The following is a guest blog post from Devin Vodicka, superintendent of Vista Unified School District (Vista, CA) and Gabe Soumakian is superintendent of Oxnard Union High School District (Oxnard, CA).

Technology has revolutionized nearly every aspect of life, but its potential to improve academic outcomes and equalize educational opportunities for all students remains largely untapped. Implementing technology appropriately in schools, however, takes more than simply purchasing laptops or tablets for every student. That’s why superintendents from more than forty-five school districts in the region converged on Southern California earlier this month for a “Future Ready Schools” summit.

The ‘Deeper Learning Digest’ is a bi-weekly roundup of articles, blog posts, and other content around deeper learning. Make sure to add High School Soup to your RSS feed to stay up-to-date on all deeper learning news. If you can’t wait for your deeper learning fix, follow @deeperlearning on Twitter for more frequent updates.

Students need to be prepared for all of the challenges associated with a global economy, but many increasingly fall short.

The following blog post is another in the Alliance’s “Core of the Matter” blog series focusing on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and struggling students. It was written by Rod Powell,  a National Board Certified Teacher from Mooresville High School in Mooresville, North Carolina.

I’m always searching for ways to make my classroom more meaningful for my students, particularly those from low-income families and those of color. I’ve seen the need to go beyond simply transmitting information to my students. My students must learn how to learn. In a rapidly changing, technology-fueled world, it is not enough for me to play the role of the traditional teacher, imparting my knowledge. I have to be a coach who helps my students manage rapidly changing information, jobs, and social conditions. My students, in some ways, are wise beyond their years. They understand the evolving numbers game centered on performance on standardized tests and are hungry for a classroom that has meaning and relevance.

The following is a guest post from U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). Murray serves as the Ranking Member on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and has been working with HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to rewrite the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind.

As we work in Congress to fix the broken No Child Left Behind law, I have been guided by the principle that every child deserves the opportunity to receive a quality public education, regardless of where they live, how they learn, or how much money their parents make. Literacy is the foundation for all education, so I believe children in every state deserve to have access to high quality literacy education that will give them the reading and writing skills they need to succeed in school and later in life.

Last week, the superintendents and leadership teams from more than forty school districts gathered in Southern California to share their successes, and challenges, with implementing technology to improve student learning outcomes. The event was the thirteenth in a series of regional summits the Alliance organized nationwide as part of the Future Ready Schools effort. All told, nearly 500 districts participated in these summits and began creating sustainable digital learning plans aligned with instructional best practices.

Having attended many of these summits, I developed a great deal of respect for these school system leaders and the issues they address in the daily management of their districts. As I reflect on their experiences, here are six questions superintendents and their leadership teams should answer as they work to serve the educational needs of all students.

When I tell people I am interested in education policy, they often respond with, “So, what do you think about the Common Core?” I pause, apprehensive to answer what is inevitably a loaded question. Explaining my thoughts on the Common Core requires first explaining why I am interested in education.

I attended high school in one of the highest performing school districts in Louisiana, where I took the most rigorous course of study available and graduated with a 4.0 grade point average. Yet, when I arrived at Dartmouth College in 2012, I realized I was not adequately prepared, particularly for college-level math and science.