Vermont Enhancing Education Through Technology Statewide Evaluation

Using a one-time infusion of funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Vermont Department of Education developed five competitive Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant programs. AIR provided a comprehensive evaluation to assist the Vermont Department of Education in meeting the U.S. Department of Education’s reporting and evaluation requirements for the EETT program and to provide the decision makers with usable feedback regarding how the five grants operated across the state and how the department might improve program.

AIR’s statewide evaluation of the five EETT grant programs focused on their implementation, the extent to which they promoted technology integration in support of student-centered learning, and whether the grants had an effect on student engagement and mastery of Vermont grade-level expectations. To answer these questions, AIR developed of a suite of survey data collection systems and a site-based data collection strategy including interviews and observations. The evaluation found that the EETT programs in Vermont were implemented with fidelity and that school leadership actively supported the grant goals with resources and technical support. Furthermore, the programs promoted student-centered instruction, and teachers reported that the EETT program had a noticeable impact on student engagement and content understanding.