NCREL Policy Issues
Issue 15, January 2004
Policy Analysis
1. Curriculum Standards for Students
The integration of technology into state curriculum standards and the development of technology literacy standards for students are moving targets. Frequently, states have used the National Educational Technology Standards developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE NETS) as their guide in this process. Now, more complex definitions of integration are emerging, such as those proposed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
As subject-area groups (such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) develop second-generation content standards exemplifying more integration of technology, these standards also will offer insights for states about their own content standards.
In the North Central region, Wisconsin and Indiana have the most thoroughly developed integration of technology into their curriculum standards for students. In Wisconsin, the state has detailed Model Academic Standards for information and technology literacy, as well as for technology education. Also, Wisconsin has Model Academic Standards for English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and 12 other subject areas. Fluency in the use of technology and media is integrated into many of the curriculum content standards. For example, the English language arts standards contain substandards for the use of media and technology. As another illustration, the mathematics standard for statistics and probability references technology but does not explicitly prescribe its usage.
Indiana has a high level of integration of technology into its core curriculum standards for students. At both the K–8 and the high school levels, Indiana's core curriculum standards are in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. These standards were updated in 2002. As illustrations, the high school mathematics standards in probability and statistics reference the use of spreadsheets and graphing calculators, and the Grade 8 English language arts standards include conducting multiplestep information searches by using computer networks, creating computer documents by using word-processing skills and publishing programs, and developing simple databases and spreadsheets to manage information and prepare reports.
In addition, for each set of the core curriculum standards, Indiana has developed documents that correlate with the Nine Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning developed by the American Library Association and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (1998). It is important for states to correlate among standards because the results highlight knowledge and skills considered vital from a variety of perspectives. Districts then are able to prioritize their efforts based on those components in the standards that they deem most important.
Resources
National Educational Technology Standards
cnets.iste.org/currstands/
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
www.21stcenturyskills.org
Mathematics standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
www.nctm.org/standards/
Wisconsin Model Academic Standards
www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/standards/
Indiana's Academic Standards
doe.state.in.us/standards/
