9454794 Lamb Oregon is an acknowledged leader in educational reform legislation. The climate created by innovative leaders in public, private, and parochial education, private non-profits, business and industry, coupled with effective political leadership has stimulated numerous initiatives in Oregon implementing computerized telecommunications (CT) for teaching science and mathematics. With so many fine institutions and organizations initiating promising practices and ideas, the need for planning, sharing resources, and working cooperatively is vital, for even as these innovations are being implemented, the majority of Oregon's students are not served by CT for science and mathematics education, or for other purposes either. This project will effect the following short-term goals: Establish an effective coalition of public and private entities for implementing CT as a tool for teaching science and mathematics in Oregon, K-14. Inform coalition members and others of existing infrastructure and ongoing activities related to using CT as a tool for teaching science and mathematics, K-14, to encourage coordination and cooperation. Identify barriers to using CT in Oregon. Identify potential resources and generate solutions to overcome those barriers. Create a practical long-range plan to implement those solutions that includes, but is not limited to, a "Testbed/Infrastructure" proposal to be submitted to NSF in 1995. The method will encompass the following elements: (1) Build a coalition: Invite project participation by selected public, private and parochial schools and districts, colleges and universities, private business and industry, state agencies, and private non-profit organizations interested in applying CT to science and mathematics education. Representatives of this coalition will serve as both a policy and executive board in implementing the proj ect. (2) Research key issues: Commission and fund a series of Benchmark Reports to establish the state of the art, area practitioners, potential sources of help for and barriers to implementation of CT to science and mathematics education (3) Prioritize goals: Implement a Planning Conference in which coalition members and teachers, administrators and others who are pro, neutral and con to CT interact with each other and the Benchmark Reports in Focus Groups to identify perceived barriers, outline potential solutions, and generate prioritized goals for the application of CT. (4) Develop a comprehensive plan: Implement a Strategic Planning Workshop including coalition members, political leaders, and local and regional private funding agencies to generate practical, fundable proposals for accomplishing the prioritized goals for application of CT to science and math education. One of these proposals will be for an NSF "Testbed/Infrastructure" project. The effectiveness of the project will be evaluated in four ways: (1) the usefulness of the Benchmark Reports as information sources, tools for developing both technical and human connectivity, and tools for implementing theory into practice; (2) the ability of the Planning Conference format to encourage participants to generate concrete positive suggestions and to identify real barriers, rather than to engage in essentially product-free discussions of generalities and philosophies; (3) the extent to which coalition members and conference attendees begin to work together in implementing CT; and (4) the number, quality, and implementation of proposals that arise from the process. The proposed project will generate knowledge about barriers to implementing educational innovations, in particular CT as applied to science and mathematics education, and about the ways of bringing together organizations into effective coalition prepared to address the problems.
