July 2004 — SETDA

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Texas: Meeting the Technology Integration Challenge in Texas Schools

By Anita Givens, Senior Director of Educational Technology, Texas Education Agency

A project in Austin ISD has focused on fourth- and fifth-grade students to ensure they are literate in technology and reading. Their program has equipped a cadre of instructional coaches with strategies to deliver professional development to fourth- and fifth-grade reading teachers. These trained instructional staff members also work with teachers and administrators to utilize the technology-based student data and benchmark assessment systems to identify specific reading and literacy gaps, as well as to utilize appropriate intervention strategies.

Transforming Teaching & Learning

Twenty seven districts in the Rio Grande Valley participate in the Maximizing Achievement Through Technology (MaXtech) initiative. The primary purpose of this project is to improve academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students in grades 3-5 by fully integrating technology into the curriculum to lay a foundation for ensuring that all students will be technologically literate by the time they finish the eighth grade. Strategies include using online curriculum resources to support the TA TEKS; professional development for teachers, with access to online resources to support the integration of technology into content learning; and hardware and software that support technology-infused learning in the classroom.

Teachers across the state also use the Technology Applications Teacher Network (TATN), an interactive Web site that provides best practices and resources for teachers to integrate the K-8 TA TEKS into the content area classroom. They also use the site to help teach the eight dedicated high school Technology Applications courses: Computer Science I and II, Digital Graphics/Animation, Desktop Publishing, Web Mastering, Multimedia, Video Technology, and Independent Study. It provides model classroom lessons and professional development resources. Another component of the TATN is state and regional "best-practices events" that showcase how Technology Applications connect with core curriculum and make a difference in Texas schools.

The state also offers a self-assessment tool, the Texas School Technology and Readiness (STaR) chart, to assist in determining progress toward the goals of its own long-range plan for technology and NCLB. The chart is available at www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/etac/campus_txstar/index.html. This fall, the Texas Teacher STaR Chart will be released, giving teachers their own tool to help determine their progress toward achieving the "Target Tech" level (the highest level on the chart) in true integration into the curriculum by transforming teaching and learning.

In Texas, there is much happening in moving toward the NCLB Act's goal of ensuring "ongoing integration of technology into school curricula and instructional strategies in all schools, so that technology will be fully integrated into curricula and instruction by Dec. 31, 2006." Schools are making positive gains in getting there. And with the Technology Applications instructional materials adoption and other statewide efforts, this goal can be accomplished. For more information, visit www.tea.state.tx.us/curriculum.

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Anita Givens, Senior Director of Educational Technology, Texas Education Agency, "Texas: Meeting the Technology Integration Challenge in Texas Schools," T.H.E. Journal, 7/1/2004, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/16850

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