Digital Teaching and Learning Plan Exposed

The Digital Teaching and Learning Plan was adopted by ALEC's Education and Workforce Development Task Force, introduced on November 2, 2015, amended and finalized on January 16, 2016. (Accessed on 2/19/2016).

ALEC Bill Text

LONG TITLE

General Description:

This bill requires the State Board of Education to develop a digital teaching and learning plan to prepare the state to implement a state-wide initiative that will result in dramatic improvements in student achievement.

Highlighted Provisions:

This bill:

Has the following goals:

• Dramatic improvement in student achievement evidenced through individual student content mastery and state determined assessments

• Skilled workforce development and employer/student alignment

• Long-term self-funding through budget savings and tax revenue enhancements

• Requires the State Board of Education to establish a digital teaching and learning taskforce to develop a plan for digital teaching and learning in elementary and secondary schools; and

• To develop a Digital Teaching and Learning master plan that will lead to dramatic improvements in student achievement;

• To develop a financial plan that leads to fiscal sustainability and accounts for the positive financial impact of the program;

• To conduct a technology readiness assessment of the public education system’s current technology resources, instructional resources, and levels of professional development;

• To perform a school network infrastructure study to determine the technology infrastructure needs of the public education system to implement a digital teaching and learning program; and

• Report the findings to the Education Interim Committee and the Executive Appropriations Committee [or similar appropriate State education and appropriations legislative committees].

Be it enacted by the State Legislature:

Section 1.

Digital teaching and learning program taskforce — Funding proposal for a program — Master plan — Reporting requirements.

(1) As used in this section:

(a) “Board” means the State Board of Education.

(b) “Core subject areas” means the following subject areas:

(i) English language arts;

(ii) mathematics;

(iii) science; and

(iv) social studies

(d) “LEA plan” means an LEA’s plan to implement a digital teaching and learning program that meets requirements set by the board.

(e) “Local education agency” or “LEA” means:

(i) a school district;

(ii) a charter school; or

(iii) the Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

(f) “Statewide assessment” means a test of student achievement in English Language Arts, mathematics, or science, including a test administered in a computer adaptive format, which is administered statewide.

(2)

(a) The board shall establish a digital teaching and learning taskforce to create a funding plan to present to the Legislature for digital teaching and learning in elementary and secondary schools.

(b) The digital teaching and learning taskforce shall include roughly equal representation of:

(i) The State Board;

(ii) Knowledgeable education industry executives and consultants;

(ii) Government, including representatives from the legislative and executive branches; and

(iii) LEAs, including superintendents, assistant superintendents, tech directors and teachers

(3) The taskforce will define and make staffing recommendations for the following implementation offices:

(a) An implementation committee composed of local educators with extensive successful experience in digital transformations, and nationally recognized experts with specific domain expertise.

(b) A consultant who will work for the board and provide guidance and oversight.

(c) A program manager who has experience with projects of the scale of this project.

(d) An independent evaluator with extensive experience evaluating successful large scale digital transformations and who will be involved from the beginning of the process to establish baseline measurements for the project.

(4) As funding allows, the board shall develop a master plan for a statewide digital teaching and learning program, including the following:

(a) A statement of purpose that describes the objectives or goals the board will accomplish by implementing a digital teaching and learning program;

(i) Improve student outcomes and mastery through the use of digital teaching and learning technology; and immersive personalized learning;

(ii) Provide evidence-based high quality professional learning for educators to improve student outcomes through the use of digital teaching and learning technology;

(iii) Improve college and career readiness and workforce alignment;

(iv) Requires matching funds from state and LEAs;

(v) Utilize qualifying grant process, approval, and accountability; and

(vi) Identify outcome based metrics to measure student achievement and subject mastery related to a digital teaching and learning program; and

(b) A forecast for fundamental components needed to implement a digital teaching and learning program. The forecasts will be of sufficient depth that they will identify with reasonable precision the state of the art in each forecasted area for each year, over a five-year period. Each forecast will include estimates of the annual cost for that line item, normalized to a per student basis. Forecasts will provide input to the state and LEA budgeting processes, and to the master plan. Forecasts will be developed for these topics, as well as others deemed important including:

(i) Instructional models, including personalized, student-centered, and competency based learning

(ii) Wi-Fi and wireless compatible technology;

(iii) Curriculum software;

(iv) Assessment solutions;

(v) Technical support;

(vi) Change management;

(vii) Distributed leadership

(viii) High quality professional learning;

(ix) Internet delivery and capacity;

(x) Security and privacy of users; and

(xi) Student and teacher devices.

(c) A determination of the requirements for:

(i) Statewide technology infrastructure;

(ii) Local LEA technology infrastructure;

(iii) A statewide, shared informational technology services organization responsible for lowering the cost of deploying and maintaining the statewide and LEA technology infrastructure;

(iv) Statewide purchasing cooperative to support the collaborative bidding and purchasing of digital teaching and learning tools and broadband services; and

(v) A transparency system to regularly review use of learning applications and devices in the aggregate at the class, school, district, and state levels to ensure outcomes.

(d) Standards for evidence-based high quality professional learning related to implementing and maintaining a digital teaching and learning program;

(e) A statewide technical support plan that will guide the implementation and maintenance of a digital teaching and learning program, including standards and competency requirements for technical support personnel;

(f) Comprehensive distributed leadership and change management programs for a digital teaching and learning program;

(g) A grant program for LEAs or a distribution formula to fund LEA digital teaching and learning programs;

(h) A technology readiness assessment of the state public education system’s current technology resources and other items and a plan to integrate those resources into a digital teaching and learning program;

(i) An ongoing independent evaluation process with frequent collection and monitoring of baseline measures that is overseen by the board;

(j) Proposed rules that incorporate the principles of the master plan into the state’s public education system as a whole; and

(k) A plan to ensure long-term sustainability that:

(i) Accounts for the financial impacts of a digital teaching and learning program; and

(ii) Facilitates the redirection of LEA savings that arise from implementing a digital teaching and learning program.

(5) The state board shall:

(a) In consultation with the board, conduct a digital learning readiness assessment of the state public education system’s current technology capacity and other items as determined by an independent third party including actual counts of hardware and software licenses and connectivity speeds per student and teacher device;

(b) Perform a school network infrastructure study to determine the current technology infrastructure of the public education system, taking into account the Federal Communications Commission’s E-rate program funding opportunities, and determine the necessary investment required to implement a digital teaching and learning program, including the infrastructure needed for the board and LEAs.

(6) On or before January 1, 2016, the board shall present the funding proposal for a statewide digital teaching and learning program described in Subsection (3) to the Education Interim Committee and the Executive Appropriations Committee, including:

(a) The board’s progress on the development of a master plan described in Subsection (4); and

(b) The progress on the inventory and study.

Section 2. Appropriation.

Under the terms and conditions of [the State’s] Budgetary Procedures Act, for the fiscal year beginning [date], and ending [date], the following sums of money are appropriated from resources not otherwise appropriated, or reduced from amounts previously appropriated, out of the funds or accounts indicated. These sums of money are in addition to any amounts previously appropriated for fiscal year 2016 [or date].

To State Board of Education

From Education Fund, one-time Schedule of Programs:

Board and Administration $2,500,000

The Legislature intends that:

(1) The State Board of Education use the $2,500,000 appropriation under this section to:

(a) To conduct a technology readiness assessment of the state public education system’s current technology resources as required in Section 1;

(b) To perform a school network infrastructure study as required in Section 1

(c) For infrastructure and technology support for school districts and charter schools; and

(d) Establish a task force and prepare a funding plan for a statewide digital teaching and learning program.

Section 3. Effective date.

(1) Except as provided in Subsection (2), this bill takes effect on [date].

(2) Uncodified Section 3, Appropriation, takes effect on [date].