OET Initiatives

Grant Program for Statewide, Longitudinal Data System

This purpose of this program is to provide grants to state educational agencies to enable them to design, develop, and implement statewide, longitudinal data systems to efficiently and accurately manage, analyze, disaggregate, and use individual student data, consistent with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

National File Format Initiative

The Secretary of Education has authorized OSEP, the Office of Special Education Programs, to issue a supplement to the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum led by CAST, to convene an expert panel to establish a voluntary national standard for accessible digital instructional materials for students with disabilities.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has brought together educators, administrators, parents, businesses and community leaders, built a consensus on the definition of 21st century skills and created practical Readiness Guides for these skills that are critical to each student's success in the 21st century.

Visions 20/20

This Interagency Working Group fosters the development, application, and deployment of advanced technologies in education and training in the United States. The Group convenes under the aegis of the President's National Science and Technology Council.

Priorities

Priorities 2001-2005

• Focusing on Data-based Decision Making and Accountability. Having good data to guide decisions in schools and for instruction is critical to ensuring that all the nation's children achieve. New technological solutions have the potential to generate actionable data about school performance—in many cases for the first time.

• Empowering Assessment Through Technology. Using technology-based assessments, customization and personalization of instruction is possible with immediate feedback to teachers, parents and students.

• Increasing Options through E-Learning and Distance Education. Growing movement in the United States offering students opportunities to participate in courses that would otherwise be unavailable.

• Digital Content and E-Texts.

• Researching Effectiveness of Technology and What Works.

Purpose

The Office of Educational Technology (OET) was established under section 216 of the Department of Education Organization Act.

• Provide leadership to the nation in using technology to promote achievement of the National Education Goals and to increase opportunities for all students to achieve State content and challenging State student performance standards, by supporting the overall national technology policy and consulting with other Federal departments or agencies.

• Recommend policies to promote increased use of technology and technology planning throughout all programs and training functions administered by the Department of Education.

• Review all relevant programs supported by the Department to ensure that such programs are coordinated with and support the national long-range technology plan.

• Information technology is an enabler for accountability and leadership to transform education, improve equality and access in realizing No Child Left Behind.

Director

• Susan Patrick, Director
  Susan Patrick is the director of the Office of Educational Technology in the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Education.