[Bridging_the_digital_divide] Digital Leadership Divide

Sat Jun 12 08:11:07 EDT 2004

Study: Leadership is key to ed-tech success
  By Corey Murray, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
  June 11, 2004

  Without visionary school leadership, backed by supportive communities, 
the disparities in ed-tech budgets increase. So say the authors of the 
"Digital Leadership Divide," a survey released June 10 by the 
independent research organization Grunwald Associates and the 
non-profit Consortium for School Networking (CoSN).

  The quality of leadership, researchers found, is also the primary 
indicator of whether technology funding--regardless of the funding 
level--is likely to be spent wisely or be wasted.

  Despite budget shortfalls affecting schools from coast to coast, 
visionary leaders refuse to let a lack of funds derail the effective 
use of technology in their schools. Even in the face of stagnant or 
declining budgets, the report states, dedicated educators are 
aggressively pursuing the use of technology by employing creative 
thinking and innovative partnerships to make up for a shortage of cash.

  "Schools that are committed to deepening the impact of technology are 
finding ways to raise or repurpose funds to maintain or increase their 
level of support for technology, even in difficult budget cycles," the 
report said. On the flip side, "Schools that are less committed to 
using technology are falling behind--cutting budgets, reducing staff, 
and forgoing the professional development that would enable educators 
to use technology more effectively."

  The findings are from a nationwide survey of 455 school 
decision-makers, including superintendents, assistant superintendents, 
directors of instructional technology, chief technology officers, and 
administrators of management information systems. The study, sponsored 
in part by AT&T, Educational Testing Service Inc., and Microsoft Corp., 
reportedly is the first in a series intended to monitor schools' 
technology spending and related trends.

  According to researchers, the key to effective technology integration 
lies not in the number of dollars spent, but in the ability of school 
leaders to communicate their needs and harness the power of 
technology--making the best of what resources are available.

  "Contrary to conventional wisdom, we found that school budgets may not 
be the biggest barrier to deploying and utilizing technology 
effectively in the classroom," said the study's lead author, Peter 
Grunwald. "Instead, visionary leadership coupled with an aggressive 
development of community and parental support seem to drive change in 
the most technology-intensive schools."

  Chief among researchers' findings were a direct link between the 
quality of leadership within the district and the amount of money 
budgeted for technology programs, a need for community and stakeholder 
buy-in, and a too frequent disconnect between school administrators and 
classroom educators regarding the effective use of technology.

  Thinking outside the box

  Despite recent and widespread budget shortfalls, several of the 
nation's most tech-savvy districts are finding a way to bring new 
technologies to bear in their schools.

  In the Calcasieu Parish Public Schools, a 32,000-student district in 
Lake Charles, La., where more than 50 percent of the students live in 
poverty, Superintendent Jude Theriot has remained committed to 
increasing the district's stake in technology despite three consecutive 
years of multi-million dollar spending reductions, including a brutal 
$7 million cut in 2003 and an additional $2.5 million cut in 2004.

  "The focus has to be on student learning," he said. And that means, 
"it's just not on the table to cut technology."

  Instead of scaling back technology programs, Theriot has instructed 
district leaders to aggressively pursue new opportunities. In terms of 
professional development, the district offers online courses for 
teachers as a way to extend training across the entire school system, 
while saving money on the cost of individual instructors.

  Through the district's "Laptops for Leaders" program, school 
principals receive Tablet PCs and attend workshops intended to show 
them how the technology could be used to appraise student achievement 
and better meet district goals.

  For teachers, the district offers its "Implementing a 
Technology-Enriched Curriculum" (I-TEC) initiative, a professional 
development model that encourages educators to reflect on effective 
teaching methods and to explain their successes to other colleagues 
throughout the school system.

  Although hardware is critical to any technology initiative, Theriot 
said, success is ultimately dependent upon the "human element."

  His philosophy is supported by the findings. "Where there's a will to 
deepen schools' commitment to technology, there seems to be a way--and 
this seems to be more important than funding," the survey said.

  Fostering that will results from a school leader's ability to 
effectively communicate the need for technology to 
stakeholders--including parents and school board members, the study 
found.

  Seventy percent of school leaders whose classroom-technology budgets 
increased over the last three years cited the influence of strongly 
supportive communities--compared with 38 percent of school leaders 
whose budgets decreased over the same three-year period, according to 
the survey.

  Although less dramatically, the same phenomenon applies to 
administrative technologies. Among leaders whose budgets for 
administrative technology increased, 42 percent reported having 
supportive communities. Among leaders whose administrative technology 
budgets decreased, only 20 percent reported having supportive 
communities.

  Where community support is high, a number of tech-savvy districts are 
experimenting with alternative funding measures--including, fundraising 
and corporate partnerships--to promote technology in the face of 
shrinking budgets, the report said.

  In the case of the Montgomery County Public Schools, a Maryland school 
district in an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., school officials 
turned to advocacy.

  Behind the momentum of an aggressive public relations campaign 
targeted at parents and other community stakeholders, district leaders 
persuaded school board members to double spending for technology--to 
$90 million over a six-year period--beginning next year, said John 
Porter, associate superintendent and chief information officer.

  School leaders produced a program that aired on public television to 
highlight the benefits of technology in the classroom. The TV program 
encouraged stakeholders to eMail board members in support of increased 
technology spending, despite cuts to the overall budget.

  "While this tack is clearly not an optimum long-term strategy, it can 
mitigate funding shortfalls in lean budget years," the study said.

  But this shift in thinking isn't likely to occur on its own. For 
schools to pursue the effective integration of technology, district 
administrators must assume the lead as agents of change--with or 
without funding.

  Ninety-three percent of survey respondents said top school leaders 
have the most influence on technology decisions.

  "When a superintendent says, 'This is the direction we are going in,' 
everybody gets in line," Porter said.

  Professional development needed

  Although the findings indicate a shared vision and broad support from 
stakeholders at all levels are needed to achieve a high level of 
technology proficiency in schools, researchers also have found a number 
of school leaders, especially those in large districts, are frustrated 
at the lack of technology expertise exhibited by teachers and other 
school personnel.

  Nearly half of the school leaders surveyed from large districts (45 
percent) say the lack of technology understanding on the part of other 
district employees poses a significant barrier.

  Furthermore, school leaders admit they themselves lack the skills to 
integrate technology effectively. According to the survey, fewer than 
one in 10 school leaders (7 percent) would classify his or her ability 
to integrate technology into the learning environment as "very good" or 
better. Further, most school leaders contend classroom teachers need 
even more help. On a scale of one to 10, respondents gave teachers an 
average score of 5.3 on technology competence.

  Making a difference

  Even though educators acknowledge they lack sufficient competency with 
technology, they recognize that technology is essential to reaching 
district goals. When it comes to improving productivity and efficiency, 
74 percent of survey respondents say technology provides timely data 
for decision-making, while 70 percent report it improves communication 
among parents, teachers, and the community. Nearly eight out of 10 
respondents (78 percent) said their districts currently rely on 
data-driven decision-making, the study found.

  Respondents also cited technology's salutary impact on learning. More 
than two-thirds (68 percent) said technology motivates students and 
provides them with important life skills (67 percent).

  Decision-makers also touted classroom technology as a means to create 
equity for students. Sixty percent of respondents said technology 
helped level the playing field for learners with disabilities, while 52 
percent said technology can help individualize instruction and 51 
percent reported it promotes academic equity.

  The long road ahead

  In spite of the importance of leadership, educators who responded to 
the survey made no attempt to hide the devastating effects of budget 
cuts on their respective technology programs. In fact, 48 percent of 
the school leaders surveyed cited budgeting issues as a key impediment 
to effective technology use.

  In light of the survey's finds, CoSN offered these recommendations:

	• 	 Move from automating administrative practices to transforming 
teaching and learning. "Perhaps the most promising and powerful 
application of technology in education is the delivery of personalized 
instruction," the report said. "We are only beginning to glimpse how 
technology can enable educators to assess students' knowledge and 
skills continually and get results immediately."

	• 	 Invest in strong technology leadership. This includes the creation 
of the chief technology officer position in which the successful 
candidate works closely with top district leadership to pursue a shared 
vision for technology.

	• 	 Create new professional development initiatives. The majority of 
educators still don't possess the technology skills necessary to 
integrate technology into the classroom, the survey found. In response 
to this widespread deficiency, CoSN recommends school districts across 
the country schedule routine technology workshops to better prepare 
educators for their role in a technology-infused learning environment.

	• 	 Recruit the active support of parents and the community. Despite 
budget constraints, the report states, community support can be a key 
factor in determining whether or not schools succeed in integrating 
technology effectively.

  Links:

  The Consortium for School Networking
http://www.cosn.org

  Grunwald Associates
http://www.grunwald.com

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5109

---

Jason Barkeloo
President
TouchSmart Publishing
http://www.touchsmart.net
tele 513.225.8765

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