Following the introduction of the Obama Administration’s ESEA Blueprint for Reform and with healthcare reform signed into law, the U.S. Congress  has once again turned to reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  Among the many programmatic and regulatory issues needing to be addressed is the role of technology.  The Obama/Duncan plan is short on details, but raises concerns by ending the Enhancing Education through Technology (EETT) program without an alternative targeted program.

A coalition of 50 education and high-tech organizations supports the Administration’s proposal for infusing technology throughout the ESEA programs, but as part of a two-tiered approach that also includes the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act.  The coalition – including Apple, ASCD, Intel, NSBA and NCTM – affirmed: “Many of today’s educational goals and requirements – including both the central tenets of ESEA as well as those set forth in the Obama Administration ESEA Reauthorization Blueprint for Reform – can be most effectively achieved by modernizing our educational practices and system through technology.”

SIIA also recently submitted recommendations to Congress on ESEA addressing several areas: Systemic Transformation from Mass Production to Mass Customization;  Modernize Education Practice Through Technology; Innovation, Public-Private Partnership and Appropriate Federal R&D Role; School Improvement and Low-Performing Students; Teacher Effectiveness and Connectedness; Assessment, Data & Accountability; and High-Tech Workforce Readiness.

SIIA called for ESEA to “drive transformational innovation that reengineers education delivery models [and] Incentivize the shift from a seat-time, assembly-line education model to a more flexible, student-centered outcomes-based model built around individual learning needs and pace, and anytime-anywhere learning [i.e., personalization].”

ESEA was last reauthorized in 2002 through the No Child Left Behind Act.  Congress made a similar attempt in 2007, but policies and politics prevented the House and Senate Committee Chairs from ever formally introducing a bill.  While there appears to be much agreement in principle, including on fixes to the current accountability system, many hurdles exist, and many insiders are suggesting Congress will run out of time in this election year before completing work to update Title I and most other major federal K-12 programs.