9603346 Williams Findings from recent studies indicate that educational technology has had positive effects on student achievement, on student attitudes toward learning, and on students' self- concept. Experts agree that the future of education depends upon the successful integration of technology into classrooms across the country. However, hundreds of efforts to integrate technology into schools fail each year because school board members-most lacking an understanding of the value of technology and of the policy support that technology requires, and few being technology-users themselves-are often barriers to the integration of technology into the education of all students. Simply stated, in order to make technology accessible in classrooms and enable teachers to use that technology effectively, school board members must be helped to understand technology's potentials. The National School Boards Association (NSBA) Foundation requests a grant of $123,677 from the National Science Foundation's Network Infrastructure for Education program to launch a project to engage school board members as leaders in bringing the benefits of technology to school districts across the country. NSBA is the national organization that supplies information to the 95,000 school board members nationwide and, through NSBA's Institute for the Transfer of Technology to Education (ITTE), is uniquely suited to address the issue of helping school board members make appropriate policy decisions and become advocates for technology implementation in schools. The Tools for Systemic Reform: A Dissemination Initiative for School Board members project described on the following pages will disseminate a policy makers tool kit of information on systemic school reform supported with technology and facilitate the tool kit's use with expert-guided on-line discussion and with hands-on help. The tool kit will be distributed to public school board members and other school decision makers through a variety of electronic and other f ar-reaching dissemination methods, and will include modules of information on case studies of successful school models, contact information, research-based findings, discussion guides, and a broad range of strategies for utilizing technology to improve student achievement in math, science, and other subject areas. Information disseminated will help policy makers understand the positive change that technology can bring to the dynamic of teaching and learning, encourage their personal use of technology, and will establish a foundation of the appropriate policy and management support necessary to hasten widespread, effective use of technology throughout school districts across the country.
