Introduction to Enhancing Education Through Technology

1. Introduction to Enhancing Education Through Technology Charles Lovett John Bailey Charles.Lovett@ed.gov John.Bailey@ed.gov February 2002

2. Power Point & Guidance • This Power Point is designed to supplement the existing summary and guidance documents. • Please refer to the guidance documents available at:http://www.ed.gov/nclb

3. No Child Left Behind • President Bush has made education his number one domestic priority. • The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, embodies the four principles: • stronger accountability for results • expanded flexibility and local control • expanded options for parents • an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work

4. Changes in the Landscape… • The role of states • The imperative for collaboration • The way we think about education • The need for research, evaluation, and developing a compelling case • The way we fund technology

5. Secretary Paige’s Technology Priorities • No Child Left Behind Implementation • National Educational Technology Plan • Long-term Research Study • What are the effective conditions for technology to improve student achievement and instruction? • eLearning • What policies, laws, and regulations must be changed to accommodate virtual high schools, cyber charter schools, and online learning opportunities? • Online Assessment • Data Driven Decision making

6. No Child Left Behind’s Commitment to Educational Technology • Every educational program is an opportunity for technology funding. • Technology is “integrated” throughout the “curriculum” programs of No Child Left Behind (Reading First, Math and Science Partnerships, Teacher Quality, etc.) • Commitment to professional development. • At least 25 percent of the State Ed Tech Grant funds. • Flexible use of funds • Distance learning, online services, data driven decision making systems, Internet connectivity, computers, PDAs, training… • Commitment to evaluation and research • Identifying the conditions for technology to improve student achievement and instruction and measuring the impact technology has in education.

7. Secretary Paige: “For years, our officials have said they wanted to integrate technology with curricula. No Child Left Behind takes that goal seriously by integrating technology into its programs. So schools can use Reading First funds to purchase literacy software or use Mathematics and Science Partnership funds to provide online courses. In effect, every education program is an opportunity for technology. ” “It is time to realize the full potential of the technology investment we have made during the last decade. It is time to move beyond talking about the potential of technology to change education–we need to prove it. We need to study what technologies have the most dramatic impact on what types of students. We need to move our efforts, as the Web-based Commission said in its report, from promise to practice. ”

8. Enhancing Education Through TechnologyState Ed Tech Program

9. Changes from TLCF • 56 percent increase in funding ($700 million) • Within-State Allocations - 50 percent by formula, 50 percent by competitive grants. • Targeting - high-need LEAs and partnerships. • Professional Development - Requires each LEA receiving funds to use at least 25 percent for high-quality professional development. • National Activities - Requires a national study and authorizes the Department to provide technical assistance to recipients of program funds.

10. Goals • Improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in schools • Assist all students in becoming technologically literate by the end of eighth grade • Encourage the effective integration of technology with teacher training and curriculum development to establish successful research-based instructional methods.

11. Program Purposes • Assist States and localities in implementing a comprehensive system that effectively uses technology in schools to improve student academic achievement. • Encourage the establishment or expansion of initiatives that are designed to increase access to technology, particularly in schools served by “high-need local educational agencies.”

12. Support effective educational technology infrastructures that expand access of technology to students (particularly disadvantaged students) and teachers. • Support initiatives that enable school personnel and administrators to integrate technology effectively into curriculumand instruction.

13. Enhance ongoing professional development for teachers, principals, and administrators. • Support the development and use of electronic networks and other innovative methods, such as distance learning.

14. Support efforts to use technology enhance communication among students, parents, and school personnel. • Support rigorous evaluation of programs, particularly regarding the impact of these programs on student academic achievement.

15. State Allocation Determinations • The amount a State receives in a given year is based on the proportion of funds it receives under Part A of Title I for that year. • No State receives less than one-half of one percent of the funds made available under the program.

16. State Allocation Breakdown • State activities -- up to 5 percent may be used for State-level activities and to assist local efforts to carry out the purposes of the program. • Formula grants -- 50 percent distributed on a formula basis to eligible LEAs that have submitted applications to the State. • Competitive grants -- 50 percent distributed on a competitive basis to eligible local entities that have submitted applications to the State.

17. State Use Funds (5%) • Delivery of specialized or rigorous academic courses and curricula through the use of technology, and providing other technical assistance to grant applicants and recipients, with priority given to high-need LEAs. • Supporting public-private initiatives for acquiring technology for high-need LEAs and students served by these LEAs (e.g. : revolving loans)

18. Supporting professional and curriculum development that includes the integration of advanced technologies. • Assisting grant recipients in providing all students and teachers with access to educational technology. • Developing performance measurement systems to evaluate the effectiveness of programs supported with Ed Tech funds. • Collaborating with other SEAs on distance learning.

19. Administrative Costs • Up to 60% of the state use funds (5%) may be used for administrative costs. • A State may consolidate State administration funds under any ESEA program. • A State may use consolidated State administrative funds to administer the programs included in the consolidation.

20. Accountability • SEAs must develop a process and accountability measures to evaluate effectiveness of integrating technology into curricula and instruction. • These accountability measures should evaluate the impact that Ed Tech activities have had on student achievement. • The legislation expressly authorizes States to use funds that are set aside for State-level activities to develop performance measurement systems to determine program effectiveness.

21. Accountability • LEAs must also develop a process and accountability measures that they will use to evaluate the effectiveness of activities in: • integrating technology into curricula and instruction • increasing the ability of teachers to teach • enabling students to meet challenging State standards. • The SEA is responsible for ensuring that LEAs and eligible local entities comply with Ed Tech statutory requirements.

22. State Application Process

23. Applications Consolidated Single

24. Consolidated Application • Timing of awards • Application approval (submission and review) • Availability of allocation data (Title I numbers in April/May) • Awards planned for July 1 • Requirements • All statutory requirements still apply; but not all must be submitted for approval • Content still being determined • March 6 Federal Register Notice inviting commenthttp://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/proprule/2002-1/030602a.html • States are encouraged to comment on what the requirements should be.

25. Consolidated Application • Benefits • Simpler • Cross cutting education goals and indicators for states • Requires cross-program coordination and planning

26. Single Application Timing Requirements Benefits

27. Timing • Application approval (submission and review) • Availability of allocation data (Title I numbers in April/May) • Planned for July 1 awards, but earlier awards may be possible

28. Requirements • Goals and Strategies • Accountability • Increased Access • Incentives, Best Practices, Parental involvement • Strategies for Competitive Subgrants Increased Access

29. Goals and Strategies • Identify and describe the State educational agency's goals for using advanced technology to improve student academic achievement, and how those goals are aligned with challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards Note: to be effective goals generally require indicators of progress and one or more means of measuring progress. To the extent possible, please provide information on indicators and measures of progress (See also Accountability below)

30. Outline the State educational agency's long-term strategies for improving student academic achievement, including technology literacy, through the effective use of technology in classrooms throughout the State, and improving the capacity of teachers to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction. • Describe how the State educational agency will ensure ongoing integration of technology into school curricula and instructional strategies in all schools in the State, so that technology will be fully integrated into the curricula and instruction of the schools by December 31, 2006.

31. Describe how public and private entities will participate in the implementation and support of the plan. • Describe how the plan addresses teacher preparation, professional development, and curriculum development to ensure that teachers and principals in the State are technologically literate.

32. Accountability • Describe the process and accountability measures that the State educational agency will use to evaluate the extent to which activities funded under the program are effective in integrating technology into curricula and instruction. Note: States are expressly authorized to use funds that are set aside for State-level activities to develop performance measurement systems to determine the effectiveness of educational technology programs developed with Ed Tech State Grant funds. Accountability measures should evaluate the impact of technology on student achievement.

33. Increased Access • Describe how the State educational agency will ensure that all students and teachers, particularly in schools served by high-need local educational agencies, have increased access to technology. • Describe the State's long-term strategies for financing technology to ensure that all students, teachers, and classrooms have access to technology. • Describe how the State educational agency will encourage the development and utilization of innovative strategies for the delivery of specialized or rigorous academic courses and curricula through the use oftechnology, including distance learning technologies.resource

34. Incentives, Best Practices, and Parental Involvement • Describe how the State will encourage local educational agencies in the State to provide incentives to encourage teachers who are technologically literate to teach in rural or urban areas. • Describe the technology resources and systems that the State will provide for the purpose of establishing best practices that can be replicated throughout the country. • Describe the State's strategies for using technology to increase parental involvement

35. Strategies for Competitive Subgrants • Describe the State educational agency’s strategies for awarding competitive subgrants. Begin with a short narrative overview of the purpose and desired outcomes of the competition(s). In particular…

36. Describe the standards that the State educational agency will use in applying the statutory definition of “high-need local educational agency” • Specifically, the standards that will be used to determine whether a local educational agency is “among the local educational agencies in a State with the highest numbers or percentages of children from families with incomes below the poverty line” • The standards that the State educational agency will use to determine whether a local educational agency “has a substantial need for assistance in acquiring and using technology.” (See the definition of “high-need local educational agency” in section 2403(3) of the legislation.)

37. Describe how the State educational agency will provide technical assistance to applicants, especially to applicants serving the highest percentages or numbers of children in poverty or with the greatest need for technical assistance; and discuss the capacity of the State educational agency to provide such technical assistance • Describe how the State educational agency will ensure that Ed Tech State Grant competitive subgrants that are of sufficient size and duration to carry out the purposes of the Ed Tech State Grant legislation effectively.

38. Describe how the State educational agency will determine which local educational agencies are eligible local entities for competitive subgrants and that receive Ed Tech State Grant formula grant allocations that are of insufficient size to be effective, and how the State educational agency will give priority to these local educational agencies when awarding competitive subgrants. • Describe how the State educational agency will ensure an equitable distribution of competitive grant funds among urban and rural areas, according to the demonstrated need of the local educational agencies serving the areas.

39. Describe any other priorities that the State educational agency will use in the competition, any standards it may set for the use of funds, and competition strategies, as appropriate.

40. Benefits • Whole State Educational Technology Plan is submitted and reviewed • Funds may be awarded more quickly – but only by a few weeks at best.

41. What You Can Start Doing Now: • Provide comments on consolidated application. • Don’t wait for application packages! Begin: • Cross-walking State plans and elements in the statute - see what’s missing. • Developing responses to the requirements. • Thinking about evaluation strategies and indicators. • Updating and approving LEA plans.

42. Questions???