Last month, the Alliance for Excellent Education announced the creation of the Center for Secondary School Digital Learning and Policy (the Center). The Center will focus on how digital learning can bring quality college- and career-ready education to secondary schools with a focus on improving outcomes for low-income students and low-performing schools.
“There are growing workforce demands due to a highly connected global economy, changing teacher demographics—including the looming retirement of many of the most experienced teachers—and state and local budgets that have been cut to the bone,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. “It’s education’s ‘GM moment.’ There’s a demand for a better quality product, but no new resources to create it. Digital learning can help get us there. It’s not the only answer, but it’s a major part.”
The Center is housed in the Alliance’s offices and Sara Hall, former deputy director at the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), is leading its work. In an effort to improve student learning, the Center’s work in digital learning will be integrated into all of the Alliance’s many policy areas, including school transformation, college- and career-ready standards, adolescent literacy, international comparisons, and other federal and national policies.
Specifically, the Center will identify promising practices, develop policy recommendations, and create advocacy tools to inform policymakers on how digital learning and technology can help make it possible for every child—especially students at risk and in low socioeconomic households—to graduate prepared for postsecondary learning and success in life.
To learn more about the Center, click on the video to the right.