August 11, 2010 - On Tuesday, August 10, 2010, President Obama signed a House bill saving more than 160,000 teachers' jobs. The bill provides $10 billion in aid to states secure teacher and staff positions and to better manage the overall pressure on education budgets. Access this
summary table that indicates the amount of money each state is estimated to receive in this second round of education stimulus funding. For more information, read House Passes Bill Aimed at Saving Teachers' Jobs in the Education Week.
July 29, 2010 - SETDA's comments in response to the May 20, 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by FCC (FCC 10-83); In the Matter of Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism: A National Broadband Plan for Our Future.
July 29, 2010 - On Tuesday, July 27, 2010, the Senate appropriations subcommittee met to discuss the FY11 education budget. Like in the House, the Senate broke from the Administration's request and funded EETT. EETT received $100 million in the Senate mark, which is considered level funding against FY10 levels and is identical to the House subcommittee mark.
July 15, 2010 - SETDA is excited to share that on July 15, 2010, the House's Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee markup included funding for EETT at $100M. This is considered level funding from the FY10 budget, a victory for dedicated educational technology funding and an encouraging sign as we move into Reauthorization. SETDA will continue to make the case for the EETT funding at $500M, and we will keep you posted on additional news from Congress.
July 7, 2010 - National Rural Education Technology Summit
The U.S. Department of Education and the Smithsonian recently announced that they are hosting a National Rural Education Technology Summit on Wednesday, July 21 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m in Washington, DC. This event is an opportunity for rural school leaders and technology experts to learn from one another and provide feedback to federal agencies. Attendees are also invited to the pre-Summit reception on Tuesday, July 20, 6:30 p.m. at the National Museum of Natural History. Sara Hall from the SETDA staff will attend the event and will provide a short summary of the event for the membership. 
Invitation
May 10, 2010 - SETDA extends an invitation to Fostering Excellence, Equity and Innovation in K-12 Education through Technology: A Successful State-Federal Partnership. This Senate and House Briefing will take place on May 17th, 2010. The Senate Side Briefing will take place at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, 10:00 am ET, and the House Side Briefing will take place at the Rayburn House Office Building, 2:00 pm ET. More information | Announcement
April 8, 2010 - Education Secretary Duncan has announced the availability of the grant application for the highly anticipated Investing in Innovation (i3) program. These grants will support local districts and nonprofit organizations, working in partnership with several districts and/or several schools as they seek to implement educational innovations with promising or demonstrated effective outcomes for students. Through this program, competitive grants will be awarded to applicants with a record of improving student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on:
- Improving student achievement or student growth
- Closing achievement gaps
- Decreasing dropout rates
- Increasing high school graduation rates
- Increasing college enrollment and completion rates
April 1, 2010 - SETDA just received the encouraging news that Senator Jeff Bingaman from New Mexico, member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has authored a Dear Colleague Letter in support of EETT for FY11 Appropriations. You are urged to CALL your two Senators TODAY, highlight the value of EETT in your state and urge them to sign onto this letter. This is an important part of this process, and we need as many signatures as possible. If you do not have direct contact information, you may access your Senators' contact information by visiting http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and clicking their name. Please call the main line and asking for the education staffer.
April 1, 2010 - SETDA is proud to share the product of the advocacy efforts in which we were recently engaged to make ESEA recommendations to the House and Senate Education and Labor Committee. Fifty educational technology organizations joined to represent the largest coalition assembled for a letter such as this one. SETDA worked collaboratively with SIIA, ISTE, and CoSN to draft the letter and obtain the signatures. This letter went to members of the Education and Labor Committee providing recommendations for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and specifically for the role of technology and e-learning.
March 5, 2010 - On Friday, March 5, 2010, the U.S. Department of Education released a draft of the National Educational Technology Plan, “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology.” The Obama Administration’s goal in commissioning this report was to create one vision for the strategic application of technology throughout the education system in support of student learning and achievement and consistent with the Administration’s broader educational and economic priorities. The draft plan and accompanying statement by Secretary of Education Duncan, delivered to a joint session of the American Association of Publishers and the Software & Information Industry Association, can be found online at: www.ed.gov/technology. Report development was directed by Barbara Means of SRI International with support from leading researchers and practitioners, including SETDA members. A special thanks goes to Brenda Williams of the West Virginia Department of Education for her service on the effort’s Technical Working Group. To read and post comments on the plan, go to http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010.
March 4, 2010 - The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) are pleased to host this briefing and dialogue on the future role of educational technology in K-12 education, featuring insights into the U.S. Department of Education’s National Educational Technology Plan and the FCC’s National Broadband Plan on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 2:00 PM Eastern. To attend this event, please contact Tera Daniels at tdaniels at setda.org. SETDA has arranged for the "Future Role of Educational Technology in K-12 Education" briefing to be Webcast LIVE thanks to the generosity of two of our existing sponsors, Learning.com and Nettrekker. To sign up for the Webcast, go to http://www.visualwebcaster.com/SETDA-CCSSO. Access more information under SETDA Events.
March 3, 2010 - Washington Education Technology Summit
On March 3, 2010, SETDA cohosted the Washington Education Technology Summit with CoSN, ISTE and SIIA. During the event, Cathy Higgins (NH) introduced Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who shared her views on the role of technology in education. Over 200 educators, including members of the SETDA Board of Directors and representing 25 states, participated in a series of meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
February 2010 - FY2011 Budget
December 4, 2009 - SETDA has officially submitted comments to the FCC regarding the educational needs for universal broadband access. Many thanks to the SETDA members who provided their input and ideas.
SETDA also provided comments on the development of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Educational Technology Plan (NETP).
In addition, SETDA provided comments regarding proposed U.S. Department of Education information collection: “Evaluation and Accountability Reports for Title II, Part D of ESEA”
November 30, 2009- SETDA is pleased to share our comments for the National Educational Technology Plan (NETP). These comments were recently submitted to the NETP planning committee. SETDA encourages all states to submit comments directly to www.edtechfuture.org. The deadline has been extended to December 6, 2009.
November 4, 2009 - SETDA is pleased to announce recent work with Senator Reid’s office to sponsor a Technology Showcase on Capitol Hill on November 4, 2009. This will be an opportunity to show how EETT and technology in general can effect positive change in teaching and learning.
“Defining the Future of Learning” Technology Showcase
November 4th, 2009
10 am – 1 pm
Networking & Sharing Showcase
12 pm – 1 pm
Education Technology Mingling Luncheon
September 22, 2009 - Please note that the deadline for the USDOE's Demonstrating Compliance with Evaluation Requirements Reports for the 2008-2009 school year, originally discussed at the July USDOE meeting, with a proposed deadline of September 30th has been postponed. The new deadline is TBA. The letter your state received from the USDOE was only a draft and they have not received OMB clearance for this data collection. Jenelle Leonard announced this information during the August SETDA Membership call and Enid Marshall verified this information in an email to SETDA last week. If you have any questions about the data collection please email Jenelle Leonard directly. Please note this is NOT related to any of the ARRA data collection requirements.
September 11, 2009 - Building upon the feedback from the NAEP session at the ET Forum in June, the SETDA Board sent a letter to the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), copying the NAEP Technology Literacy planning and steering committees. The letter focuses on the plans for the technology literacy assessment, the title, and reporting. During their meeting last week, the committee spent considerable time discussing the recommendations and agreed to propose several new titles for the assessment to NAGB. NAGB does not meet until mid-November, so we will have to wait for any further information regarding the name of the assessment until that time. The letter from the SETDA Board truly shifted the discussion.
July 25, 2009 -During a meeting at the Department of Education on Friday, July 24, 2009, President Obama released the guidance for EETT’s ARRA funding. Access the full document for your review but the big news points are:
- The funds will be distributed to the states no later than July 27th, 2009.
- The USDOE is STRONGLY encouraging that ALL (100%) of the ARRA funds be distributed competitively.
- It is suggested that states use their expressed authority to use funds that are set aside for State-level activities to develop performance measurements to determine the effectiveness of educational technology programs supported with Ed Tech funds.
- LEA Responsibility: LEAs must develop a process and accountability measures that they will use to evaluate the extent to which activities funded under the program are effective in (1) integrating technology into curricula and instruction; (2) increasing the ability of teachers to teach; and (3) enabling students to meet challenging State academic achievement standards. Because the Ed Tech program is a State-administered program, the SEA is responsible for ensuring that LEAs and eligible local entities comply with Ed Tech statutory requirements.
- Data: They are sticking with the four edFACTS questions for the annual reporting but there is quarterly reporting to address ARRA transparency. See Pages 11-12.
July 15, 2009 - The USDOE will not be distributing ARRA-EETT fund’s on July 15, 2009 as originally planned. Program guidance has not been received from OMB at this time. The USDOE hopes to release the funds by July 22, 2009, but this is not a firm date.
June 29, 2009 - THE Journal: Obama Administration: Technology at the Heart of Reform: Summary of SETDA meeting with Jim Shelton and Aneesh Chopra of the Obama Administration written by Geoffrey Fletcher.
June 17, 2009 - View photos and videos from the House Committee on Education and Labor hearing and showcase:
June 17, 2009 - Access the testimonies of the witnesses at the House Committee on Eduation and Labor hearing on The Future of Learning: How Technology is Transforming Public Schools.
June 16, 2009 - On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on The Future of Learning: How Technology is Transforming Public Schools. Read more and view pictures of hearing.
June 10, 2009 - House Education Panel to Examine Innovation and Technology in the Classroom. The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, June 16 to examine how technology and innovative education tools are transforming and improving education in America. The hearing will take place in the House Education and Labor Committee Hearing Room at 2175 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC at 10:00 am ET. Immediately following the hearing, members are invited to attend a “Future of Learning Showcase” where they can have hands-on experience using cutting-edge education technology products. The event will be open to the media. This event will take place in the Rayburn Foyer. This hearing will be webcast live from the Education and Labor Committee website. You can access the webcast when the hearing begins at 10:00 am ET from Committee on Education and Labor website and clicking on the Live Webcast link in the top navigation bar.
May 6, 2009 - SETDA is pleased to announce that the USDOE has confirmed a July 1, 2009 release date for EETT-ARRA funding at $650 million, in addition to the budgeted FY09 EETT funds at $269 million totaling $919 million earmarked for education technology. Additionally, the Administration is including the flexibility for states to distribute the funds at 50% formula and 50% competitive or any percentage above 50% - 100% competitive based upon the goals of the specific state programs. This allows SETDA members the opportunity to release grant applications in a timely manner. States will be working through the SETDA 21st Century Collaborative to help share best practices to ensure that ARRA funds are well coordinated with the regular EETT allocation and additional ARRA funding for education such as stabilization, Title I, and IDEA at the start of the FY09-10 school year.
February 2009 - THE Journal: Good News for Ed Tech in the Economic Stimulus Bills
February 12, 2009 - American Recovery and Reinvestment Conference Report as passed by the full Appropriations House Committee
