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Congressional leaders and the Obama administration have courageously faced down one of the problems that would sustain a continuous downward spiral - the inadequate use of technology in educating our children.

ronically, our schools, where the next generation of workers will be taught to learn and work, are dead last among all industries in using technology effectively. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act recognizes that technology in our schools can be a powerful accelerator of change by spurring innovation, creating jobs, and giving our children the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills that will allow them to take their place in the world economy as winners, not runners-up.

In Greene County, North Carolina, schools provided students with a 24/7 laptop, and ensured that teachers had access to high quality, on-going professional development. When the program began five years ago, the college-going rate was 24%. Technology has brought about dramatic change and the percentage of students enrolling in college has increased from 24% to 84% in 2007.

ATTAIN builds upon the successful education technology programs that began with No Child Left Behind and focuses more on systemic school redesign through the innovative use of technolog

A stand-alone workshop has less than a 5% chance of actually changing teacher practice in the classroom. However, if you add on-going and embedded professional development, provide professional learning communities where teachers interact with their colleagues, and ensure on-going support from coaches and administrative staff, the chance of really affecting teaching and learning increases dramatically -- to nearly 90%

y using online resource hubs and other tools for collaboration, i.e. blogs and discussion boards, and including virtual or in-school coaching and mentoring, schools, districts, and states are beginning to see gains in teaching quality and student achievement. The greatest successes are seen with professional development that includes high-quality content, is tailored to the needs of students, takes advantage of the assets of technology, and is embedded in professional learning communities to enable teachers to actively participate.