(Sacramento, CA - December 7, 2021) With the pandemic as the backdrop the last two years, two major national surveys showed teachers, school and district leaders have taken major steps in digital transition.
Now in its ninth year, the Learning Counsel’s Digital Transition Survey had 21,098 educators participate, with 373 districts, 202 schools and 819 teachers eligible for recognition by the EduJedi Leadership Society.
According to LeiLani Cauthen, CEO and Publisher at The Learning Counsel, “We are proud of the tangible progress made by so many in the education community. We see previous winners achieving new levels of excellence, as well as many new names on the excellence docket. We kept the responses open from March all the way through November 2nd before we started analyzing all the data, which had a real story to tell, and included more rural responses than we've ever seen before.”
“We are proud of all the hard work of all of the winners, but especially so the two districts who have joined the previous four so far nationally at the status of Knight, which in 2021 were Pinellas County Schools, FL, Volusia County Schools, FL. They joined Lammersville Unified School District, CA, St. Vrain Valley Schools, CO, Meriden Public Schools, CT, and Pickerington Local School District, OH,” said Chris McMurray, VP EduJedi Leadership.
2021 School and District Winners
School or district initial attainment level to highest level rankings:
Member > Gainer > Innovator > Achiever > Knight > Master > Grandmaster
School Gainers - Intentional EdTech tactics.
Burlington High School, Burlington Community School District, IA, Burrell High School, Burrell School District, PA, Lafayette Lower Elementary School, Lafayette County School District, MS, Liberty High School, Liberty Center Local Schools, OH, Lohn Independent School District, TX, Ridgedale Elementary School, Ridgedale Local School District, OH, Virtual School House, West Ada School District, ID
School Innovators - Trend-aware & utilizing digital systems
Midtown High School, Atlanta Public Schools, GA, North Bergen High School, North Bergen School District, NJ
District Gainers - Intentional ed-tech tactics
Albany County School District, WY, Atchison Public Schools, KS, Beaver County School District, UT, Belton School District, MO, Blue Valley Schools, KS, Brookings School District, SD, Butler School District 53, IL, Caldwell County Schools, NC, City School District of Albany, NY, Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, Dekalb County School District, GA , Ephrata School District, WA, Escambia County School District, FL, Espanola Public Schools, NM, Fessenden-Bowdon Public School District, ND, Garland Independent School District, TX, Gower School District 62, IL, Greenville County Schools, SC, Harrison School District 2, CO, Hilliard City Schools, OH, Jacksonville North Pulaski School District, AR, Kansas City Public Schools, MO, Logan County Schools, KY, Morgan Local Schools, OH, North Canton City Schools, OH, North Clackamas SD 12, OR, Norwalk La Mirada Unified School District, CA, Oregon Trail School District, OR, Piper Unified School District 203, KS, Powhatan County Schools, VA, Providence School District, RI, Rochester School District, NY, Rowan-Salisbury Schools, NC, San Diego County Office of Education, CA, San Juan Unified School District, CA, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools, GA, School District of Pickens County, SC, Shelby County Schools, TN, Susquehanna Township School District, PA, Sweet Home School District, OR, Terrell County Independent School District, GA, Virginia Beach Schools, VA, West Tallahatchie School District, MS, Westminster Public Schools, CO, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, NC
District Innovators - Trend-aware & utilizing digital systems
Albuquerque Public Schools, NM, Cobb County School District, GA, Indianapolis Public Schools, IN, Medina Valley Independent School District, TX, Metro Nashville Public Schools, TN, Orange County Public Schools, FL, Pomona Unified School District, CA, Poway Unified School District, San Antonio Independent School District, TX, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District, TX, Wilder School District, ID
District Knights - Flexible tech-embedded model of student learning
Pinellas County Schools, FL, Volusia County Schools, FL
2021 Teacher Winners
Teacher initial attainment level to highest level rankings:
Ace > Adept > Guide > Padawan > Scholar > Maestro > Warrior
Teacher Aces – A digital learning point of light with courageous use of technology.
Angela Marshall , Annette Orlando, Bora Benford, Charles Battles, Christine Lellos, Cindy M Garvin, Clarice Shirley, Dan Gant, Darla K. Ford, Debbie A Knapp, Debra Morgan, Denise Griffin, Dyan Kincaid, Franklyn Woods’ Jennifer Bard, Jim Crawford, Jo Ann Weigel, Judy Starke, Julia Simons, Kat Newcombe-Lang, Linda Howard. Margie Boumans, Marla Stringham, Michelle Badaraco Geaghan, Scott MacDonald, Shirley Del Rosso
Teacher Adepts - Adept at lesson plan sequencing of various tech and apps for subjects taught.
Aimee Copple, Aime Selamo, Amber Morgan, Boyd Clark, Carrie Scrivner, Danielle McConnell , Dolly Solis, Gretchen Murray, Heidi Hitter, Jayne Sheltra, Kimberly Lacher, Lauralee R. Milberger, Lisa Fisher, Loren Raimo, Richard Mark Stout, Susan Flory, Tracy Jean Tannoia, Trey Williams, Windi Foster
Teacher Guides - Manages student user experience with a wide array of tech and apps with appropriate learning activities in a guided blend.
Dana Shutters, Dianne Hill Derrick, Edyth K Duff-Andrews, Karen Duff, Merie Candelario, Patricia A. Salpietro, Portia Wood
Teacher Padawans - Uses the "force." Blending tech and intersection with direct human instruction to fit individual student needs. Uses the "force." Blending tech and intersection with direct human instruction to fit individual student needs.
Ingrid Nathan, Joan M. Jackson PhD, Megan S. O'Donnell
The Learning Counsel acknowledges and thanks these sponsors for underwriting the National Gathering event and presentation of the National Digital Transition Survey results briefing:
Glowing Screen Award - ClassLink (Single Sign-On for Education), Tech Imperative Award - SAFARI Montage (A Learning Object Repository for Curriculum Equity), Blackboard (Best-in-Tech Solutions), Scholastic Digital Solutions (best digital nonfiction solutions for learners of all ages), Desire2Learn (Build better learning experiences), Identity Automation (Digital Identity Platform for Education)
About the EduJedi Leadership Society
Becoming an EduJedi individual leader or school means moving beyond topics like “school reform,” past classroom focus and up into the “tech-blended institution.” Creating a quality culture, aligning strategy, connecting to stakeholders, requiring ever-more teacher training, realigns schools and teaching with the present culture of data-driven personalized learning. The EduJedi are partnered with Learning Counsel News Media & Research for the national Digital Transition Survey and Awards Gathering event.
For more information on the EduJedi Levels and membership, please visit https://thelearningcounsel.com/edujedi-levels and other pages under the EduJedi Leadership Society. For more information about the national survey and previous winners, visit https://thelearningcounsel.com/survey-awards.
