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As powerful technology becomes widely available and delivers increasingly more processing power for the dollar, the opportunities to improve teaching and learning with technology increase dramatically. A technology literate leader is able to secure E-rate funds; to receive and understand electronic messages providing NCLB funding information; to ensure that student instruction is informed by real-time student information; to model the effective use of technology for professional productivity; and to lead faculty to higher levels of technology integration in classrooms. The results of such informed leadership are enormous, yielding a clearly positive impact on student learning.

Experienced school leaders, as well as those new to administrative positions, should be encouraged and helped to reach the highest levels of technology literacy. The education community must routinely build capacity in current and future school, district, and state leaders to lead the change process and to promote the effective use of technology. This High Quality Professional Development subgroup urges that SETDA take a stand and disseminate the following statement in support of sustained professional development for administrators.

Sustaining Professional Development for Administrators Ensuring the integration of technology throughout a program, campus, or educational system constitutes significant innovation and educational change. Effective and sustained technology leadership is the key to that change process. The effective technology leader maximizes technology funding and promotes educational change that ensures students have appropriate opportunities to learn and achieve. This administrator effectively applies both knowledge and skills in ways that promote and affect positive educational change. Therefore, SETDA strongly recommends that all current and prospective school leaders participate in technology-infused professional learning experiences designed to produce leaders of high quality teaching and learning. SETDA further recommends that significant funds and resources be designated for technology leadership training.