COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 603
(By Senators Plymale, Edgell, Unger, Jenkins, McCabe, Foster and
Hunter)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported February 16, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2E-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to establishing a 21st Century
Tools for 21st Century Schools Technology Initiative to
replace and enhance current technology programs; findings;
requiring a West Virginia 21st Century Strategic Technology
Learning Plan and setting forth specific areas it should
address; requiring that the provision of technologies and
services to students and teachers be based on a plan aligned
with the goals of the West Virginia 21st Century Strategic
Technology Learning Plan; allocation of technology funds;
purchasing; and use of technology and technology
infrastructure.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-2E-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2E. HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
§18-2E-7. Providing for twenty-first century instruction and
learning in all public schools.
(a) The Legislature finds that:
(1) The knowledge and skills children need to succeed in the
twenty-first century are changing dramatically and that West
Virginia students must develop proficiency in twenty-first century
content, technology tools and learning skills to succeed and
prosper in life, in school and on the job;
(2) Students must be equipped to live in a multitasking,
multifaceted, technology-driven world;
(3) The provision of twenty-first century technologies and
software resources in grades prekindergarten through twelve is
necessary to meet the goal that high school graduates will be
prepared fully for college, other post-secondary education or
gainful employment;
(4) This goal reflects a fundamental belief that the youth of
the state exit the system equipped with the skills, competencies
and attributes necessary to succeed, to continue learning
throughout their lifetimes and to attain self-sufficiency;
(5) To promote twenty-first century learning, teachers must be
competent in twenty-first century content and learning skills and
must be equipped to fully integrate technology to transform
instructional practice and to support twenty-first skills acquisition;
(6) For students to learn twenty-first century skills,
students and teachers must have equitable access to high quality,
twenty-first century technology tools and resources;
(7) When aligned with standards and curriculum, technology-
based assessments can be a powerful tool for teachers; and
(8) Teachers must understand how to use technology to create
classroom assessments for accurate, timely measurements of student
proficiency in attainment of academic content and twenty-first
century skills.
(b) The state board shall ensure that the resources to be used
to provide technology services to students in grades
prekindergarten through twelve are included in a West Virginia 21st
Century Strategic Technology Learning Plan to be developed by the
Department of Education as an integral component of the electronic
strategic county and school improvement plans as required in
section five of this article. The provision of technologies and
services to students and teachers shall be based on a plan
developed by each individual school team and aligned with the goals
and objectives of the West Virginia 21st Century Strategic
Technology Learning Plan. This plan shall be an integral component
of the electronic and strategic county and school improvement plans
as required in section five of this article. Funds shall be
allocated equitably to county school systems following peer review
of the plans that includes providing necessary technical assistance
prior to submission and allows timely review and approval by the West Virginia Department of Education. Technology tools, including
hardware, software, network cabling, network electronics and
related professional development, shall be purchased pursuant to
the provisions of article three, chapter five-a of this code in the
amount equal to anticipated revenues being appropriated and based
on the approved county and school plans. County allocations that
support this legislation shall adhere to state contract prices:
Provided, That contingent upon approval of the county technology
plan, counties that identify, within that plan, specific software
or peripheral equipment not listed on the state contract, but
necessary to support implementation of twenty-first century skills,
may request the West Virginia Department of Education to secure
state purchasing prices for those identified items. Total
expenditure to purchase these additional items may not exceed ten
percent of the annual county allocation. To the extent
practicable, the technology shall be used:
(1) To maximize student access to learning tools and resources
at all times including during regular school hours, before and
after school or class, in the evenings, on weekends and holidays
and for public education, noninstructional days and during
vacations; and
(2) For student use for homework, remedial work, independent
learning, career planning and adult basic education.
(c) The implementation of this section should provide a
technology infrastructure capable of supporting multiple
technology-based learning strategies designed to enable students to achieve at higher academic levels. The technology infrastructure
should facilitate student development by addressing the following
areas:
(1) Mastery of rigorous core academic subjects in grades
prekindergarten through eight by providing software, other
technology resources or both aligned with state standards in
reading, mathematics, writing, science, social studies, twenty-
first century learning skills and twenty-first century learning
tools;
(2) Mastery of rigorous core academic subjects in grades nine
through twelve by providing appropriate twenty-first century
technology tools aligned with state standards for learning skills
and technology tools;
(3) Attainment of twenty-first century skills outcomes for all
students in the use of technology tools and learning skills;
(4) Proficiency in new, emerging twenty-first century content;
(5) Participation in relevant, contextual instruction that
uses dynamic, real-world contexts that are engaging and meaningful
for students, making learning relevant to life outside of school
and bridging the gap between how students live and how they learn
in school;
(6) Ability to use digital and emerging technologies to manage
information, communicate effectively, think critically, solve
problems, work productively as an individual and collaboratively as
part of a team and demonstrate personal accountability and other
self-directional skills;
(7) Providing students with information on post-secondary
educational opportunities, financial aid and the skills and
credentials required in various occupations that will help them
better prepare for a successful transition following high school;
(8) Providing greater access to advanced and other curricular
offerings than could be provided efficiently through traditional
on-site delivery formats, including increasing student access to
quality distance learning curricula and online distance education
tools;
(9) Providing resources for teachers in differentiated
instructional strategies, technology integration, sample lesson
plans, curriculum resources and online staff development that
enhance student achievement; and
(10) Providing resources to support basic skills acquisition
and improvement at the above mastery and distinguished levels.
(d) Developed with input from appropriate stakeholder groups,
the West Virginia 21st Century Strategic Technology Learning Plan
shall be an integral component of the electronic strategic county
and school improvement plans as required in section five of this
article. The West Virginia 21st Century Strategic Technology
Learning Plan shall be comprehensive and shall address, but not
necessarily be limited to, the following provisions:
(1) Allocation of adequate resources to provide students with
equitable access to twenty-first century technology tools,
including instructional offerings and appropriate curriculum,
assessment and technology integration resources aligned to both the content and rigor of state content standards as well as to learning
skill and technology tools;
(2) Providing students and staff with equitable access to a
technology infrastructure that supports the acquisition of twenty-
first century skills, including the ability to access information,
solve problems, communicate clearly, make informed decisions,
acquire new knowledge, construct products, reports and systems, and
access online assessment systems;
(3) Inclusion of various technologies that enable and enhance
the attainment of twenty-first century skills outcomes for all
students;
(4) Collaboration with various partners, including parents,
community organization, higher education, schools of education in
colleges and universities, employers and content providers;
(5) Seeking of applicable federal government funds,
philanthropic funds, other partnership funds or any combination of
those types of funds to augment state appropriations and
encouraging the pursuit of funding through grants, gifts, donations
or any other sources for uses related to education technology;
(6) Sufficient bandwidth to support teaching and learning and
to provide satisfactorily for instructional management needs;
(7) Protection of the integrity and security of the network,
as well as student and administrative workstations;
(8) Flexibility to adjust the plan based on developing
technology, federal and state requirements and changing local
school and county needs;
(9) Incorporation of findings based upon validation from
research-based evaluation findings from previous West Virginia-
based evaluation projects;
(10) Continuing study of emerging technologies for application
in a twenty-first century learning environment and inclusion in the
technology plan, as appropriate;
(11) An evaluation component to determine the effectiveness of
the program and make recommendations for ongoing implementation;
(12) A program of embedded, sustained professional development
for teachers that is strategically developed to support a twenty-
first century education for all students and that aligns with state
standards for technology, integrates twenty-first century skills
into educational practice and supports the implementation of
twenty-first century software, technology and assessment resources
in the classroom;
(13) Providing for uniformity in technological hardware and
software standards and procedures;
(14) The strategy for ensuring that the capabilities and
capacities of the technology
infrastructure
is adequate for
acceptable performance of the technology being implemented in the
public schools;
(15) Providing for a comprehensive, statewide uniform,
integrated education management and information system for data
collection and reporting to the Department of Education, as
provided in section twenty-six, article two of this chapter and
commonly referred to as the West Virginia Education Information System;
(16) Providing for an effective model for the distance
delivery, virtual delivery or both types of delivery of instruction
in subjects where there exists low student enrollment or a shortage
of certified teachers or where the delivery method substantially
improves the quality of an instructional program such as the West
Virginia Virtual School;
(17) Providing a strategy to implement, support and maintain
technology in the public schools;
(18) Providing a strategy to provide ongoing support and
assistance to teachers in integrating technology into twenty-first
century instruction such as with technology integration
specialists;
(19) A method of allowing public education to take advantage
of appropriate bulk purchasing abilities and to purchase from
competitively bid contracts initiated through the southern regional
education board educational technology cooperative and the America
TelEdCommunications Alliance;
(20) Compliance with United States Department of Education
regulations and Federal Communications Commission requirements for
federal E-rate discounts; and
(21) Other provisions as considered appropriate, necessary or
both to align with applicable guidelines, policies, rules,
regulations and requirements of the West Virginia Legislature, the
Board of Education and the Department of Education.
(e) Any state code and budget references to the Basic Skills/Computer Education Program and the SUCCESS Initiative will
be understood to refer to the statewide technology initiative
referenced in this section, commonly referred to as the 21st
Century Tools for 21st Century Schools Technology Initiative.