Policy to Practice: Telecommunication Implementation at the School Level - A Regional Study

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9552497 Tornatzky A key premise of this proposal is that telecommunication and allied information technologies have the potential to significantly improve the performance and enhance the restructuring of K-12 schools, as well as to impact national and regional issues of educational equity. However, we also feel that the potential of these technologies is blunted or frustrated at the school level by ineffective implementation, particularly related to issues of planning, strategy, training, technical support, logistics, acceptance, and administrative or community support. Simply stated, teachers and school leaders lack proven and practical strategies, tactic, and practices to affect the process of technological and organizational change. At the same time, implementation in schools is enacted in a multi- level policy context. That is, teachers and administrators charged with the responsibility of technology implementation are confronted with a confusing array of district, state, and federal policies and programs, all presumably designed to enhance the transition to a technology-enriched classroom. These include various administrative directives, funding programs, goals and standards, demonstration programs are designed and launched with no empirical evidence on their impacts on actual technology implementation at the building level. To rectify this problem, we propose a policy research project which will systematically gather data from teachers, principals, school districts, and state administrators on their practical experiences and advice in implementing educational technologies and the facilitating and /or inhibiting role that policy has played therein. Results of the project will be packaged in a form that will be readily usable by practitioners and policy makers alike. A regional dissemination effort, consisting of report distribution and briefings, and the launching of a regional telecommunications network of exemplary implementation practioners are proposed. ***