Correlation or causation? Teacher resistance to state technology initiatives

Terry Moe and John Chubb say…

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A. “The average technology score [from Education Week’s Technology Counts 2008] drops as union membership grows. . . . technology seems to be advancing more quickly in states where the unions are weakest” (p. 107). [chart is from p. 108]

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B. “The percentage of states with state-level virtual schools drops steadily as the unionization of teachers grows” (p. 118). [chart is from p. 119]

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C. “[We] look at the percentage of states . . . that have data systems with the capacity to link students and teachers . . . [and see] the same basic pattern as for virtual schools – which is telling, as virtual schools and teacher identifiers have little to do with one another aside from their impact on union interests” (pp. 138–139). [chart is from p. 139]

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[Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education]

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Previous posts in this series

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   Education’s resistance to technology will be overcome

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   It would be impossible for the information revolution to unfold and NOT have transformative implications for how children can be educated

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   Technology will free learning from the dead hand of the past

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   Technological change is destined to be resisted by the teachers unions

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