A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR RELEASE
January 10, 2000

Contact:
Michelle del Valle
(202) 401-3026

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION RILEY AND CEO FORUM CHALLENGE HIGHER ED TO PROVIDE NEW TEACHERS WITH TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley joined members of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology today to release the Teacher Preparation School Technology and Readiness (STaR) Chart, designed to help teacher preparation programs chart a new course for the digital age. Releasing the chart at the U.S. Department of Education's National Conference on Teacher Quality, the secretary and CEO Forum members challenged education leaders to ensure that all new teachers have adequate technology skills and training as they enter the classroom.

"In order to ensure that students are up to speed with technological advances, we must provide teachers with the technological skills they need to help educate students," Riley said. "I am pleased that the CEO Forum has focused its work on the issue of education and preparing teachers to use technology. This new STaR chart will be a very important tool for helping the institutions that train our future teachers maximize the important learning resources of technology."

Recent studies and reports have found that new teachers are not entering the classrooms well prepared to use technology. Most new teachers graduate with limited knowledge of the ways technology can be used in their profession, with only 24 percent of new teachers feeling they are very well prepared to integrate technology into their curriculum.

The STaR chart provides educators with the information needed to be proficient and prepared in the use of technology for the classroom. It is intended to help educational institutions evaluate their technological readiness and help them plan for meeting technology goals. It also demonstrates the wide range of issues that contribute to a program's technology preparedness. Schools, colleges and departments of education can use the chart to identify their current technology profile and set goals for the future. They also can use it to determine funding priorities and help determine where funds are needed to fill training gaps.

The STaR chart was developed by members of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology following discussions with Riley on the critical role of improved teaching. Joining Riley for the announcement were John Hendricks, co-chair of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology and founder, chairman, and CEO of Discovery Communications, Inc.; Anne Bryant, former co-chair of the CEO Forum on Education and Technology and executive director of the National School Boards Association; and Gary Galuzzo, dean of the School of Education, George Mason University. The CEO Forum was formed to help ensure that America's schools effectively prepare all students to be contributing citizens and productive workers in the 21st Century.

###