Sec. Duncan Highlights Maine Schools as Technology Model

Published:November 10, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 9, 2010 Maine Department of Education | Angela Faherty, Ph.D. | Commissioner Contact: David Connerty-Marin, 207-624-6880/831-3313

AUGUSTA – Maine’s laptop and educational technology program got a shout-out from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at a national conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Duncan was announcing the release of a National Education Technology Plan, Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology, which calls for “applying the advanced technologies used in our daily personal and professional lives to our entire education system to improve student learning, accelerate and scale up the adoption of effective practices, and use data and information for continuous improvement.” The plan also features Maine’s learning technology program prominently.

In his remarks, Duncan highlighted Maine as an example of how technology is being used successfully in a way that leverages the power of technology to support continuous and lifelong learning. Maine became the first state in the country, starting in 2002, to put laptops in the hands of all 7th and 8th grade students, all 7th through 12th grade teachers and, later, about half the 9th through 12th grade students in the state. The plan highlights the increase in writing proficiency and improved science and math test scores and retention that have resulted from the statewide laptop program for middle and high school students and teachers.

Jeff Mao, Learning Technology Director at the Maine Department of Education, is vice chair of the State Educational Technology Directors Association board of directors, which hosted the conference. Maine is recognized internationally for its pioneering work implementing 1-to-1 laptop solutions in classrooms and has hosted education leaders from across the U.S., Australia, Singapore and numerous other countries who are working to replicate Maine’s program.

“The reason we have drawn so much attention is that our focus has never been about the technology and always about what the technology can do for student learning,” said Angela Faherty, Maine Commissioner of Education.

The national technology plan can be found at: http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010 References to Maine can be found on page 54.

For more information, visit the Maine Department of Education website: http://www.maine.gov/education

All Maine Department of Education news releases can be found online at: http://www.maine.gov/education/pressreleases