6. District bans on student devices are shrinking – only 11 percent have banning policies.
7. The path to IT leadership differs for women and men. While 36 percent of respondents were women (compared to 27 percent in IT positions in schools and districts nationally), the vast majority of women come from educational / instructional backgrounds (72 percent). The majority of men (54 percent) come from technology / technical backgrounds.
8. Racial diversity in IT leadership is lacking. Ninety-percent of school IT leaders are white.
9. IT leaders have advanced education, with 75 percent earning some college beyond their bachelor’s degree.
10. Demographics are changing. More than one-third of IT leaders plan to retire in the next six years, but many respondents said they would not retire for more than 10 years.
Respondents cited major challenges including budget constraints and lack of resources; the existence of silos that hamper collaboration; and lack of vision and support from senior district leadership. When it came to salary, most respondents said they make less than $100,000 per year; virtually none make more than $160,000.
“Clearly IT leaders are embracing online solutions, yet budget and resource constraints are still very real in many schools. There is an opportunity for district technology leaders to leverage their peer network to address these priorities and harness proven creative solutions,” said Krueger.
The 2016 K-12 IT Leadership Survey was conducted in partnership with MDR and sponsored by SchoolDude.
Material from a press release was used in this report.
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