CTE Program Inspired by the
"No Child Left Behind" Act

Dr. Catalina Laserna

Signed into law by President Bush in January 2002, the "No Child Left Behind" Act is intended to help improve the education of American children at a time when student performance in reading, math, and science is at an all-time low. The Extension School's Certificate in Technologies of Education (CTE), now in its third year, is doing its part to address the Act by helping teachers and other professionals use technology efficiently as an innovative educational tool.

Dr. Catalina Laserna, a senior research analyst and Director of the CTE Program, describes the current situation: "There's a lot of computer technology in schools that has not been used very well, resulting in a reluctance on the part of government to continue investing large sums of money in an area that doesn't seem to benefit students," she says. "CTE addresses a critical concern by giving teachers and school administrators a vision of how to incorporate technology into teaching and learning in a way that goes beyond what has been done with traditional media, such as books and chalkboards."

Because these issues require significant professional development, Dr. Laserna recently created a program concentration for students seeking Massachusetts state licensure as instructional technology specialists. According to Dr. Laserna, "We focused on state certification because unless we are in the trenches and really understand both what teachers face and where the Department of Education stands, it's difficult for institutions like Harvard to influence policymakers, schools, and parents to invest in technologies that will make a difference."

A central piece of the instructional technology concentration is an internship in which students get supervised practice in the role of a secondary, middle, or elementary school instructional technology specialist. Guided by Dr. Ann Koufman-Frederick, interns are assigned clear responsibilities in a school or district. They collaborate with teachers to integrate technology into curriculum and classroom practice, work with school administrators to plan and provide professional development, and learn how to assess technological innovations in the school setting.

The CTE Program has created strategic partnerships with six schools. A good example is the Garfield Community School in Revere. Roz Edison worked there for six months, and her internship resulted in a report that enabled the school to discover the kind of support it needed to integrate technology effectively into its curriculum. In addition to Revere, Charlestown High School is another major collaborator, where CTE students have helped teachers set up science fairs and websites to help their students appreciate the scientific method. Through the Lowell Scholarship Fund, a CTE intern at another collaborating school, the Boston Evening Academy, took a course on computer networks and has been instrumental in helping his school manage its data network. Then there's Mark Kelsey who teaches at the Baldwin School in Cambridge. "I am working on a young historians program: an interdisciplinary study of Ireland and immigration to Boston in the nineteenth century. It involves online historical research of the Irish Famine and our own city of Cambridge during the same period, as well as primary research of an Irish family who came to Boston or Cambridge during the period. Having access to the courses in the CTE Program enables me to deepen my understanding of the educational opportunities that these cyber-learning environments offer our students and faculty. The program also has given me a lot more confidence in my current teaching, as well as valuable new skills, information, and something that I was missing: essential theory, such as 'teaching for understanding.' More importantly, the CTE affords me valuable reflection on my current practice, something that I never seem to have time for in the busy day-to-day school environment. As the Baldwin School is the public school nearest to Harvard Yard, the scholarship support I and others have received shows that Harvard University really cares about the needs of local teachers and schools." CTE has also fostered relationships with Tech Boston and the Tobin School in Cambridge, as well as public schools in Brookline and Lexington.

"Not all of our students are working in public and private schools," says Dr. Laserna. "One of my current teaching fellows, Denise Grey, is an interesting case in point." Grey, who started the program while working at the Harvard Law School as a staff assistant, was exploring a career change at the time. "Looking back," she says, "one of the best choices I have made professionally was to enroll in the CTE Program. The more I researched instructional technology in education, the more I discovered an emerging and exciting field that promised myriad possible career paths. I chose to pursue studies in instructional technology where there is an equal requirement of technical, pedagogical, and interpersonal activities. The CTE Program has a solid, experienced faculty, a variety of course choices, and it gave me the theoretical and practical foundation to make that change." Another recent graduate, Maria Eleonora Segura, came to the CTE Program from Argentina, where she worked as a training specialist for Fleet Bank. "The flexibility of the CTE Program," Segura says, "gave me the opportunity to tailor course projects to meet my specific interests, and the internship enabled me to gain experience in the field. As a result, I have discovered a new career path as an educational technology consultant."

Dr. Laserna, a native of Colombia, has a special affinity for minority students and teachers in the local school system, and for dealing with the "digital divide" that seems to exacerbate social inequities in our society. "One of the ways we are addressing issues of 'digital inclusion' is to link certain CTE courses with the Extension School's mathematics for teaching courses, in which current teachers from the Boston public school system are pursuing a degree that could lead to professional state certification," she says. "In my current course, Theory and Practice of Web Pedagogies, we have several of these teachers, and we are helping them think of how to set up web spaces for use in Boston public schools. I am starting to think the 'No Child Left Behind' Act should include no teacher left behind as well."