The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) Announces Launch of the State Education Policy Center - Leadership, Technology, Innovation, Learning

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Geoff Fletcher, Deputy Executive Director
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) Announces Launch of the State Education Policy Center

– One-of-a-Kind Database of State Education and Technology Policies and Practices Charts Education’s ‘Shift to Digital’ –

Washington, D.C. (October 16, 2012) – The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the principal non-profit membership association representing U.S. state and territorial educational technology leaders, announced today the launch of the State Education Policy Center (SEPC). The SEPC – available online athttp://sepc.setda.org – is intended to provide up-to-date information regarding select technology-related education policies and practices to inform school reform and improvement efforts.

“The aggregation of these state policies is unique,” stated Douglas Levin, SETDA Executive Director. “We believe it will benefit state, federal and local policymakers, researchers, private sector (corporate and philanthropic) investors and practitioners. “ In addition to background information on each state, at launch the SEPC focuses on three topics:

K-12 broadband policy and practice
Online student assessment (formative and summative) policy and practice
Instructional materials policy and practice (with an emphasis on digital and open content).

SETDA and its membership are committed to updating content as policy changes are made in the states and in enhancing the coverage of state policies and practices over time. “Knowledge mining and information management is at the core of our combined and shared interest,” said Jose Ortega, administrator of the Education Technology Office in the California Department of Education.The State Education Policy Center provides a central repository of critical topics and policies that will help advance our own work through the experiences of our fellow states.

The launch of the SEPC was supported in part by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

About the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA):
Founded in 2001, SETDA is the national non-profit association representing the interests of U.S. state and territorial educational technology leadership. SETDA’s mission is to build and increase the capacity of state and national leaders to improve education through technology policy and practice.For more information, please visit www.setda.org.

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