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Idaho
In 1994, the Idaho state legislature passed the "Idaho Educational Technology Initiative" which declared "that the state of Idaho recognizes the importance of applying technology to meet the public need for an improved and thorough public education system for both elementary and secondary education, postsecondary and higher education and public libraries." A State Council for technology in learning was created that included a member appointed by the governor, a practicing public school administrator, business representative with experience in technology, a representative of the division of vocational education, a vocational/applied technology teacher, a practicing public school teacher, member of the state board of education, and higher education faculty member. The 1994 law also established a public school technology grant program that would provide grants for school to help them purchase "equipment and resources necessary to integrate information age technology with instruction and to further connect those classrooms with external telecommunications services."
Subsequently, an Idaho State Board of Education rule requiring that by June 30, 2001, 90 percent of all the certificated personnel in a school must pass one of three state approved technology assessment models. The content of the assessment models are based upon the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) basic teacher technology competencies. The three approved assessment models were developed and are administered by the various state universities and include: The Educational Technology Assessment, The Technology Portfolio Assessment, and The Idaho Technology Performance Assessment. The Idaho Technology Performance Assessment consists of six computer-based tasks. To pass the entire assessment, all six tasks must be passed. If any tasks are attempted but not passed only those tasks not passed need to be retaken. A teacher can take all six tasks or as few as one task per session.
The State Board Policy enables teachers to choose the Idaho Technology Competency Exam, the Idaho Technology Portfolio Assessment, the Idaho Technology Performance Assessment or a district may choose to write its own test or portfolio. If a district chooses to develop its own test or portfolio, the State Board of Education will provide a checklist of development standards. The original competencies were developed by technology coordinators, teachers and administrators. Since then the required competencies have been refined and expanded; having been reviewed in each region of the state by teams of educators led by ICTL representatives from each university. The competencies have also been articulated with ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) standards as directed by the State Board of Education. New questions are added through test writing sessions which involve administrators, teachers and technology coordinators throughout the State.
More information about the three approved assessment models can be found at the following site: http://www.sde.state.id.us/bots/testing.htm
We recognize that by demonstrating basic technology competencies, certificated personnel may not have the resources (hardware, software, training) to fully integrate technology into the learning process. However, we feel that this is a good place to start towards making an impact on the teaching and learning process.
Contact
Dawn Wilson
Educational Technology Coordinator
Idaho State Department of Education
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0027
208-332-6971 (p)
E-mail: dwilson@sde.state.id.us