[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[Pages 551-552]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Memorandum on Expanding Access to Internet-based Educational Resources 
for Children, Teachers, and Parents

April 18, 1997

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

Subject: Expanding Access to Internet-based Educational Resources for 
Children, Teachers, and Parents

    My number one priority for the next 4 years is to make sure that all 
Americans have the best education in the world.
    One of the goals of my Call to Action for American Education is to 
bring the power of the Information Age into all of our schools. This 
will require connecting every classroom and library to the Internet by 
the year 2000; making sure that every child has access to modern, 
multimedia computers; giving teachers the training they need to be as 
comfortable with the computer as they are with the chalkboard; and 
increasing the availability of high-quality educational content. When 
America meets the challenge of making every child technologically 
literate, children in rural towns, the suburbs, and inner city schools 
will have the same access to the same universe of knowledge.
    I believe that Federal agencies can make a significant contribution 
to expanding this universe of knowledge. Some agencies have already 
launched a number of exciting projects in this area. The White House has 
a special ``White House for Kids'' home page with information on the 
history of the White House. NASA's K-12 initiative allows students to 
interact with astronauts and to share in the excitement of scientific 
pursuits such as the exploration of Mars and Jupiter and with 
experiments conducted on the Space Shuttle. The AskERIC service 
(Education Resources Information Center), supported by the Department of 
Education, has a vir

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tual library of more than 900 lesson plans for K-12 teachers, and 
provides answers to questions from educators within 48 hours--using a 
nationwide network of experts and databases of the latest research. 
Students

participating in the Vice President's GLOBE project (Global Learning and 
Observation for a Better Environment) collect actual atmospheric, aquatic, 
and biological data and use the Internet to share, analyze, and discuss the 
data with scientists and students all over the world. With support from the 
National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Department 
of Defense's CAETI program (Computer-Aided Education and Training 
Initiative), the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory has developed a program that 
allows high school students to request and download their own observations 
of the universe from professional telescopes.

    We can and should do more, however. Over the next 3 months, you 
should determine what resources you can make available that would enrich 
the Internet as a tool for teaching and learning, and produce and make 
available a new or expanded version of your service within 6 months.
    You should use the following guidelines to support this initiative:
<bullet>    Consider a broad range of educational resources, including 
            multimedia publications, archives of primary documents, 
            networked scientific instruments such as telescopes and 
            supercomputers, and employees willing to serve as tele-
            mentors or answer student and teacher questions.
<bullet>    Expand access not only to the information and other 
            resources generated internally, but by the broader community 
            of people and institutions that your agency works with and 
            supports. For example, science agencies should pursue 
            partnerships with professional societies, universities, and 
            researchers to expand K-12 access to scientific resources.
<bullet>    Update and improve your services in response to comments 
            from teachers and students, and encourage educators to 
            submit curricula and lesson plans that they have developed 
            using agency material.
<bullet>    Focus on the identification and development of high-quality 
            educational resources that promote high standards of 
            teaching and learning in core subjects. Of particular 
            importance are resources that will help students read well 
            and independently by 4th grade, and master challenging 
            mathematics, including algebra and geometry, by 8th grade.
<bullet>    Make sure the material you develop is accessible to people 
            with disabilities. Earlier this month, I announced my 
            support for the Web Accessibility Initiative, a public-
            private partnership that will make it easier for people with 
            disabilities to use the World Wide Web.
    I am also directing the Department of Education to develop a 
``Parents Guide to the Internet,'' that will explain the educational 
benefits of this exciting resource, as well as steps that parents can 
take to minimize the risks associated with the Internet, such as access 
to material that is inappropriate for children.
    The Department of Education will also be responsible for chairing an 
interagency working group to coordinate this initiative to ensure that 
the agency-created material is of high quality, is easily accessible, 
and promotes awareness of Internet-based educational resources among 
teachers, parents, and students.
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: This memorandum was released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on April 19.