Common Core Driving Schools’ Technology Needs
The adoption of Common Core State Standards is driving bandwidth and technology upgrades at K-12 schools across the country, according to a new survey released in January.
The fourth-annual Principals' Assessment of Public Education survey, created by MCH Strategic Data in partnership with edWeb.net, surveyed 539 principals at elementary, middle and high schools on a variety of topics, including funding, leadership and testing and assessment. The top issue for principals is the adoption of Common Core State Standards.
The Common Core State Standards affect more than just curriculum. Nearly 57 percent of those principals surveyed say that the new standards are driving their technology purchases.
"When asked if they were more focused on increasing bandwidth or acquiring mobile devices, 63.6 percent of principals responded they were purchasing both," according to the survey.
While 95.7 percent of respondents have already implemented Common Core standards, or are in the process of doing so, only 53.6 percent responded that they believed they had sufficient bandwidth to provide the secure online assessments required. Nearly 23 percent responded that they aren’t sure how they will meet the bandwidth requirements.
According to the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the minimum bandwidth requirements are “100 Mbps per 1,000 students and staff by the 2014-2015 school year and 1 Gbps per 1,000 students and staff by 2017-2018.”
In May, SETDA launched a website that consolidates the technology requirements for Common Core that school districts need to meet. The site was designed to be a one-stop resource for administrators and technology directors to educate themselves on the basics of technology requirements.
