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

Regional Technology in Education Consortia

Professional development for teachers and other educators:

Technical assistance:

Dissemination of information and resources:

The R-TECs work in a complementary and collaborative way with technical assistance providers funded by the U.S. Department of Education--such as the Comprehensive Regional Assistance Centers, the Eisenhower Regional Consortia for Mathematics and Science Education, and the Regional Educational Laboratories--and with other nationwide educational technology support efforts, such as TechCorps.

Northwest R-TEC Region

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Washington Education Service District 101
Alaska Department of Education
Idaho Department of Education
Montana Office of Public Education
Oregon Department of Education
Washington Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Wyoming Department of Education

Emphasis:

1. The activities of the consortium in each member state will be described in an annual memorandum of agreement with each state education agency, which will specify priorities in topics and services in the major areas of staff development, technical assistance, and information dissemination. The activities will be coordinated with, support, and enhance existing delivery mechanisms in those areas.

2. Regionwide delivery of some staff development and other services will be accomplished through the distance education system of the Pacific Star Schools Partnership and other distance delivery systems to ensure availability in rural and remote sites.

3. The major current priorities of the region in the application of electronic educational technologies are the integration of technology in the K--12 curriculum, and planning and implementing telecommunications networks in schools and districts.

Seymour Hanfling
Director, Technology Program
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
101 South West Main Street, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204-3297
Phone: (503) 275-9500
Fax: (503) 275-9584
E-mail: hanflins@nwrel.org

North Central R-TEC Region

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
   & Mathematics & Science Eisenhower Consortium
High Plains Consortium for Mathematics and Science Education, McREL
Argonne National Energy Laboratory
The Great Lakes Collaborative
Indiana University, Center for Educational Excellence
National Center on Adult Literacy
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), at the University of Illinois

Emphasis:

1. Establishing a regional technology cooperative to develop voluntary provisions for reducing technology costs, suggest standards for technology products, and increase funding opportunities to obtain technology products and services.

2. Providing technical assistance to state and local education agencies in cooperation with existing state technical assistance groups. Technical assistance will assess current technology needs, support local planning to integrate technology into teaching and learning, and identify ways to overcome specific problems in implementing technology plans.

3. Developing information resources on technology applications and integration through print, computer databases, and a range of telecommunications options.

4. Providing professional development opportunities for educators in cooperation with existing state professional development providers.

5. Strengthening technology use and training in teacher prep programs.

6. Analyzing and developing technology perspectives to inform and support state policy and leadership decisions.

7. Developing advanced technology applications and regional technology infra-structure to enlarge the range of technology products and services for schools and improve communication between technology systems within and between states.

Rafael Ramirez, Director
North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
1900 North Spring Road, Suite 300
Oak Brook, IL 60521-1480
Phone: (708) 218-1272
Fax: (708) 218-4989
E-mail: rramirez@ncrel.org

Northeast & the Islands R-TEC Region

City University of New York: Research Foundation
Brown University & the Educational Alliance
University of Maryland at College Park: College of Education
The Ohio State University (Eisenhower National Clearinghouse Group)
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC)
Technical Education Research Center (TERC)

Emphasis:

1. Build upon the experiences of large, urban centers to forge links to existing educational reform initiatives by identifying significant issues, outstanding classroom practices, and innovative curricula.

2. Approach issues on a regional basis by drawing on the perspectives, ideas and experiences of state-based agencies that influence policy, planning, and implementation.

3. Develop a repository and dissemination capability for:
   • mathematics, science, humanities, and social science curricula
   • content connections
   • applications documentation
   • action research
   • teachers' and children's stories
   • online resources (i.e. hypermedia, network, and WWW)

Bonnie Brownstein and Michael Ribaudo, Co-Directors
NetTech--Northeast Regional Technology in Education Consortium
City University of New York
555 West 57th Street
New York, New York 10019
Phone: (212) 541-0972
Fax: (212) 541-0357
E-mail: blbbh@cunyvm.cuny.edu

Pacific/Southwest R-TEC Region

California State University at Long Beach:
   Center for Language Minority Education and Research
ARC Associates
National Diffusion Network, California State Facilitator
TEAMS Distance Learning
TeleLearning InfoSource (TELIS) Foundation
ASSET
LINCT Coalition
CompuMentor
The Education Coalition (TEC)
California Software Clearinghouse

Emphasis:

1. Integration of technology to support high quality multilingual, multicultural education in perhaps the most diversely populated R-TEC region. This focus also includes special attention to technology integration which provides access to low-income and rural communities.

2. The focus of this consortia is on the communitywide nature of school reform and technology integration and access. Thus, the R-TEC has a special focus on strategies to include the participation of diverse parents, community-based organizations, and community access networks.

3. The R-TEC focuses on multilayered strategies for technology access and integration, which include developing sound technology integration plans, recruiting and placing technology volunteers, developing teacher collaborative inquiry groups through mentoring and training, working with colleges of education, working on technology solutions for administrators and principals, working with parents and community members, and working with state education agencies to foster local reform efforts and regional cooperation with a focus on diversity, equity, and access.

South Central R-TEC Region

University of Kansas: Center for Research on Learning, School of Education
Texas A&M University--College Station: College of Education
University of Oklahoma--Norman: College of Education
University of Missouri--Columbia: College of Education
University of Nebraska--Lincoln: Teachers College
Kansas State Board of Education

Emphasis:

1. University driven. All of the partners, except one (the Kansas SEA), are schools of education in major universities that have strong professional development schools. The partners will collaborate with other colleges and universities in their states, thus leveraging existing training resources throughout the region.

2. Strong representation of special education resources. The project is affiliated with the Center for Research on Learning in the Department of Special Education at the University of Kansas. Though services to students with special needs were not featured as an area of focus in the application, they are a strength of the South Central Consortium.

3. History of development of web-based tools. Interdisciplinary research and development teams consisting of educators, computer scientists, and computer engineers have collaborated for almost a decade in the development of tools for organization, storage, and retrieval of instructional resources on the Internet.

Southeast & Island R-TEC Region

South Eastern Regional Vision for Education, Inc.
Regional Educational Laboratories (REL):
   - South Eastern Regional Vision for Education
   - Appalachian Educational Laboratory
   - Southwestern Educational Development Laboratory
Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Consortia (REL-based)
Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands--Andover, MA
Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)
National Center on Adult Literacy (NCAL)
University of Central Florida: Instructional Technology Resource Center

Emphasis:

1. Builds upon SERVE's successful implementation of SERVE-line, expanding both the scope of this work and the audience using the service.

2. Established a helpline/referral system, making personal assistance available to our customers six days a week, twelve hours a day.

3. Strong linkages with higher education agencies in the region, enhancing both pre-service and in-service teacher education programs.

Jean Williams,
Director for Instructional Technology Programs
SERVE, Inc.
P.O. Box 5406
Greensboro, NC 27435
Phone (910) 334-3211
Fax: (910) 334-3268
E:mail: jean.williams@bbs.serve.org
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[Appendix A]

[Appendix C]