Sidebars highlight lessons learned about technology-based teams and how to create teams. Given that size, it's often difficult to implement any central policy or plan, Marx says. Urban school systems have large numbers of aging buildings, and outfitting these buildings with the raceways needed for telecommunication lines or upgrading electrical lines will take billions of dollars. In addition, these ratios are likely to include large numbers of outdated computers that aren't powerful enough to run sophisticated software or even connect to the Internet. The study found that everyday practical barriers were among the most serious factors keeping schools from making headway with technology.
Urban schools have high teacher turnover rates.
Providing professional development in the area of technology is difficult. Lack of central support for repairing and maintaining computers and networks also plagued schools in the study. As the pace of educational technology increases, urban districts will have to push even harder to catch up. Ordering information for the full report is provided. In the study, U.S. fourth-graders were above the international average in both math and science.