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[DOCID: f:hr295ih.txt]






107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 295

 Urging the establishment of a commission on technology and education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 27, 2001

  Mr. Ferguson (for himself and Mr. Davis of Illinois) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                           and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Urging the establishment of a commission on technology and education.

Whereas elementary and secondary schools in the United States need to prepare 
        students for the 21st century and an economy that requires an educated 
        and skilled workforce, with an increasing focus on technology as a 
        central component;
Whereas there is widespread concern about the poor academic performance of 
        United States students relative to their counterparts in many other 
        industrialized nations;
Whereas this anxiety about the academic competitiveness of United States 
        students, coupled with changes in needed work skills, has heightened 
        interest in integrating technology into the curricula of elementary and 
        secondary schools;
Whereas there are 8.2 million instructional computers in the Nation's elementary 
        and secondary schools, with approximately 5 million additional 
        multimedia computers needed;
Whereas elementary and secondary schools need $128 billion of infrastructure 
        work, related specifically to the incorporation of technology in the 
        classroom;
Whereas the resources of elementary and secondary schools are limited and the 
        overall financial cost of acquiring, maintaining, and using technology 
        in schools, though significant, remains unknown;
Whereas after nearly 2 decades of technological development, the extent to which 
        elementary and secondary schools provide students with continuing and 
        effective access to new information technology still remains limited, 
        making it difficult to realize current technology's educational 
        benefits;
Whereas despite gains in the ratio of computers to students, the average 
        computer in the Nation's elementary and secondary schools is 7 years 
        old, illustrating the sizable stock of outdated technology in many of 
        these schools;
Whereas a recent survey by National Center for Education Statistics concluded 
        that only 20 percent of American teachers feel prepared to use new 
        computer applications and know how to integrate them into their 
        classrooms;
Whereas there is no single authority directing or coordinating technology in 
        education and the General Accounting Office reports that there are 35 
        Federal programs administered by eight different agencies that could 
        support telecommunications and information technology programs at local 
        elementary and secondary schools;
Whereas the administration has recommended a single program that will facilitate 
        comprehensive and integrated education technology strategies that target 
        the specific needs of individual elementary and secondary schools;
Whereas the Department of Education is currently conducting an integrated study 
        on educational technology, to be released in spring 2002, that is 
        designed to aid policymakers to fill the gaps in educational technology 
        in the Nation's elementary and secondary schools;
Whereas the integrated study on educational technology will measure the current 
        state of the financial and technical support for the implementation of 
        educational technology, including the influence of the Technology 
        Literacy Challenge Fund established pursuant to the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and the so-
        called E-Rate program under subsections (b)(6) and (h) of section 254 of 
        the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254) for providing discounted 
        telecommunications services;
Whereas the integrated study on educational technology will pinpoint which local 
        educational agencies have benefitted from a variety of existing 
        programs, as well as the role of these programs in supporting effective 
        use of educational technology for improved teaching and learning;
Whereas the integrated study on educational technology will assess the current 
        state of professional development in educational technology and the 
        circumstances under which professional development in the instructional 
        use of technology results in improvements in teaching and learning;
Whereas the integrated study on educational technology will provide policymakers 
        and program managers with the information needed to inform future 
        decisionmaking about Federal investments in educational technology;
Whereas the administration has asserted that elementary and secondary schools 
        should use educational technology as a tool to improve student academic 
        achievement and that using the latest technology in the classroom should 
        not be an end in itself; and
Whereas a team of specialized experts could best coordinate national educational 
        technology policies and objectives, since the nature of technology 
        itself, which grows at exponential rates, hinders a deliberative body 
        from being able to devote the necessary time and resources to monitor 
        these developments: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges the creation of a 
commission on technology and education that would--
            (1) provide clear and focused goals for the future of 
        classroom educational technology and make recommendations to 
        efficiently implement technology to accomplish these goals;
            (2) make recommendations to improve and expand programs 
        that train both educators and students to use educational 
        technology;
            (3) to promote local control over the implementation of 
        education technology in local elementary and secondary schools; 
        and
            (4) be comprised of education and technology stakeholders, 
        including educators, academics, parents, industry leaders, and 
        policymakers.
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