per workstation, per pupil)

Professional development expenditures:

• Average cost of professional development:
• Total for district
• Per building (by type: high school, middle school, elementary school, special unit, administrative)
• Per teacher-hour received
• Per administrator-hour received
• Per teacher
• Per administrator
• Per student