2008 Digital School Districts Survey Top 10

The Center for Digital Education (Center), the National School Boards Association and Converge Online magazine announced the winners of the nation's fifth annual Digital School Districts Survey. The purpose of the survey is to showcase exemplary school boards and districts' use of technology to govern the district, communicate with students, parents and the community and to improve district operations.

All U.S. public school boards/districts were invited to participate in the survey. Schools were placed in three categories based on size of enrollment. Winners reflected those school districts with the fullest implementation of technology standards in the evolution of digital education.

Marina Leight, vice president of the Center for Digital Education, said, "The survey responses show that school districts across the nation are doing an outstanding job of using technology to increase communication with their students, parents and the community. In addition to their Web sites, they are also using newer technologies such as wireless notifications, blogs and grade portals. We applaud their progress and successes!"

School boards must move with the times, as technology grows and changes," said Anne L. Bryant, executive director for the National School Boards Association. " Especially in these difficult economic times, it is essential for school districts to come up with creative and innovative ways to use technology. NSBA salutes this year's top Digital School Boards for taking the lead and setting the bar for school districts around the country."

The Center thanks SMART Technologies for underwriting the 2008 Digital School Districts Survey and for supporting our nation's schools. As technology continues to evolve, there is an increasing need for school districts to adopt new ways of teaching and learning in 21st century classroom environments," says Nancy Knowlton, SMART's CEO. "We extend our congratulations to the first-place winners in each of the three categories and all other recognized districts announced in the fifth annual Digital School Districts Survey, for leading the way in the evolution of digital education.

For the article on the 2008 survey winners, download Converge's Data Expose.

2008 Digital School Districts Survey - Top Ten Winners

Large Category - More than 15,000 students:

• 1^st Cherokee County School District, Ga.
• 2^nd Jeffco Public Schools, Colo.
• 3^rd Forsyth County School District, Ga.
• 4^th Newport News Public Schools, Va. (tie)
• 4^th Olathe District Schools, Kan. (tie)
• 5^th Seattle Public Schools, Wash.
• 6^th Blue Valley Schools, Kan.
• 7^th Clark County School District, Nev. (tie)
• 7^th Cleveland County Schools, N.C. (tie)
• 8^th Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, Ga.
• 9^th Hillsborough County Public Schools, Fla. (tie)
• 9^th Issaquah School District, Wash. (tie)
• 10^th Newton County School System, Ga.

Medium Category - 2,501 - 15,000 students

• 1^st Andover Public Schools, Kan. (tie)
• 1^st Henry County Schools, Va. (tie)
• 2^nd Bellingham School District, Wash.
• 3^rd Madison City Schools, Ala.
• 4^th Fayetteville Public Schools #1, Ark.
• 5^th Barrow County Schools, Ga. (tie)
• 5^th Jones County School System, Ga. (tie)
• 6^th Marietta City Schools, Ga.
• 7^th Daviess County Public Schools, Ky.
• 8^th South Kitsap School District, Wash. (tie)
• 8^th West Des Moines Community School District, Iowa (tie)
• 9^th Camden County Schools, Ga.
• 10^th Vineland School District, N.J.

Small Category - Less than 2,500 students:

• 1^st Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District, N.Y.
• 2^nd Lower Moreland Township School District, Pa.
• 3^rd Avoca School District 37, Ill.
• 4^th Gooding Joint School District #231, Idaho (tie)
• 4^th Spackenkill Union Free School District, N.Y. (tie)
• 5^th Big Horn County School District 2, Wyo.
• 6^th Chilton Public School District, Wis. (tie)
• 6^th Tornillo Independent School District, Tex. (tie)
• 7^th Chickamauga City School System, Ga.
• 8^th Hanson School District-30, S.D.
• 9^th Lyon County School District, Ky.
• 10^th Brocton Central School, N.Y.