And the grades are in:
Who knew that states were given report cards just like any student? For the last decade, actually, research has been being conducted by Education Week to see how each state’s technology usage, access, and capacity add up. This “state-focused supplement,” as they refer to it, is called “Technology Counts” and is released once a year. How many state’s got a straight A? Only one. One out of fifty, and you can bet that it wasn’t Michigan. Actually, the state average this year overall was a C+, and Michigan did not even hit that. We came in with a C…well, at least it is a passing grade (although barely).
I went to Education Week’s archive to compare Michigan’s 2007 scores with its 2006 scores, and was shocked to see that the grades didn’t change at all. The 2006 document is titled “The Information Edge: Using Data to Accelerate Achievement” and the 2007 document is titled “A Digital Decade” (presumably because they have been conducting this research for 10 years now). Each state is graded on three separate categories: Access to technology, Use of technology, and Capacity to use technology. In 2006, Michigan’s scores were as follows: Access=D+, Use=A-, and Capacity=D; giving us an overall grade of a C. For 2007, our grades in each category were exactly the same. Now let’s compare our scores to the average state: Access=C, Use=C+, and Capacity=C; giving them an overall grade of C+.
So while we are way ahead of the average as far as Use of technology goes, we are seriously lacking in Access and Capacity. Other interesting point to make is that the report shows that only 41.5% of students in Michigan have access to computers in the classroom — that is sadly 8% below the national average.
Why is Michigan behind, and why is it that we had no improvement from last year to this year? I guess I really cannot say. This report does not go into detail about why states received the grade they did, and so far, no articles have been published (that I can find) by a Michigan newspaper commenting on the grades. Some states, such as Utah and South Carolina, have had articles written regarding the grades they received and why they have received them. Who will be the first willing to pick up the issue in Michigan? I suppose we will have to wait and see. If and when someone does, I will make sure to inform you of it.
As for now, all I can say for us is tsk-tsk. Perhaps all of those plans that Granholm has to “amaze” us should start rolling in…and they should begin with our education system so that our students can keep up with the ever-increasing technology-driven future.
cherneyn said,
April 17, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I think that it is pretty sad that Michigan has all the technology that we could need, and we aren’t even letting our students use it in the classroom. Our students are the next generation and they need to get ahold of all the technology they can because technology grows at an extensive rate. I know that some schools are very technology savvy, but why are others lacking? Hmm….let me think. There is a woman named Jennifer that controls how much money goes into the schools and what schools have access to what technology. I hope that someday this state gets the opportunity to have all the chances for technology and work possible. Maybe then, our grades won’t be so low.