Influence of State Education Department Regulations on Teaching and Learning with Technology Aytac Gogus Sabancı University, Turkey agogus@sabanciuniv.edu Abstract: Assessment of educational technology in K-12 schools is vital for every school district for making investment and strategic plans and reporting progress of teaching and learning with technology. This paper discusses specific findings of a qualitative study examining institutional factors that influenced teachers’ efforts of integrating graphing calculators into mathematics classrooms. The group investigated consisted of 13 mathematics teachers in three suburban school districts in a medium-sized city in Central New York. Findings suggest that New York State Education Department Regulations on the place of graphing calculators in the standardized exam influenced teachers’ practices and perceptions on teaching with graphing calculators and so influenced students’ learning on math classes. Findings suggest that if New York State had not mandated the use of the graphing calculator on the Regents exams, then teachers would use graphing calculators differently from how they used them in the previous years. Key words: Factors influence teachers, mathematics classrooms, regents exams, graphing calculators, state regulations on education. Influence of State Education Department Regulations on Teaching and Learning with Technology Introduction Researches about assessment of educational technology should be part of every systemic plan for observing influence of technology on teaching and learning. It is important to note that the assessment of technology integration into classrooms helps to identify pro and cons of a specific technology and develop cost effective plans and strategies. Technology integration has become a required component of mathematics classrooms with the emergence of technology use requirements in mathematics exams. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment suggests that graphing calculators should be used in the middle and high school levels to support students’ conceptual understanding of mathematics and to enhance graphical and algebraic representations (NYSED, 2002). NYSED’s guidel ines for graphing calculator use in high school mathematics classrooms state that graphing calculators should be used especially in both the Mathematics B curriculum courses and the Mathematics B Regents exam (NYSED, 2002). Therefore, school districts in New York State require students to purchase a graphing calculator and try to provide a classroom set of graphing calculators for mathematics courses, especially in the Math B curriculum. Some districts offer professional development programs for teachers to help improve their skills and knowledge in teaching with graphing calculators (Bates et al., 1998; May, 1994). In support of graphing calculators, the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in the USA recommends that all students in grades nine through twelve have access to a graphing calculator in mathematics classrooms (NCTM, 1989).