Overview

	CoSN's School District Chief Technology Officers' (CTO) Council What it Takes: Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO School District CTOs: Lifelong Learners?

The job of overseeing a school district's technology program has grown exponentially in recent years as computers, the Internet and other technology applications have become essential to the daily operation of schools. What does today's district-level technology leader need to know in order to keep up with the challenge of ever-changing technologies and ever-shrinking budgets?

That is the question a group of technology leaders, affiliated with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), has set out to address.

1. Leadership and Vision: Developing a shared vision and big-picture perspective on a district's goals is crucial to planning for meaningful and effective uses of technology. whether acting as a member of the executive cabinet or the leader of a technology team that reports to cabinet-level administrators, the CTO plays a key role in district-wide planning and goal-setting. In this context, an effective CTO is one who is equally comfortable serving as a change agent and a consensus builder.
   
   
2. Planning and Budgeting: The CTO has primary responsibility for transforming that vision into a long-range plan. An effective framework for such planning begins with strategic challenges - things that the district must do in order to be successful - and then moves on to more specific goals, objectives and action plans.
   
   
3. Team Building and Staffing: A staffing strategy to support a district's technology plan cannot be developed as an afterthought; it should be an integral part of strategic planning from the very beginning. One technique for determining whether there is a good match between current personnel and future needs is to build and compare two organization charts.
   
   
4. Systems Management: Typically, the majority of a CTO's time is spent overseeing the day-to-day operation of the district's IT systems. All of the project management and personal leadership skills described earlier come into play in the effective running of this large-scale enterprise, as does the need to be a perpetual learner.
   
   
5. Information Management: The fact that a growing number of districts use the title "chief information officer" to refer to their highest-level technology leader is a reflection of the crucial role information plays in today's schools. The accountability movement and the powerful data-gathering abilities of digital-age tools have combined to produce an information culture in which data management is key to strategic planning.
   
   
6. Business Leadership: Typically, the CTO advises the superintendent or CFO on technology expenditures. He or she oversees the selection of technology items; reviews requisitions for their purchase; and exercises authority to approve, amend or reject purchases based upon compatibility with district goals and needs.
   
   
7. Education and Training: Professional development is a crucial, often underfunded, aspect of a district's technology program. The CTO has the responsibility to oversee district-wide, technology-related staff development efforts - from ensuring a sufficient budget through the implementation and assessment process.
   
   
8. Ethics and Policies: An effective CTO understands the social, legal and ethical issues related to technology and models responsible decision-making with regard to these areas. For starters, the CTO oversees the creation, revision and enforcement of the district's Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). This involves consensus-building around key issues related to appropriate uses of the Internet and e-mail, as well as communication with all parties about what is expected of them.
   
   
9. Communication Systems: Communicating with all members of the educational community is key to any school or district leader's role. The CTO has the chance - and the responsibility - to hone the tools with which these sorts of information exchanges happen. In fact, technology-enhanced communication with stakeholders, including students, staff and community members, provides one of the most tangible methods of demonstrating the value of technology resources.
   
   

In summary, the K-12 CTO must be a skilled administrator,a knowledgeable educator, an effective communicator, and a technologically-savvy individual who can work with all district staff at all levels within the organization. Still interested? Apply at your closest K-12 school district!