Closing the Technology Gap

"In this Education Age, access to up-to-date telecommunications in the classroom is a critical tool to supplement traditional learning. It is an extraordinary resource for teachers and students. It is the blackboard of the future."

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley

As we rapidly approach the 21st century, it is more apparent than ever that technology is critical to our children's future. Because of this need, many schools have made a strong commitment to improving access to educational technology across the nation, but others lack the resources and expertise. There is a growing technology gap in classrooms that must be closed. Technology promises new ways of reaching and teaching all students. In order to prepare students for the workplace of the 21st century, we must help them learn how to use computers and other tools of the information age. President Clinton has asked schools, teachers, parents, students, communities, the private sector, and government to work together to achieve the four goals of his Technology Challenge:

• All teachers in the nation will have the training and support they need to help all students learn through computers and the Information Superhighway
• All teachers and students will have modern computers in their classrooms
• Every classroom will be connected to the Information Superhighway
• Effective and engaging software and online resources will be an integral part of every school curriculum.

Some facts:

• Schools with 50 percent or more minority students, and schools with 71 percent or more poor students, lagged behind other schools. In addition, smaller schools were less likely to be connected.
• Only 27 percent of all instructional rooms (classrooms, computer labs, school libraries and media centers) are hooked up to the Internet.
• Only 14 percent of that amount represent our nation's poorest communities.
• Internet access increased most notably in the southeast and central regions of the U.S. from 1996 to 1997.

Some good examples:

• Local voters in the Issaquah School District in Washington state approved $2.7 million for new spending on computer technology. Mike Bookey, a parent, stepped in with a plan that brought the Information Superhighway to more than 10,500 students and 1,000 teachers and staff in the district's 21 schools and 3 administrative sites. The result is a technology program with 2,000 personal computers to teach advanced academic skills -- planned, built, and managed by students. What is most interesting about the Issaquah story is what the program has done for the students. When caught breaking into his school's computer system, one "problem student" was given a choice -- join the team or . . . He joined the team, quickly learned the intricacies of network requirements, was soon teaching his former instructors in system use, and began teaching a software class at a local computer store. Today he is working part-time for Microsoft and finishing high school. Upon graduation, he will be in demand at local high-tech companies.
  CONTACT: Ron Leslie, Director of Technology, Issaquah School District, 565 NW Holly, Issaquah, WA 98027, Tel: 206-577-7081, Fax: 206-557-7064, Internet Access: http://www.issaquah.org, e-mail:leslier@admin.issaquah.wednet.edu

• Clear View Elementary is located in Chula Vista, California, 8 miles from the Mexican border. This is a school where English is a second or new language for 68 percent of its 550 students. Since 1991, Clear View -- a Cox Communications International Model Technology School -- has been completely networked with fiber, satellite, and cable. Every class has a technology component, thus, even the youngest kindergarten children use computers at some basic level. Clear View students exchanged thoughts and research about V-E Day, World War II, with students in Rhode Island, Nebraska, and England and wrote and published a book. Principal Ginger Hovenic's desire to provide "the best education possible for ALL students" has motivated partnerships with businesses and foundations that have in turn resulted in creative projects that have opened the schoolhouse doors.
  CONTACT: Dr. Ginger Hovenic, Principal, Clear View Elementary School, 455 Windrose Way, Chula Vista, CA 91010, Tel: 619-498-3000, Fax: 619-488-3588, e-mail: ginger6730@aol.com

• Like many urban school districts, Union City has faced many educational challenges. Student dropout and transfer rates were high, and standardized test scores were well below State averages. Union City responded by creating a new curriculum and establishing funds from New Jersey's Quality Education Act to provide 775 computers to the district -- establishing an 11-to-1 ratio of students to computers. Through partnerships with local business and the local government, computers were supplied at the school and in the homes of all of Christopher Columbus' 135 seventh-grade students and their teachers. Teachers were trained on use of the computer systems and they trained the parents on integrating e-mail and multimedia resources into the school and its curriculum. Student test scores are now more than 10 points above the statewide average and the dropout rate is now almost nonexistent. Parents who could not speak English just 2 years ago are now actively involved with their children's use of the computers at home and frequently send messages to teachers and the school principal.
  CONTACT: Gary Ramella, Supervisor, Christopher Columbus School, 1500 New York Ave., Union City, NJ 07087, Tel: 201-271-2083, Fax: 201-271-2087, e-mail: gramella_at_ucboe@edc.org, Internet Access: http://www.ed.gov/Technology/TeleComp/jersey.html