We need your help with an online E-Rate Survey of Schools

The State E-Rate Coordinators' Alliance (SECA) has just developed an online E-Rate Survey of Schools, which asks questions we don't think have ever been included in any prior survey. The survey consists of 28 straightforward questions and they estimate that it should take between 10 - 15 minutes to complete. It's being asked of all schools in the country, with each state then analyzing their own schools' data. The survey will close at 8:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, September 7. If we are going to maintain the $2.25 billion E-rate program, we need to have clear data to present to the policymakers that are thinking that the program isn't successful and is not vitally needed.

Please complete the survey only if your district completes the Form 471 (the billed entity), regardless of whether individual schools within that district apply separately.

What will happen to the data? All contact and identifying information will be kept confidential; it’s being collected in order for the State E-Rate coordinators to contact the schools if they have any questions and to determine if duplicate responses were submitted. Please know that the individual responses will be kept confidential, except where indicated. The data will be compiled and analyzed to determine areas for program improvement, the ongoing need for E-Rate, etc. They also hope to compile the aggregated data which we'll make available for everyone to see. The survey is located at: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224KB8TD3EW

20 Technology Skills Every Educator Should Have

Laura Turner authored a must have article (http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/articleprintversion.cfm?aid=5387) in the June '05 issue of T.H.E Journal Online (http://thejournal.com/). This resource includes ten pages of links to tutorials on everything from traditional productivity tools to articles on WebCT and Blackboard, digital photography, computer security and copyright.

'05-'07 EETT Grantees

On behalf of the SDE, I would like to thank all of the districts that submitted proposals for this year's EETT funding. The readers, volunteers from CAS, CABE, CAPSS, CECA, CEMA, along with non-ed tech SDE consultants and district personnel, deserve special thanks. They spent hours reading and re-reading your grant applications. Each local competitive application was read by at least six individuals. All of the readers came together for a day of summarizing their notes and scores. (Summative score sheets are available upon e-mail request from arthur.skerker@po.state.ct.us. )

You may enlarge the table by clicking on it.

Student Technology Assessment Tools

The Alliance of Regional Educational Service Centers, funded in part from an Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant, was asked to review the availability of assessment tools that could be used to measure eighth grade technological literacy. A number of free and commercial tools were analyzed, along with several instruments that are currently being used in CT public schools. For a copy of the report as a self-starting CD, send a request to arthur.skerker@po.state.ct.us.