SETDA's NLI Toolkit 2003 - Executive Summary


	1. About SETDA 2. National Leadership Institute 3. SETDA Initiatives 4. Additional State Examples

Next | Previous | Toolkit Home

Additional State Examples
CHAPTER 3: DATA COLLECTION AND DATA DRIVEN DECISION MAKING

Learning Organizations for Technology Integration (LOFTI)

The South Dakota Learning Organizations for Technology Integration (LOFTI) Project, a Technology Innovations Challenge Grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education, is a K-16 collaboration involving an array of education partners including local school districts, school consortia, educational cooperatives, public universities, regional education centers, the South Dakota Department of Education (DOE), the South Dakota Board of Regents, and Technology & Innovations in Education (TIE).

LOFTI was initiated in response to a growing need in South Dakota to invest in professional development that would increase the technology skills of classroom teachers and help them find meaningful ways to use technology to enhance student learning. The goal and objectives of the project were grounded in the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers published in 1997 and revised in 2000. http://lofti.tie.net/

During the first three years of LOFTI, the K-12 sites used a variety of methods to gather data regarding teacher performance relative to the ISTE standards. In order to standardize the data collected from K-12 sites for comparisons to be made, LOFTI launched the ISTE/LOFTI Teacher Profile (ILTP) Study. The study had two purposes: First, the data would be used to help shape the LOFTI project evaluation; and second, the results would be used for LOFTI project improvement and decision-making. In addition, project evaluators envisioned the study as a professional development experience for participants, helping them to develop skills and leadership capacity. http://lofti.tie.net/resources/Dissemination/iltp/iltp.htm

Virginia's Web-based Standards of Learning Initiative

The goal of this initiative is to have Virginia school divisions utilize Web-based systems to administer assessments to improve student achievement and use of data by stakeholders. Four objectives of the initiative are to:

Provide student access to computers at a ratio of one computer for every five students.
Create Internet-ready local area network capability in every school.
Assure adequate high-speed, high-bandwidth capability for instructional, remedial and testing needs.
Establish a statewide Web-based Standards of Learning test delivery system.

This initiative, which will have received $232 million in support by May 2004, was proposed by the governor and supported by the General Assembly as an additional way to improve Virginia's educational system through the use of technology. On-line testing became a major component of the initiative due to a need to speed up return of preliminary test results for educational decision-making. Creation of ubiquitous, robust connectivity has helped support Virginia's continued educational improvements.

Implementation of this initiative required a strong partnership between school divisions and the department of education. Effective school divisions mirrored the department project management team structure with inclusion of instructional, assessment and technology members. The project management teams are responsible for goal setting, monitoring ongoing progress and making critical decisions.

Additional key partners and decision-makers at the state level include: Governor's Office and General Assembly Staff, Secretary of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction/Executive Team, Virginia Information Technology Agency and the vendor, Pearson Educational Measurement.

Measured against project goals, the Virginia Web-based Standards of Learning Initiative has been very successful. Accomplishments so far include:

100% of high schools have self-certified (89% verified) that they have met or exceeded a one computer for every five students ratio, have a local area network in every school, and have adequate connectivity to meet educational goals.
All eleven of Virginia's multiple-choice End-of-Course tests are available for online testing.
Over 100,000 students (in 94 of Virginia's 132 divisions) have successfully taken online Standards of Learning End-of Course tests.
Divisions are using testing data to determine appropriate instructional and remedial options for their students.
It is anticipated that one half (400,000) of Virginia's End-of-Course high stakes tests will be administered online by spring 2005

Further information about Virginia's Web-based Standards of Learning Technology Initiative can be found at http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Technology/soltech/soltech.html.