MARYLAND BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE FOR EDUCATION

CHAIRMAN Raymond A. “Chip” Mason Chairman of the Board & CEO Legg Mason, Inc. CO-CHAIRMEN Vance Coffman CEO & Chairman Lockheed Martin Corporation John M. Derrick, Jr. Chairman, President & CEO Potomac Electric Power Company Sanford I. Weill Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Citigroup EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR June E. Streckfus 111. S. Calvert Street Suite 1720 Baltimore, MD 21202 (410) 727-0448 FAX (410) 727-7699 mail@mbrt.org www.mbrt.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ray Weiss or Connie Anderton 410-727-6855 SURVEY SHOWS MAJOR GAPS IN TECHNOLOGY USE PERSIST IN MARYLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS Infrastructure Improvements Evident in Most Schools Statewide BALTIMORE, MD (3/12/02) --- While Maryland has made significant strides in providing technology access to students in public schools, major gaps in teacher and student use of technology persist, according to the fifth annual online survey of technology in the state’s public schools. Released today by the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education (MBRT), “Where Do We Stand in 2002?” clearly indicates that Maryland schools are not taking full advantage of the power that technology potentially offers in day-to-day learning situations. “The data clearly show that the more complex and powerful uses of technology are not being implemented in classrooms across Maryland on a regular basis, even in those schools in which technology is readily available,” says MBRT Executive Director June Streckfus. “In short, too many schools are still using technology only for such basic skills as drills and tutorials.” According to the survey, only 14 percent of Maryland’s public schools report that their students typically use technology to analyze data or information. A mere 12 percent say their students use technology on a regular basis to perform measurements or to collect data in lab experiments. The statistics are worse in high-poverty schools, where the new survey indicates that nearly 52 percent of the students never use technology to analyze data. Sixty-two percent of high-poverty schools report they never use technology for measurements or to gather data. Students from wealthier communities, in fact, are two-to-three times more likely to use technology for more complex tasks than students from high-poverty schools. “Maryland has made some incredible gains over the past few years with respect to its technology infrastructure, and we should not lose track of how far we have come in a relatively short time,” notes Maryland School Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick. “But now that we are close to having the computers and the wiring in place in all of our schools, we must move from promise to practice and determine how we can maximize the full benefits technology offers.” “Student learning is – and always has been – the primary issue,” says Robert Marshall, Chair of MBRT’s Committee on Technology & Education and President & CEO of AWS Convergence Technologies, the company that developed the online technology survey. “When these students graduate into the working world, they will be expected to know how to use technology to handle complex tasks, and the survey clearly shows that, right now, they are not receiving the kind of preparation they will need in order to succeed at work and throughout their lives.” Just six years ago, the student-to computer ratio in Maryland was 16-to1. Today, that ratio has been reduced to five students for every computer. Internet access is now available in 82 percent of classrooms in Maryland, compared to 23 percent in 1995. This is due in large part to the major financial commitment to making schools tech-accessible made by Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening and the Maryland State Legislature. Still, education experts caution that it is essential to look beyond the statewide data. “When one looks beyond state averages to the school-by-school data, the gaps are apparent,” says Ms. Streckfus. “Several schools in some of the larger school systems statewide, for example, are still showing student-to-computer ratios that are more than ten times the state average.” Similarly, statewide data show that the highest poverty schools remain below the state average in terms of student-to-computer ratios (6.9-to-1 vs. 5-to-1) and Internet connectivity (61% vs. 82%). Since the majority of these schools are in two local school systems, however, this does not indicate a statewide trend. In some systems, there is no significant gap. In a few cases, higher poverty schools actually have better access than lower poverty schools, indicating that some districts focused their resources on those schools with the highest poverty levels. Other survey statistics indicate that while support mechanisms for school networks, equipment, and instructional planning increasingly are being put into place, 11 of 24 school systems statewide have some schools that depend strictly on the central office for network or equipment support. Thirteen systems have some schools with no school-based instructional support for the use of technology, depending instead on resources outside the school building. Teacher knowledge and skills with respect to technology, however, continue to rise. Nearly 90 percent of teachers say they are comfortable using the Internet today, compared to only 53 percent in 1997. Similarly, most teachers now report they use technology regularly to improve their own efficiency and productivity. “It is clear that the next decade of school reform will focus on each classroom and the success of each student, and that technology will play a critical role in this effort,” concludes Ms. Streckfus. “What this data tells us about the capacity of each local school system, each school, and each instructional program to provide students with meaningful, engaging, and complex tasks that involve technology, will enable us to close the gaps now that otherwise will close the doors to our children in the future.” The online survey provides one tool to help educators do just that, according to Mr. Marshall. “The inventory allows us to collect, analyze, and report data more effectively than ever before,” he notes. “Parents, educators, and other stakeholders in education now have immediate access to aggregated state data, district-by-district data, and even school-by-school data, enabling them to make informed decisions regarding needs, spending, and resource allocation.” MBRT will continue analyzing data collected from the technology survey, using findings as a planning tool to chart the state’s strategic direction and to identify future areas of concern. The inventory also will be used by MBRT as it reformulates the state’s technology plan, set for release this spring. That plan is expected to call for a stronger focus on instruction that utilizes the power of technological tools and digital resources, identification of new and powerful applications of technology to support instruction and assessment, and an expanded effort to gather and evaluate data that will determine technology’s impact on student learning. The most recent technology survey results are posted online at www.mbrt.org and at www.msde.state.md.us/technology # # #