| The wisdom, expense, and relative cost effectiveness, of employing computers and other technology within California public schools, in an effort to both raise student achievement and equip our students with 21st century skills, has been and continues to be, a contentious issue. Researchers, educational professionals, school board members and stakeholders often remain at odds with one another about the presence, best practice, and effectiveness of computers, and other aspects of technology, within our schools.;The purpose of this successful school study was to examine and gauge, by means of a 14 page quantitative and qualitative survey, the various professional opinions of school site principals, concerning the implementation, best practice, and effectiveness of technology in raising student achievement. In addition, a two page technology survey was completed by one upper grade elementary school teacher, and one lower grade elementary school teacher at the site.;The population selected for the study consisted of California public schools that were designated by the California Department of Education (CDE) as being fourth year Program Improvement (PI) schools pursuant to Title I of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Schools which have been designated as PI, year four, have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for a period of at least five years. Such a situation is not only a serious concern to students, parents and other stakeholders, but this status has serious repercussions for the school site administration and staff. The districts which are responsible for such schools are required by federal law to draft a restructuring plan for the following school year which would be implemented should the site once again fail to meet their AYP growth target. The restructuring such schools face entails fundamental reforms, and a major reorganization of the site, that includes the site's staffing and governance. The sample selected from this population of year four PI schools was narrowed from this group of schools to include only California elementary schools that were successful in exiting from PI by meeting their AYP for the 2006-2007 school year.;This study was guided by three fundamental research questions which were posed in order to advance the knowledge base involving school finance research associated with adequacy issues relating to the presence and use of technology in schools: (1) How should technology be deployed and employed, at the school site level, in keeping with best practice? (2) Does technology, deployed and employed in keeping with best practice, provide school sites an effective vehicle for raising student achievement? (3) What levels of resource allocations are required to establish, and sustain, an effective technology program at the school site level?;The overarching findings related to the three research questions were: (1) A best practice belief that technology must be well and truly integrated within, and across, the curriculum in order to be an effective tool, or vehicle, for raising student achievement; (2) Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM) was an essential element of each of the 12 school site improvement plans examined, and facilitated student achievement; (3) Funding mechanisms or revenue streams associated with technology resource allocations are, at best, a fragmented situation and, at worst, a feast or famine affair which does not allow for the kind of long range, year to year, planning and replacement cycles which are critical to sustaining an effective technology program at the school site level; (4) Finally, technology is an important resource, however it represents but a single resource among many which must be present and productive within the school site, in order to foster our ability to teach, and facilitate our student's ability to master, their grade level curriculum. One may conclude, looking to the future, that the widespread implementation of best practice procedures may lead to the ability of researchers to better establish more accurate long range planning resource allocation figures, and thus a more accurate picture of the adequate technology resource requirements required to establish and sustain, an effective technology program that can be relied upon to raise student achievement. |
