Enter your email address to subscribe to SuperTECH NEWS SuperTECH NEWS is the bi-monthly newsletter of the BLE GROUP, which provides small- and medium-size school systems with supplementary technology management to produce high-quality educational results and efficient management. The purpose of SuperTECH NEWS is to provide education decision makers with concise information that allows them to make informed technology decisions to impact instruction, management and communication. This is information you can use on Monday morning. Editor, Susan DeMark Web Design, Charlene Polanosky Publisher, Eliot Levinson

Our June issue theme is the education killer app - one integrated instructional planning, delivery, and assessment solution that also addresses professional development and data-driven decision making. Choose from the following articles. Note from Eliot—No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Assessment and Management Service. The BLE Group offers a new service for small and medium-size school systems. We assess where school districts are currently and exactly what they have to do to implement NCLB. The service also provides school systems the supplementary management support they need to purchase and implement the new technology-delivered programs. Theme of the Month—The Killer App - We focus this month on how online assessment and instructional management systems are growing together to create one integrated instructional planning, delivery, and assessment solution that also addresses professional development and data-driven decision making. Collectively, these solutions are becoming the killer app. Approaches—We take a look at the approaches which school systems can use to acquire integrated instructional solutions. The section explores which approach makes sense for your district. The approaches are: General contractor where you hire a company to put together the solution from a variety of vendors; Mix and match where the district puts the solutions together on their own from a variety of vendors; Customized where one software vendor develops a customized solution for the needs of the individual district; One Solution where a district picks one component which comes the closest to meeting its needs. Products and Applications—What options do you have in integrating instructional planning, delivery, and assessment solutions? We provide examples of the products and applications that make up the integrated solution: instructional management, assessment, data warehousing and analysis, and professional development. Best Practices —Lessons to be learned from Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Schools, which is using a "mix and match" approach as described in the Approaches section above. Through this approach, the district is choosing varied applications and products from a number of vendors and then integrating these solutions for instructional management, assessment, data analysis, and professional development. We interview John Q. Porter, the district CIO and associate superintendent. Conferences—Check out the relevant conferences coming in the next several months. We want to hear from you. What do you agree and disagree with on this issue (we will post comments from readers in the next issue). Please write us at eliot@blegroup.com. DID YOU MISS AN ISSUE? You can read past issues of SuperTECH NEWS relating to NCLB online: March 2004 - Focus: Network and data security November 2003 - Focus: Handheld computers and software applications for these devices May 2003 - Focus: Data Warehousing and Data Management Solutions February 2003 - Focus: Web-based Assessment Products for High-Stakes Tests December 2002 - Focus: Student Information Systems August 2002 - Focus: Purchasing Hardware 2002 June 2002 - Focus: Web-based Applications for Early Reading May 2002 - Focus: Web-based Professional Development March 2002 - Focus: Technology of Accountability

THE BLE GROUP AND NCLB ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT SERVICE

WHO IS THE BLE GROUP? We're a group of 25 CIOs and curriculum directors of school systems who use technology to improve instruction and management. The BLE Group has three lines of business:

• We develop technology assessments and plans, and we provide management services in more than 40 school systems.
• We publish a newsletter, Super TECH NEWS, which offers senior administrators easy-to-understand information on making technology decisions.
• We conduct market research for technology firms on the appropriateness of technology products for K-12 school systems.
  

Eliot Levinson is the CEO of the BLE Group. Levinson founded the BLE Group (www.blegroup.com) in 1998. Levinson is known nationally for his work in technology planning and management for school districts. He co-authors "Tech from the Top," a monthly column that appears in Converge Magazine. Levinson has experience in education and technology as a teacher in California and Pennsylvania, a middle school principal in Massachusetts, and an assistant to the chancellor of schools in New York City. He has held research positions in educational change at the RAND Corporation and MIT's Sloan School of Management. Levinson holds master's degrees in Education and Anthropology and a Ph.D. in Organizational Studies from Stanford University. Levinson works as a strategic technology advisor to large school systems and consults with several firms in the education technology market.

THE BLE Group's principals, our leadership team, consists of:

• Eliot Levinson—CEO, BLE Group
• Rick Rozzelle—Former CIO, Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools, North Carolina
• Charles Garten—Executive Director, Educational Technology and Information Services, Poway Unified School District, California
• Kenneth Eastwood—Superintendent, Oswego City School District, New York
• Ann Boyle—Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, and Technology, Scottsdale Unified School District, Arizona
• Don Hall—Kent Washington School District

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The education killer app is defined as an integrated instructional solution that makes the entire instructional process - including the written, taught, and tested curriculum - work together. The killer app is the information-technology breakthrough application for teaching and learning.

Stand-alone instructional solutions such as online assessment and instructional management systems have grown up over the last five years, and have been used independently. This month we focus on how they are growing together to create one integrated instructional planning, delivery, and assessment solution that also addresses professional development and data-driven decision making. Collectively, these solutions are becoming the killer app. The following applications are the individual, stand-alone components that are morphing into the killer app:

• Curriculum Design sequences and designs instruction.
• Instructional Management systems link materials to standards.
• Online Assessment systems give ongoing information about student performance.
• Data Warehouse and Analysis applications offer accessible information and analysis for data-driven decision making.
• Web-based Professional Development provides anytime-anywhere competency and skills to teachers.

Addressing accountability and instructional improvement without technology is like riding your bicycle from New York City to Chicago instead of flying. You will eventually get there, but it's much slower and harder than it needs to be, and most people will quit before they get there.

You can utilize technology to integrate the instructional process so that it works together. The current task is to combine the existing individual solutions into one integrated instructional solution, the killer app.

Network- and Web-based technology makes it possible to connect all of these components together so that they work much better, faster, and more effectively. By informating the entire instructional process, we are providing ongoing information to teachers and administrators so that they can improve teaching and learning at each stage of feedback.

Though we have been prematurely predicting it for the past four years, the killer app (integrated solution) is finally coming of age. Education technology companies are in the process of developing entire beginning-to-end integrated solutions to combine the instructional process into one solution. Companies are partnering to offer instructional solutions and to address the whole instructional process online.

The biggest problem has been that the written curriculum, taught curriculum, and tested curriculum were three different "creatures" rather than three tightly connected phrases of instruction. The advent of the integrated instructional solutions makes it possible for the written, taught, and tested curriculum to be aligned.

The challenge for school systems is to determine what approach to use in putting together the integrated solution:

• Should you buy one integrated solution?
• Should you piece together a full solution from what is available in the market and manage it yourself?
• Should you hire a company to find appropriate solutions and manage them for you?

Whether your district should make or buy solutions will depend on your district's experience and ability to manage the solution. The approach you use will be critical in assuring your success in developing an integrated solution. This newsletter provides examples of each of the approaches.

This month's issue focuses on:

• The current offerings in the individual areas of instructional managers, online assessment, data management, and professional development; and
• The options available to put the solutions together as the killer app.

What is the current state of each of these components? At this point:

• The Web-based instructional managers are excellent.
• Online assessments are of high quality.
• Data-driving decision making is making large improvements.
• Online professional development is starting to take off. The challenge for professional development solutions will be to provide anytime-anywhere Web-based professional development that will address individual teacher needs.

Companies are racing to enhance and integrate all of these components and combine them. But in fact, no one company or organization does this completely. Plato Learning, EdGate, and SchoolNet are among the closest, with entirely different approaches.

Schools are using quite different approaches to pull these applications together, and we examine the flavors in more depth below. They are:

• General Contractor: Hire or consult with a general contractor to help you put the solution together.
• Customized Solution: Have a customized solution built that is tailored to a district's specific needs and technology.
• Single Source: Look to one company for as much of the killer app as possible.
• Mix and Match: Districts select a variety of different technology solutions and then bring them together in-house, like choosing stereo components.

The question for your school system is: Which one of the approaches will work for you?

Let's take a look now at the Approaches in depth. We follow this by giving you a sense of the representative Products and Solutions in the various segments, and then explore a Best Practices example of a school district that is using technology to bring all of the pieces of the instructional process together.

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APPROACHES

What is the best approach to put in place the "killer apps" of today?

In this segment, we examine the primary "flavors" or approaches that school systems can use to acquire soup-to-nuts integrated Web-based technology solutions that interconnect curriculum and instructional management with assessments, data management and analysis, and professional development.

The marketplace is making great strides to bring the "killer app" or integrated instructional, assessment, and data management solutions much closer to reality. It is connecting these individual solutions of curriculum development/teaching/testing/data management, and professional development so that they are aligned and integrated with each other.

The best approach for your district to get to the integrated solution depends on many factors, including the technology experience and management style of your own district.

The following are the major approaches to constructing an integrated solution:

• General Contractor: In this approach, one contractor is used to acquire, integrate, and host component off-the-shelf applications from a variety of vendors. This approach is appropriate for a district or state that lacks internal staff and wants to outsource the integrated application to one vendor whom the organization can hold accountable.
• Customized Solution: A district will choose this approach if the district feels they need and want a fully customized solution to address their own curriculum and reporting requirements. The vendor will develop the solution for the district.
• Single Source: This is the approach in which a school system picks one off-the-shelf vendor that is the closest solution so what the district is looking for. The solution can be good for districts, regional systems, or states with limited resources and limited ability to manage a fully integrated solution.
• Mix and Match: This solution is appropriate for districts with broad experience in the use of technology that have management capacity in both instruction and technology. In this approach, the district chooses and integrates various individual off-the-shelf applications from vendors in a variety of categories.

General Contractor:

Hire a general contractor to help you put the solution together. In this approach, you can hire somebody who works with you and puts together many pieces of the instructional process for you. This is likely the best approach for schools that do not have a great deal of internal technical expertise and want help in building and integrating the solutions. You can work with outside companies or entities that will provide expertise and/or resources. Think of this model as contractors and subcontractors.

Customized Solution:

Have a customized solution built that is tailored to a district's specific needs.

Single Source:

Look to one company for as much of the killer app as possible.
This approach is closest to the true "killer app" in which one company or group has put together the components of instruction, assessment, data collection and analysis, and professional development. Some companies are doing this complete with content. Other vendors are putting together a technology engine but leaving content creation to others. We will take a look at examples of both below.

Mix and Match:

Districts select a variety of different technology solutions and bring them together in-house, like choosing stereo components.

A number of school districts opt to pick and choose among a number of vendors and groups for the products and solutions and combine them together on their own.

There are varied reasons they prefer this approach. This works well for school systems with very good technology expertise and that have a strong sense of exactly how IT will fulfill their mission. While some companies are very close to having the full "killer app" for instructional management, assessment, and data analysis, many tend to address only a couple of a district's needs. Given this situation, districts pick and choose strong products and tools in different categories and match them together.

Other districts made big buys in recent years for instructional managers of certain vendors, and while choosing other vendors for data warehouses or professional development tools, don't want to toss out everything to begin from scratch.

We've given you a sense of the general approaches that school systems take in selecting and combining technology solutions to address accountability and instructional goals. Next, we give you an idea of some of the technology-based instructional tools and products in the Products and Solutions section.

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PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS:

Note: The BLE Group does not endorse any of the products and solutions listed below. These products and services were chosen to give a representative sample of what is available in Web-based and delivered instructional management, assessment, data management and analysis, and professional development.

The examples of products discussed below are very limited. The purpose of listing them is to give samples of the types of products that are combining into one integrated instructional process solution.

The objective of this section is to provide examples of the products and applications that make up the integrated solution: instructional management, assessment, data warehousing and analysis, and professional development. Our aim is to give examples, not be exhaustive. Where a firm or organization is offering products or applications that are in two or more categories, we denote them with the term "crossover."

Instructional Managers
Instructional Management solutions are systems that link resources to standards and give teachers tools to maintain a personal plan book. In this category, we have also included portals that provide a suite of instructional solutions.

EdGate
http://www.edgate.com
Crossover/ diagnostic testing, standards-based resources, and alignment tools

EdGate is an educational portal that offers secure and personalized access to a large array of educational resources and tools, including assessments, instructional resources, and alignment tools. EdGate establishes "community education" gateways at the state, regional, district, school, or curriculum department level. EdGate's team of grade and subject specialists sort and vet the content delivered through these gateways. A core component of EdGate's approach is its "curriculum matrix," a tool that has relevant skill-based curriculum materials, lessons, assessments, and Internet resources prioritized by the likelihood that they will or will not be tested on statewide high-stakes exams.

Edmin
http://www.edmin.com
Crossover/instructional management, data-driven decision making, and assessment

Edmin was an early developer of learning management, data analysis, and assessment applications. Virtual EDucation is a standards- and Web-based learning management system designed to accelerate learning and track student performance as measured against standards. Through the Instructional Management solution in virtual ED, teachers can create and manage lessons, assignments, and courses linked to standards. The Virtual ED decision support platform is customizable. Edmin's partnerships in the education market include Microsoft Class Server and Scantron.

Microsoft Class Server
http://www.microsoft.com/Education/ClassServer.aspx
Crossover/data-driven decision making, assessment, curriculum resources

Microsoft Class Server is a Web-based instructional management system that teachers use to create and manage teaching materials, find standards-based lessons, prepare standards-based assessments that track and analyze student performance over time, and tailor instruction to individual students. It has a customizable portal. Class Server allows the ability to design auto-graded tests delivered over the Web and collect and export real-time data that can be fully aggregated and disaggregated. Microsoft has partnered with other major players in order to offer Class Server in conjunction with other products that complete the teaching, learning, and testing process.

Plato Learning
http://www.plato.com/
Crossover/assessments, instructional management, curriculum resources

Plato Learning has put together many of the pieces of instructional delivery in a Web-based environment and has shifted much of its effort to building enterprise solutions for school districts rather than targeting single schools. The company has aggressively done acquisitions, including Lightspan and NetSchools, and developed their own products in a quest to provide "soup-to-nuts" accountability and student achievement solutions. Included in its product offerings are assessments, curriculum integrator for instructional management, online content and resources aligned to standards, and tools for making standards-driven lesson plans and generating multiple reports that track progress.

SchoolNet
http://www.schoolnet.com/main.aspx
Crossover/data warehousing and analysis, assessment, curriculum standards alignment tools, and instructional management

SchoolNet's K-12 Web-based application suite is intended to be a complete solution for school systems to support and track student achievement. The company's applications comprise data warehousing and analysis, assessment, curriculum standards alignment tools, and instructional management. While other companies build storehouses of content, SchoolNet's emphasis is on a content-neutral technology platform that will support full data-driven decision making and enable schools to comply with state and NCLB mandates.

TaskStream
http://www.taskstream.com
Crossover/curriculum alignment, professional development

TaskStream offers a suite of Web-based tools and solutions in aligning curriculum with standards, instructional design, mentoring, and professional development. The TaskStream Tools of Engagement enable teachers to create lesson plans that are linked to national, state, and local standards. Using TaskStream's management tools, administrators track participation in accountability programs and assess the quality and progress of work against teaching and learning standards. TaskStream also has been in the market for several years with an online professional development product that builds mentoring and collaboration.

The Pulliam Group
http://www.etspulliam.com/
Crossover/assessment, professional development

The Pulliam Group is one of the growth companies in the education market with technologies that use instructional data to measure performance and inform decisions about teaching and learning. Its Instructional Data Management System (IDMS) supports a standards-based instructional approach that delivers data directly to the teacher's desktop through a Web-based design. The basic features of the IDMS include a state assessment analyzer, curriculum management system that aligns instructional materials to standards, lesson planner, interim assessment tool, and parent communication portal. The main differentiator of Pulliam from other groups is the use of expert mentoring services by senior accountability experts used in conjunction with technology tools.

Assessment

Assessment refers to online systems that do diagnostic, predictive, classroom-level, or high-stakes tests. These tests give real-time online results, which can be aggregated or disaggregated to inform instruction.

Princeton Review
http://www.princetonreview.com
Crossover/assessments, curriculum resources, professional development

Princeton Review has had a strong presence in the assessment area through its online formative assessments, benchmarking tools, and curriculum resources. Through Homeroom.com, Princeton Review has an ongoing, online formative assessment and benchmarking tool aligned to state standards and high-stakes state tests, with capability to generate real-time results and drill down to objective and item. Princeton Review offers an ongoing professional development program that addresses using data to drive instruction, by instructing teachers on how to create effective assessments, interpret results, and to focus instruction.

Scantron
http://www.scantron.com
Crossover/assessment, data analysis

Scantron is a leader in standards-based adaptive measurement delivered over the Internet. The Performance series computer-adaptive assessment targets the instructional level of each student by altering question difficulty based on previous answers. It is done on an ASP model, which is delivered via the Web, with all data hosted by Scantron.

Achievement series is a new testing platform that delivers and stores a range of tests from classroom level, to diagnostic, to high-stakes tests. The Achievement series can deliver assessments from many vendors. It allows states and school systems to keep track of a variety of assessments in one place.

The company has recently partnered with TetraData in order to pair TetraData's data analysis software with Scantron's Achievement series assessments.

Data Management and Analysis

Data warehousing refers to applications through which a school system or school agency store and analyze different types of data, e.g. student information, achievement, and facilities, in similar formats. Data management and analysis allow schools to do data-driven decision making. Schools use these tools to aggregate and disaggregate information.

Confluent EDU
http://www.confluentasp.com/cn_index.htm

ConfluentEDU is a software data warehousing and data mining solution that is built to work with K-12 school districts' software. It is first a data warehouse that pulls together data from a schools' student information system, test scores, cafeteria management database, accounting systems, special education records, etc. It is paired with a data mining tool that interacts with schools' current data to process, analyze, and "visualize" the data, meaning it lets users create customized pie charts, bar graphs and other visual renderings of data. Those who use the software can also "push out" data automatically to an Excel spreadsheet or a Power Point presentation, for example, to create customized reports based on any number of variables.

eScholar
http://www.escholar.com

eScholar is a provider of data warehousing and analysis services and products. The company's standards-based product set creates a data warehouse that brings together, into a single location, all of the data that a school district has. It makes that data accessible to authorized users for analysis, through a three-stage process of collecting, standardizing, and distributing. eScholar products include a standardized data model and the company's data management and Web-based reporting tools. eScholar is available as both a stand-alone application and a hosted ASP solution.

TetraData
http://www.tetradata.com
Crossover/Data management and analysis, assessment software

TetraData is a major player concentrating on data management and data analysis tools for school systems. TetraData's solutions range from back-end tools for customized data warehouse creation and maintenance to front-end data analysis and reporting tools and online assessment software for instant feedback. The EASE-e Data Analyzer is a combo data warehouse, mining, analysis, and reporting system designed for use at any level of education. This data product allows schools to build a data warehouse and to have built-in tools to generate graphs and reports.

Professional Development

Professional development refers to tools that are partially Web-based and partially delivered by humans. They provide training for teachers in using applications, improving their teaching, interpreting student performance data, and linking instruction to standards.

Co-nect
http://www.co-nect.com/
Crossover/data-driven professional development, curriculum alignment

Co-nect works with districts to build the capacity to provide and manage effective data-driven professional development and instructional improvement. The company has a wide variety of tools and programs - ranging from onsite (workshops, coaching, mentoring, etc.) and offsite (conferences and seminars) to online - targeted to achieve specific academic outcomes. Diagnostic and evaluations tools allow administrators to track progress, award credits, and align programs to teacher and student needs. Co-nect has the Co-nect Comprehensive assessment that is part of a school improvement plan comprised of faculty training, standards-based curriculum alignment, data analysis, classroom assessment, literacy and mathematics curriculum focus, technology integration, and other components.

Teachscape
http://www.teachscape.com

Teachscape provides online and onsite professional development for teachers at all levels of experience. The company's customizable platform works with existing professional development initiatives while delivering a Teachscape core of standards-based content and practices. A multimedia content resource library is part of Teachscape's offerings. Streaming video case studies illustrate and analyze exemplary teaching in real classrooms. Teachers work in learning groups, access resources and up-to-date research, find tools that facilitate collaboration, and have online discussions with colleagues and mentors.

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Best Practices: Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Schools

The Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Schools (MCPS), which has 191 schools, is putting in place an Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) that provides instructional management, assessment, and data-driven support of decision making for student instruction district-wide.

The IQMS combines the following components:

• Instructional Management and Curriculum Delivery - Edmin Inform, Microsoft Class Server
• Assessment/Instructional Resources - Scantron , Wireless Generation, ASAS
• Tactical Data Management and Analysis - Edmin Inform
• Data Warehouse - Back-end Cognos data management tool, combined with in-house design and building

The Web-based instructional management and data analysis tools are available for use on a daily basis by principals and teachers to manage instruction and monitor student performance throughout the year. The IQMS is comprised of a data warehouse and the Instructional Management System (IMS).

In building its "killer apps," MCPS is using a "mix and match" approach as described in the Approaches section above, one in which the district is choosing varied applications and products from a number of vendors and then integrating these solutions for instructional management, assessment, data analysis, and professional development. District-wide, this Web-based system will allow data to be easily accessed and exchanged from one system to another and to shape all decisions from curriculum choice to district purchases. MCPS, which has 11,000 teachers and 139,000 students, has been working on these solutions for several years and plans to have IQMS fully implemented by 2007.

To take an in-depth look at MCPS's approach, we interviewed John Q. Porter, the district CIO and associate superintendent. Porter, who is leading this effort, explains the initiative and how MCPS is integrating these applications. MCPS is a school district with a high level of internal technical expertise, which is one reason why a "mix and match" approach of selecting and integrating varied applications has been suitable for it.

The strategic tool is the state-of-the-art data warehouse (DW), which will support the district in looking at trends using both current and multi-year data. Using the system, MCPS staff can access data from many different application systems and analyze information along many sets of variables. The DW uploads data from multiple application systems, converts these data into a similar format that supports analysis, and stores data for use in both current-year and longitudinal reports.

Prior to building this data warehouse, the leaders of MCPS faced a daunting challenge in trying to sort data, much of which was on paper and totally disorganized. The district needed easy, ready access to accurate, quality data that would enable administrators and teachers to measure how students are performing on a continual basis.

Using the data warehouse, staff members are able to easily generate graphical reports, and it has a single point of entry. MCPS built the data warehouse using SQL server programming and a Cognos data management tool. It has approximately 6 years of data in the system, according to Porter. The data warehouse is enabling the district to focus on and answer questions such as: What is the AYP for this subgroup?

The other core piece is the Instructional Management System. The main product used in the IMS is Inform by Edmin, in conjunction with Microsoft Class Server. Class Server is designed to deliver learning resources materials and Edmin enables teachers to do instructional analysis and record keeping. Porter said the MCPS goal has been to create a "teacher-centric" model of this learning management system that would make information readily available to teachers.

Using Inform and Class Server, MCPS staff can monitor student performance on a day-to-day basis, create lesson plans, do summative and formative assessments, identify gaps in performance, find appropriate learning resources linked to standards, and tailor learning for individual students, among other capabilities. MCPS has integrated and customized the learning management system so that the district's standards, curriculum guides, indicators, and skills for each student are being used through Inform. In some schools, MCPS piloted Scantron Performance Series of assessments to gauge student learning throughout the year.

Porter likens the MCPS approach of integrating data to support learning to a "medical model," in which a teacher is like a pediatrician and the student is like a patient. The remaining members of the team are the administrators, such as curriculum specialists. Using real-time assessments, the school can differentiate the learning for each child.

MCPS is also using a Palm Pilot application that allows real-time assessment results for early reading, developed by Wireless Generation. These are not the only Web-based applications used by MCPS to support decision making and instruction. But the key point is that while different applications and products may be used for assessments and curriculum, they are delivered to each teacher through the IMS, which uses a single interface with which everybody becomes familiar. Ultimately, the IMS will facilitate communication between all students and parents with teachers, as well as support collaboration among district teachers.

Training on both the technology and professional development are very important pieces of executing these management systems, and the process will be ongoing for years. MCPS has established e-learning teams that Porter compares to a "sales territory approach." Technology cannot be taught en masse, but is driven in through teams so that teachers at every level learn how to interpret data and use IMS as a daily management tool. Every one of MCPS' elementary teachers has been trained in using the IMS, and eventually all teachers will be trained in doing so. There is a lot of communication needed to help teachers and administrators become comfortable with the system.

In Porter's view, any district wanting to implement a true Web-based system to support data-driven decision making should not build the solution in a vacuum. First, you want to define the problems and the issues before you create the solutions. At MCPS, Porter's staff gathered information and consulted with district administrators, teachers, board members, and parents for more than two years in order to design and create an IQMS that would meet the district's needs. There must also be total commitment from the top of the organization, and the CIO has to understand what Porter terms "all of the business processes of the organization" and how technology can support everything that the district does. This is the core mission of the IQMS.

For more information, check out:

Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Schools (MCPS)
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/

MCPS Office of Global Access Technology
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/departments/technology/

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Below is an annotated list of technology-related education conferences (complete with links) that you may wish to attend in the next few months.

13th Annual edACCESS Conference
Peer-centered conference is a resource for administrative computing personnel at secondary schools and small colleges. Current issues are addressed through panels, presentations, roundtables, and featured discussions.
June 23-25, 2004
Groton, Mass.
http://www.edaccess.org/conference.html

5th International Conference on Information Communication Technologies in Education
Keynote speakers, plenary sessions, workshops, and forums focus on integrating technology into all facets of education.
July 1-3, 2004
Samos Island, Greece
http://www.ineag.gr/ICICTE/

Savvy Cyber Teacher Summer Institute
Hands-on professional development institute helps educators learn to use Internet-based resources to improve student learning. Curriculum materials focus on use of real-time data and global telecollaboration.
July 19-30, 2004
Hoboken, N.J.
http://www.savvycyberteacher.org/programs.html

Mid-America Technology in Education Conference
Technology conference for administrators, curriculum leaders, media specialists, and teachers explores standards-based education and issues and topics of technology integration.
July 28-30, 2004
Overland Park, Kan.
http://www.mace-ks.com/

Center for Information Technology Education: Synergy 2004 Conference
The Center for Information Technology Education is holding a national conference focusing on the changing face of the IT workforce, issues in IT education, and IT program reform.
Aug. 1-4, 2004
Nashville, Tenn.
http://www.synergy2004.org

What Works in Schools: Translating Research Into Action Academy
Sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, this workshop focuses on the research that identifies significant actions that districts can take to improve student achievement. Incorporates an understanding of the factors that shape achievement at the school, teacher, and student levels.
Aug. 2-6, 2004
St. Louis, Mo.
http://www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=1835

Washington Interactive Technologies Conference
Professionals from the education, industry, and government sectors present information on technology-based learning systems, management systems, research, and applications. The conference will focus on new technologies as well as existing applications.
Aug. 18-20, 2004
Arlington, Va.
http://www.salt.org/salt.asp?ss=m&pn=wgeneral

CRESST Conference 2004
Major conference looks at issues concerning assessment and student achievement. Conference presenters from industry and education examine the most pressing accountability topics.
Sept. 9-10, 2004
Los Angeles, Calif.
http://cresst96.cse.ucla.edu/index4.htm

ASIS 50th Annual Seminar
The 50th annual ASIS seminar includes comprehensive educational programming on security management practices and issues, exhibits, and networking.
Sept. 27-30, 2004
Dallas, Texas
http://www.asisonline.org/education/programs/noframe/2004seminar/schedule.html

Online Learning 2004: Conference and Expo
Learning conference and expo gathers decision makers who develop and implement e-learning. Sessions include: reinventing learning for the on-demand enterprise, wireless data, analysis of online learning projects, perspectives on e-learning providers, online assessment.
Oct. 11-13, 2004
San Francisco, Calif.
http://onlinelearningconference.com/

NSBA's T+L2 Conference
A premier educational technology conference sponsored by NSBA, this gathering draws school and industry leaders to examine current issues and strategies. Topics include meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, best technology practices, assessment and evaluation, curricular design, and more.
Oct. 27-29, 2004
Denver, Colo.
http://www.nsba.org/T+L/

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BLE GROUP
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