Oregon Lags in Teaching Technology in Schools

By Bill Graves, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Mar. 27–Oregon ranks near bottom in the nation in using and teaching technology in public schools, according to a report released Wednesday.

The 11th annual report of “Technology Counts,” produced by the specialty newspaper Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, gives Oregon schools an overall D grade on technology.

Only Rhode Island, Nevada and Washington, D.C., earned fewer points than Oregon’s 66 out of 100. West Virginia scored highest, with 95 points, followed by South Dakota, 92, and Georgia, 91.

“Oregon is not exerting the same kind of leadership in this area as are other states,” said Carole Vinograd Bausell, project director for the report. That could have consequences for students, she said, because colleges and the workplace increasingly demand skills in technology.

But Carla Wade, technology education specialist at the Oregon Department of Education, said the report overstates Oregon’s deficiencies and fails to account for some of its strengths, including its focus on training teachers to use technology in the classroom.

“You can put all the computers you want in front of kids,” Wade said. “If you haven’t done the professional development for teachers, the computers won’t be used . . . and there is research to back that up.”

Government and business leaders are putting pressure on schools to dramatically improve students’ grasp of science, technology, engineering and math because the nation’s prosperity in the global economy depends on a high-skilled work force. U.S. student performance on international tests in those subjects is mediocre or low compared with other industrialized nations.

The “Technology Counts” analysis looked at how much access students have to technology, the capacity of educators to use technology, and how technology is used in testing and standards. Oregon got an F in capacity because it does not require teachers or administrators to meet technology standards to earn their licenses.

The report card gives the state no credit for the emphasis it puts on training teachers to use computers in the classroom, Wade said. “We’re probably doing that as well as anyone in the country.”

But Oregon does not require teachers or administrators to participate in technology training or to pass a technology test as part of their recertification requirements, Bausell noted.

Oregon also earned an F on access because its schools have fewer instructional computers for students than most other states, though the differences are not dramatic.

For example, Oregon gives computer access to 91 percent of its fourth-graders, compared with the U.S. average of 95 percent. And Oregon schools provide an instructional computer for every 4.5 students compared with an average of one for every 3.8 students nationwide.

Still, some states invest much more. For example, South Dakota, which earned an A minus in the report, provides an instructional computer for every two students, Bausell said.

Oregon’s Legislature has not invested in computers for schools, and many of the computers that schools have are tied up for administering state tests, state officials say.

Oregon earned a B minus for its use of technology, earning points for its technology standards for students and its use of computers to test students. Its score got docked, however, for not having a state-sponsored virtual school that allows students to take classes online.

The state didn’t establish a virtual school because school districts, such as Salem-Keizer, and universities, such as Oregon State University, already offered online schools, Wade said. The state does run an online site that provides curriculum content to teachers, including those who offer online classes.

Oregon has focused on using technology for testing rather than instruction, Wade said. But the state is adopting new requirements for a high school diploma that include technology standards. Those standards will spur more emphasis on teaching technology and using it to enhance instruction, she said.

“Things are swinging the other way in Oregon.”

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

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