The Texas Rural Technology (R-TECH) Pilot Program: Cycle 1 Final Evaluation Report. Executive Summary

The evaluation of the Texas Rural Technology (R-Tech) Pilot sought to understand how districts implemented R-Tech grants, the effects of implementation on student and teacher outcomes, as well as the cost effectiveness and sustainability of R-Tech. The Texas legislature (80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2007) authorized the creation of R-Tech in order to support the state's small, rural districts in implementing technology-based supplemental education programs. R-Tech grants were intended to support supplemental educational programs, including online courses, offered outside of students' regularly scheduled classes (e.g., before or after school). Districts that received grants were required to provide students in Grades 6 through 12 with access to technology-based instructional resources for a minimum of 10 hours a week; however, the grant did not establish minimum requirements for students' use of R-Tech resources. In establishing R-Tech, the legislature required that the program be evaluated to assess its effects on student and teacher outcomes, as well as the program's cost effectiveness. The evaluation is made up of two interim reports (December 2008 and February 2010) and a final report (fall 2010). The findings presented here are drawn from the evaluation's final report (fall 2010). The report considers outcomes for 63 districts that received Cycle 1 grant awards across the 2-year grant period (May 2008 through May 2010). The sections that follow present key findings relative to each of the evaluation's research questions. Results are drawn from data collected across the full 2-year implementation period for Cycle 1 districts. (Contains 3 footnotes.) [For the full report, "The Texas Rural Technology (R-TECH) Pilot Program: Cycle 1 Final Evaluation Report," see ED536686.]