Arizona Department of Education (ADE)

Technology Integrated Educational Delivery System (TIEDS)

Table of Contents:
	Page
	1.0  Introduction		2

	2.0  ADE Background		6

	3.0  Environmental Scan		7

	4.0  TIEDS Background		9
	4.1	Rationale		9
	4.2	Issues and Conerns		14
	4.3	Technology Facilitates Meeting the Needs		16
	4.4	The Vision: Technology Integrated Eductional Delivery System		23

	5.0  Strategies, Activities, and Use of Resources
	5.1	Strategies		25
	5.2	Activities		26
	5.3	Conclusion		34
	5.4	Use of Resources		35

	6.0  Continuous Improvement		36

	7.0  Public Involvement		38

	8.0  Technology Accomplishments 1989-1997		41

	9.0  Implementation Recommendations and Outcomes		42

	10.0  ADE Internet Resource List		57

	11.0  Appendices		60
1.0	INTRODUCTION

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE), under the leadership of Lisa Graham Keegan, Superintendent of Public Instruction, has developed and presented a Plan for Education in Arizona to create true educational reform through a student-centered system.  The plan includes a proposal for restructuring Arizona’s school finance system that drives the need for a student accountability information system.  The following is an excerpt from this plan: (http://www.ade.state.az.us/graham /index.html)

The discussion over school finance reform leads policy makers to an undeniable fact:  we do not have accurate and timely information on our state’s academic and financial status.  We cannot continue to make policy decisions in a vacuum.  For instance, when the Arizona Department of Education, in conjunction with the State Board of Education, held a school finance summit in the summer of this past year, top school finance experts presented on the condition of Arizona’s education system.  They estimated at the time that total department service was nearly $3.5 billion over 20 years, when in fact after an exhaustive study by the Department of Education, it was shown to be nearly $6 billion over 20 years!  Yet another example is when the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on School Finance Reform discussed the need to move to a current-year funding system, analysis by the Governor’s office, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and the Department of Education all led to different conclusions as to how much money this would take.  The reason for these discrepancies is the lack of an integrated information system that can track student enrollment and fiscal figures on a real-time basis.

In an era when technology allows individuals to gain immediate access to their bank account from all over the world, it is unconscionable that we cannot provide the public with information about how we educate students or how we spend education dollars.  Moreover, it does not make sense for schools to continue to be burdened with bureaucratic and antiquated reported systems that use paper and pencil when computers can do this instantly.

We should invest the needed $6.5 million in an information system that will allow us to follow funds down to the student level.  Currently, parents have access only to district-level budgets that are extremely difficult to understand.  There is no clear way for the public to determine how much is spent at the school level. Nor is it clear how a parent can assess the school’s academic information.  The people of Arizona, particularly parents, have a right to, and a need for, this information so that they may effectively participate in and contribute to our children’s education.

This statement by Superintendent Keegan clearly shows the need for improved use of technology in Arizona.  While technology alone will not solve all the financial and educational needs of students, the use of technology can enhance the efficient use of education dollars and more importantly can provide for a better education for all students.  Not only can technology create more time and money-efficient management systems, it also can expand the educational horizons for students, regardless of their circumstance.  Technology can be one of the levelers that creates equitable access and equitable participation for all students. 

In 1988, the Arizona State Legislature mandated and funded the start of technology in education in Arizona.  This first ADE project was the Metro Tech Software Evaluation Center.  Metro Tech provided teachers the opportunities to preview software to determine if it was appropriate for their classrooms.  Training programs taught teachers the appropriate integration of the software into their curriculum.  This Software Evaluation Center became part of the Arizona School Services Through Educational Technology (ASSET) in 1995.

ASSET is a partnership project between the ADE State Board of Regents, Arizona State University, and a founding consortium of public schools.  ASSET began by offering supplemental instruction through public broadcasting directly into classrooms and serving as a cooperative for video resource distribution.  ASSET still offers these services and now provides a wide variety of technology based additional services to students and teachers.  (see: Appendix K).

The first State Plan For a Technology Integrated Educational Delivery System (TIEDS) was published in July, 1990 in response to the “State Board Policy on the Development of a Plan for Technology” and the “GAITS” report which was submitted to the State Board at the July 24, 1989 meeting.  This first plan detailed the technological connectivity that the research supported and that Arizona stakeholders envisioned for students.  (See July 1990 version of TIEDS in the TIEDS Appendix.)  

In an effort to raise the level of awareness of the technological innovations available for schools and to increase the expectations of teachers and administrators regarding the use of technology, the ADE began two initiatives, the “Teachers Using Technology, School Institutes” (TUTSI) conferences, and AZEdlink.  Approximately 1580 teachers and administrators were introduced to these emerging technologies and the classroom applications of integrated technology and planning models at the TUTSI conferences held in 1990, 1991, and 1992.

AZEdlink provided schools, teachers, and administrators access to E-mail and the Internet, with its ever-increasing resources.  This project filled a void in areas where the local capacity and hookups were not available to access this technology.  It enabled participating schools and teachers to use Internet service during peak hours through rural cooperative local dialups.  This service facilitated more economic use of available resources, allowing schools to redirect unused funds to acquire other types of service for approximately 3200 teachers.  Today, many of the school districts have begun to provide that service to staff through local providers.

Our efforts to connect educators have continued through the Cooperative Internet Access Project, which was launched in the summer of 1995 with $250,000 in state funds. Sixty five Cisco 2511 routers were distributed to rural and remote school areas.  The grantees received basic orientation and training to facilitate their ability to connect their building or consortia to the local Internet Service Providers (ISPs).  In the most remote areas the ADE acted as facilitator/trainer for both the grantee districts as well as the local telephone company and ISP.  Each router had provision for 12 “dial up” connections for school and community use.  All of the routers subsequently were connected and account for over 200 locally provided dial up lines.  All of these activities supported the vision as presented in the State Plan for Education in Arizona.  (see: Appendix L).

As explained in the State Plan, the ADE is in the midst of a meaningful restructuring of the state’s public education system.  The ADE is working to establish high-quality content standards that challenge all students and to align the activities of state and federal programs with the state standards.  Development of new service-delivery paradigms and undertaking strategic partnerships will lay the groundwork for a student-centered system.  Schools and districts are being allowed sufficient flexibility and exercise of authority so that they can determine and implement appropriate educational programs.

The State Plan addresses three key areas:

•	Arizona Student Achievement Program (ASAP).  The refined instructional delivery system was established as a statewide initiative designed to raise curricular standards and to increase the achievement levels of all Arizona students.  Under state laws passed since 1988, the State Board of Education, the ADE and local school boards throughout Arizona adopted and implemented Arizona Essential Skills and related assessments.  Student achievement data was collected in the context of non-text indicators and nationally normalized, standardized tests in reading, language and mathematics were administered at specific grade levels.

Building on the foundation and direction of this earlier legislation, Superintendent Keegan and the State Board of Education embarked on a focus that embodied the development of high academic standards and career education (school to work) which would prepare students for both academic and lifetime employment.  In an Academic Summit convened in October, 1995, the process was begun to develop state standards for student achievement in nine key areas, including the development of standards for technology.  Additionally, ADE continues to refine the state assessments.

•	Restructured School Finance System.  Coupled with the structure of the finance system and the debate over school finance reform (the Arizona Supreme Court’s Roosevelt v. Bishop decision), the restructuring process has implications in many areas.  Superintendent Keegan indicates that any school finance reform must result in an improvement in the academic achievement of all students.  This student-centered approach must incorporate not only high academic standards but a means by which we evaluate, use and distribute data upon which we make financial and educational decisions.

The development of a school-based information system has been a priority.  This connectivity to schools is central to the agency’s technology initiatives.  Better connectivity to schools provides better data for education policy-making, community access to educational information, reduction of paperwork, current-year funding and the transfer of mobile student information.  Technology will provide faster, more accurate processing of applications for funds, promote school-finance reform through use of more accurate information, and consequently promote fiscal equity.

•	Strategic Planning and Agency Reorganization.  Building capacity for improved service delivery and technical assistance prompted the agency to build strategic partnerships with business, community and education service providers.  Linkages that build upon strategic planning, strategic partnerships and agency reorganization have been and are continuing to be defined through the strategic planning process.  This process has tied together in the Plan for Education in Arizona (ADE’s Strategic Plan) the division/program plans such as the IASA Consolidated Plan, and the TIEDS State Plan (Technology Integrated Educational Delivery System) for technology.

Most importantaly, as a result of the planning process the agency was able to define:

	Our Vision:
	That all will have access to
EXTRAODINARY EDUCATION.

	Our Mission:
	We insure:
•	Academic Excellence
•	Accurate and Timely Information
•	Effective Use of Resources

	So that learning instills in our students the device and ability to:
Excel in the Workplace
and
Contribute to the Community
	and five agency goals:

1.	Create an infrastructure that enables Arizona students to
•	meet and exceed their individual education goals
•	meet and exceed state standards
2. 	Ensure Arizona’s educational standards are rigorous, based on sound research, and well understood by the public.
3. 	Align educational opportunities to the workplace so that students are prepared to transition from school to work.
4. 	Establish a new system to disseminate accurate and timely information to the public about academic performance and the use of resources at the school level to ensure school level accountability.
5. 	Continuously monitor and improve those procedures that ensure the proper allocation, distribution, and expenditure of all funds.

Through the unification of goals and objectives, the ADE embarked upon a reorganization plan.  That established new linkages both internally and externally for state and federal programs and initiatives.  Linkages are critical as the ADE continues to create new work environments that maximize performance, new operating structures, and new organizational designs that focus on outcomes rather than roles and positions. 

The TIEDS plan, like the state Vocational Education Plan and other department plans, focuses on the needs of Arizona students.  This plan describes the strategies, activities and use of resources which will ensure that all children have Access to Extraordinary Education – enabling them to achieve their full academic potential.

2.0	ADE BACKGROUND

Public school education in Arizona is governed by the State Board of Education which exercises general supervision over and regulates the conduct of the public school system.  Additionally, the legislature established in 1994 the state Board for Charter Schools.  The State Board of Education (SBE) in addition to the State Board for Charter Schools is authorized to grant charter school status to qualifying applicants and provide general supervision over the charter schools that it sponsors.

Authorized by ARS 15-231, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) operates under the direction of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide services to over 220 school districts and 150 charter schools.  Although its primary customers are the 1200 plus elementary and secondary schools and their 750,000 students; the department also supports preschool, workforce development, and adult education programs at schools, community colleges, community based organizations, and local providers.

The Department is organized into three divisions:  Policy, Program Management and Administration.  Associated with the Superintendent’s Office the Policy Division includes the Director of Policy and Federal Relations, Director of Financial Policy, and the Public Information Office.  Program Management is charged with developing and disseminating state academic standards, establishing an academic accountability system that involves assessment and reporting of results, and organizing its programs to support teaching and learning in our schools.  Administration includes those offices that:  support the operation of the agency, determine school finance, implement the state technology plan, act as ombudsman/spokesperson for the Department, and coordinate the state education plan.

3.0	ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN

Quality Education Data (QED) periodically surveys the American educational landscape.  
The following statistics are from their recent report  “Technology in Public Schools” :

	Arizona K-12 Schools = 1,222 in 220 school districts and 150 charter schools with a total of 757,093 students.

	Computers in Arizona Schools as of October, 1996 = 81,024
		9.3 students per computer, 66 computers per school
		State Rank = 20

	Multimedia Computers in Arizona Schools as of October, 1996 = 39,704
		19.1 students per MM computer, 32 MM computers per school
		State Rank = 32

	Arizona Schools with Online Access = 199 or 16.3%
	State Rank = 37

Additionally, Quality Education Data publishes the “State School Guide Arizona”  now in its fourteenth edition covering Fiscal Years 1996 and 1997.  Individual schools are tracked, by among other factors, computer units, VCR units, and QED’s proprietary Tech Measure.  At a district level, a greater variety of technical information is tracked.  In addition to computer units and VCR units, the availability of networks, modems, CD-ROMs, videodisk, satellite and cable television are tracked.  Arizona Department of Education will utilize this data source along with its own surveying and familiarity with statewide educational technology deployment and existing support programs to map a strategy for best serving those districts and schools disadvantaged by distance from urban centers and income demographics.

It is the intent of the Arizona Department of Education to utilize ongoing and new educational technology programs to support on a priority basis those areas most behind the technology curve and insure equitable access to technology resources across the entire K-12 environment statewide.

In the State of Arizona’s Children, 1996, the Children’s Action Alliance reports that, “the child poverty rate in Arizona is worse than the national average.  Despite great economic growth since 1990, our child poverty rate has worsened.  Almost one in four children in Arizona lived in poverty in 1994, which means that families of three had annual incomes below $12,320.”  (see: Appendix S).

The following statistics are from that report (1994 data):

Arizona Child Poverty Rate=24%
Children in Arizona (0-17)=1,095,621
Children in poverty (0-17)=265,140
Children in families receiving AFDC=133,119
Children in families receiving food stamps=278,622
Children approved for free and reduced lunch=279,595

The ADE Title I program reports the following statistics regarding poverty in schools (1996 data):

Number of Schools in Arizona in districts applying for Title I funds=1269*
Schools above 75% low income=306
Schools above 50% and below 75%low income=262
*includes Charter Schools

The Arizona Department of Education has prepared its own more extensive survey instrument to better review and subsequently track the current installed technology base.  This will give additional insight into technology deployment versus the various demographic characteristics of districts and allow ADE to gauge the preparedness of teachers and students to accommodate and integrate advanced technology.  A sample of the survey instrument can be found in Appendix H.  It will be first administered Spring, 1997 and annually thereafter to aid the Arizona Department of Education, local school districts, individual schools, the Arizona State Legislature, and community and business interests in determining the current deployment of technology, its utility to classroom teaching, and those areas needing the most investment and support around the state.
(see: Appendix H.)

4.0	TIEDS BACKGROUND

There are a variety of compelling reasons which support the adoption and implementation of this state plan for a “Technology Integrated Educational Delivery System” (TIEDS).  These reasons include social and economic forces in the state and nation, legislative mandates, State Board actions, and the call from Lisa Graham Keegan, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, to fundamentally restructure our education system.

4.1	RATIONALE

Education is a major factor in productivity growth, even more so than increased capital or better use of resources.  This education, however, must be responsive to the world of today. Much of the current educational environment resembles schools of the 19th century.  We cannot continue to function in this manner nor can we continue to do business as we have in the past. 

As a state we are increasingly locked in competition with other states and with other countries from around the world.  Arizona has a very vibrant and growing high technology industry sector with an expanding need for highly trained and technology literate workers.  The rise of global trading treaties and partnerships along with the progressive elimination of trade barriers are part of a trend to reduce national protectionism of markets.  NAFTA and GATT have already lead to the significant reduction of trade barriers which has eased the outsourcing of labor content offshore.  High speed data links across our borders further drive the globalization of commerce.  Our citizens’ jobs must emphasize America’s service and technology edge which now yields employment usually remunerated at higher wage levels.  And for our students to be ready to enter this rapidly evolving workforce and world economy, those skills must be cultivated in our K-12 educational system that is driven by advanced educational delivery and technology integration.

We are faced with the challenge and opportunity to create a new vision of learning, a vision which transforms all dimensions of schooling.  The ultimate success determinant in realizing that vision will be a demonstrated change in the cognitive and social environments of our schools which clearly supports meaningful learning.  This change in the environment will be visibly supported by changes in the physical environment and the administrative and organizational structure of our schools and classrooms.  That vision must recognize:

•	changing classroom and workforce demographics,
•	the globalization of the economy and ubiquity of global connectivity,
•	changing workforce knowledge and skill requirements,
•	the promise technology offers to educational reform and restructuring,
•	the deficit of under-education.

Changing Classroom and Workforce Demographics.  Arizona has embarked on a significant statewide effort to improve the state’s student assessment program.  The Goals for Educational Excellence project, a joint project of the Legislature, the state Board of Education, and the Department of Education, has required an analysis of the state’s policies, testing programs and reporting of student progress.  The new assessment and reporting system developed on the basis of this analysis will aid schools, districts, state educators and policy makers in making schools more accountable for and responsive to student needs.
While progress has been made in terms of establishing higher curriculum standards for all students K-12 and in the developing of a comprehensive pupil assessment process, the problems of high dropout rates, functional illiteracy and gaps in achievement levels of students continue to persist.  Nationally, demographers predict that the number of minorities in schools will increase and traditional family structures and support systems will continue to breakdown.  Minority students and students who come from single-parent families have consistently performed worse in school than others.  Their lower average reading proficiency and higher dropout rates are indications that these conditions will accelerate and that some of  students will be unprepared for the jobs of tomorrow unless we take action now. 

These achievement gaps are not new, but are more urgent because the percentage of students who are at risk - predominantly poor and minority children - represent an increasing share of both the school population and our future workforce.  This urgency is further deepened by the increasing requirements for technology literacy and skills that they will face in the workplace of tomorrow.  In the coming decade, the majority of new entries in the workforce will be women, immigrants, or minorities.  These groups traditionally have been disadvantaged due to a number of factors - discrimination, language limitations, poverty and other economic reasons.  Because of this they face an almost insurmountable situation when they enter the workforce.  Twenty four (24) percent of Arizona’s children who are currently living in poverty and the over 5,200 homeless children are valuable assets.  We can ill afford to cast them aside as the costs to them and to society will be enormous if they are unprepared to assume their adult role in society.

Economic Competitiveness and Globalization.  “One of the major issues facing the U. S. economy is productivity growth.  The projections for the 1995-2005 period highlight it as a continuing concern.  Productivity has grown much more slowly in the past 10 to 15 years than in earlier periods.  This has had an important effect on the rate of growth of real Gross National Product (GNP) and real disposable income.

Not only does productivity growth have important implications for future increases in our standard of living, but it also is an integral factor in America’s remaining competitive or, in some cases, regaining competitiveness.  Foreign trade is projected to continue to be the fastest growing category of GNP.  The development of worldwide markets for goods and services means that we must remain competitive to sell products abroad or even at home, particularly high-tech goods and services where we still have an advantage in many instances.

The prospects for productivity growth depend on many things - such as spending on research and development, spending on capital equipment, utilization of our productive capacity, and the cost of energy - but, clearly, the education and training of the labor force are important.  We can only remain competitive through the participation of highly skilled and highly educated workers.  Consequently, the potential imbalance between the educational preparation of those entering the labor force and industry’s requirements raises an important concern." (U.S. DOL BLS Outlook 2000, Fall, 1989).

Changing Workforce Knowledge and Skill Requirements.  The needs of the work place are changing drastically and dramatically.  Informational technologies have been an important and integral force in this change.  These technologies have changed the way business is conducted throughout the world and play a key role in the economic fortunes of nations.  Additionally, these technologies are largely instrumental in the enormous advances in medicine, transportation, architectural design, manufacturing, agriculture, science, banking, communications, space exploration, and on and on.  There have been few instances of human endeavor which have not been impacted by technology.  Employers in these fields are demanding more highly-skilled workers, with over 90 percent of all jobs requiring some retrieval, assessment, and distribution of information.  High school dropouts who once could learn unskilled or semi-skilled jobs will find that those jobs no longer exist in the twenty-first century.

As cited in a recent report by Sheila McConnell: “Today’s versatile computers have some impact on nearly every occupation and industry in the U.S. economy, unlike past technology which usually affected only specific jobs.  Computers may be the most profound technology since steam power ignited the Industrial Revolution.  Computer technology is altering the form, nature, and future course of the American economy, increasing the flow of products, creating entirely new products and services, altering the way firms respond to demand, and launching an information highway that is leading to the globalization of product and financial markets.  In addition to affecting the methods of production among firms, computers are changing the relationship between labor and organization.  Computer technology challenges the traditional management hierarchy, moving many organizations from a pyramid-shaped structure to a flatter structure.  Such wider distribution of authority in some companies has put new emphasis on enhancing labor efficiency by replacing fragmented work with integrated work tasks.  This can lead to upgrading worker skills, as shifting flexibility among the production of various goods and services requires a more highly trained work force.”  (McConnell, Sheila, “The Role of Computers in Reshaping the Work Force,” U.S. DOL Monthly Labor Review, August, 1996)

“Over the 1994-2005 period, total employment nationally is projected to increase by 14 percent or by 17.7 million.  Service-producing industries will account for virtually all of the job growth.  Manufacturing’s share of total jobs is expected to decline, as a decrease of 1.3 million manufacturing jobs is projected.  Health services, business services, and social services are expected to account for almost one of every two jobs added to the economy in the 1994-2005 period.  Professional specialty occupations are projected to increase the fastest and to add the most jobs - over 5 million.  Other groups that are projected to grow faster than the average are executive, administrative, and managerial occupations; technicians and related support occupations; and marketing and sales occupations.”  (U.S. DOL BLS 1994-2005 Employment Projections).

Between 1991 and 1994, Arizona companies added more than 190,000 jobs, with job growth rates substantially higher than the national average.  “Despite actual numerical growth, the number of operators, fabricators, and labors, will continue to account for a smaller share of Arizona’s employment.  Particularly vulnerable to pressures of mechanization is employment of laborers, freight and stock movers, and other unskilled workers.  Automation, coupled with the relatively large labor force in these occupations will make job-hunting increasingly competitive.”  (DES Arizona Job Seekers Guide 1/96). An ever larger percentage of the new jobs in coming years will have requirements ranked at the highest level of proficiency in language, reasoning and mathematical skills, compared with existing jobs.

High technology industry, with its great need for skilled knowledge workers, is a crucial and dynamically growing component of Arizona’s economy.  “Among states and cities that actively recruit businesses to relocate, high technology firms are coveted.  There is good reason for this.  First and foremost, the high technology industry offers high quality jobs.  In addition, high technology firms tend to be export oriented and make important contributions to the balance of trade.”  In Arizona, the average pay in the high technology sector is $38,376. compared to a state average of $22,000.  Arizona high technology companies employed more that 95,000 people in 1994 (4.8% of state employment) and indirectly accounted for another 85,000 jobs (for a total of 9% of state employment).  The total value-added impacts in Arizona from high technology industries amounted to $9.5 billion in 1994 or 11% of the gross state product (GSP).  (Alberta Charney and Julie Leones, “Impact of High Technology Industry on the Arizona Economy,” University of Arizona, October, 1995).

These changes in the technological base of America’s and Arizona’s society will alter the knowledge, skills and values we need to be capable workers and citizens.  Evolving information technologies are transforming the nature of work, and this transformation will, in turn, affect the design and content of the school curriculum.  Because of these technological advances, schools must shift in response.  Data processing and information systems will be replaced by sophisticated devices for knowledge creation, capture, transfer, collaboration, and use.  Personal computers, the growth of the Internet across the globe, wireless and fiber optic networks and the convergence of sophisticated devices and functions into advanced new consumer and business enablers will change how we conduct business and how teachers and students function in the learning environment.  Given the nature of employment in Arizona, it is critical that public education ensure that the learning needs of society and the continued enhancement and growth of our economic competitiveness be served by the most productive means possible resulting in a workforce up to the challenges of tomorrow.

The Promise Technology Offers to Educational Reform and Restructuring.  Of all the efforts of any society, the most important is the educating of its populace.  As we move into the next millennium, the ability to rapidly and easily exchange all forms of information is absolutely essential to the development of our economy and the quality of our educational system.  The challenge that confronts Arizona today is that of finding ways to enhance the depth and efficiency of our educational system and information exchange.  In a word, systemic change of the K-12 education system must become a reality.

Technology is central to this systemic change.  It is a powerful education tool to empower learners and assist teachers and administrators.  The education arena currently lacks the in-depth exploration and empirical data to prescribe how technology should be used.  “However, we do know that technology supports a variety of learning styles, contexts and curricula.  It has the potential to expand teaching and learning beyond the four walls of the classroom.  Technology suggests multiple teaching/learning patterns, challenging educators to pursue creative alternatives to the traditional lecture/ worksheet structure.  Specifically, technology has the potential to: 

•	address the issues of educational equity, adequacy, and effectiveness;
•	focus on students’ characteristics and individual learning styles, e.g. self-directed, integrative, and collaborative learning styles;
•	create learning environments which extend beyond the walls of the school involving members of the community, experts and scholars, other students studying the same issue or problem in our communities and around the globe;
•	focus on students applying their knowledge in purposeful activities, e.g. providing assistance to the community, working with other students on global issues, rendering relevance, practicality and societal value to their education;
•	create inter-disciplinary approaches to curriculum often involving some form of teaming of teachers from different subject areas;
•	enhance higher teacher expectations and a belief that students are capable of solving complex problems;
•	establish a belief in the importance of utilizing existing and emerging technologies and researching their full potential for supporting education and creating new knowledge;
•	increase students’ responsibility for their own learning and the learning of others;
•	develop the application of a mixture of technologies to the teaching/learning situation which extends beyond the classroom computer;
•	establish flexible use of facilities, time and human resources;
•	create a sensitivity to the development, health and well-being of the whole learner rather than be limited to academic development.

While we recognize that technology has great potential for education, we must also recognize that there are limitations as well.  Technology should not be used as an end in and of itself.  Rather, technology should be used to achieve the goals of education.  It should be viewed as a tool to enable and support teaching and learning.  Technology will not answer all of our problems, but it can play an important part in improving educational delivery, while preparing our students for the workplace of tomorrow.

The Cost of Under-Education.  The societal and economic impact of the undereducated is enormous not only to those individuals, but to society as a whole.  There is little debate that the cost of dropouts to society, personally, economically and socially is monumental.  The 973,000 dropouts from the nation’s high schools in 1981 are in the middle of their working years and will lose $228 billion in personal earnings over their lifetime, while society will lose $68.4 billion in taxes.  Today it would take a dropout over 48 years working 365 days a year at $4.00 per hour to make up the difference in the average lifetime earnings between a high school dropout and a graduate.  The decision to drop out of high school could cost that individual well over a half million dollars of reduced income potential.  The outlay to incarcerate a juvenile offender in Arizona is approximately $27,000 to $30,000 per year.  Of all those juveniles incarcerated in Arizona, approximately 95% have no high school diploma or equivalent.  Research strongly indicates that investment in early prevention and intervention can save many times its costs of remedial education, welfare, and crime further down the road.

Technology alone cannot decrease the dropout rate or solve the social ills related to under-education; single solutions do not exist for complex problems.  Nevertheless, as a component in a broad effort to address these issues, it can play a critical role by:

•	providing all students with an equitable, adequate and quality education;
•	improving the efficiency of the educational system;
•	increasing the productivity of teachers and administrators;
•	meeting the continuous educational needs of adults in literacy, the basic skills, job training and retraining, career and personal development;
•	provide the skill for better jobs in the evolving workforce.

4.2	ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Equity:

Access to Information Is Inequitable.   Information and the knowledge and wisdom that derive from it are the substance and the goal of education.  Increasingly, information is the substance of the economy as well.  By any measure, the United States is now an Information Society.  Over half of the American workforce is composed of information workers and about a third of all equivalent working days in the United States are devoted to information work.  Even non-information workers spend a significant portion of their time in information activities, while virtually none of information workers’ time is spent handling goods or materials.  Information work accounts for 67 percent of all labor costs in the United States because information workers receive wages and benefits that are 35 percent higher than those of non-information workers.

Most of the new jobs in coming years will have requirements ranked at the highest levels of proficiency in language, reasoning, and mathematical skills.  Computers now permeate the workplace and society at large, thus basic skill sets must be augmented by technological literacy for our students to survive and flourish in the evolving workplace.  Business has also come to value secondary skills such as knowing how to learn, listening and oral communication, creative thinking and problem solving, team participation, personal management, and organizational effectiveness and leadership.  The teaching of fundamentals necessary for these skills acquisition and development can be aided and promoted through advanced technology and the innovative curriculum and content it can deliver.

To deny Arizona’s students access to information and technological skill building is to deny them their futures.  Information is, indeed, power.  It is the wealth of society and of its people.  Failure to provide our students access to all sources of information is to confine them to a future without prospect.

Traditionally, information for students has been contained within textbooks, teacher presentations and libraries.  Today, through the Internet, on-line data bases, computer search and retrieval, electronic bulletin boards, compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM), teleconferencing, distance learning, etc., information is widely available from many sources.  It is a commodity that must be planned for, acquired, and dynamically maintained. 

It is imperative that Arizona secure the future for its students by providing them access to information.  Our students must have the opportunity to develop the knowledge and competencies required to succeed, to be productive and contributing members of our society and to experience quality life.

System Accountability:

Arizona must continue to work towards a system that allows aggregated fiscal, program, and achievement data to be disaggregated at the building and classroom levels.  Only then will the communities that the schools serve have sufficient information to make informed decisions.  The system must also be one in which all educational levels - K through 12, community college, and university - coordinate their actions and facilitate the transition from one level to another.  In addition to their core teaching duties, teachers are expected to diagnose learning styles and rates of learning, measure acquisition of essential elements and track student achievement, maintain discipline records, and respond to a myriad of administrative details.  Given these instructional and administrative requirements, all teachers agree that students need more help and support than they have needed in the past.  A significant percentage of teachers report “teaching” less than 75 percent of the time.

Administrators also report burdensome paperwork requirements because of the necessity to record and report financial and accounting information, student and personnel data, measurement results, and adherence to regulatory and legislative mandates.

Despite their importance for ensuring maintenance of records for accountability and student achievement, these tasks need not be burdensome.  Through automation and rapid data transfer, technology-based management and expert systems can alleviate the tedium and time often associated with such reporting requirements.  Relieving teachers of such labor-intensive record keeping allows them to concentrate on teaching; integrating technology into education will not necessarily save teachers time, but it will allow them to devote their working time to teaching.  Relieving administrators of the need to monitor the collection and transmission of such data allows them to support the educational functions of schools. 

Technology has enormous implications for accountability.  Computerization of mundane activities such as student attendance, grades, enrollment and financial data increases productivity and provides more time to spend on the instructional process.  The use of technology also increases the availability of educational services, resources and information and creates different communication pathways for teachers, students and administrators alike.  Although the paperless office remains an illusion, a much larger volume of information can be kept and organized without the investment of more time using technology. 

Productivity:

The teaching/learning environment made possible by the use of technology can lead to increased productivity for students, teachers and administrators.  Using today's technology, teachers can more effectively manage classroom activities, measure individual student and group progress against curriculum goals, and revise the instructional materials and process to meet those goals.  Educational technologies are now available so that teachers can develop instructional materials and activities that used to be reserved for only the most sophisticated media specialist.  These technological developments have enabled teachers to create materials capable of enhancing the student's capacity and desire to learn as well as the teacher's capacity and enthusiasm to teach.  The students are also empowered by the availability of classroom computers and global network access to discover and retrieve relevant source materials which enrich not only their education, but that of their entire class.

In the majority of today's classrooms, information that is required for administrative, classroom management and instructional purposes is dealt with manually or at best with meager technological support.  This environment and lack of technological support requires that the teacher spend valuable instructional and professional time in completing laborious clerical duties.  The productivity level of both teacher and student is stymied by this situation. 

In a technology integrated educational system, however, productivity will be greatly enhanced.  Arizona’s Student Accountability Information System (SAIS) will simplify and automate many mundane and previously time consuming administrative tasks.  Taking attendance will simply be a matter of students logging in at their computers.  This information will be electronically transferred to the administrative office to be aggregated, sent to the district office where it will be aggregated with other schools data in the district and eventually electronically transmitted to the state level.  Student assessment will become more diagnostic with the results being integrated into instructional activities so that teacher and student receive immediate feedback on student progress.  Student records will reflect past performance as well as current accomplishments.  These profiles will be able to be transmitted to whomever has the authority and/or responsibility to have this information.  The "guessing game" of where to place a student, how to motivate and challenge him or her, and maximize the student's full potential will no longer exist.  The net result will be more complete and accurate student information available on a much more timely basis with a minimum diversion of our teachers from their primary education delivery mission.  (see: reference Appendix I).

Once all instructional, administrative and communication systems among schools, districts and the Arizona Department of Education are fully integrated, information will be available instantaneously to students, teachers, administrators providing them with the resources to improve their productivity. 

4.3	TECHNOLOGY FACILITATES MEETING THE NEEDS

Technology Works:

Computers and information technology have transformed nearly every aspect of American life, increasing productivity, creating new methods of connecting individuals and organizations, and changing the way people work, play and learn. This transformation is changing the way students work, play and learn, also. Technology provides increased opportunities for students to be more involved in learning activities that are complex, authentic and interesting and, at the same time, to have greater control of their own learning. 

Our success as a nation will depend substantially on our children’s ability to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for the world of work in a high-tech world.  Secretary of Education Riley has called technology the “new basic.” Indeed, one of the “basics” of Goals 2000 is raising the level of achievement in basic and advanced skills.  (Achieving the Goals—Goal 5, Federal Interagency Committee on Education, United States Department of Education,1996).

Federal education initiatives currently emphasize two areas:  (1)  assisting all students to reach high standards and (2) making better use of technology in the nation’s schools.  For instance, Title I, Part A of the Improving America’s Schools Act (IASA) began in the late 1980’s to move toward teaching “advanced skills.”  The entire IASA emphasizes that at-risk children be held to the same high educational standards and expectations that schools have for all children.

Technology is a key ingredient in improving and learning for all children.  In many schools, technology has helped children participate in meaningful educational experiences and acquire the critical thinking skills and knowledge they need for the 21st century.  

Technology supports a multitude of education strategies and therefore, offers schools and districts great flexibility in choosing educational strategies.  Today there are many ways that technology can be used to help carry out learning activities.  There are also increased software options stressing higher-order thinking skills.  Schools can completely redesign their curricula and have satellite linkages, video-conferencing, and/or the Internet.  These types of options allow students to access the best sources of information on a variety of subjects.

Technology is also used to improve parent involvement. Home computers and Internet access or laptop computers in take-home programs can be used, along with educational software and audio-visual materials, to allow parents to be more actively involved in their child’s homework.  Technology is used to facilitate family literacy and parenting programs and is used to provide improved communication with parents. (How Title I, Part A Can Support Technology to Improve Teaching and Learning, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Educational Technology, United States Department of Education, 1996)

Another recent study demonstrates that students with online access perform better.  “The results show significantly higher scores on measurements of information management, communication, and presentation of ideas for experimental groups with online access than for control groups with no online access.  It offers evidence that using Scholastic Network and the Internet can help students become independent, critical thinkers, able to find information, organize and evaluate it, and then effectively express their new knowledge and ideas in compelling ways.”  (Center for Applied Special Technology - CAST, “The Role of Online Communications in Schools: A National Study,” November, 1996).

Technology can help meet the needs of special education students.  Special needs students, those with physical and mental handicaps, can in many cases be reached more effectively through technology than with only teacher-student contact.  “Adaptive/assistive devices” can compensate for sensory communication, mobility, and manipulation deficits.  Technological examples of such devices include Braille writers and printers, speech synthesizers, reading machines, and eye movement detectors.  

Technologies can be effectively used to assist management and diagnosis of special needs students as well as to support their instruction.  The user interface and operational protocols of most modern operating systems and applications are designed for accessibility to disabled and flexibility in input and output peripherals.  Computers and global networks can extend the reach of such students within their classroom environments and the world beyond.

Distance learning is a viable means for providing effective instruction and inservice.  Distance learning refers to instruction and inservice that are delivered over a distance via telecommunications or other means, or on-site via technology, and is comprised of at least one of the following characteristics: (1) the instruction supplements or comprises entire course content; and/or (2) the instruction is available from an instructor in real time; and/or (3) the instruction is interactive with the instructor and/or with courseware and data available on student workstations.

Telecommunications and computer-based technologies offer the ability to deliver instruction to districts where it is currently unavailable in order to meet the needs of equity and quality cited above.  Such instruction by distance can be provided—and, to some extent, already is offered—through a variety of means.  Most notably, Arizona School Services Through Educational Technology (ASSET) offers supplemental instruction through public broadcasting to 100 districts and approximately 235,857 students.  It offers 128 TV courses in 14 K-12 subject areas as well as professional development.  The wide array of programming delivered by public broadcasting stations enriches and broadens students’ knowledge and experiences and informs teachers as well.  Cox Communications has a Cable in the Classroom program delivering cable TV connectivity and educational programming in selected areas.  Approximately four (4) districts in Arizona also deliver supplemental instruction, teacher inservice, and other school services over local cable or broadcast networks.  (see: Appendix K).

In addition to the supplemental instruction that is provided by public broadcasting, course work for credit is also offered through videotape, audio conferencing, telecommunications and computer-based technologies, and through combinations of these at the University and Community College level.  Distance learning courses for credit at the K-12 level in Arizona currently include providers from other states and national consortia.  Many additional efforts in other states and at the national and regional levels provide access to education-related information electronically.

The former Congressional Office of Technology Assessment stated: 

In most instances, distance learning appears to be as effective as on-site, face-to-face instruction in the classroom.  Extensive research indicates that distance learning is equally effective in applications for adult learners in nontraditional programs and for training of professionals in business, industry, and the military.  Distance learning has proven to be a powerful delivery system for many subjects and through many media.  Although the evidence is incomplete in K-12 settings, much must be learned about instructional design, teaching techniques, and various kinds of interaction that affect learner outcomes.  Current distance learning efforts offer a rich source of data to be mined. 

Distance learning affects the educational process in a number of ways.  Students report having to take greater responsibility for their learning and that their experience helps them make the transition to higher education.  Students also report that they benefit from exposure to a greater range of ideas, peers, and teachers made possible by the expanded educational community.  At the same time, however, students report that distance learning is harder.  When the distance learning group is large, students complain about difficulties in raising questions and obtaining help during class time. 

Whether distance learning works equally well for all students is yet to be determined.  Most applications to date have been with academically advanced high school students and independent adult learners - those who already possess strong study skills, high motivation, and discipline.  Whether the medium of distance learning works as well with young or academically weak students - and under what conditions - needs further study. 

Adult distance education is cost-effective when compared to traditional methods of instructional delivery, saving on travel and employee time.  Experiences in adult learning and business and military applications have implications for teacher training and staff development.  Few studies have examined cost effectiveness of K-12 projects.  Where traditional instruction is simply not available, comparisons of the cost-effectiveness of distance education and traditional delivery is moot.
 (U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, “Linking for Learning: A New Course for Education,” November, 1989). 

Emerging Technologies and Educational Practice Will Evolve:

Technology is evolving.  Technologies in use in schools today seem miraculous compared to those of just a decade ago.  Those in use in the late 1990s will make those of the 1980s seem quaint. 

Technologies in use in schools include:

•	communications networks for information and data exchange among education institutions enabling educators to develop and share curricula as well as the automation and improved timeliness of educational data collection and tracking;
•	Internet access in school libraries and classrooms, connecting students and teachers to the world at large and a wealth of information resources;
•	information utilities, which connect workstations to various information sources, such as radio, television, newspapers, journals, books, and magazines from CD-ROMs or other licensed media;
•	computers for drill and practice, tutorials, simulations, programming, and problem solving exercises;
•	electronic communications systems for educating geographically isolated students using multicast video signals, sometimes enhanced by two-way audio signals, as well as more broad distance learning applications;
•	instructional and interactive television applications for supplemental instruction and inservice;
•	teletext and videotext, which scan, retrieve, and display information.

A broad current trend involves the synthesis of computers with telecommunications.  The convergence and increased compatibility of many technologies is a current reality.  In the future, the quality and capabilities of the technologies will increase, while costs are likely to decrease.  Distance will no longer constrain the search for needed information.  In practical terms, the new devices put the world of knowledge at the user’s fingertips.

Emerging technologies offer enormous and unprecedented possibilities.  Recent computer-related innovations greatly facilitate the entry, storage, and retrieval of very large amounts of information in multiple formats, including text, graphics, audio, and moving images.  The advances on the Internet of multimedia distribution and presentation combined with rich content make it an increasingly essential resource.  In the future, knowledge bases will be not only larger, but will be cross-referenced and linked to one another through public and other telecommunications networks, allowing users to browse through vast libraries of audio and video information.

Computer-based multimedia sometimes is referred to as "hypermedia".  The technologies, in addition to the computer, that make multimedia possible are optical storage devices such as CD-ROM and videodisk to be followed by Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) with capacities to 18 GB.  These may be combined with broadcast or Internet accessible updates to enhance and keep current their educational applications.

Although the components above are the ones most likely to influence the delivery of education in the near future, other areas of research suggest additional long-term possibilities.  These include:

•	voice recognition and synthesis, which facilitate communication between the computer and the user as well as supporting disabled access;
•	digitizing of print, audio, and video analog information, such as texts and videotapes along with new methods of instant distribution;
•	the evolution of virtual reality environments allowing for 3-D spatial navigation and exploration from existing computer platforms;
•	the availability of higher speed data and Internet access over multiple delivery networks such as cable TV, satellite, and telephone networks;
•	expert systems and artificial intelligence, which emulate human higher-order reasoning abilities, leading to the deployment of artificial agents or knowbots to gather, filter, and deliver targeted information from many sources;
•	neural networks, which allow machine learning and diagnosis of patterns and problems aiding and partnering with individuals in their tasks;
•	superconducting materials and other semiconductor advances, which may greatly enhance the speed, memory, and efficiency of computers;
•	vector and parallel processing, which use microprocessors to work simultaneously on different parts of a single large problem;
•	vertical blanking interval (VBI) or subcarrier transmission in television broadcast to deliver data simultaneously with the video/audio image.

As these technologies are developed and marketed, applications for education must be encouraged.  Schools in 2000 must not be relying on the outdated technologies of 1990; they must have access to and reason to use the technologies of 2000.  Business, education, and government must work together to transform the technologies developed for the workplace and the military into those appropriate for the classroom.  Such cooperative effort in exist regionally and nationally and should be utilized to the fullest extent.  A product development consortium of business and education can move exciting training and applications technologies from the former to the latter.  Furthermore, educators and taxpayers must be prepared to phase in new technologies and phase out or upgrade obsolete technologies on a cycle of five years or in some cases less.

Education will evolve as technology is implemented.  The attributes that make the new technologies attractive for instruction and management also imply great social and organizational change in the education system.  In the long run, the technologies promise to alter what is taught (curriculum), how it is taught (pedagogy), where it is taught (in schools, alternative educational settings, workplaces, homes, or elsewhere), when it is taught (during school hours, after school hours, weekends, or summers), and may induce debate on the whys of education (in terms of life skills, economic competitiveness, and personal enrichment).  The extent of these changes has been described as a second frontier because an irreversible phenomenon of historic significance has been initiated that will deeply affect the potentialities and constraints of education. 

For technology to make a genuine contribution in education, it must be allowed to shape and be shaped by the school and classroom settings.  Its effect will be minimal if it is simply “added on’’ to the existing curriculum.  The relationship between education and technology must be holistic.  Hardware alone cannot educate students.  It remains for teachers, empowered by the technologies, to translate information into knowledge and wisdom on the part of the student; for students, similarly empowered, to formulate questions and to learn how to learn; and for administrators, also empowered by rapid data and information aggregation, to lead their institutions to ones characterized by diversity, efficiency, and achievement. 

The two common errors in technology planning assessment are to overestimate the speed of diffusion of an innovation and to underestimate its eventual consequences.  Integrating the new computing and communications technologies into education will require concerted effort, but it will result in providing teachers, students, and administrators with an array of rich alternatives to traditional teaching, learning, and managing. 

Furthermore, while the emphasis of this plan is on the use of technology in school settings, technology will continue to have an impact on learning in the home and other settings.  Over 40% of U.S. households have a personal computer and most of those have modems enabling online connectivity.  Phoenix, with its high technology industry base, has over 50% penetration of computers in homes and these percentages continue to rise.  Students use these family computers for their homework, learning explorations, and entertainment.  In fact, recent surveys have shown a reduction in television viewing in favor of time spent on Internet connection.  Libraries and other community facilities increasingly provide public Internet access workstations so that students may find alternatives if they do not have their own at home.  The convergence of Internet access capability with television set-top boxes (i.e. - Web TV) and with telephone instruments will further enable broad consumer use on global network resources.  The wide availability of such access will place further emphasis on the need for students to attain these increasingly indispensable skills and proficiencies while compelling education to adopt technology so ubiquitous throughout society at large.

Traditional televisions are in over 90 percent of the homes in this country, and children and their parents have access to three major networks and public television.  Nearly 50 percent of the homes in the country subscribe to cable television, providing an additional 20 to 150 channels for viewing.  In 1994 in Arizona our 111 cable systems have cabled over 1,354,081 homes of which 746,713 subscribed to at least basic services.  With this widespread coverage, it is possible to imagine a wide variety of information on parenting, careers, and other topics and courses offered both to adults and to students.  This information could be broadcast as it is today; it could become interactive with Internet links and computer feedback protocols; it could be delivered  in the form of computer software and programs; and it could originate from a variety of sources. 

Teaching will change.  Computers in the classroom are bringing the capabilities of the media laboratory and the content of the library into each of those classrooms and for many students, directly into their homes.  For the teacher, this combination enables the authoring and presentation of lessons using materials drawn from multiple electronic and audiovisual sources.  It also allows the ready sharing of curriculum materials among members of the educational community as well as access to the resources of government and industry.  Entire libraries of text, pictures, and full-motion videos are available in real-time over the Internet from global sources.  Live multimedia  connections to other classrooms around the nation and the world as well as to adults working in government and industry will broaden and invigorate classroom learning, more closely modeling the concurrent workgroup process that students will find as they enter the workforce.

Teachers will be able to designate materials for students to access, often pulling them down onto local resources for speed and reliability.  They will also setup control programs for the students access privileges, build resource link  tables, and monitor student progress during individualized or small group sessions, thereby giving the teacher great flexibility in terms of instructional approach and classroom arrangement.  The teacher’s computer will act as a network and file server that controls student access to a vast amount of software and content and assist the teacher with a myriad of administrative tasks, including attendance, lesson plan preparation, testing, grading, and report writing, thus freeing the teacher for planning and working with individual students.  In a student-centered classroom the teacher’s role will be to enable students to assume greater responsibility for their own education.  Teachers are more likely to facilitate learning, less likely to control it. 

Learning will change.  For the student, the technologies mean a variety of educational experiences ranging from directed interactive lessons to nondirected individual or cooperative exploration of diverse subjects.  Directed lessons will use artificial intelligence or neural networks to diagnose and match the individual’s unique learning style, providing feedback at appropriate intervals.  Students will progress at their own pace, with some receiving intensive remedial assistance and others beginning advanced studies regardless of grade level.  In general, students will learn more, faster and at a pace and timing suited to their needs. 

In the long run, the new technologies could change assumptions about education.  Under current practice, until test time, neither the teacher nor the students can be confident that students have acquired the knowledge or skills.  With the new technologies, students and teachers can receive immediate feedback on a lesson’s effectiveness.  As a student works through an individualized lesson, he or she leaves an electronic “trail” that can be traced and analyzed for information on how the student learns.  The technologies may be the key that unlocks the mystery of how students learn.  Greater knowledge of student learning patterns, both individual and collective, promises to revolutionize the science of learning and the practice of teaching.

Curricula will change.  Changes in pedagogy and measurement, in the rates and methods by which students learn, and in the demands that will be placed on the citizenry and workforce of the future, suggest changes in curriculum as well.  Curriculum should expand to include familiarity with computers for data searches, word processing, and other applications.  These skills will be necessary in the evolving workplace as will skills that computer applications can help develop such as problem recognition and definition, handling of evidence, analytical skills, implementation skills, human relations, and learning skills. 

Regardless of the specific skills and knowledge which adults will need in the 21st century, the citizenry must be flexible as the world continues to change.  Provisions for content and procedures in the curriculum must be similarly flexible 

Management and structure will change.  For the administrator and other staff, technologies offer communications within schools and districts, between schools and parents, and among education and other educational entities across the state.  The needs of students and families can be more productively met.  Records of mobile students can travel with them rather than behind them.  Students at risk need not be lost.  Educational leadership can be thorough and consistent as local and state policy makers share information and guidance. 

Developments might include alterations in the roles and relationships between instructional and administrative staff who will share technology hardware and networks to conduct their tasks.  Governance of schools is likely to evolve. 

Facilities will change.  As electronic networks become wired and structural relationships within schools evolve, so will the buildings themselves.  The architecture that conveys the transmissions and houses the new teaching, learning, and managing must be planned for long-term flexibility and change.  Computer integration to the classrooms and libraries will be joined by central computer labs or administrative computer centers throughout the school sites.

4.4	THE VISION - TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATED EDUCATIONAL DELIVERY SYSTEM

Arizona’s education system must have the ability and capacity to use and apply technology to the teaching and learning process.  The statewide plan for multi-level Technology Integrated Educational Delivery System (TIEDS) plots a course to meet the multi-faceted needs of all learners from K-12, higher education, business, family and community.  The system provides for:

•	an equitable, adequate and quality education,
•	an efficient and accountable education system,
•	an increase in the productivity of teachers and administrators,
•	a continual response to the educational needs of adults in literacy, the basic skills, job training and retraining, career and personal development.

Implementation of TIEDS will be accomplished in conjunction with the state’s Project Eagle, including Project Connect and the Arizona Learning Systems (ALS), which has developed a state-wide master plan for cost effective and pervasive public-sector telecommunications networking in Arizona.  This is to be accomplished by the aggregation of the buying power of the largest state agencies along with education and other public sector stakeholders.  It is anticipated that the network will provide the following services to participating members:

•	delivery of instructional programming for the K-12 audience, both students and educational personnel;
•	delivery of post-secondary instructional programming to university and community college level students, especially those in remote areas and at off-campus centers;
•	delivery of instructional programming for adult basic education and General Education Development (GED) preparation for individuals in Arizona;
•	delivery of instructional programming for continuing education or Arizona’s workforce in education, business and industry, professional and government agencies;
•	the provision of video teleconferencing for state and local agencies thus diminishing travel requirements;
•	support for the Student Accountability Information System (SAIS) with the electronic transmittal of collected data, files, and reports;
•	support for administrative efficiency and effectively through connectivity applications such as electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, and full Intranet functionality;
•	access to an information-rich environment through sources such as online computerized catalogs, interlibrary loan, reference referral, and other library/media services;
•	medium to high speed Internet access for global connectivity to other educational institutions and classroom as well as a wealth of education curricula, content, and support materials for both students and teachers;
•	access to computerized test banks for K-12 teachers statewide to help assure greater consistency in competency testing in both academic and occupational programs and;
•	exchange of information, courses and programs between and among public educational institutions through various means including data and audio teleconferencing.

5.0	STRATEGIES, ACTIVITIES, AND USE OF RESOURCES

5.1	STRATEGIES

Arizona has made a commitment to the implementation of innovative uses of technology in Arizona’s schools. The ADE has supported innovative educational programs using technology at the classroom level to enhance the educational experience for children of poverty and to prepare students for the workplace.  The ADE, Arizona universities and community colleges, LEAs and private industry have all participated in various initiatives.  These include the installation of technology hardware such as computers, production studios, satellite technology, various audio and video technologies, cable TV connections, the use of microwaves to link classrooms through the use of distance education technology, and Internet connections.  Support services are provided to schools for these products through professional development, curriculum development and software evaluation.  

Long-range Strategy for Financing Educational Technology:

Arizona is committed to local control for districts and schools.  The state has continued to provide legislative support to this concept, most recently through the establishment of charter schools and site councils at individual school sites.  The introduction of technology in education by the ADE follows this model.  The ADE takes on the role of leader and facilitator. The ADE provides and/or facilitates the seeding of a project, creates the model and then assists in the establishment of consortia and/or lead organizations.  This approach allows local districts and schools to choose the technological innovations which they believe will best serve their students. The innovations are sustained through these consortia and lead organizations which continue the educational  services through the use of local resources.  The ADE has used this strategy quite successfully since 1989.  By following this strategy, the ADE not only supports local control, but is also able to commit its resources to facilitate the continuing expansion of technology across the state through a wide variety of projects.

Equitable Access:

Arizona is a highly diverse state.  The ethnic diversity includes students of American Indian, Hispanic, Black, White and  Asian heritage.  Handicapped and LEP populations are another dimension of the diversity of the state.  Equitable access for all of Arizona’s diverse populations including those children who live in poverty is a primary focus in the determining the nature of the state’s support services and activities .  

Arizona is also a very rural state.  Only the schools in metropolitan Phoenix  and Tucson are urban (approximately 300 of the 1200 schools in the state).  The rest of Arizona’s schools are isolated in rural areas.  The furthermost school in Arizona is 450 miles from the state capital. 

Equity for all Arizona’s students demands that:

•	every student should be able to receive quality instruction in every required course and in any additional appropriate course; 
•	the instruction should be effective and adequate, and coursework available in the state to one student should be available to all students, and
•	every student should have access to the data and primary resources that will empower him or her to accomplish his or her optimal level of achievement; the resources and information available to one student in the state should be available to all students.

“The most consistent and critical factor that threatens a child’s well-being and capacity to reach his or her potential is poverty.” (The State of Arizona’s Children: 1996, Children’s Action Alliance.)  Because we know this statement to be true, local educational agencies (LEAs) that have the highest numbers or percentages of children in poverty and that demonstrate the greatest need for technology will be the priority for assistance.   The ADE will use the low-income data collected by the ADE Title I program to determine which schools have the greatest poverty.

By supporting technological innovation in Arizona’s schools, the ADE believes that equity for all students will be enhanced.  The use of technology, for instance, is a great “equalizer” for special needs students, particularly in the use of “adaptive/assistive devices” which can compensate for sensory communication, mobility and manipulation deficits.  In addition, parents will be able to access information regarding the quality of education being provided by their local school and to see what options may be available for alternative education.

The ADE technology initiatives have focused heavily on providing access in the very rural and remote areas of the state.  Through many of these initiatives, students, parents and teachers will have access to libraries, museums, and data that would otherwise be inaccessible.  The following section “Activities” demonstrates the commitment to using technology as one method of ensuring equitable access.

5.2	ACTIVITIES

ADE Initiatives:

The Student Accountability Information System (SAIS) (see: Appendix I) is the creation of one interrelated, automated education data exchange system composed of public school student, financial and human resources data.  The proposed system will allow schools to electronically submit raw data rather than summary reports on paper or computer diskette.  This method of reporting will facilitate better, more efficient ways of analyzing, publishing and reporting data.    The implementation of such an automated system will also provide the ADE and the public with more accurate, up-to-date information on the academic performance of students within Arizona.

Traditionally the ADE collects and processes information from school districts for purposes of funding, planning, and meeting State and Federal reporting requirements.  The various existing systems were individually developed to collect the data for each unique State or Federal program, in isolation from other existing programs and therefore, do not fit into any coherent pattern.  The result is a large degree of unrelated and duplicate data within the department, in a variety of disparate systems that cannot be integrated.  The impact on the LEAs is severe.  They receive multiple and duplicate, uncoordinated data requests from State and Federal programs, thus limiting their ability to focus on their main responsibility, academic excellence.

The primary medium used to collect data from schools has been pencil and paper.  In 1991 the ADE began collecting some data electronically on magnetic diskettes and tapes.  Whether the data is on paper or magnetic media, the current process requires schools, then districts, to summarize it in lengthy reports, rather than simply submitting the raw data.  This process is burdensome for schools, districts, and the ADE.  School districts are required to complete numerous lengthy forms to provide mandated data.  The ADE staff must verify the information submitted by school districts, then re-key much of the information into an automated information system.

Because data is collected at different intervals from multiple sources, and is error-prone, it is impossible to develop accurate statistical information such as drop out rates and graduation rates.  Finally, the public has no ability to access the information that the ADE collects.  It is difficult for the public to be effectively involved in schools within their community without adequate information about those schools.

Therefore, the proposed system will address four categories of issues:  lack of academic and financial information; untimely information; inability of the current system to meet future needs: and lack of access to needed educational and budget information for the community, the school districts, and other decision makers.

There are several specific initiatives which directly address these issues.  For example, the SAIS will pave the way for dramatically improved timeliness and accuracy of student and financial information, as well as provide easy access to the Internet for all schools and the public.  Further, it resolves concerns about the ability of the present information system to meet future needs well into the next century.  This system will provide for:

•	Accurate information for educational policy making
•	Timely information for accurate funding and decision making
•	Accurate funding to schools
•	Reduced cost of student data collection
•	Effective information transfer between schools
•	Easy access to school information by parents, community
•	Meeting requirements for Year 2000 Compliance

The proposed system, using the raw data submitted, will facilitate more efficient ways of analyzing, publishing and reporting the required information to the federal government.  It will also provide the public and the ADE with more accurate up-to-date information on academic performance within Arizona, as well as information necessary to make accurate payments to schools based upon current student counts, rather than a formula based on prior year school counts.  In addition, the system will enable parents and the community to examine school performance indicators.  For example, parents and other members of the community will be able to access up-to-date public information on the Internet to find out how much money a particular school spends on administrative salaries, or will be able to search for schools in a particular zip code that have the highest average norm-referenced test scores.

The automation plan focuses on three major components:

1.	Electronic data collection:  enterprise wide networking and client/server technology will support statewide electronic collection of student enrollment, staff, and fiscal data at the school level.  LEAs will be connected to the Internet for collection, transmission, and receipt of fiscal and academic information.

2.	Information databases at the ADE:  the data needed to support program accountability programs and to identify a school’s academic performance and expenditures, as well as information required by state and  federal reporting requirements, will be maintained in a variety of databases.

3.	Data access:  data maintained at the ADE will include student enrollment, fiscal, and human resource information in both detail and aggregate form.  Only authorized state and local education agency staff will have access to detailed information.  The public will have access only to aggregate information relating to academic performance and expenditures for each school in the state.  Confidentiality of student information will be maintained; the school and the parent remain the ultimate authority for the release of individual student information.

The proposed system is based on client-server technology that will allow a significantly improved way of doing business now and in the future.  It is a robust, high speed (minimum 56 Kb) Internet connection to the World Wide Web.  This is a two-way secure connection directly between a work station at every LEA and the ADE central servers.  Information is captured at the source using a standard entry format.  Only minimal necessary information is entered, and entry error is avoided or significantly reduced through validation testing.  The information is sent in securely encrypted form to meet FERPA requirements. Development and implementation of the proposed SAIS will take two years and is scheduled to be completed by December 1999 at projected of cost $1,170,000 for internal system design and $5,415,000 for Internet connectivity and school level systems.

The system further allows every school in the state to have immediate connectivity to the Internet for use in academic program enrichment.  This access can be expanded beyond the single data collection work station by using the router connection to provide bandwidth and capacity so as to achieve multiple simultaneous Internet connections.

Phase I of SAIS is now underway in Pinal County.  It is a model for any school system using AS400 hardware (46 Arizona school districts in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties, as well as numerous districts within the state use such equipment).  The Pinal system will serve as the basis for a methodology to achieve enterprise wide client-server connectivity, making the process of exchange of information more efficient.  Phase II will begin when the pilot has been tested for effectiveness (scheduled for March/April, 1997).  Phase II will target implementation of the SAIS in 200 schools across the state.

The Arizona Migrant Education Program (MEP) has developed Speede/Express, a database with information on all migrant students in Arizona, to facilitate the exchange of important educational and health data.  The state is involved in a demonstration project to test the feasibility of linking this type of student information locator across state lines.

Schools using Speede/Express can exchange student records to better meet the need of migrant students when they arrive at a new school.  These records help school staff enroll students, provide them with appropriate services, address their needs within classroom, avoid redundant testing and develop a baseline for assessing progress.  Timely information can also help teachers make accurate assessments of student progress toward attaining state content and performance standards.

As a follow-up to a successful electronics record exchange pilot project between districts in Yuma, Arizona and Salinas, California, the state is also working to build the capacity of Arizona school districts to collect and disseminate student records electronically.  This effort will be of benefit to all mobile students.

The ADE World Wide Web Site  (http://www.ade.state.az.us/) (see: Appendix D for examples of web pages) serves many purposes.  It is the web server for many districts (http://www.ade.state.az.us/schools) that are unable to have their own websites. The ADE Research and Evaluation division posts student performance information on the web site.  This data enables parents and the community to examine school performance indicators and the approved and proposed state standards.  For example, if a parent wants information on student attendance or student achievement at a school, the parent could access the information via the Internet.  This increased access to school-level data will improve parent and community involvement and enable more individuals to have an informed, policy-making role in education.

The ADE Website is also used by various state and federal programs to provide information to the public and to LEAs.  All ADE programs maintain web pages through the ADE Home page, which provides program and staffing information.  Additionally, the Internet will be used for the electronic submittal of program and financial information.  For example, the IASA LEA Consolidated Application for funds will be part of the state initiative to automate the grant process to allow each program area to have on-line access to grant status, payment status, and other information.  Program staff from throughout the agency have worked with the state Grants Management office to standardize common forms and to streamline the application for funds so that LEAs will be able to submit the consolidated IASA application through the Internet via the ADE’s interactive World Wide Web home page.   Amendments will be processed through the same automated system.  An ADE specialist will be able to review an application/amendment on computer, discuss it with the LEA on-line, approve it and automatically send the forms to the Grants Management Office for payments to be processed.(http://www.ade.state.az.us/grants/).

The automated application and amendment system will provide real-time data to ADE specialists and LEAs, increase accuracy of payments, reduce processing time, and reduce paperwork.  Technical assistance will be provided to LEAs in the use of this technology through regional and statewide workshops.

A primary objective in the state plan is to have programs such as IASA reduce paperwork through the use of improved technology.  LEAs will submit applications and amendments through a paperless application and amendment process that utilizes the World Wide Web.  ADE will reduce the number of requests from LEAs for duplicative information by maintaining a database for school administrative data, program statistics and related information.

School Report Cards (http://www.ade.state.az.us/reportcards/) are submitted by each school.  The information contains a variety of academic and programmatic information.  The ADE adds school-level achievement and enrollment data and promotion and attendance rates.  This is published on the Internet.  This makes this data accessible to parents and the public on a timely basis.

Troops to Teachers  (http://www.troops.org/) was begun 4 years ago (1992) as a placement service for retired or discharged military personnel wishing to begin a career in education. With federal government support and partial reimbursement to districts for each certified teacher hired, it has become an extremely successful national K-12 teacher placement service.

In December, 1995, a Troops to Teachers website was created for districts to advertise teaching positions so candidates could contact a requesting district.  Candidates are also able to post their resumes on the site so districts could review the available pool of potential candidates from across the United States.

The use of distance education technology has been actively pursued by the ADE for remote and rural LEAs. The ADE Title I program has invested a little over $1 million in the development and use of distance education to provide services in these remote and rural areas.  

A pilot distance education project was conducted in 1991 and 1992, which linked a summer school math class in Flagstaff, AZ with a summer school math class in Yuma, AZ in partnership with Northern Arizona University (NAU) and the ADE Chapter 1 office. The evaluation study showed increased student performance at both sites each summer.

The success of this pilot and the challenges of providing educational services to Title I students at private schools in remote areas prompted the ADE to support the development of distance education programs at Section, AZ and at Window Rock, AZ.  These programs have been implemented in collaboration with Northern Arizona University (NAU) and the LEAs at each site.  Professional development in the use of technology and curriculum development appropriate to this service delivery model have been integral components of these projects.

The Section/Window Rock model includes an LEA class linked by two-way audio, two-way video to the private school site class.  Thus public school students and private school students work together.  Students have access to the Internet as part of the resources for instruction.  The Internet usage is a critical component of the delivery of services to high school students, who use it to conduct research projects.

The Window Rock site will also be used to provide professional development for LEA staff and, as other LEAs become connected, will be used to link classrooms across the Navajo Nation.  NAU has installed equipment to allow the site to be used as a hub to offer services to other sites in this remote area of the Navajo Nation.

NAU will be working with the Window Rock School District to provide distance education classes for teacher certification.  It is hoped that this will increase the number of Indian teachers.

This open, timely system will provide critical, accurate, quantitative data that will be crucial to our continuous improvement.  It will enable us to track the academic progress of all mobile students across time and different schools, on a real-time basis.

Consortia Activities:

ASSET (described in the “TIEDS: Overview”) continues as a partnership project between the ADE and Arizona State University.  ASSET is an ongoing and evolving project, which continues to distribute educational videos to members of the cooperative.  In addition, ASSET is participating in Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Science Foundation (NSF) projects, such as Mathline.  Technical training is provided to Arizona K-12 teachers, particularly for Title I programs in especially high poverty, rural schools and schools with significant Native American populations.  Currently 100 districts are members of ASSET, serving over 250,000 students.  (see: Appendix K).

ASSET is also a member of the national education partnership, Educational Products Information Exchange (EPIE Institute), located in Hampton Bay, NY.  This partnership creates a model for Internet evaluation of software through the use of virtual software evaluation sites.  A teacher of a member district can log onto the Internet and access the EPIE site from their school.  This allows teachers in remote areas to have direct access to review software without having to travel to Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ.

The wide array of programming delivered by public broadcasting stations enriches and broadens students’ knowledge and experiences and informs teachers as well.  Cox Communications, a local Phoenix cable company, has a “Cable in the Classroom” program delivering cable TV connectivity and educational programming in selected areas.  Approximately 5 districts in Arizona also deliver supplemental instruction, provide professional development for teachers, and other school services over local cable or broadcast networks.  In addition to the supplemental instruction that is provided by public broadcasting, course work for credit is also offered by school districts, universities, community colleges and private providers through videotape, audio conferencing, telecommunications and computer-base technologies.  Distance learning courses for credit at the K-12 level in Arizona is offered by providers from other states and national consortia. 

Arizona Public School Computer Consortium (APSCC) in cooperation with NAU and the ADE provided 64 routers to districts in Coconino, Mohave, LaPaz and Yuma counties.

The Urban Systemic Initiative (USI) membership is composed of the 13 feeder elementary districts for Phoenix Union High School District.  The ADE assisted those districts that had site licensing agreements to equalize those licensing agreements across all schools in USI.  The dial-up support was installed through the ADE. The ADE also provides technical support for participating districts to assist them in stretching their technology funds.

The Cooperative Internet Access Project purchased and distributed 64 Cisco routers to rural districts.  These routers were awarded to districts (at no charge) through a competitive grant process.  Successful districts were those that demonstrated the most need and the most innovative usage.  (see: Appendix L).

ADE Partnerships:

The ADE partnerships with business and community have focused on the acquisition of hardware necessary for connectivity and the providing of software and training for school staff.  A wide variety of partners have assisted the ADE in increasing technology in remote, rural districts across Arizona.  Some of these partnerships and their contributions are described below.

NetDay is a nationwide project locally sponsored by the ADE and local companies.  NetDay is a volunteer effort for citizens, schools and companies to work together to provide network wiring to schools.  A volunteer team for a school consists of the Sponsor, the Team Leader, and the Community Volunteers.  The Arizona NetDay kick-off event was Saturday, October 26, 1996, when hundreds of volunteers across Arizona helped schools ‘get wired” for  LAN, WAN, and Internet access.  Volunteers installed jacks and connectors and ran wire conecting each school’s library, computer labs, and as many classrooms as possible.

To date volunteers have hardwired 100 schools throughout Arizona and twenty-five more sites will be wired in the near future.  (For a complete description of NetDay96, visit our web site at:  http://www.ade.state.az.us/netday96/)

For the last 5 years, Apple Computers has provided PCs for use in the state’s K-3 and 9-12 At-Risk programs.  In addition, software is made available at the software evaluation center and Apple conducts training for teachers and students in the use of Apple software.

Aries Technology provided a 20-station lab with Internet service for the software evaluation center.  This lab is used by ASSET for teacher training on software and Internet usage.  Aries also provided a Pentium Solaris PC to the ADE to support the Troops to Teachers website and provided the router training for the Cooperative Internet Access Project.

Compaq provided laptops to rural districts in Yuma and to districts on the Indian reservations.  These laptops were used to train teachers in joint technology planning.

Hayes donated modems for 45 remote rural sites.

Electric Light Wave provided T-1 cable for redundant Internet links from the ADE to the Internet Point of Presence (POP) in San Diego.

IBM provided computers for the Software Evaluation Center at ASSET and participated with ASSET in training teachers in software usage.

Cisco Systems, Inc. provided the network design and hardware distribution for the Cooperative Internet Access Project.  In September 1996, Cisco provided training to 20 fifth through eleventh grade students in the basics of network management.  This 8-hour training program was videotaped and was broadcast to 150 school sites across the United States.  This has become a nationwide project that was piloted at Cholla Middle School in the Washington School District in Phoenix, AZ and at a high school in San Francisco Unified District in San Francisco, CA.

Microsoft provides to ASSET unlimited software for the Software Evaluation Center.  Microsoft also conducted 5 regional workshops for teachers and administrators on the Windows 95 operating system and annually donates approximately 600-800 different titles of reference software to LEAs

Picturetel conducted a demonstration project at the ADE teleconferencing studio in the use of compressed video and provided the phone lines and equipment for two-way compressed video transmissions.

US Robotics donated 24 modems and the remote dialup location equipment for remote, high poverty schools.

US West established a frame relay and for two years provided all the hardware for 10 districts in Phoenix, Flagstaff, Tucson and Nogales.  It also provides senior engineers to districts to debug switch and delivering systems.  In addition, US West provided training for this connectivity project from which the ADE and US West developed a model for process planning for technology usage.  A manual was written which details this model connection process.  US West now uses this manual to connect schools in the 14-state region it serves.

Local Education Agency (LEA) Acquisition And Use Of Technology:

Many schools use a broad range of technology tools involving the synthesis of computers with telecommunications.  The convergence and increased compatibility of many technologies is a current reality in Arizona schools.  Distance is no longer a barrier to some remote sites and therefore, students are able to access needed information from sources that in the past were not available to them.  The new technologies and their instructionally appropriate use puts the world of knowledge at the user’s fingertips.

The ADE, through various state and federal programs, has supported and encouraged LEAs in the use of computers, Internet services (http://www.ade.state.az.us/maps/), and satellite downlinks to provide students with the opportunity to access technologies and information which will enhance their learning, expand their horizons and prepare them for the workplace.

LEAs utilize a variety of technology innovations.  These include computer labs, computers in classrooms, networked schools, computers in libraries, satellite downlinks directly into classrooms, video and audio technologies, Internet exploration, e-mail communication, distance linked classrooms and production studios. To date, 71 districts maintain their own web sites.  LEAs are expected to provide the appropriate professional development for staff in the effective use of these technologies.

These technologies are used by students in learning environments which allow students to conduct research via the Internet, communicate with students in other classrooms at other school sites, receive programming on a variety of topics chosen by the teacher to fit the day’s lesson, publish the school newsletter or newspaper, publish their own writings and explore the world of math and science.  Public access channels provided by local cable companies are being used to provide programming for parents and as an opportunity for students to experience studio production for television programming.

5.3	CONCLUSION

In conclusion, these technological innovations will help remove the barriers that may exist to the equitable access to and equitable participation in the various activities of the state.  In order to provide for a better, more equitable education for all Arizona students the ADE is moving forward with greater use of technology in education.  The variety of technologies in schools will better prepare Arizona’s students for the workplace they will enter after the year 2000.  With more timely information, it will be easier for schools, districts and the ADE to be more accountable to students and the public regarding the academic achievement of students and each will be able to modify curriculum and instruction and provide technical assistance that will result in a more responsive system to meet student needs.

5.4	USE OF RESOURCES

Many independent and interrelated programs exist in Arizona in support of technology integration to our K-12 school environment.  Some of these programs and their resource commitments are detailed below.  The annual technology questionnaire that is given schools will further identify and track local initiatives so that the state will give a more complete scope of efforts in the future.

SERVICE PROJECT	RESOURCES	
Student Accountability Information System (SAIS)	•	$500,000
	
Arizona School Services Through Educational Technology (ASSET)	•	$243,000/year
•	In-kind contributions from Apple, Aries Technology, IBM, and Microsoft	
AZEdlink	•	$250,000/year	
Arizona Public School Computer Consortium (APSCC)	•	$2.3 million
	
Urban Systemic Initiative	•	$15,000/year	
NetDay	•	$20,000 in state funds; $20,500 in corporate contributions
•	Volunteer labor and products from local sponsors (see website for full list of sponsors)	
Cooperative Internet Access Project	•	$267,000/year	
ADE Website	•	$370,000 hardware and software investment
•	$5,000/month for support and expansion	
LEA Implementation of Technology	•	$11-17 million*	
Distance Education Projects	•	$1,000,000 in Title I funds	
Troops to Teachers	•	$195,000/year	
Partnerships	•	In-kind contributions from corporate sponsors:  hardware, software, employee time and training.	
Grants Management Development	•	$216,000	
School Report Cards	•	$300,000 annual budget	
Development of ADE Infrastructure	•	$2,000,000 +	

*District Capital Bond Expenditures data only.

6.0	CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Introduction/Overview:

The process of continuous improvement is dependent upon an effective feedback loop.  Information must be timely and accurate to make a meaningful difference at the student, school, district, or state level.  The ADE vision of continuous improvement relies on the ongoing exchange of quantitative and qualitative information among schools, districts, and the SEA.  The information will be used at the local level to support true educational reform and site-based decisions and at the state level to assess and retool the strategies and activities described in the “TIEDS: Strategies, Activities and Use of Resources” section of this document.

Vision for Continuous Improvement:

We recognize that the currency and effectiveness of our proposed strategies and activities will rely on a state-of-the-art data collection system.  We recognize the importance of:

•	Using information that is timely and accurate
•	That both quantitative and qualitative data must be collected and
•	That information must be of use to and used by stakeholders at all levels of education in Arizona, i.e., student, family, school, district and state.

The data collection system will enable us to determine quickly if our strategies and activities for improving student achievement are working (ongoing evaluation) and to modify our strategies and activities (continuous improvement) if they are not producing the best results in terms of student achievement.

Collection and Use of Data:

Our ultimate and most important goal is the academic achievement of all students.  The ADE is committed to increasing the percentage of students who demonstrate high academic achievement.

To ensure that we have the same high expectations of all children, the milestones that will be set to measure student achievement at the school and school district level will also apply to all disaggregated subgroups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, migrant or LEP status) to ensure equal progress across groups.

In recognition of the drawbacks of current procedure for collecting data from schools and the progress made by other states in effective education information exchange, the ADE proposed to the Arizona legislature—and received partial funding for—the development of a new automated, statewide information system (SIS).  The ADE has proposed the creation of one interrelated, automated education data exchange system composed of public school student, financial and human resources data.

The proposed system will allow schools to electronically submit raw data rather than summary reports on paper or computer diskette.  This method of reporting will facilitate better, more efficient ways of analyzing, and publishing and reporting data.  The implementation of such an automated system will also provide the ADE and the public with more accurate, up-to-date information on the academic performance of students within Arizona.

The ADE, as described earlier in this plan, is in the process of automating its grants application process and the collection and dissemination of student performance data.  This system of electronic data collection will enable parents and the community to examine school performance indicators.  By June 30, 1996, over 800 schools had their Report Cards available for distribution to parents of enrolled students at each school and for public viewing via the Internet.

This open, timely system will provide critical, accurate, quantitative data that will be crucial to continuous improvement.  It will enable the ADE and the public to track the academic progress of all students across time and different schools, on a real-time basis.

While overall student achievement will be the most important indicator of program success, a series of additional indicators has been identified (see Attainment Indicators pp. 43 and Implementation and Planning Schedule pp. 51).  The purpose of these indicators will be to assess stakeholder involvement in and satisfaction with the various strategies and activities and to evaluate the implementation process 

The purpose of the continuous improvement process is to increase the capacity of LEAs and schools to provide effective instruction that will enable all children to achieve to high standards.  Part of the continuous improvement process will be to assist schools and districts in determining the effectiveness of the technologies for students and providing the follow-up technical assistance to redesign their systems and usage.

7.0	PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

Public input and stakeholder participation is a valuable part of the Technology Integrated Educational Delivery System (TIEDS).  This section describes our procedures for the continuation of a systematic approach to consultation with individuals, program staff and community members and the development of a comprehensive management approach for maintaining public involvement.  The ADE has made a long-term commitment to obtain broad-based public participation.

Public Participation in the Development of the TIEDS:

The original TIEDS work group, formed in 1989 was charged with writing the first Arizona state plan for technology.  This group represented geographic, cultural, and socio-economic diversity.  Access to technology and the lack of resources to acquire technology were also important factor in group membership. The new TIEDS Advisory Council provided public input into the direction that Arizona moves in furthering technology usage.  (see Appendices B and C).

Equitable Access and Participation:

To ensure equitable participation four steps are included which affect the quality and distribution of educational opportunities.

1.	We will coordinate a process of cooperation and collaboration between and among our public educational systems, such as private schools, federally funded schools, and institutions of higher learning, including tribal colleges, to ensure equitable access and participation of recipients of technology grants.

2.	We will address key policy and program issues that create barriers to improved academic achievement of all students.  To meet the needs of all students, these areas may include:  assessment, curriculum alignment teacher preparation, serving the needs of limited English proficient, handicapped and migratory students.

3.	We will encourage strategic partnership-building focused on teacher training and curriculum development, which supports equity in all learning activities through the technology plan.

4.	We will ensure capacity building through the technology plan.  The ADE and the State Board of Education have demonstrated outstanding leadership in institutionalizing equitable access and participation for all students.  This leadership is evident in the policies and rules of the State board contained in the Bylaws and Policy Handbook.  Under Mission and Philosophy, the following excerpts reflect the Board’s commitment to supporting student diversity.

To provide leadership for the highest standards of fiscal and program accountability in Arizona public schools, the State Board of Education/Vocational Education believes:

“…the opportunity for an appropriate quality education is the right of every student in Arizona, regardless of sex, ethnic or religious heritage, handicapping condition, geographic, or economic circumstance:

Arizona’s multicultural heritage requires an educational system which serves the needs and preserves the values and dignity of all members of our society;…”

Under the technology plan, activities that meet the intent of these policies are discussed briefly below.

Equitable access to delivery of services will be assured by:

•	Providing equitable content and performance standards for all students;

•	Providing an equitable student assessment program;

•	Providing access to materials and products to students, teacher, administrators and parents (where applicable, materials will be in the language of the students and/or parents);

•	Making use of distance-spanning technology (the ADE has access to a Teleconferencing Center which can connect with any entity that can receive a down-link);

•	Making use of various consortia and advisory groups to disseminate information;

•	Making training opportunities available to eligible participants for professional growth;

•	Reaching out to parents and the school community to encourage participation (where applicable, having personnel available to translate in the language of the parents);

•	Using newsletters or other means of communications to inform the public, for example, radio spots or public service announcements over cable television; and

•	Participating in the IASA system of referral to determine how services can be coordinated among all programs.

Gender equity will be ensured in all services and programs made available to the public.

The State Board also has placed emphasis on the unique role of American Indian students in Arizona schools.  Its policy statement recognizes…their special relationship with federal/state government.  The State Board believes these educational needs can be addressed through close coordination among school districts and state, federal and tribal governments.

Several activities are occurring in close coordination among school districts, state, federal and tribal governments in meeting the education needs of American Indian students.  The ADE has established satellite teacher certification offices.  Two of these sites are located in Yuma, AZ and Flagstaff, AZ.  These two sites operate in the summer to assist teachers with issues regarding certification renewal and endorsements.  A third satellite office, located in Window Rock, AZ. (the Navajo Nation capital), will operate year-round.  This site is a collaborative effort with the tribal government and will be a full service office.  All of these sites are linked through the WAN. Another activity is the development of the Window Rock School District as a distance education studio and hub for additional sites across the Navajo Nation.  This is a collaborative project between the ADE, the Window Rock School District and Northern Arizona University (NAU).

Further, the Board has expressed a policy regarding non-English-speaking children:

“Since many children come from homes where English is not the dominant language, the Board believes instruction in the student’s primary language should be offered, in addition to instruction in English, so that the student’s right to learn is not abridged because of deficiency in English.

The State Board also recognizes the value and importance of cultural diversity and encourages the appreciation of and respect for the ethnic and cultural heritage of Arizona’s many people.

It is therefore, the policy of the State Board of Education to promote proficiency in English among all Arizonans, to respect and promote proficiency in other languages, to encourage and support the active participation of parents in the educational process and to oppose any efforts which would impede these worthy goals.”

These major policy statements serve as the foundation for the procedures which have been established to ensure that limited English proficient students are appropriately served.

8.0	TECHNOLOGY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
1989-1997

The TIEDS plan of 1989 provided Arizona with the first plan for technology implementation in the state.  Many of the objectives identified in that plan have been accomplished .  The following is a list of the objectives achieved.

•	An integrated student services information and management database, including achievement data, student tracking system, student demographics, attendance, program information and graduation rates.
•	An integrated distributed financial database, which includes financial summary data.
•	A grants management electronic application and amendment process.
•	Public access to information on the ADE available on the Internet, including program level information for all state and federal programs.
•	Public access to school-level achievement, attendance and program data available on the Internet.
•	Telecommunications studio available through satellite linkages, for two-way audio and video communication.
•	Telephone Conferencing services available.
•	E-mail available for the ADE staff and 127 districts.
•	Technology training available for students, teachers and administrators through consortia, business partnerships and the ADE.
•	Community College and University courses available via satellite and Internet.
•	Computer hardware and software, networked computer systems, satellite technology and video available for classrooms.
•	Adaptive and instructional technology in programs designed for special education, vocational education  and for students who need resources beyond those used in traditional settings.
•	Distance education available for students in remote areas to provide equitable access and participation.
•	Guidance has been provided to districts regarding configurations and “modernness” of systems.

9.0
Technology Plan IMPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATIONS AND OUTCOMES
AS ALIGNED WITH  THE GOALS OF THE 
EDUCATION PLAN FOR ARIZONA

Ultimately, success in realizing the recommendations and outcomes will be demonstrated by improved student achievement and increased dissemination to parents, the public, and policy makers of achievement, program, and financial information at the building level.  The process of implementing the recommendations and outcomes will measured by adherence to the timetable below.

ISSUE	OBJECTIVE	RECOMMENDATION	OUTCOME	RESPONSIBLE
ENTITIY	TARGETED
COMPLETION DATE	
Goal 1:
Create an infrastructure that enables Arizona students to meet and exceed their individual education goals  and state standards.
	
Equity 
Accountability
Productivity	Develop and implement a statewide technology infrastructure.	Develop guidelines for educational technology acquisitions to serve as a standard for development, utilization and enhancement of an integrated and compatible education delivery system.
	Guidelines will establish quality, technical, functional, security, service and other design specifications.	State 
	Fiscal Year 2000
(SAIS System)
	
			Guidelines will establish a network that is efficient, integrated and compatible.
	State 
	Fiscal Year 2000 (SAIS System)

		Establish a mechanism by which district, other educational entities and the state can select and procure equipment and services which meet guidelines.
	Districts, other educational entities and the state will acquire technologies at the lowest available cost and thus maximize economies of scale.
	State 
Districts 
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 1998 (Project Eagle)
	
Quality Education Equity 		In cooperation with business and industry and the community establish and maintain Technology Preview Centers.	Operational assessments will determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of technology and software innovations.
	State
Districts 
Charter Schools
Other Educational
  Entities
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 1995 (University of Arizona Preview Center and Arizona State University, ASSET)	

			Districts, schools, charter schools, and other educational entities will be able to investigate and select technologies and software appropriate to meet local needs.
	State
Districts
Schools
Business/Industry
Communities
	Fiscal Year 1995
(See Above)
	
Quality Education
Equity		Continue to cooperate with the institutions of higher education, and other state agencies in the development and implementation of a statewide public education telecommunications network.
	A telecommunications network (voice, video and data capable) will be established for instructional and administrative activities.	State
Districts
Charter Schools
Other Educational
  Entities
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 1999	
			Students, staff (certified and noncertified), administration, parents and other community members will be able to access information,  instruction and training through the network.
	State
Districts
Schools
Other Educational
  Entities
	Fiscal Year 1999	
			Adaptive and instructional technology in programs designed for special education, vocational education, and for students who need resources beyond those used in traditional settings will be provided.
	State
Districts
Schools 

	Fiscal Year 2000
	
Quality Education
Equity	Finance the infrastructure.	Provide educational technology planning and implementation grants and other incentives to encourage the use of technology.	The uses of technology by districts and schools will have been encouraged through project grants and other incentives for special programs.
	State	Fiscal Year 2002	
			Recognition will have been awarded to districts and schools for exemplary programs using technology.
	State
Advisory Council	Fiscal Year 1998	
Quality Education
Accountability	Conduct research and development related to the K-12 curricular requirements.	Develop and disseminate (paper and electronic format) state standards, in light of implications of current and emerging requirements, post-secondary education and/or employment.	Provisions for curriculum content and for delivery, promotion, and graduation, postsecondary education and/or employment will continue to be revised to emphasize the knowledge and skills needed by citizens in the next century and to encourage individual student progress and maximum achievement. 	State
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools
Other Educational
  Entities
Business/Industry
Parents
Public	Reading (July 8, 1996), Writing (August 7, 1996), and Math (August 26, 1996) Standards approved by the State Board.

Work Place, Technology and Language Arts approved by the State Board on March 24, 1997

Science to be adopted on June 23, 1997.
	
Quality Education
Accountability		Develop and disseminate (paper and electronic format)  performance objectives related to state standards.	State standards will be defined in greater detail as to the skills, knowledge and understanding a student must master to meet the standards.

	Districts
Charter Schools
Business/Industry
Parents 
Public	Fiscal Year 1997	
Quality Education 
Accountability		Involve higher education, business and industry,  research institutes and agencies in planning and implementing pilot programs to test the effectiveness of educational technology, especially with students considered to be educationally at-risk and those considered to be gifted and talented.	Hardware, courseware, and other products will meet Arizona’s students’ educational needs, standards and specifications are facilitated by the state and through cooperation among school districts, charter schools,  institutions of higher education, other public sector representatives, and the private sector.
	State
Higher Education
Business/Industry
Districts
Charter Schools
Advisory Council	On-going	
		Review and support ongoing research to evaluate the emerging role of the teacher in a classroom influenced by technological developments.
	Emerging technologies and applications will be tested in public school settings.	Higher Education
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	On-going	
			Research on the effects and effectiveness of technology-infused education will be conducted and disseminated so that products and practice will improve.
	Higher Education
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools
Advisory Council
Business/Industry	On-going	
			The quality, diversity, and competitiveness of educational technology products and applications will be increased through the value added by cooperative ventures with local, state, national study groups and business and industry.
	Higher Education
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools
Advisory Council
Business/Industry	On-going 	
			Disseminate results of demonstration programs to districts, other educational entities, other sates and the public.	Higher Education
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools
Advisory Council
Business/Industry
	On-going	
	Use Technology to assist in the restructuring of the learning process thus empowering educators and learners to achieve their maximum potential.   	Provide guidelines, models and training for supervisory, administrative and instructional staff in the curriculum in elementary and secondary schools.	Entering and continuing supervisory, administrative and instructional staffs in elementary, middle and secondary schools will have received standards, models and training in the appropriate uses of technology and telecommunications in curriculum development and in classroom instruction and management through conferences, seminars, workshops, special sessions.
	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools
Business and Industry
Higher Education
Other Educational
 Entities	On-going	
			School-based models of instruction involving technology will have been identified and/or developed for replication in other schools.
	State
Advisory Council	On-going	
Quality Education		Teacher Certification requirements ensure the integration of technology into the content and delivery of current teacher preparation and graduate programs.	Teacher preparation and graduate program providers will have integrated appropriate technologies into all pregraduate and inservice teacher education preparatory courses.
	State
Higher Education	Fiscal Year 1998	
			Newer technology pilots involving teacher preparation, graduate and inservice programs will have been implemented for the planning and training for instructional currentness, appropriateness and improvement.
	State
Districts
Charter Schools
Higher Education
Other Educational 
  Entities
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 2000	
Quality Education Equity
Accountability
Productivity	Implement the infrastructure	Maximize the full potential rather than the acceptable levels of performance in the teaching and learning environment.	Students will receive and interact with instruction and information thus providing for self-paced learning	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools
	Fiscal Year 2000	
			Performance assessments - norm and criterion referenced - of state standards will be reported (paper and electronic format) through the School Report Card.
	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 1995	
			Students will develop additional skills that are linked to, and exceed the state standard requirements, thus achieving their maximum potential.
	Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	On-going	
			Students will receive instruction they need regardless of location and/or teacher availability.	State
Schools 
Charter Schools
Other Educational
  Entities
	On-going	
			Teacher’s role will be refocused from instructor-disciplinarian to coach-strategist-counselor-instructional facilitator. 	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools
Higher Education
	Fiscal Year 2000	
			Teachers will use the technology to conduct administrative, management and communication activities.
	State
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000	
			Administrators will retrieve and review data on student demographics, achievement, attendance, budget, inventories, transportation and other instructional and administrative factors.
	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000	
			Administrators will send information and communications to and receive same within district, to and from the Arizona Department of Education, other districts locally, other states, and other educational entities.
	State
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000	
Quality Education 
Equity
Accountability
Productivity	Deliver instruction and information through the infrastructure.	Provide a variety of course offerings and access to information through the statewide telecommunications network from local, district or other Arizona educational and/or international distance learning programs and information resources.
	Every student will be able to receive quality instruction in every required course and will have access to any additional appropriate courses.	State 
Higher Education
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	On-going	
			Every student will have access to the data and primary resources that will empower him or her to accomplish his or her optimum level of achievement.
	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000	
			Every special and vocational education student, and every student in need of additional resources for remediation or enrichment will have access to them.	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000	

Goal 4:
Establish a new system to disseminate accurate and timely information to the public about academic performance and the use of resources at the school level to ensure school level accountability.

Quality Education
Equity
Accountability
Productivity	Develop and implement statewide technology infrastructure.	Establish a statewide electronic information transfer system so that all districts, schools, other educational entities and the Arizona Department of Education will improve communications and reduce paperwork.	An integrated student services information and management database will be in place to support schools, districts, other educational entities and the Arizona Department of Education, including but not limited to: 	State
Districts
Schools 
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 1997	
			•	State Standards and Performance Objectives
•	School Report Cards
•	District/School/Charter School Budget Information
•	Grant Management
•	Grant Announcements and Application Process
•	Arizona Educational Directory 
•	Monitoring and Compliance Data
•	Library Resources
•	Current and Planned Legislation
•	Attorney General’s Opinions 
•	State Board Rules and Regulations
•	State Board Policies and Actions.

			The Student Accountability Information System (SAIS) which is an integrated distributed business and administrative services database will be in place to support districts, other educational entities and the Arizona Department of Education, including, but not limited to:	State
Districts
Schools 
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000	
			•	Student Demographics
•	 Attendance
•	Enrollment
•	Staffing Information
•	Special Program Information (e.g.  Special Education, Vocational Education, Title I, Child Nutrition, Adult Education)
•	Financial Summary Data

 			

Goals 1 and 4:
•	Create an infrastructure that enables Arizona students to meet and exceed their individual education goals  and state standards.  
•	Establish a new system to disseminate accurate and timely information to the public about academic performance and the use of resources at the school level to ensure school level accountability.

Accountability	Develop and implement a technology infrastructure	Prepare, review, revise and implement annual district and campus plans for technology acquisition and integration.	Districts and Charter Schools will have “structured for success” in incorporating technology into the educational system.
	Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 1998		
			Districts and Charter schools will acquire technologies appropriate to meet local needs.
	Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000		
Equity
Accountability		Procure and integrate equipment according to plans.	Districts and Charter Schools will acquire technologies which will be integrative and compatible with the infrastructure.
	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000		
			Student Workstations, Teacher Workstations, Administrator Workstations, Communities Access Learning Centers, and Telecommunications Centers will be established.

	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000		
			Each school will have appropriate specialized software and peripheral computer hardware and adaptive devices for Vocational Education, Math Education and other content areas a appropriate.
	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools	Fiscal Year 2000		
			Students will use computers and other related multimedia to enhance classroom activities through easy access to information, educational resources, databases, and experts  in the field using the Internet.
	Schools	Fiscal Year 2000		
			The “classroom” will become a community resource for research, economic development, literacy development, and workplace training and retraining.
	Districts
Schools
Charter Schools
Communities
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 2000		
Accountability	Provide leadership in the development and implementation of a statewide technology infrastructure.	Establish a Technology Advisory Council.	The Technology Advisory Council will provide direction and coordination in the implementation of technology in Arizona’s schools.

	State	Fiscal Year 1997		
			The Technology Advisory Council will provide leadership and direction in the development and implementation of the technology infrastructure and its deployment. 
	State
Advisory Council	On-going		
Equity	Finance the technology infrastructure.	Establish long term financial structure to support the development, administration, operation, maintenance, expansion and enhancement of a statewide technology infrastructure.	A system to identify funding sources will be developed and implemented.	State
Advisory Council	Fiscal Year 1998 		
			Monies will be available  for the development and implementation of the technology infrastructure. 
	State	Fiscal Year 1998		
			Monies will be available for grants to public school districts and other public education entities for the purchase of equipment, materials and services necessary to use the infrastructure.
	State
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 1998		
			Monies will be available for the purpose of establishing projects which demonstrate or develop advanced technologies as solutions to both educational and telecommunications problems.
	State
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 1999		
			Monies will be available for the development, administration, operation, maintenance and expansion of the technology infrastructure.
	State 
Districts
Schools
Charter Schools 
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 1998	
			Equipment and other in-kind contributions will be available to district, schools and other educational entities and the Arizona Department of Education.
	State
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 1999	
Accountability
Productivity	Conduct research and development related to the technology infrastructure.
	Develop a “Technology Planning Guide” to be used by districts and schools.	Districts will receive technical assistance in technology planning.	State
Other Educational Entities
Business/Industry	Fiscal Year 1997	
			Criteria will be established to gather data for planning and decision making.
	State
Advisory Council	Fiscal Year 1999	
Accountability		Review the K-12 master Plan for the Infusion of Technology in Arizona Schools and provide a progress report to the State Board of Education and the State Legislature on an annual basis.

	The SAIS will be evaluated and a report of progress submitted to the State Board of Education annually.	State 
Advisory Council	On-going	
			Technologies will be distributed equitably throughout the state so that technology acquisition will not vary according to district wealth.
	State	Fiscal Year 1997
On-going	
			Districts will have access to information to plan for and acquire technologies and technology related goods and services, including alterations in facilities necessitated by integration of technology on a long-range and cyclical basis.	State 
Advisory Council	Fiscal Year 1997	

10.0	Arizona Department of Education Internet Resource List

The Arizona Department of Education maintains a dynamic World Wide Web presence and actively employs the Internet to provide the public with access to regional educational information and resources.  In addition, the ADE staff commonly use the Internet to track technology trends and access educational policy and technology integration resources to keep current in this rapidly evolving environment.  The ADE site provide lists of K-12 educational resources and other useful WWW links, a selection of which are included below.

U.S. Department of Education (ED)	  		http://www.ed.gov/
Federal Government & Other Internet Educational Resources	http://www.ed.gov/EdRes/EdRes.html
GOALS 2000: Educate America Act (H.R. 1804) 
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/GOALS2000/TheAct/index.html
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)			http://www.ed.gov/NCES/
     Education Statistics						http://www.ed.gov/pubs/stats.html
National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)  http://www.ed.gov/offices/

Selected National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Publications:
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Catalog of Publications  
http://www.ed.gov/NCES/ncespub1.html
The Condition of Education,1996(NCES No. 96-304-6/96)  http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/ce/index.html
The Digest of Education Statistics, 1995 (NCES No. 95029 - 11/95)  http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/D95/
     The Mini-Digest of Education Statistics: 1995 
           http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/MiniDig95/minidg95.html
Dropout Rates in the United States: 1994 (7/96)		   http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/r94/index.html
Profile of Children in U.S. School Districts (NCES No. 96-831 - 9/96)   
         http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/96831.html
Projections of Education Statistics to 2006 (2/96) http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/proj2006/proj2006.html
Report in Brief: NAEP 1994 Trends in Academic Progress (10/96) 
     http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/96933pa.html
A Researcher's Guide to The U.S. Department of Education   http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ResearchersGuide/
A Teacher's Guide to the U.S. Department of Education - 4th Edition 
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/TeachersGuide/
Urban Schools: The Challenge of Location and Poverty(7/96) http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/96184.html
Youth Indicators, 1996 (NCES 96-027 - 9/96)			http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pubs/yi/
120 Years of American Education: Statistical Portrait 
   gopher://gopher.ed.gov:10000/11/publications/majorpub/120yr

Arizona Department of Education Internet Resource List - Page 2

Additional U.S. Government Resources:
FedWorld Information Network (NTIS)				http://www.fedworld.gov/
Library of Congress (LOC)	            http://www.loc.gov/ , http://lcweb.loc.gov/ , http://marvel.loc.gov/
U.S. Congress (THOMAS Legislative Information)		http://thomas.loc.gov/
U.S. Dept. of Commerce Bureau of the Census			http://www.census.gov/
U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services(DHHS) YouthInfo(Adolescents Statistics & Info.)  
http://youth.os.dhhs.gov/
U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)	http://stats.bls.gov/blshome.html
     Employment Projections Home Page				http://stats.bls.gov:80/emphome.htm
     Occupational Outlook Handbook 1996-97			http://stats.bls.gov:80/ocohome.htm
White House Economic Statistics Briefing Room (ESBR)         http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/esbr.html
White House Social Statistics Briefing Room (SSBR)	          http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/ssbr.html
The White House for Kids		           http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/kids/html/kidshome.html

Arizona Department of Education (ADE)		http://www.ade.state.az.us/
Academic Service Division				          http://www.ade.state.az.us/asd/index.html
Arizona Educational Directory				  http://www.ade.state.az.us/directory/index.html
Arizona K-12 School Web Sites			     	    http://www.ade.state.az.us/schools/index.html
Internet Connectivity Maps					http://www.ade.state.az.us/maps/
K-12 Educational Resources			           http://www.ade.state.az.us/dataview/hotlinks.html
NetDay 96						  http://www.ade.state.az.us/netday96/index.html
School Report Card Information Search				http://www.ade.state.az.us/reportcards/
Troops to Teachers						http://www.troops.org/

Arizona State Government: 	 			http://www.state.az.us/
Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR)				http://www.abor.asu.edu/
Department of Commerce (DOC)			       http://www.state.az.us/ep/commhome.shtml
     Arizona Economic Development Update		       http://www.state.az.us/ep/general/gold.shtml
     Profiles of Arizona Communities		           http://www.state.az.us/ep/comm/commprof.shtml
     Profiles of Arizona Counties				  http://www.state.az.us/ep/comm/cntyprof.shtml
Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC)			http://www.cc.state.az.us/
Arizona Governor’s Homepage					http://www.state.az.us/gv/index.html
     Governor’s Kids Page				           http://www.state.az.us/gv/kids/index.html
Arizona Legislative Information System (ALIS) Online		http://www.azleg.state.az.us/
Department of Administration (DOA)				http://www.state.az.us/ad/ad.html
Governor’s Office of Telecommunications Policy (TPO)		http://www.state.az.us/tpo/

Arizona Department of Education Internet Resource List - Page 3

Arizona Educational Directories:
Arizona K-12 School Web Sites (ADE)		     	    http://www.ade.state.az.us/schools/index.html
Arizona School Web						http://www.isdnet.com/azedweb.htm
AZConnection: Education Resources (Cox Comm.)          http://azconnection.phx.cox.com/azc/education/
K-12+ Servers in Arizona			         http://www.tenet.edu/education/states/arizona.html
Web66 Arizona K-12 Schools		                  http://web66.coled.umn.edu/schools/US/Arizona.html

Arizona Educational Organizations:
Arizona Education Assoc. (AEA-Professional Educators)	http://www.arizonaea.org/
Arizona Educational Media Association (AEMA)	          http://www.lib.asu.edu/webdev/aema.html
Arizona School Services through Educational Technology (ASSET) 
http://www.kaet.asu.edu/asset/asset.htm
Arizona Tech Corps (Volunteers Facilitating K-12 Technology)  
       http://www.phoenixpcug.org/aztechcorps/index.html

Selected Additional Education Resources:
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)				http://www.aft.org//index.htm
CAUSE (Assoc. for Managing & Using Info. Resources in Higher Education)
http://cause-www.colorado.edu/
CICNet (K-12 Connectivity, E-Journal Access)			http://www.cic.net/
CNIDR WWW Servers for Education		   	 http://kudzu.cnidr.org/Education/education.html
Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)			http://www.cosn.org/
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)		http://ericir.syr.edu/ , 
    http://www.aspensys.com/eric2/welcome.html
Educom (Edupage in 13 Languages, Educom Review/Update)	http://www.educom.edu/
EdWeb (Exploring Technology & School Reform)		http://k12.cnidr.org:90/
The George Lucas Educational Foundation (w. Edutopia)	http://www.glef.org/
Institute for Better Education Through Resource Technology (IBERT - Civix DB, Virtual Congress)  
http://ibert.org/
Institute for Learning Technologies (ILT - Columbia University)	http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/
K-12+ Servers & Resource Links (TENET Web)	          http://www.tenet.edu/education/main.html
National Education Association (NEA - Professional Educators)	http://www.nea.org/
National Educational Technology Initiative (NETI sponsoring Net-A-Thons)   http://www.neti.org/
National School Network Testbed (Bolt Beranek & Newman)	http://copernicus.bbn.com/testbed2/
Online Educational Resources (OER from NASA)		http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/OER/
The State (Educational) Networking Project			http://www.tenet.edu/snp/
Tech Corps (K-12 Technology Volunteers)			http://www.ustc.org/
Technological Horizons in Education (T.H.E.) Journal		http://www.thejournal.com/
U.S. Distance Learning Association (USDLA)			http://www.usdla.org/
Web 66 (Internet Resources for K12 Educators)			http://web66.coled.umn.edu/
     International Registry of K12 Schools on the Web	            http://web66.coled.umn.edu/schools.html
WWW Virtual Library - Education		                  http://www.csu.edu.au/education/library.html

11.0	APPENDICES
(ONLY INCLUDED WITH ORIGINAL DOCUMENT)

Technology Integrated Educational Delivery System (TIEDS - 1989)		A
(Original Plan, developed 1989)
TIEDS Work Group		B
TIEDS Advisory Committee		C
ADE Web Page Examples		D
LEA Technology Literacy Challenge Grant Application Packet		E
Sample LEA Technology Plans		F
Title I Schools Above 75% (1997)		G
Arizona Technology Assessment		H
Student Accountability Information System (SAIS)		I
Arizona Technology Standards		J
Arizona School Services Through Educational Technology (ASSET)		K
Cooperative Internet Access Project (CIAP)		L
Project EAGLE (Education And Government Linking Electronically)		M
Arizona Learning Technology Partnership (ALTP)		N
Arizona State Public Information Network (ASPIN)		O
Northern Arizona University Network (NAUNet)		P
The Eruditio Project		Q
Arizona School to Work		R
Supporting Research
	State of Arizona’s Children		S
	Impact of High Technology Industry on the Arizona Economy		T