The conference was a wonderful experience for those of us that were able to attend, I wish that you could have all been there.  It made us feel wonderful to hear from world renowned researchers, educators, and the Department of Education itself, that WE ARE RIGHT ON TRACK with what research says students should be learning.  Please go to the conference web site and read the White Papers that were commissioned.  They are extremely informative and supportive of your work.

Our role at the conference as a Spotlight School for Texas was basically to give input which would influence what The Department of Education will do during the next cycle to support schools in the area of educational technology.  You should feel very proud that because of your work, you were selected as people from which The Department wanted to get information. One of the biggest issues facing us is, how do we prove that we are making the gains with students that we are wanting to see?  How do we evaluate and assess the progress made, since many dollars are being invested in technology?  This is a very difficult question and one with which we will grapple for some time.  In this age of accountability, we MUST hold ourselves accountable for the educational decisions that we make and we must be able to communicate the results to others.

Congressman Ralph Hall, Congressman for many of our districts (Whitehouse, Van, Winona, Arp, Chapel Hill, Tyler, Lindale) really made our trip for us by showing us the sites of Washington D.C.  We were treated to a VIP tour of the Whitehouse, and a special tour of the Capitol which included lunch in the House Dining Room and watching a roll call vote in the Senate. We got a real "inside" look at how government works in Washington and we were able to share with him about our project and about how much the E-rate has meant to our districts.