RECIPE FOR
DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
CHECKLIST
Guidelines for School System Leaders
sponsored by
March 2015
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
1 of 82
Describe desired
state/goal
Describe action
steps/resources needed
and person/position
responsible
☐ There is a clear vision for why ▪
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☐ District goals are documented ▪
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USE: For CIOs, CTOs,
superintendents, and other
school technology leaders in
designing smart education
networks in your community
Describe current state
page
☐ LEADERSHIP
mobile learning is being
implemented.
☐ Administrators, teachers,
students, parents, and all other
stakeholders understand the
vision.
and may include:
 digital living
 personalized learning
 differentiated learning
 increased creativity
 improved collaboration
and other work/life
skills
 increased engagement
 increased self-directed
learning
 other district-valued
goals
☐ There is a plan that outlines
the philosophical changes in
instructional delivery model.

Guidelines for School System Leaders
http://www.cosn.org
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
USE: For CIOs, CTOs,
superintendents, and other
school technology leaders in
designing smart education
networks in your community
Describe current state
page
Describe desired state/goal Describe action
steps/resources needed
and person/position
responsible
☐ LEADERSHIP (continued)
☐ There is a vision for change
in how instruction is delivered.
Technology is seen across the
board as a tool in effecting this
change, not an end goal in itself.
☐ There is widespread
commitment to the mobile
learning program from all
stakeholders including:
 school board
 departments
 principals
 teachers
 students
 community
☐ The initiative has a well
defined marketing strategy that
includes an "identity," leverages
business community expertise,
and leverages local media
☐ The initiative has established
policies and procedures that
align with the goals of the
program, including:
 responsible use
guidelines
 student code of
conduct
 parent notification
agreement
 CIPA and COPPA
compliance
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Guidelines for School System Leaders
http://www.cosn.org
2 of 83
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
USE: For CIOs, CTOs,
superintendents, and other
school technology leaders in
designing smart education
networks in your community
Describe current state
☐ The initiative has achievable
financial planning, including a
sustainable funding mechanism
and realistic forecasting and
trending.
☐ The initiative has a clear,
shared understanding of what
success looks like, including
quantitative and qualitative
metrics.
Describe action
steps/resources needed
and person/position
responsible
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Guidelines for School System Leaders
http://www.cosn.org
3 of 8 5
Describe desired
state/goal
☐ LEADERSHIP (continued)
P
page
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
USE: For CIOs, CTOs,
superintendents, and other
school technology leaders in
designing smart education
networks in your community
by a cross-functional team,
including: Technology,
Curriculum, and Administration
☐ The initiative includes project
management and plans for
technology, including:
 Infrastructure
readiness (network,
wireless, broadband,
filtering)
 Device readiness
(security, distribution,
management, software
management)
 Support (service rather
than compliance,
dedicated tech
support)
☐ The initiative includes project
management and plans for
curriculum, including:
 Clear vision of what a
change in instruction
looks like, focused PD
 Digital content strategy
(cloud, adoption,
created content,
repository strategy)
 Clear tools leveraging
web 2.0
 3D party support
strategy for training,
digital content, and
conversion
Describe desired
state/goal
Describe action
steps/resources needed
and person/position
responsible
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Guidelines for School System Leaders
http://www.cosn.org
4 of 86
Describe current state
☐ STRATEGY
☐ The initiative is implemented
page
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
USE: For CIOs, CTOs,
superintendents, and other
school technology leaders in
designing smart education
networks in your community
Describe current state
management and plans for
professional
development/instructional
technology, including:
 Training strategy
(content area specific,
differentiated, and
delivered multiple
ways)
 Digital content strategy
including instructional
tools identification and
integration
 Support strategy
including instructional
support, focus at every
campus, and strategy
for 3D party support
☐ The initiative has strong
campus leadership, including:
 A campus adoption
champion
 Defined measurement
tools (teacher
evaluation,
observation,
objectives, progress
tracking)
 Community
engagement
 Campus
implementation action
plans
 Measurement Metrics
(reporting, monitoring,
escalation)
Describe action
steps/resources needed
and person/position
responsible
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Guidelines for School System Leaders
http://www.cosn.org
5 of 87
Describe desired
state/goal
☐ STRATEGY (continued)
☐ The initiative includes project
page
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
USE: For CIOs, CTOs,
superintendents, and other
school technology leaders in
designing smart education
networks in your community
Describe current state
marketing and communications
plan including:
 Community
education/support
 Messaging (parents,
business, police,
community centers)
 Digital citizenship
education (students,
parents, community)
☐ To support ongoing changes
in instruction delivery, the role of
IT is changed from a control
organization to a service
organization. There is a plan for
effecting IT culture change.
Describe action
steps/resources needed
and person/position
responsible
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Guidelines for School System Leaders
http://www.cosn.org
6 of 88
Describe desired
state/goal
☐ STRATEGY (continued)
☐ The initiative has a strong
page
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
USE: For CIOs, CTOs,
superintendents, and other
school technology leaders in
designing smart education
networks in your community
Describe current state
that cultural change is
fundamental to a successful
program.
☐ There is a philosophical
alignment with cultural change
that includes:
 Understanding that
instructional delivery is
personal for teachers
 Culture change cannot
be forced
☐ Support mechanisms for
culture change are in place early
☐ The initiative is implemented
to realistic, well-understood, and
well-communicated pacing
where:
 District leadership
focuses on
understanding before
expecting change in
instruction
 Change is expected to
phase in over several
(3-5) years
 There is an
understanding that
adoption will be
uneven across
campuses with some
leading and others
lagging

Describe action
steps/resources needed
and person/position
responsible
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Guidelines for School System Leaders
http://www.cosn.org
7 of 89
Describe desired
state/goal
☐ EXPECTATIONS MANAGEMENT
☐ There is a clear expectation
page
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
USE: For CIOs, CTOs,
superintendents, and other
school technology leaders in
designing smart education
networks in your community
Describe current state
Describe desired
state/goal
progress appropriately for
distinct adoption groups (early
adopters, testers, and resistors.)

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Guidelines for School System Leaders
http://www.cosn.org
8 of 810
Describe action
steps/resources needed
and person/position
responsible
☐ EXPECTATIONS MANAGEMENT (continued)
☐ The initiative measures
page
☑Recipe for Transformation Checklist:
CoSN (Consortium for School Networking)
1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 1010
Washington, DC 20005
202.861.2672
info@CoSN.org
www.cosn.org
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