Policy Profiles for Ethics and Equity in Educational Computing: Contrasting Middle School Policy Initiatives for Strategic Planning

AbstractMiddle school administrators responsible for policy development in the area of educational computing can expect to face several important tasks relative to component identification and priority resolution. While middle school perceptions of policy priorities were seldom distinct from those of elementary and secondary colleagues, the linearity of difference between elementary and high school needs suggests a strong relationship between level of graded instruction and the differential value of certain policy initiatives. When global contrasts are effectuated comparing educators with only middle school teaching experience to those educators with no middle school experience, a “middle grades profile” can be statistically constructed in terms of perceived priorities for educational computing policy development. As the range of policy options is restricted through the imposition of artificial constraints, respondents sustained continuing priority for select policy components while new significance for o...