A Conference to Support Revisions to the Standards for Technological Literacy

Nearly two decades ago, the Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology identified what a technologically literate student should know and be able to do. When originally published in 2000, the technological literacy standards established content guidelines and benchmarks for learning across the K-12 spectrum for technology and engineering education programs in the United States and beyond. The Standards for Technological Literacy have served as the basis for decision making and educational planning across a wide spectrum of school programs, districts, state departments of education, teacher certification exams, and national curriculum development efforts. The document has been translated into Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese, and German, and has provided the basis for ITEEA's Engineering by Design (EbD) curriculum model, which is at the core of professional development efforts for K-12 technology and engineering teachers across the U.S. and in several other nations. However, the technologically designed world and the knowledge required to be productive in it continues to rapidly change. Educational leaders realized that what students should know and be able to do is different today, particularly in subjects like technology and engineering.

The International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA) and the Council on Technology and Engineering Teacher Education (CTETE) will convene a Standards for Technological Literacy (STL) Revision Conference to create an updated standards document, with a target publication date of early 2020. The STL Revision Conference will build upon preparatory activities initiated in 2018 by ITEEA and CTETE members to propose revisions to the Standards. A revision leadership team has been convened, and a thirty-member review team will be recruited for the conference. The review team will be comprised of classroom teachers, district or state supervisors, both two-year and four-year college faculty, and industry representatives. A Draft Executive Summary of the revised standards document will be posted on the ITEEA website for public comment, and a final version of the revised standards will be published and disseminated at the 2020 ITEEA conference and made available on the website. The revised STL document will be promoted through the Technology and Engineering Teacher publication as well as other ITEEA news sources and other STEM-focused outlets.