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by The Milken Exchange
Trends at a Glance
States are establishing technology standards for students. If the standards are to have an impact, reliable assessments must be developed
and implemented. Thirty-six states have established student standards for technology and nine other states are developing such standards. Of those 36 states, 22 have
integrated them into their overall standards for the basic academic areas; six states have
established standards for technology that are separate from the basic academic areas; and
eight states have taken a dual approach. Many states have only recently established these
standards, so few are fully assessing them. The Milken Exchange recently commissioned a
longitudinal study in West Virginia. Results indicated that 11 percent of the academic gains
in mathematics and reading for fifth graders in 1995 were directly attributable to technology
interventions. A subsequent analysis by the Milken Exchange found technology to be a
cost-effective method to improve student learning when compared to class size reduction
(Mann, 1999).
Schools are beginning to use learning technology, but most use it to automate learning rather than to bring students unique learning opportunities never before possible. "It is the more elective and less college preparatory-oriented parts of the high school curriculum where the newer and more
creative uses of computers are being found, rather than in the more standards-constrained
academic subjects." (Teaching, Learning and Computing: A National Survey of Schools and
Teachers, Henry Becker, 1999).
Teachers are getting trained, but classes often do not relate to teaching and learning. "Teachers are being asked to learn new methods of teaching, while at the same time they are facing the greater challenges of rapidly increasing technological changes and greater diversity in the classroom...[ yet,] relatively few teachers
(20 percent) reported feeling very well prepared to integrate educational technology into
classroom instruction." (U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, January 1999).
Significant funds are being invested in schools, especially those with disadvantaged youth, yet a digital divide based on demographics
exists between schools. More than $5 billion is invested annually in learning technology, representing federal, state, and local funds. Yet, from 1994 through
1998, schools with low numbers of minority students were three times more likely to have
Internet access in classroom settings than schools with high numbers of minority students.
Similarly, high-income schools were twice as likely to have Internet access in classrooms as
low-income schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998). This trend, combined
with the widening wage gap between information technology industries and the total
private sector, suggests that the digital divide in the United States is not going away. 
Schools and classrooms are rapidly getting wired, but in many cases the
connections are not yet robust or high-speed. The number of schools connected to the Internet doubled between 1994 and 1998, while the number of instructional rooms with
Internet connections increased from a mere three percent in 1994 to over 50 percent in 1998.
Yet a survey conducted in 1998 by Dr. Henry Becker of 5,800 educators in over 1,100 schools
suggests that nearly two-thirds of teachers did not have any access to the Internet. Of those
who did, only 18 percent had access through a high-speed network. The E-rate, a provision of
the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 that provides discounts for connectivity to low-income
schools, combined with proactive state leadership has transformed Internet use from the
unattainable to the affordable for many schools. Despite these gains, most classrooms still do
not have easy, adequate access to the Internet. 
Roadmaps To The Vision:
Advance Learning Through Technology
The public expects a high return on its investment in technology for schools. Ensure that will happen by setting the bar high, measuring results and assisting schools along the way.
"We, as Governors, cannot fail to have every child participating in the information age.
If we fail, we set our workforce and industry back. If we succeed, we assure that jobs are
retained in every community and our children have a bright, prosperous future."
Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist
Ensure Equity of Educational Opportunity
The use of public funds for technology can begin to close the digital divide. Track and report all aspects of learning technology
to see which student populations are impacted and how. Then, level the playing field by using that information to
refocus priorities and resources.
In releasing the 1999 National Telecommunications and Information Administration's
"Falling through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide," Assistant Secretary Larry Irving said,
"America's digital divide is fast becoming a 'racial ravine, '" citing the report's data identifying certain
minorities, low-income groups and residents in rural areas and central cities as among those lacking
access to the nation's information resources.
Build Professional Competency with Technology
Nothing is more important than building a cadre of technology-savvy teachers research shows they are the single
most important factor in student achievement.
"For children living in today's technological society, yesterday's education is not good
enough we can and should do better. As Governors, we must invest in teacher preparation
now to produce technology-savvy teachers for tomorrow."
Kentucky Governor Paul E. Patton
Reengineer Through Systems Thinking
Tinkering and fudging around the edges are not acceptable. Full commitment to the vision will take courage to see it
through. View the challenge through a child's eyes-- reengineer the education system to ensure that every child is
greeted every morning by technology-savvy teachers who teach in places that provide full technology access and a
learning context geared to meet every child's needs.
"A successful knowledge-based economy requires public investments in education, infrastructure,
and research and development."
Lester Thurow, The Atlantic Monthly(June 1999)
State Policy Actions
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1 | Advance a bold, forward-looking vision for tomorrow's schools. |  | Build consensus around a compelling vision tie it to economic growth. | | Create a sense of urgency about the vision among the community, private sector, and schools. | | Revise academic learning standards for students to reflect technology. | | | |
2 | Bring the vision to life in classrooms. |
| Seed promising prototypes document findings and disseminate results. |
| Fund research to document the impact of technology on student learning under varied conditions. | | Scale the successful prototypes to reach all schools. | | | |
3 | Require accountability for investments in learning technology. | | Develop new student performance measures to reliably assess the impact of technology on learning. | | Use the technology to provide more sensitive and cost-effective testing options. | | Assist schools in using this data to drive better decision making. | | | |
4 | Use trend data to drive policy decisions related to access and equity. | | Track the digital divide by disaggregating data by student population. Use both student achievement data and school-based data on interim progress indicators for learning technology. | | Use the findings to adjust resource allocations to achieve equity. | | | |
5 | Leverage state technology resources to achieve high quality, universal access. |
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Allocate technology funds through a formula that meets the needs of all students. | | Provide all schools with strong leadership, support and information to ensure that technology funds are invested wisely. | | Aggregate buying power and leverage partnerships to ensure affordable access for all schools
(e. g., state-supported networks for multiple constituencies, state bids and state buys). | | | |
6 | Build on the quality and commitment of educators. | | Establish educator standards for technology; align them with the student standards. | | Incorporate the educator standards for technology in certification and licensure requirements. | | Increase support for professional development based on educator standards for technology. | | Establish online support systems for educators to promote collegiality, access to resources and continuous growth. | | Assess the impact of professional development programs based on classroom practice and student learning. | | | |
7 | Update teacher-training systems by incorporating technology. | | Incorporate educator standards for technology into accreditation requirements for teacher-preparation programs. | | Dedicate resources to teacher-training institutions to prepare the next generation of teachers to use technology effectively. | | Promote partnerships between teacher-training institutions and K12 schools to ensure high-quality, technology-enriched field experiences for preservice candidates. | | | |
8 | Be strategic: design a long-term policy agenda and stay the course. | | Require state-level collaboration and comprehensive planning for learning technology. | | Establish a high-level state position and statewide advisory committee responsible for learning technology. | | Build support systems that schools need to use technology effectively in teaching and learning. | | Update rules and regulations to support the vision (e. g., teacher certification, facilities, statewide
assessments and data collection). | | Provide schools with adequate, sustained, flexible funding for learning technology. | | Require schools to meet eligibility criteria for state funds (e. g., quality plans for impacting learning,
professional development, sustainability, infrastructure, technical support and accountability). | | | |
9 | Be accountable to the public. | | Publicly link progress in K12 learning technology with economic viability and civic responsibility. | | Track schools' progress in learning technology against specific benchmarks (i. e., student performance and school performance data). | | Keep policymakers and the public informed of the progress schools are making toward the vision. |
American Education at a Crossroads
"Just as e-commerce connects people to new methods
for conducting trade, e-learning links students to new
methods for achieving higher academic standards."
Delaware Governor Thomas R. Carper
Chairman, National Governors' Association
During the past decade, the explosive growth of the Internet, together
with the advent of affordable computing power, has fundamentally
transformed the way people live and work.
An economic divide is growing as the difference expands between
wage earners who use technology and those who do not. Despite the
economic incentives, more than 350,000 information technology jobs
were unfilled in 1998 economic opportunity lost because of a lack of
qualified U. S. workers prepared for the digital age.
American education is at a crossroads. Schools have yet to harness the
power of technology to better prepare students for today's economy.
How teachers teach, how learners learn, and how schools function
seems largely unaffected.
"Whatever made you successful in the past
won't in the future."
Lew Platt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hewlett Packard
Charting a New Course
A year ago, the National Governors' Association (NGA) Center for Best
Practices joined forces with the Milken Exchange on Education
Technology to seed the policy debate on linking public investments in
school technology to educational benefits for students.
The challenge lies in recognizing technology's potential for advancing
learning then making the difficult choices and policy decisions that
ensure it is responsibly and effectively used.
A new publication, Transforming Learning through Technology:
Policy Roadmaps for the Nation's Governors, was designed to address
that challenge. The full report is now available through the National
Governors' Association,www.nga.org, or the Education Technology section of the Milken Family Foundation site,www.mff.org/edtech/.
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