The University of Kentucky Department of Administration and Supervision in the College of Education was announced as one of five partners in a cooperative venture with the University of Minnesota to improve the technology preparation of school administrators throughout the United States. The College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota is implementing a School Technology Leadership Initiative (STLI) to create an innovative national technology curriculum model for preparing principals, superintendents, and other educational leaders to facilitate information technology in their schools and districts.

In addition to the University of Kentucky, partners selected on the basis of their applications and commitment to technology leadership are Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY; Oakland University, Rochester, MI; Silver Lake College, Manitowoc, WI; and the University of Arizona, Tucson. The university partners will share technology training materials and expertise from the University of Minnesota technology initiative. Each of the universities will have license-free access to the STLI course syllabi, lesson plans, reading lists, and teaching techniques; access to the STLI library of school technology leadership resources; and regular updates on current school technology leadership topics.

The STLI began last year to give school administrators throughout the United States an opportunity to develop technology skills for education that are consistent with the National Education Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A). The $2.1 million initiative is the first academic program based on these standards and involves colleges and universities, school districts, major technology corporations such as Microsoft and IBM and other groups such as the International Society for Technology in Education and the Consortium for School Networking. The initiative is partially funded from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.