Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
APRIL 22, 1999, THURSDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
1003 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED TESTIMONY OF
PHILIP
J. HYJEK
SCHOOL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST
VERMONT STATE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
VERMONT INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE, MATH AND TECHNOLOGY
BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND
PENSIONS
SUBJECT - THE REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ELEMENTARY
AND SECONDARY
EDUCATION ACT
BODY:
I would like to thank
Senator Jeffords and the members of the committee for providing me with the
opportunity to address some of the educational technology issues relative to
Title III as you consider the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act.
I will focus my comments on the Technology Literacy Challenge
Fund, illustrating how this program provides incentive and support to sustain
standards-based systemic school improvement.
In fiscal 1997, Vermont
received $1,000,000 from the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund and $2,125,000
in both fiscal 1998 and 1999.95% of those funds were distributed to schools
through competitive grants, specifically targeting schools with significant
levels of poverty and technological need. At that time barely 10% of our schools
had developed technology plans so the pool of eligible applicants was severely
limited. In some cases grants went to schools that were positioned to apply for
the funding because they already had made substantial investments in technology.
The technological gap that already existed could have increased if we had not
made a focused effort to develop capacity in the underresourced schools.
However, it was also these schools that had the least ability to effectively use
these grant resources. Teachers and students in these schools had no context for
the instructional potential provided through fast new generation computers and
high speed Internet access.
TLCF grants provided the incentive for us to
promote serious technology planning at the local level. However, we felt that
the availability of financial resources to invest in technology would not, by
itself, contribute to the systemic change agenda. We wanted technology to be
deeply imbedded in the classroom experience. We wanted teaching and learning to
be infused with technology. We set high standards for technology planning,
requiring schools to address not just hardware, software, networking and
connectivity but to focus on the true purpose of schools: teaching and learning.
Schools had to think through how they were going to increase their capacity,
financial sustainability, professional development and technicalsupport. They
had to correlate their plans to our state plan. And most importantly, they had
to address how they would use technology as a tool to support Vermont's
Framework of Standards and increase student performance.
In order to
accomplish our goal to promote effective planning, we conducted regional
workshops, met with school planning teams and provided individual consultations
to most of Vermont's school districts. Through our outreach efforts, 92% of our
schools have approved multi-year technology plans and our TLCF resources have
made a difference in schools most in need.
In fiscal 1997, when Technology
Literacy Challenge Funds were becoming available, 95% of Vermont's schools had
access to the Internet. That appeared to be good news. But closer examination
showed that only 20% of those schools had direct connections and that those
connections were available only in the school library or administrative office.
A year later 72% of our schools had connectivity at the classroom level.
Although our most recent data is not yet available, we expect that almost
all schools will have local area networks and high speed dedicated connections
to the Internet at the end of this fiscal year.
Like many states, Vermont
has not been able to provide a large state appropriation for educational
technology, and only the wealthier school districts have been able to make
substantial local expenditures in this area. The Technology Literacy Challenge
Fund has had a major impact on Vermont schools by creating an incentive for
systemic planning and creating equity of access for students in our targeted
schools.
Of course hardware, software and connectivity are only one piece of
this extremely complex equation. These are only tools, expensive tools, but only
tools. Obviously these tools alone will not improve teaching or learning. Title
IIl's intent was to not only increase accessto technology, but also to integrate
technology into curriculum and increase teacher capacity to utilize technology
in their instruction.
Although sometimes it appears that there is an almost
insatiable need for faster hardware and increased bandwidth, we know our efforts
must focus on the need for professional development that would increase the
technology skills of teachers and their ability to use technology in their
instruction. In order to address these needs, we established the Vermont
Information Technology Association for the Advancement of Learning (VITA-Learn)
to promote, develop and deliver state-wide and regional professional
development. Although a newly formed organization, VITA-Learn has already
provided professional development activities to approximately 20% of the teacher
work force.
We realize that this is only a beginning in creating substantive
change. During the last TLCF grant competition we required subgrantees to invest
25% of their annual award in professional development and submit a multi-year
plan for the expenditure of these funds. Our hope and expectation is that this
will create the incentive for on-going sustained professional development
programs that literally "get inside the classroom" with model teaching and
mentoring.
To further that change, we would ask you to consider taking a
leadership role in providing additional financial support to states that are
committed to "bottom line" education. That is, the use of student performance
data to drive school improvement initiatives. By creating statewide data
networks, we will have the capacity to provide analysis of student assessment
data that will in turn provide the impetus to drive educational change.
We
believe that the support provided to our school districts through the Technology
Literacy Challenge Fund has been invaluable, and we urge you to continue this
program in the reauthorization of ESEA.
END
LOAD-DATE: April 23, 1999
