Widespread assimilation of AT into classroom practice, how-ever, is not yet a reality. A recent survey of education personnel in Delaware revealed three-quarters of the respondents agreed AT is often the key to a successful educational outcome. At the same time, only 20 percent of the respondents felt their school district had clear policies relative to the provision of AT, and only 27 percent felt they adequately integrate AT devices and software into their students' classroom programs. In the Colonial School Dis-trict, New Castle, Delaware, AT has successfully made the curriculum accessible. AT specialists support rather than usurp the role of a student's primary education team members.
Students test drive tech-nology before it is purchased.
Where appropriate, technology is adapted to meet the needs of more than one set of students. For example, the Colonial district recently received a grant to bring screenreading technology into the high school to help sight-impaired students, as well as those who have trouble understanding the printed page. As we geared up for the start of a new school year, we went through every classroom looking at how goals can be addressed via tools and helping teachers integrate them into the curriculum. The SETT framework was developed to solve the problem that technology was often used ineffectively and often did not make a difference in student learning because organizational, training and environmental factors were not adequately considered when choosing and implementing an AT solution. Also, using SETT appropriately requires collaboration and promotes team building by using clearly understood language and valuing input from all perspectives.