SETDA’s Christine Fox talks about state broadband, content acquisition initiatives

State education technology departments serve many constituents — from governors’ offices to local school districts to parents and community groups — all with a stake in improving education.

Helping equip the directors of those departments is Christine Fox, deputy executive director of the State Education Technology Directors Association.

Fox has played a significant role in pulling together and releasing many of the professional group’s signature recommendations this year, including the SETDA’s “ Broadband Imperative II” report , which called for expanded broadband capacity targets at U.S. schools.

EdScoop sat down with Fox at SETDA’s annual leadership summit to talk about some of association’s most recent initiatives, including moves to expand SETDA’s resources to support DMAPS, which stands for Digital Instructional Materials Acquisition Policies for States. DMAPS provides states with recommended policies and practices around the acquisition of digital instructional materials in K-12 education.

“We’re adding new content, including new policies around accessibility, around [open education resources] and helping states to … create different tool kits,” to help them communicate with policymakers, educators and the community, she says.

“States are interested in learning from each on master contracts. It’s not only policies for content itself but also how to manage that content,” Fox says.

Fox also highlighted SETDA’s support for Future Ready, a Department of Education initiative aimed at helping school leaders focus on collaborative leadership, personalized learning, infrastructure that supports equitable learning and programs to support professional development.

“We’re working with the Alliance for Excellent Education to develop a tool kit for state leaders,” she says. The tool kit is aimed at helping state education leaders, who ” wear multiple hats,” to better equipped to share policy initiatives.

Fox also highlighted the ongoing work SETDA has been doing to advance equitable access for learning through The Broadband Imperative II report , which recommends increasing infrastructure to support student-centered learning and which meet capacity targets.

The recommendations include “ways to support out of school access — not necessarily provide it, but support for those who in the highest need [areas],” she says.

Reach the reporter at wyatt.kash@ScoopNewsGroup.com and follow him on Twitter @wyattkash and @edscoop_news.