Effective technology professional development is mandated by of Federal law. The No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001 outlines school districts responsibilities for incorporating technology into education in Part D sections 2401 - 2404, Enhancing Education Through Technology. In section 2402, Purposes and Goals, there are several aspects of the legislation that apply directly to teacher professional development (U.S. Department of Education , 2004).
"SEC. 2402. PURPOSES AND GOALS.
(a) PURPOSES- The purposes of this part are the following:
(4) To promote initiatives that provide school teachers, principals, and administrators with the capacity to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction that are aligned with challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards, through such means as high-quality professional development programs."
"b) GOALS-
(1) PRIMARY GOAL- The primary goal of this part is to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in elementary schools and secondary schools.
(2) ADDITIONAL GOALS- The additional goals of this part are the following:
(A) To assist every student in crossing the digital divide by ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade, regardless of the student's race, ethnicity, gender, family income, geographic location, or disability.
(B) To encourage the effective integration of technology resources and systems with teacher training and curriculum development to establish research-based instructional methods that can be widely implemented as best practices by State educational agencies and local educational agencies. (U.S. Department of Education , 2004)"
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