With the globalization of the economy, with the ability of workers anywhere in the world to fill even sophisticated roles in the current information and knowledge economies, and with
major segments of traditional work opportunities moving out of Texas and offshore, it is no longer sufficient to benchmark locally or even nationally our schools and the learners who successfully
complete their courses of study here. It is no longer adequate to sprinkle a bit of technology literacy on a traditional curriculum and expect that students are ready for relevant higher education or
for entry into a highly competitive workforce. And, it is no longer realistic to think that a 21st Century educator can be effective by preparing once, teaching the same thing every year for twenty-five
or thirty years, and call that a career.