• CoSN, ISTE, SETDA Denounce Vote to Slash EETT Funding

  The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) came out to voice their concern over a vote last Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to eliminate all funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program. Here are highlights of what they had to say:

  CoSN Board Chair Sheryl Abshire released the following statement: “[The] action to eliminate all funding for the EETT program for FY07 is catastrophic for K-12 education. I can only wonder how the subcommittee members who voted in favor of defunding EETT will justify this cut to the teachers who will no longer be able to take online accreditation courses using EETT dollars, to the administrators who will no longer be able to rely on EETT to support No Child Left Behind required data-collection efforts, and to the students who will no longer benefit from EETT through their exposure to online and digital education resources that enrich their learning experiences and prepare them to compete in the 21st century economy."

  For more, visit http://www.cosn.org/about/press/060706.cfm

  -- SETDA urged the House Appropriations Committee to fill the gaping hole left by the House Subcommittee’s decision to eliminate the EETT program in FY 2007. It called upon the full committee to level fund the EETT program at $275 million in 2007 (at minimum), which represents a 61 percent cut from 2004 funding level of $696 million. For more, including examples of gains that will be lost if the EETT program is eliminated, visit http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=134112

  -- ISTE plans to carry the fight to restore funding for the EETT program into the full House Appropriations Committee, which is expected to consider the bill as early as this week. Through grassroots, coalition-building, and lobbying efforts, ISTE will battle to restore federal funding to the nation’s schools in order to continue equipping children with the technological tools needed to keep America competitive in an increasingly information- and technology-rich marketplace. For more, visit
  http://www.iste.org/Template.cfm?Section=Home&Template=/
  ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12788

• South Carolina District Standardizes on SMART Boards

  SMART Technologies Inc. has been awarded a contract to standardize South Carolina’s ninth largest school district, Dorchester School District 2, with more than 1,200 SMART Board interactive whiteboards. Installation of the interactive whiteboards in the district is nearing completion as students and teachers prepare to embrace the latest education technology for 21st-century classrooms. In addition to SMART Board interactive whiteboards and SMART Board software, teachers will have access to standardized curriculum templates, SMART Ideas concept-mapping software, a variety of tutorials, more than 6,000 learning objects, and close to 1,500 lesson activities.

  For the full story, visit
  http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/About+Us/News+Room/Media+Releases/
  2006+Media+Releases.htm?guid={1A2E39A9-EDC0-4B3C-85DB-78BCF3E30810}

• Grant Assists Indiana's K-12 Education System Develop Technology Plan

  The Corporation for Education Technology (CET), a nonprofit organization that administers the Buddy Project, a group of K-12 technology initiatives that support improved student achievement through data-driven planning, targeted academic instruction, shared reflective teaching practice, and quality professional development, has received a $225,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help the Indiana Educational Technology Council (ETC) prepare a new technology strategic plan for Indiana’s K-12 education system. The goals of this planning effort include articulating an overall state mission, vision, and strategy for using technology to advance K-12 education in Indiana. They also include building an effective and sustainable infrastructure to support the technology that will provide both stability and the capacity to respond to change. Additionally, CET will survey technology models that currently exist in Indiana and recommend how to capitalize on the successful efforts already in place for student-centered and learning-focused use of technology. The plan is expected to be developed by the fall.
  
  For the full story, visit http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=18298

• Lansing Hopes Virtual School Lowers Teens' Dropout Rate
  —From Lansing State Journal

  Lansing, MI, schools’ leaders anticipate a jump in the high school graduation rate this school year after rolling out new computer-based programs at the Hill Center for Academics and Technology. Last Saturday , 75 students who were once on track for failure will celebrate commencement with classmates thanks to the self-paced chance to make up credits. And, though officials still are crunching numbers, the school district is expected to hit the federal No Child Left Behind law's required graduation rate of 80 percent for the first time.

  For the full story, visit
  http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060610/NEWS05/606100335/1001/RSS

• Dry Creek Selects Mark Geyer as Superintendent

  Mark Geyer, 52, has been confirmed as the new superintendent for the Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District (CA), capping a months-long superintendent search that saw more than 20 applicants. Geyer is currently the superintendent of two school districts in Bishop, CA: the 1,350-student strong Bishop Union Elementary District and the 800-student Bishop Joint Union High School District. Geyer has taught math, science, social studies, and more at the middle school level. He's served as the top high school district official in Bishop since 2001, becoming superintendent of the elementary district in 2004. "Dry Creek is just an exceptional district," he said. "It's a growing district with new sites, and has a fabulous and well-deserved reputation as being very strong academically."

  Share Your Success
  Whether your district just appointed a new superintendent or your school finally hired that new tech coordinator, we want to know! Please share your staff and faculty successes with us by sending the person's name; title; school, district, and location information; any relevant educational and occupational background; and a high-resolution color image of the person to [email protected]

ClassLink Inc. has introduced ClassLink OnTrack, a new software package that provides curriculum mapping, state standards alignment, and an electronic portfolio of student achievement, assessment, and feedback. The program provides a curriculum-mapping tool and compiles an electronic collection of student work tied to rubrics and standards. Teachers, administrators, and parents can review students’ portfolios and determine how to better support their learning. Tied to rubrics and standards, OnTrack identifies student skills, subject area proficiencies, and achievement of state and national standards. It also enables the automated update and distribution of district lesson curriculum, lesson plans, and grading rubrics. For information on pricing and the company’s free weekly OnTrack webinar, click here or call (888) 963-7550.

Star Micronics has released a new high-speed desktop label printer, the TSP828L. Packaged in a small footprint, the TSP828L is ideal for any desktop label printing application, including shipping, box labeling, inventory management, and hospitality labeling applications. Adjustable from 45 mm to 112 mm in width, the TSP828L supports a variety of direct thermal labels, and also features a built-in label peeler. The label printer also comes standard with a dual interface for communication, which supports both RS232 serial communication and USB 2.0, with sensing to switch between the two automatically. Additionally, parallel, Wi-Fi and Ethernet (LAN) interfaces are available as optional accessories. Contact the company for pricing.

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