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District & State Initiatives

While efforts to enact national education standards promise more accountability for student performance across schools nationwide, many forms of educational improvement need to take place at the district level. District level change can be tailored to the particular needs of a community, while being designed and implemented comprehensively. This is particularly important for technology initiatives because successful technology investments require that administrative and instructional planning be tightly coordinated. In recent years, schools districts have embraced technology as a catalyst for improving the circumstances of student learning, promoting professional development, and enacting reforms. For such investments to succeed, carefully planned purchasing and disbursement of technology, professional development, planning for instructional change, coordination of curriculum—all need to be put in place and closely aligned if technology is going to “make a difference” in schools. Select a snapshot below to learn more about the kinds of work we do in this area.

CCT staff who have played prominent roles in this domain include Katie McMillan Culp, Naomi Hupert and Wendy Martin.

• Snapshot 1
  One of our most recognized school district relationships has been our ongoing work with Union City, New Jersey. For more than a decade, we have collaborated with and supported this urban school district, which caters to a high English language learner population, in a variety of formative research, technology-in-education, and reform initiatives. CCT has worked with Union City teachers, students, and their families to track the impact of ubiquitous computing on student learning and motivation, teachers' practices and expectations, school culture and reforms, and the community at large. CCT has delivered networked multimedia materials to Union City students and teachers at school and at home, examined the multiple effects of a district program to distribute laptop computers to 120 ninth graders and 60 teachers in an urban high school, explored the use of telecommunications technology to support key educational reforms in the district, and documented the impact of technology integration and school reform on student learning and the community. CCT also has examined how a school with mature technology maintains currency despite constant technology change and staff turnover, building on previous CCT collaborations with the Union City Board of Education; and how effective models of technology-anchored teaching and learning can transfer across other contexts.
• Snapshot 2
  More recently, CCT conducted a five-year formative evaluation of New Mexico’s Regional Education Technology Assistance (RETA) program and its influence on classroom practices. RETA has sought to establish a statewide network of teachers trained in integrating technology into teaching, to support new technology-rich curricula and to guide administrators in technology integration.