Archived: Department of Education: Office of Reform Assistance and Dissemination

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

EVALUATION OF THE TECHNOLOGY LITERACY CHALLENGE FUND

President Clinton has launched a national initiative to ensure that every student in every school will have the skills needed to be technologically literate in the 21st Century. To meet this challenge, Congress appropriated $200 million in FY 1997 as the first installment of an established $2 billion five-year program known as the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund (TLCF). The TLCF accelerates the implementation of state-wide educational technology plans by providing formula grants to states and stimulating other public- and private-sector resources toward achieving the four national technology goals: • All teachers will have the training and support they need to help all students learn through computers and through the information superhighway;

• All teachers and students will have modern computers in their classrooms;

• Every classroom will be connected to the information superhighway; and

• Effective and engaging software and online resources will be an integral part of every school curriculum.

This evaluation of the TLCF, which began in December 1996, is a formative evaluation. It provides an initial picture of the first year's implementation of the TLCF and the status of the use of technology in K-12 education, including the relationship between the TLCF, other technology initiatives in the schools and states, and student outcomes. In addition, issues of equity related to access to and use of technology in communities with high levels of poverty will be a priority focus of the evaluation. The American Institutes for Research is conducting the evaluation for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) at the U.S. Department of Education.

The evaluation includes a number of interrelated activities:

• Monitoring progress toward achieving the national technology goals by assessing progress toward achieving these goals, as well as by reviewing state and national-level reporting systems to improve future data collection and reporting activities;

• Assessing the potential outcomes of the Fund's investment in technology primarily through case studies about the implementation of the Fund in different states and districts, and the potential impacts of technology on a variety of outcomes, including student learning in the core subjects; and

• Assisting states to assess their implementation of the TLCF and its impact on a variety of outcomes, including student learning (See An Educator's Guide to Evaluating the Use of Technology in Schools and Classrooms).

For further information, contact:

Nancy Loy
Project Officer
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
555 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Room 508j
Washington, D.C. 20208
(202) 208-3680
Email: nancy.loy@ed.gov

Last updated -- December 29, 1998 (tca)