Technology is an essential tool for strengthening and enhancing the learning environment in the classrooms of today. Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT), the one federal program that is working to support technology by providing essential professional development and services, is slated for elimination in the Administration’s FY 2007 budget.  The loss of this funding will be devastating, especially for the 14 states (AZ, CA, DE, IL, LA, MD, MI, MN, MO, NH, OK, VT, WA, and WI), where EETT is the sole source of education technology funding.  And in the majority of states it is the primary source of funds that they award to local school districts for technology (Source: www.setda.org ).  We must continue progress made in using technology as a mechanism for closing the achievement gap, increasing accountability, recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers and ensuring workforce preparedness for the 21^st century.

1. Technology is mission critical to improving educational opportunity and performance for all students.

Advancing Student Achievement:

In 1991, West Virginia was 40^th among the American states by per capita income and 33^rd in student achievement.  In 1999, West Virginia’s per capita income had not changed, but its pupil performance had significantly improved and moved up the list to 11^th.  A study supported by the Milken Family Foundation discounted every explanation for these gains but one: the statewide emphasis on including technology in instruction, as represented by the Basic Skills/Computer Education program.  (Dr. Dale Mann, ASBO, International, School Business Affairs, February 2003)

Closing the Achievement Gap:

The eMINTS National Center in Missouri helps teachers in grades 3-5 to integrate multimedia into lessons. Three years of data analysis have demonstrated the highly positive effect of the program on student achievement. An Achievement Gap Analysis in Missouri found African American students in these classrooms, where technology was integrated into instruction, had no achievement gap, and in some cases outperformed their grade level peers. 

Expanding curricular offerings:

School districts cite the ability to expand course offerings, including providing Advanced Placement courses otherwise not available, as the most likely reason for utilizing distance education.  Technology is removing the geographic and demographic barriers to extensive course offerings for all students.   Costs, however, remain a major factor in preventing districts from expanding their distance education courses.  (NCES, Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary and Secondary School Students: 2002-03)

EETT funds in Virginia have been used to develop an online Advanced Placement school. As result, the number of Virginia students taking AP courses has multiplied substantially. Of particular note are Virginia’s rural students who are benefiting the most from coursework previously unavailable to them. 

2. Technology is mission critical for increased accountability and systemic school improvement.

It is only through the effective application of technology that the data systems envisioned by NCLB can be effectively deployed and utilized to promote continuous school improvement.

Promoting continuous school improvement:

School districts are utilizing ETT funds to systemically analyze, and thus improve, their overall performance levels.  For instance, the Pearl River School District (PRSD) in Rockland County, New York, uses technology extensively to collect data throughout the year from student performance, environmental scanning, demographic and enrollment trends, student and stakeholder surveys, national standardized tests, state tests and learning standards, audits, and inspections. The district publishes a balanced scorecard to communicate district progress using leading and lagging indicators at the level of the school, grade, classroom, teacher, and student. The results of eight years of continuous improvement are impressive: Students graduating with a Regent's exam rose from 63% to 86%, instructional spending increased by 43% while per pupil spending decreased by 9% due to administrative efficiencies and eligible students choosing public over private school increased from 71% to 90%.

The Vermont Data Consortium is working with the Department of Education to create a statewide "Education Data Warehouse.”  Vermont initiated a specific EETT Competitive Grant program to provide support to schools in the development of local data systems to improve student achievement through increased efficiency and support for teachers in using data.  EETT funds in Vermont are being utilized for the implementation of data systems to support NCLB Accountability requirements.

In Community Consolidated School District 15 (CCSD 15, Illinois), the winner of the  2003 Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Winner, the Educational Data Warehouse enables district decision makers to access data instantly and securely via the Internet, scan existing reports, and employ easy-to-use tools to discover, analyze, and mine data themselves. Using analysis of second grade reading performance, the district developed kindergarten, first, and second grade early literacy intervention programs. Ninety-two percent of English readers and 95% of Spanish readers are reading at or above grade level by the end of second grade.

 3. Technology is mission critical to recruiting, training and retaining highly qualified teachers.

Technology helps increase the skill levels of teachers, strengthen the recruitment process, enhance professional development, and promote retention.

Strengthening recruitment process:

The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future has found that technology is a critical element in a school district's ability to attract, recruit, and retain teachers.  As many of America’s students struggle from a lack of qualified educators, schools must utilize technology effectively to find and retain quality educators.

Enhancing professional development:

Educators are voracious consumers of online professional development opportunities.  States have created online career development centers, such as Louisiana’s Teach Louisiana,  that support teachers in all stages of their professional careers, from entry through advanced levels of certification.  

A study by PBS’s Teacherline found that online anytime/anywhere professional development plays a critical role in teachers’ growth, and in improving student achievement.  

Online professional development courses are playing a pivotal role in helping educators meet the ?highly qualified teachers? requirement of NCLB.  For example, the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board and Kentucky Virtual University offer a variety of online professional programs and courses, including those for teachers with emergency and probationary license teaching in special education classrooms. 

Technology facilitates cross-state collaborations that provide quality online professional development to improve teaching quality and student achievement, without the expense of travel or loss of time away from the classroom. (SREB Educational Technology Cooperative)

Retaining Highly Qualified Teachers:

Online networks for new teachers substantially extend the range of mentoring and instructional support available to novice teachers.  Examples of the effectiveness of this strategy are seen in the Novice Teacher Support Project, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, WINGS Online, and the Milwaukee Professional Support Portal.  These kinds of online opportunities are an important strategy in confronting the challenges of retaining and supporting our new educators.

The EETT funded IMPACT Model Schools Grant in North Carolina provides personnel, connectivity, hardware, software, and professional development to impact teaching and learning and improve student achievement. An important byproduct has been the remarkable retention of teachers, and the great interest of new teachers in joining the program.  

4. Technology is mission critical to ensuring workforce preparedness for the 21^st century global economy.

Today's students must have access to technology as a way of ensuring that they will be ready for success in the 21^st century workforce.  Increasingly, leaders in the economic and political world are expressing alarm that the United States is failing to ensure its prominence in the world in this century, by neglecting the need to provide its children with a 21^st century education.   

Preparing our schools for the global economy:

According to New York Times columnist and author Thomas Friedman, “In recent years, with the flattening of the global playing field, it should be apparent that we are not just competing against ourselves. The opening of China, India and Russia means that young people in   these countries can increasingly plug and play - connect, collaborate and compete - more easily and cheaply than ever before. And they are. We, alas, are still coasting along as if we have all the time in the world.”

American Electronics Association states: "If U.S. workers are to compete in a world economy that is knowledge based and driven by technology, the American education system must improve substantially.” (American Electronics Association: Losing the Competitive Advantage:  The Challenge for Science and Technology in the United States, February, 2005)

The National Association of Manufacturer’s testified in 2003: “Despite today’s loss of manufacturing jobs, the retirement of the baby boom generation in a few years will lead to a critical shortage of workers with the skills necessary to compete in today’s global economy.”

Ensuring students are equipped with 21^st century skills:

The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, an impressive coalition of corporate and education organizations has found: "There is a growing sense of urgency that the nation must act now to ensure that future generations of Americans can participate fully in the democratic process and the competitive global economy. One of the biggest barriers to 21^st century learning may be inadequate access to technology."

Microsoft Chair and co-founder Bill Gates warned U.S. governors this year: “Our high schools were designed fifty years ago to meet the needs of another age.  Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting, even ruining the lives of millions of Americans every year. Today, only one-third of our students graduate from high school ready for college, work, and citizenship.”

According to the National Alliance of Business? 21^st Century Work Force Commission,  "The current and future health of America’s 21^st century economy depends directly on how broadly and deeply Americans reach a new level of literacy-21^st century literacy-that includes strong academic skills, thinking, reasoning, teamwork skills, and proficiency in using technology.”

Alan Greenspan repeatedly has made the link between the health of our educational system and the health of our economy.  He told a House Hearing in 2004:  “We need to be forward-looking in order to adapt our educational system to the evolving needs of the economy and the realities of our changing society."