The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has released the results of its fourth annual national education survey, writes Tim Sohn at the Journal.

Educational institutions from elementary to graduate school levels are not making adequate progress toward educational technology benchmarks laid out in the 2011 Vision K-20 Initiative, the survey shows.

Schools need help providing authentic assessment tools and meeting personalized needs for student, the report shows.

Some key findings from the report -

At 60 on a scale of 25 to 100, the average score on the 20 benchmarking statements was slightly lower than the average scores, 62, from the 2010 and 2009 surveys

Use of technology-based assessment tools was the lowest ranked benchmark for the third year in a row

Larger institutions tend to have higher scores than smaller institutions

“Though slight, the decline in scores is disappointing,” says Karen Billings, VP for Education at SIIA.

“This is not a surprise as it has been an especially challenging year for education with the economic downturn and decreased budgets. And it will not be easy to close the gap between the current low use of computer-based assessments and the upcoming common core online testing requirements,” she says. “SIIA calls on education leaders and public officials to increase support for, and adoption of, innovative technology-based educational models needed to meet the needs of today’s digital-native learners and prepare them for the digital, knowledge economy.”

SIIA’s K-20 vision calls for –

Institutions to increase student engagement and achievement.

Provide equity and access to new learning opportunities.

Document and track student performance.

Empower collaborative learning communities.

Maximize teaching and administrative effectiveness

and build student proficiencies in 21st-century skills.

The survey measures institutions’ progress against 20 benchmarks, and was completed by 486 educators and administrators, 90 percent of whom work in K-12 districts and schools, writes Sohn.