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Dorchester 02 reports modest gains in digital learning environment, ITS team to present at national conference
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Summary
District staff reported incremental improvements in Dorchester School District Two's digital learning environment: district-wide rating rose to 2.3, classroom walkthrough coverage increased to about 66 percent, and instructional technology specialists will present at ISTE; district set goals to reach a 3.0 rating by 2028.
Dorchester School District Two leaders presented a year-end update on the district’s digital learning environment at the June 23 board meeting, saying incremental gains show progress but that more work is needed to meet multi-year goals.
The presentation, led by district digital-learning staff, summarized the district’s goals established in 2022–23: raise the digital learning environment (DLE) rating from roughly 2.1 to 3.0 by 2028, increase observations that include DLE measures from 42 percent to 75 percent, and boost student engagement measures in the Cognia student survey by two percentage points annually.
Presenters said the district’s current DLE rating sits at 2.3 and that walk-through observations capturing DLE indicators have reached roughly 66 percent—exceeding the district’s observation goal but falling short of the target rating. The update described eight action steps: revising DLE reference documents, restructuring personnel (moving from professional-development coaches to instructional-technology specialists and adding an Apple specialist), auditing and streamlining digital tools, targeted professional development for teachers and administrators, and a data-driven review cadence that includes biweekly communications.
District staff said that the instructional-technology specialist team’s practices were accepted for presentation at ISTE in San Antonio, Texas, where they will share a 45-minute session and micro‑PD; staff expressed pride that an application was accepted to the national conference.
Board members asked whether the objective was to increase digital-tool usage or to make existing usage more effective in classrooms, particularly at the elementary level. Presenters emphasized that the goal is pedagogical: use digital tools to support discovery, creation and communication while preserving foundational skills like handwriting and paper reading. Staff offered concrete classroom examples—using digital platforms to collect responses from all students so teachers can give immediate feedback and to enable students who are less likely to speak out in large groups to participate.
"It's not so much about the computers. It's about improving student achievement by increasing student engagement and critical thinking skills in our digital learning environment," a presenter said.
The district said it will continue targeted PD and data collection and will adjust resources to reach the 2028 DLE target.
