June 2005 — Editorial
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Why Aren’t Dollars Following Need?
The need for professional development is enormous and expressed; the question is, where’s the money?
The National Education Technology
Plan (NETP), required by
the No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB), concludes with seven major action
steps and recommendations. Step three is:
“Teachers have more resources available
through technology than ever before, but
some have not received sufficient training in
the effective use of technology to enhance
learning. Teachers need access to research,
examples, and innovations, as well as staff
development to learn best practices. …
Recommendations for states, districts, and
individual schools include:
- Improve the preparation of new teachers in the use of technology.
- Ensure that every teacher has the opportunity to take online learning courses.
- Improve the quality and consistency of teacher education through measurement, accountability,and increased technology resources.
- Ensure that every teacher knows how to use data to personalize instruction.…”
While I have lamented the lack of any mention of money for the NETP—and complained bitterly about the Bush administration’s complete cut of educational technology funding from the proposed budget—I have praised both the inclusionary process and the forward-looking attitude of the NETP. Step three, above, is just common sense that has been with us for more than a quarter of a century.
Yet, budgets do not reflect what experts say is a good guideline: 25 to 30 percent of technology dollars should be spent on professional development. In the 1995-96 school year, QED (www.qeddata.com) forecast that 62 percent of tech dollars would be spent on hardware, 12 percent on software, and 4.9 percent on training. In the 21st century, spending on professional development has grown to 6 percent of the technology dollar (Technology in Education 2004, MDR, www.schooldata.com).
The demand for professional development for integrating technology is growing. According to the MDR report The Impact of No Child Left Behind, when leaders were asked about the areas in which they feel their teachers need the most training over the next year or two, technology integration came in fourth behind “assessment,” “dealing with diverse student populations,” and “teaching methods.” In the same study, “integrating technology” was in the middle of a 14-item list of the greatest challenges growing out of NCLB for today’s educational leaders.
Education Week’s latest edition of Technology Counts (www.edweek.org) lists six top priorities for state educational technology spending. It is not surprising that professional development was listed by 28 states, far outpacing the other priorities. When asked how NCLB has influenced technology spending in their states, two responses related to professional development — “more funding now focused on integrating technology with instruction,” and “more funding now focused on professional development” — were cited by states, second only to “more funding now focused on data management/collection” (15 states).
