CCE Theses and Dissertations

Implementation of the People Capability Maturity Model with Technical Support Personnel in Volusia County School District

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Computing Technology in Education (DCTE)

Department

Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences

Advisor

Getrude W. Abramson

Committee Member

Yair Levy

Abstract

The problem addressed was that many school districts do not have the operational funding to provide sufficient technology support. Whereas large companies strive to have at least one professional technology support person for every 50 computers, few school districts can afford to fund this ratio. Further, technology support is frequently ignored in the school district if it comes at the expense of hiring teachers to provide educational opportunities or reducing class sizes for students. The People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) is a tool for managing and developing an organization's workforce practices. A 6-month application of the P-CMM was applied to a Support Services Department in Volusia County School District in Florida. The goal was to explore the effectiveness of the application of the P-CMM in improving the use of best practices in a limited technology support personnel department. The results describe a single-case study of the application of the P-CMM model to a public school district technology support department. The IDEAL (Initiating, Diagnosing, Establishing, Acting, and Learning) process was used in applying the P-CMM. During the initiating phase, participation was gained and an overview of the P-CMM was provided. At the diagnosing phase, a questionnaire and a gap analysis found that the organization was assessed at Level 2 of the P-CMM. The area of Training and Development was identified as particularly weak in the organization, and during the establishing phase it was identified as the focus for the application. Competency Analysis was administered to determine what training was required. At the acting phase, an action plan was developed. During the learning phase, the questionnaire and the gap analysis were repeated to assess changes in workforce competencies. Although the organization did not reach Level 3 of the P-CMM, competencies were identified and improvements were made in Training and Development. This case study may be used as a model for replication in other school districts or organizations that need to improve the use of limited technology support in their organization.

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