Technology

A recent evaluation report on the Ready to Learn (RTL) program reveals that young children's learning is enhanced by educational media, particularly when it is used in combination, such as educational television supplemented by complementary media like websites, games, or even print. As a result, RTL, in its latest round of grants, is pursuing the idea of combining media even further by supporting "transmedia" strategies, a term borrowed from digital media theorist Henry Jenkins to describe narrative storytelling that uses different media platforms to advance the story and to create ever-larger fictional worlds of characters and events.

On December 20, 2010, the Department released a Request for Information (RFI) to gather technical expertise pertaining to assessment technology standards (http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2010-4/122010e.html). The RFI posed a series of questions related to interoperability and assessment technology standards, to which we invited interested members of the public to respond. We are pleased to publicly release the comments received. Please note that the Department does not endorse or recommend these responses; we are simply providing this information to the public for its use.

In this era of increasing global competition, the need to improve under-performing schools and education systems, especially those that serve high-need students and communities, is a widely accepted moral and economic imperative. The most effective ways to support and sustain change within our education organizations is the subject of more debate.

We extend our appreciation to the thousands of individuals who participated in the numerous discussions, focus groups, presentations, webinars, public forums, and Web-based comment events that were held throughout the plan development process. A summary of the activities through which stakeholders contributed input is provided below.