Texas e-Plan: an Online Technology Plan Builder for Texas School Districts

What is Texas e-Plan? 

Texas e-Plan is the online system used in Texas for developing, submitting, reviewing, and approving district technology plans. Every district, charter school, and education service center in Texas—more than 1,400 entities—are required to submit their technology plans to TEA as of January 2004.

SEDL worked with the Technology Planning and e-Rate Support Center at Region 12 under the direction of the Texas Education Agency to develop Texas e-Plan. With e-Plan, TEA and the 20 regional services centers can now monitor the status of plan development in any district and search and locate information on specific plan elements. which was very time consuming when the plans were submitted in paper format.

The e-Plan Process 

After a plan is submitted, the e-Plan system assigns the plan to reviewers, who document their reviews online before the plan proceeds to TEA for final approval. If one or two reviewers decides the plan is not ready to recommend to TEA for final approval, a third review is done to decide whether the plan should be recommended for approval or sent back to the district for further development. E-Plan offers advantages to both school districts and the TEA. Districts get a uniform template that clarifies technology planning expectations for them, as well as automated integration of PEIMS (Public Education Information Management System) and STaR (School Technology and Readiness) Chart data into the plans and feedback that highlight the components of their plan that align to federal E-Rate criteria, NCLB requirements, and the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology recommendations. The Texas STaR Chart is a tool for technology planning, budgeting for resources, and evaluation of progress in integrating technology into the school curriculum and infrastructure.