• Prioritize and fund online initiatives & infrastructure
• Implement technology-based adaptive assessments to drive continuous improvement
• Promote current and consistent academic standards and measures
• Support pre-service/in-service training for teachers to implement and use education technology
• Assist states/districts in moving away from funding based on seat-time toward mastery learning
• Implement and fund virtual dual enrollment and credit recovery opportunities for students
• Remove current limits on the number of online courses a student can take for credit
• Encourage adoption of digital curricula to ensure updated, high quality and rich content
• Make online course credit transferable state-to-state
• Remove unreasonable federal barriers that inhibit institutions from serving students online
• Refrain from imposing a one-size-fits all credit hour definition

Ensure universal access to broadband services for equity and access to great teachers, rich content and blended educational opportunities.

Blackboard works closely with several education and technology industry organizations at the federal, state and local levels. Blackboard’s positions on public policy issues are further expressed through these groups. 2011 membership and partnerships include:

• American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
• American Council on Education
• American Society of Training and Development (ASTD)
• Association of Public Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU)
• Consortium for School Networking
• Digital Learning Now
• EDUCAUSE
• Future Workplace
• Imagine America Foundation
• International Association for K-12 Online Learning
• The Masie Center
• The National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET)
• National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development
• ONE.org
• Partnership for 21st Century Skills
• Project Tomorrow
• The Sloan Consortium
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
• Software & Information Industry Association
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
• The Women’s High-Tech Coalition
• Workforce Consortium for Emerging Technologies

Blackboard’s employees, clients and partners are encouraged to work with Blackboard Government Affairs in the development and advocacy of Blackboard’s positions on public policy.
 

• Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics [DRAFT] (U.S. Department of Education, April 2012)
• The State of Learning Analytics in 2012: A Review and Future Challenges (Knowledge Media Institute, March 2012)

• iNACOL Federal Policy Frameworks (iNACOL, March 2012)
• Overcoming the Governance Challenge in K-12 Online Learning (Thomas Fordham B. Institute, February 2012)
• Fast Facts About Online Learning (iNACOL, February 2012)
• Understanding the Implications of Online Learning for Educational Productivity (U.S. Department of Education, January 2012)
• Where the Kids Are: Digital Learning In Class and Beyond (The After School Learning Corporation, January 2012)
• Keeping Pace with Online K12 Learning - a comprehensive report that outlines the current status of online learning in all 50 states. (Evergreen Education Group's Keeping Pace with Online K12 Learning, 2011)
• US Dept of Education NCES Study: Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary and Secondary School Students 2009-1 (U.S. Department of Education, November 2011)
• College 2.0: Transforming Higher Education through Greater Innovation and Smarter Regulation (U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for a Competitive Workforce, May 2011)
• The New 3 E’s of Education: Enabled, Engaged, Empowered. How Today’s Students are Leveraging Emerging Technologies for Learning (Project Tomorrow, May 2011)
• How Today’s Educators are Advancing a New Vision for Teaching and Learning (Project Tomorrow, May 2011)
• Increasing Educational Productivity: Innovative Approaches & Best Practices (U.S. Department of Education, March 2011)
• Disrupting College: How Disruptive Innovation Can Deliver Quality and Affordability to Postsecondary Education (Center for American Progress, February 2011)
• The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning: Profiles of Emerging Models (Innosight Institute, 2011)
• Digital Learning Now Report: 10 Elements (Digital Learning Now, December 2010)
• Department of Education’s 2010 Ed Tech Report: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology (U.S. Department of Education, November 2010)
• The Course of Innovation: Using Technology to Transform Higher Education (Education Sector Reports, May 2010)

• Mobile Apps For Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing (U.S. Federal Trade Commission, February 2012)

• Dramatically Bringing Down the Cost of Education with OER - How Open Education Resources Unlock the Door to Free Learning (Center for American Progress, February 2012)