Beyond the IT Department: The Emergence of the CIO as a Digital Leader in K-12 Districts

By providing needed leadership to move their IT divisions from fixing problems to driving new solutions, the district technology leaders today are effectively modeling for their school communities how to turn the lemons of the pandemic into sustainable new approaches and practices that leverage technology for increased efficiency and effectiveness from the classroom to the central office.

In this report, we provide evidence from the Speak Up Research Project about the ongoing evolution of district technology leaders to embrace their new role as digital leaders with the following key findings:

Key Findings:

• By virtue of the expanded set of digital tools and resources available for teachers and students, the role of the district technology leader now extends directly into the classroom.

• To boost increased efficiency and effectiveness, districts are embracing more cloud applications to address both academic and business operational goals.

• Adequate classroom bandwidth to support the increased usage of digital tools and resources by teachers and students continues to be a challenge in many districts despite the increased focus on technology use.

• Technology leaders have a clear vision for how technology can be better utilized and the types of tools and resources that will best support district goals.