NCREL Policy Issues
Issue 15, January 2004
Conclusion
Developing and maintaining a high-quality set of educational technology policies is a major challenge for states. The NCLB legislation presents state policymakers with a complex array of responsibilities. As a result, states face the challenge of implementing new initiatives at a time when their revenues are falling so dramatically that many already existing programs are threatened. Financial shortfalls also have decimated the staffs of many state departments of education, adding high turnover and difficult workloads to these other challenges. Despite these problems, many states have solid strategies for using educational technology—a tribute to the dedication and quality of state policymakers and staff at all levels.
Overall, the good news is that states have implemented a variety of policies that advance education through the effective use of information technology. Even better news is that much more can be done to improve state educational technology policies, thereby providing substantial additional leverage for educational improvement. The challenge is for state decision makers to provide the resources and the political will to take this next step in policy development. It is much easier for states to monitor local districts' use of more effective practices and policies than to hold themselves accountable for improving their own policies and policy-setting processes. The primary shift necessary is for these higher-level decision makers to hold themselves responsible for effective practices and policies similar to those they preach to local districts: improvement initiatives based on data, consistent over a substantial period of time, adequately and reliably funded, and directed to improving students' educational outcomes rather than political objectives. The policy recommendations in this report are intended to stimulate thinking and discussion about how states might successfully undertake such an effort.
Chris Dede, Ed.D., is the Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies and the chair of Learning and Teaching at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
