Member Profile: DataBus Chats with Sue Gott

By Lisa Kopochinski, DataBus Editor

What are your responsibilities as the director of assessment and technology for Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District?

On the technology side of the job I serve the staff and students of the district by ensuring that my team keeps all of the existing technology in the classrooms, labs and offices humming along and by planning for the district’s future technology needs. The district’s talented tech team and I covered ed tech and IT matters, so we work together to enhance the basic tech infrastructure as well as provide  technical support and professional learning opportunities for the kindergarten through 12^th grade teachers in Yucaipa-Calimesa JUSD. Another key focus of mine is student data management. As the CALPADS coordinator for the district, I collaborate with data stewards from the school sites and various departments throughout the district to standardize the format of our student information system data, review and analyze snap shots of the data, and then continually work to correct anomalies so the data accurately represents the students’ demographics and course enrollment information.

I also serve as the district coordinator for standardized testing in the district. In that capacity, I train site level coordinators to manage the exams and I oversee the ordering, processing, quality reviews and dissemination of the results to parents/students, school board and school staff members. I am fortunate to have the assistance of a highly efficient testing technician who is my partner for all testing matters, so I can focus most of my time and effort on enhancing the use of technology within our schools and on the management of student data.

I consider myself fortunate to be the administrator who oversees technology, assessment and CALPADS, because they are all so intertwined when it comes to computer-based testing. Years ago, when the position was created, technology and assessment seemed to live in two separate worlds in education, but with Smarter Balanced testing heading our way in 2015, all of my responsibilities are aligning nicely so I can coordinate easily with the curriculum and instruction leaders to prepare for the implementation of Common Core Standards and the use computer-based testing in a focused, streamlined manner.

How long have you been in the computer industry?

I started teaching in this district in 1983 and I’ve been using technology in education since day one of my career. That was back when Apple was finishing up the final rounds of donating computers for classrooms across the nation and Yucaipa was getting their first Apple IIe systems. I began working as a district administrator around 2000. At that time, I served as the public information officer, grant writer and data analyst, and was given responsibilities tied to the data quality of our student information system. I officially moved into IT and ed tech leadership by 2006, when this district’s first technology department was formed and I was assigned as the director.

 What do you like most about the industry?

I have always loved being a part of K-12 public education, regardless of whether I’ve served as a classroom teacher or in a support role, such as the one I am in now, as a director.  I am invigorated every day by the opportunities and puzzles that are present in educational technology. I find it exciting and motivating to work in such a fast-paced field and to work with my tech team and peers to find solutions when difficult challenges pop up. Our job is to keep up with the changes that are occurring, serve as technology leaders, provide vision, support and training for staff and to manage technology in our districts so that students have the tools they need to graduate and be continuous learners.

When did you join CETPA and why?

I’ve found educational technology leaders to be among the most friendly and supportive group of people I’ve ever encountered. When I attended my first CETPA conference in Palm Springs, back in 1996, several members introduced themselves to me and invited me to their bi-monthly, informal peer meetings that they held at various locations in Southern California.

Communication and collaboration at those meetings helped me learn the breadth of my new job responsibilities and I found the attendees were all keen to assist each other in any way possible.   It felt like a wonderful group of skilled mentors guiding each other toward success. Over time, the group grew and, in 2011, we became the first official regional chapter of CETPA. I’m no longer one of the newbies in the room, but I still never fail to learn something new at our meetings that can be put to use right away back home in Yucaipa to enhance the services my team and I provide for our district’s employees and students.

What are your responsibilities as chair of the CETPA Inland Area Technology Group (CIATG)? What do you hope to accomplish?

Fortunately, this group almost runs itself, so the responsibilities of the chair are mostly to keep everyone informed and stay organized. I plan the logistics of the meetings and send out reminders to keep everyone informed. CIATG maintains a listserv, so communication to and among members is a breeze. There are over 50 active members in the group and many of them generously offer to host the meetings in their district’s facilities, so that part is simple, too. A few months before each meeting, I gather input regarding proposed presentations from the vendors who’ve offered to host the Lunch and Learn portion of the meeting and I organize that info into a brief ballot/survey that gets added as a part of the registration form that I send out to members. As members register, they indicate which presentation best fits their current needs and I work with the “winning” vendor to set up the catering and presentation details so that everything is ready for the meeting.

Another section of the registration form asks members for questions they want to ask during the round-table portion of our meeting.  I gather that input, sort it according to common topics, and those topics become the main agenda items for the meeting.

One of the things that I feel helps keep members coming back throughout the years to CIATG events is that we are a very collegial group and we genuinely care about the success of each member. Each of the chairs before me modeled that in their terms of leadership so my main goal is to keep that up. We also add kindness and a touch of humor in all that we do at our meetings, so it is an enjoyable way to spend a Friday together as we share information that will make our jobs easier when we return to them a few hours later. I think that combination can’t be beat.

Where does CETPA need to grow?

We’ve already started to expand our meetings to reach to higher education but I think we can enhance that even more. I would like to see IT and ET (ed tech) leaders from community colleges and universities finding value in our organization so we can collaborate with them, as well as our peers in Pre-K- 12 public and charter school agencies.

I love that there are so many regional groups forming up and down the state of California.   These groups provide a forum for educational technology professionals to meet and learn from each other all year long. The more of these we can add in the coming years, the more we can be of service to each and every CETPA member, regardless of where their school district is located.

What is the greatest challenge facing the industry and how can it be overcome?

The pace of change in technology is our greatest challenge. Close second and third runners up, in my opinion, are funding issues and the priority level that technology has in our schools.

The way I see it, the pace of change can’t really be “overcome,” but we can work to move to the use of the cloud for many applications so that the pace isn’t a challenge that works against us, but for us.

The limits of tight funding in public education in California combine with that pace of change and can take one’s breath away some days, but I see signs that school funding in our state is slowly starting to improve after years of troubles, so maybe we’ve overcome that issue just by living through it.

The use of technology is integrated throughout all grades and subjects of the Common Core State Standards so technology is now being viewed as essential rather than “elective” in our classrooms. With that, priorities are shifting to make room for ed tech enhancements such as additional professional learning opportunities for teachers and educational leaders on our campuses and budget allocations for improved infrastructure, devices, peripherals and instructional materials to help ensure that educators have the tools they need to teach.

What do you like to do in your limited spare time?

My family and I enjoy spending time together, especially where there is a beach or a Disney Park, so we head to Hawaii or Florida whenever we get the chance to get away and we aim for Anaheim or a local beach for day trips.

About the Author

Lisa Kopochinski has been the editor of DataBus magazine for more than 10 years. She can be reached at 916-481-0265 or at lisakop@sbcglobal.net.