Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology: Reflection #2

Federal and state law mandates that states report progress toward technology excellence. In Texas the progress of the Texas long-range plan for technology is required annually. The first progress report associated with this plan documents the State’s progress and accomplishments in meeting recommendations began in 2008. Identified in the report are the various collaborations and activities initiated by Texas public schools, regional education service centers, and the Texas Education Agency to work toward the goals outlined in the plan.

Access the Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020 at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/comm/leg_reports/2008/08pr_to_lrpt.pdf.


The article points out the need for educators to have the tools and resources to prepare students to live and learn in the 21st Century. Since technology usage is vital to survival in the 21st century. It is necessary that students not only be familiar but move toward mastering skills in this area. In this section, Educator Preparation and Development, of the progress report it documents the progress Texas is making in addressing educator expectations and preparation, certification opportunities, and state and federal professional development grants and programs.


One important element the article discusses is the statistical progress that was made while progressing from 2006 to 2008.

At the Advanced Tech level, in 2007-2008 there were 1,518 campuses compared to 1,321 campuses in 2006-2007. According to the 2007-2008 data, fewer campuses were at the Early Tech level, 406 campuses, compared to 2006-2007 when the data showed 637 campuses at the Early Tech level. Also, the 2007-2008 data shows slightly fewer campuses, 5,654, at the Developing Tech level when compared to 2006-2007 when 5,739 campuses were at that level.


In conclusion, by comparing the STaR Chart data from the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years, it shows that more campuses are gradually moving from the earliest stage of technological preparation into the Developing and Advanced stages. This stage is refered to as the Developing Tech in the area of professional development content. This would mean that most teachers have completed professional development on the integration of technology specific to their content area and have been trained to use technology to increase productivity in the accomplishment of a variety of instruction and management tasks. Although advancements seem slow. It is essential to the continued evolvement of education that we continue to make more and more strides towards advancing the use of technology in education.