Archive

This page is part of Benton Foundation's online archive. We've kept some old stuff around for historical purposes.

Executive Summary of Great Expectations E-Rate Report

Great Expectations:
Leveraging America's Investment in Educational Technology

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Download the Report: http://www.benton.org/e-rate/greatexpectations.pdf
Download the Toolkit: http://www.benton.org/e-rate/evaltoolkit.pdf

Over the past 10 years, the United States has invested $38 billion to bring technology and Internet connectivity to the nation's schools. After the current funding cycle ends, E-Rate telecommunications discounts will have resulted in a total of $10 billion in critical resources. Like their counterparts in the private sector, educators, administrators and policymakers are hoping that by harnessing technology, they can vastly improve the productivity of the educational enterprise.

Recent data indicate that tremendous progress has been made - at least in the area of infrastructure development. For example, by fall 2000, 98 percent of public schools in the U.S. had access to the Internet, compared to 35 percent in 1994.

In February 2000, the Benton Foundation, collaborating with the EDC/Center for Children and Technology released The E-Rate in America: A Tale of Four Cities -- one of the first studies of the then new federal program. In this second phase of our work, the two organizations focused on the E-Rate and educational technology in schools and developed new tools to assist teachers, administrators and policymakers. The findings and recommendations are compiled in this new report, Great Expectations: Leveraging America's Investment in Educational Technology, with chapters written by experts in the field of educational technology.

Norris Dickard (Benton Foundation senior associate and Director of the E-Rate project) provides an overview of the impact of various federal investments in educational technology. Drawing on a dialogue that took place at two national policy roundtable events in May 2001 and interviews with key policymakers, Dickard suggests future improvements to the E-Rate program. Among them:

Keep the E-Rate at the FCC and the focus the same. Lift the funding cap from the current level of $2.25 billion. Conduct outreach and assistance to schools in low-income communities. Investigate ways to improve program administration and structure. Reassess the appropriateness of current discount levels and priorities. Expand the list of eligible products, services and vendors. Donna Harrington-Lueker (Education Writers Association), reports on lessons that emerged from interviews with administrators, teachers and technology researchers in the same four cities studied in The E-Rate in America. She provides an update on the progress in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee since the publication of The E-Rate in America and makes the case that building computer networks may be easier than helping teachers and schools use the technology to its maximum potential.

Margaret Honey (Vice President of the Educational Development Center and director of the EDC/Center for Children and Technology) and her colleagues address the timely issue of measuring return on investment and the current focus on accountability. Honey argues that we must move beyond looking for a direct correlation between technology infrastructure investments and rising standardized test scores. Rather, she writes, "we must create assessment frameworks that directly correspond to the unique teaching and learning opportunities that technologies make possible." Her overview introduces a set of case studies and a toolkit for educators. The case studies describe the efforts of teachers in four schools in Chicago and Milwaukee who are working with students to use technology in new ways. The toolkit, which was developed in collaboration with these teachers, is a guide and resource for other teachers and administrators who want to focus on the essential literacy and communications skills that students can develop through the thoughtful use of technology.

Chris Dede (Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education) introduces his "State Policy Framework for Assessing Educational Technology Implementation" and discusses the need for a more coordinated and systematic approach to policymaking around educational technology. Dede explains how educational technology investments impact, and are affected by, the larger educational reform context in which they are made.

E-Rate champions in the U.S. Congress, including Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Representative Fred Upton (R-Mich.), jointly wrote the preface to the report, stating:

As the following report shows, great progress has been made in bridging the digital divide, and the E-Rate has been a critical source of building materials for this bridge. But, this is no time to rest on our laurels. To support the unique opportunities technology offers to improve teaching and learning, work remains to be done in a number of areas, including professional development, curriculum design and assessment. This timely report highlights a number of areas where work is needed and provides useful tools and suggestions for maximizing this important investment.

Great Expectations is a continuation of the E-Rate series, made possible with support from the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago-based philanthropy with a strong interest in school reform and educational technology.

(c) Benton Foundation, 2001. Redistribution of this online publication - both internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message.

http://www.benton.org/e-rate/execsummary.html
Last updated: 10 December 2001 awc