Presented by Nicole Adell, Principal, Newburg Middle School (KY); Dr. Darin Brawley, Superintendent, Compton Unified School District (CA); Patricia Alvarado, Director of Digital Learning and Learning Resources, Irving Independent School District (TX); and James Allrich, Principal, Argyle Middle School (MD)
Moderated by Lydia Logan, Executive Director, Verizon Innovative Learning Schools, Digital Promise

Sponsored by Digital Promise

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The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the inequitable access to technology and broadband required for continuity of education through distance learning, particularly for students who have traditionally been marginalized. Unprecedented federal funding through the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan provides an opportunity to make significant strides toward closing the digital learning gap, but only if we think differently about how schools leverage technology to meet the needs of every learner. Access to technology and broadband alone will not improve teaching and learning.

Digital Promise’s new K-12 Leaders’ Guide to Successful Technology Integration shares best practices from several of the organization’s initiatives, including seven years of implementing the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools (VILS) program. They have found that the most successful schools have six elements in place to establish and sustain a culture of powerful learning that leverages technology.

In this edWebinar, you will hear from a superintendent and principal whose district and school helped inform this new resource. You will leave with strategies for achieving these six elements in your districts.

This edWebinar will be of interest to K-12 teachers, school and district leaders, and instructional technology coaches. 

About the Presenters

Nicole W. Adell is the principal at Newburg Middle School in Louisville, Kentucky, a position she has held for nine years. Newburg joined the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program in 2018. Nicole earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and her master’s degree from George Washington University, and she is currently a second-year doctoral candidate at the University of Louisville.

Dr. Darin Brawley is the superintendent of Compton Unified School District (CUSD). Every CUSD middle and high school participates in the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program, with the first schools having joined in 2017. Dr. Brawley has served as superintendent for the past eight years, leading the turnaround in student performance in CUSD, which has seen both test scores and graduation rates increase during his tenure. Dr. Brawley received his doctorate in educational leadership at the University of Southern California. He has a Master of Arts in educational leadership from California State University, San Bernardino, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Red

Patricia Alvarado is the Director of Digital Learning and Learning Resources in Irving Independent School District, where every middle and high school is a part of the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program. Her departments support campuses in the effective integration of technology and learning resources for transformative teaching and learning. Alvarado oversees the longstanding partnership between Irving ISD and Verizon Innovative Learning Schools, and recently her department led the district’s learning management system integration to equip all Irving students and teachers with remote learning access. Before beginning her role in Irving in 2014, Ms. Alvarado oversaw all aspects of library services in Dallas ISD as the Library Services Coordinator. She has also been a middle school media specialist, librarian, and bilingual teacher. Ms. Alvarado earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi and a master’s degree in library and information science from Texas Woman’s University.

James Allrich has been the principal at Argyle Magnet Middle School, the only whole-school technology magnet middle school in Montgomery County Public Schools (MD), for five years. Argyle joined the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program in 2019. James began his career as an educator in New Jersey, teaching high school math. After his time in the New Jersey classroom, he held several positions that framed his current vision as a principal and digital leader, including roles as a staff development teacher, math resource teacher, and assistant principal. After 11 years in the secondary math classroom, he spent five years as an assistant principal in Montgomery County before becoming a high school principal intern and then a middle school principal. James earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Rutgers University and his master’s in educational leadership from Kean University in New Jersey.

About the Moderator

Lydia Logan is the executive director of the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools initiative at Digital Promise. Previously, she served as Managing Director of Chiefs for Change at the Foundation for Excellence in Education. Before joining Chiefs for Change, Lydia served as the senior director of policy at the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation; as Vice President and Executive Director of the Institute for a Competitive Workforce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and as the vice president of programs for the Kimsey Foundation, where her grant portfolio focused on strategic support for district leadership, charter school expansion, closing the digital divide for low-income families, and wrap-around services for students in D.C. Public Schools. Lydia holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the board of the American Youth Policy Forum.

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Digital Promise was created with the mission to accelerate innovation in education to improve opportunities to learn.