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Connie Anderton 410-727-6855
SURVEY SHOWS
MAJOR GAPS IN TECHNOLOGY USE
PERSIST IN MARYLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Infrastructure
Improvements Evident in Most Schools Statewide
BALTIMORE,
MD (3/12/02) --- While Maryland has made significant strides
in providing technology access to students in public schools, major
gaps in teacher and student use of technology persist, according to
the fifth annual online survey of technology in the state’s public
schools.
Released today by the Maryland
Business Roundtable for Education (MBRT), "Where Do We Stand in 2002?" clearly
indicates that Maryland schools are not taking full advantage of the power that technology
potentially offers in day-to-day learning situations.
"The data clearly show that the
more complex and powerful uses of technology are not being implemented in classrooms
across Maryland on a regular basis, even in those schools in which technology is readily
available," says MBRT Executive Director June Streckfus. "In short, too many
schools are still using technology only for such basic skills as drills and
tutorials."
According to the survey, only 14
percent of Maryland’s public schools report that their students typically use
technology to analyze data or information. A mere 12 percent say their students use
technology on a regular basis to perform measurements or to collect data in lab
experiments.
The statistics are worse in
high-poverty schools, where the new survey indicates that nearly 52 percent of the
students never use technology to analyze data. Sixty-two percent of high-poverty schools
report they never use technology for measurements or to gather data. Students from
wealthier communities, in fact, are two-to-three times more likely to use technology for
more complex tasks than students from high-poverty schools.
"Maryland has made some
incredible gains over the past few years with respect to its technology infrastructure,
and we should not lose track of how far we have come in a relatively short time,"
notes Maryland School Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick. "But now that we are close to
having the computers and the wiring in place in all of our schools, we must move from
promise to practice and determine how we can maximize the full benefits technology
offers."
"Student learning is – and
always has been – the primary issue," says Robert Marshall, Chair of MBRT’s
Committee on Technology & Education and President & CEO of AWS Convergence
Technologies, the company that developed the online technology survey. "When these
students graduate into the working world, they will be expected to know how to use
technology to handle complex tasks, and the survey clearly shows that, right now, they are
not receiving the kind of preparation they will need in order to succeed at work and
throughout their lives."
Just six years ago, the student-to
computer ratio in Maryland was 16-to1. Today, that ratio has been reduced to five students
for every computer. Internet access is now available in 82 percent of classrooms in
Maryland, compared to 23 percent in 1995. This is due in large part to the major financial
commitment to making schools tech-accessible made by Maryland Governor Parris N.
Glendening and the Maryland State Legislature.
Still, education experts caution
that it is essential to look beyond the statewide data. "When one looks beyond state
averages to the school-by-school data, the gaps are apparent," says Ms. Streckfus.
"Several schools in some of the larger school systems statewide, for example, are
still showing student-to-computer ratios that are more than ten times the state
average."
Similarly, statewide data show that
the highest poverty schools remain below the state average in terms of student-to-computer
ratios (6.9-to-1 vs. 5-to-1) and Internet connectivity (61% vs. 82%). Since the majority
of these schools are in two local school systems, however, this does not indicate a
statewide trend. In some systems, there is no significant gap. In a few cases, higher
poverty schools actually have better access than lower poverty schools, indicating that
some districts focused their resources on those schools with the highest poverty levels.
Other survey statistics indicate
that while support mechanisms for school networks, equipment, and instructional planning
increasingly are being put into place, 11 of 24 school systems statewide have some schools
that depend strictly on the central office for network or equipment support. Thirteen
systems have some schools with no school-based instructional support for the use of
technology, depending instead on resources outside the school building.
Teacher knowledge and skills with
respect to technology, however, continue to rise. Nearly 90 percent of teachers say they
are comfortable using the Internet today, compared to only 53 percent in 1997. Similarly,
most teachers now report they use technology regularly to improve their own efficiency and
productivity.
"It is clear that the next
decade of school reform will focus on each classroom and the success of each student, and
that technology will play a critical role in this effort," concludes Ms. Streckfus.
"What this data tells us about the capacity of each local school system, each school,
and each instructional program to provide students with meaningful, engaging, and complex
tasks that involve technology, will enable us to close the gaps now that otherwise will
close the doors to our children in the future."
The online survey provides one tool
to help educators do just that, according to Mr. Marshall. "The inventory allows us
to collect, analyze, and report data more effectively than ever before," he notes.
"Parents, educators, and other stakeholders in education now have immediate access to
aggregated state data, district-by-district data, and even school-by-school data, enabling
them to make informed decisions regarding needs, spending, and resource allocation."
MBRT will continue analyzing data
collected from the technology survey, using findings as a planning tool to chart the
state’s strategic direction and to identify future areas of concern.
The inventory also will be used by
MBRT as it reformulates the state’s technology plan, set for release this spring.
That plan is expected to call for a stronger focus on instruction that utilizes the power
of technological tools and digital resources, identification of new and powerful
applications of technology to support instruction and assessment, and an expanded effort
to gather and evaluate data that will determine technology’s impact on student
learning.
The most recent technology survey
results are posted online at www.mbrt.org and at www.msde.state.md.us/technology.
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