Issue:Students are required to access certain websites that have been blocked by the LEA.Students are required to use software (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Photoshop Winzip, etc. ) provided by the LEA capable of providing. Students are required to perform actions on machines (install software, access files, host services) that are prohibited by LEA user policy. The vision of the ACCESS program is to "provide equal access to high-quality instruction to improve student outcomes through distance learning." In providing distance learning opportunities to Alabama students, a single teacher can teach students located anywhere in the state. Because each LEA manages its computer network differently, an ACCESS teacher will encounter computers managed in as many different ways as there are school systems in the state. Differences range from the type of software installed on a computer to where students can access the Internet. Each of these different approaches pursues the same goal of having a stable computing environment to ensure that every student can learn. However, these differences can lead to radically different computing environments. We would not expect a classroom teacher to teach in a computer lab equipped with 30 different computers with 30 different configurations and 30 different sets of rules that control what students can and cannot do. Why do we expect an ACCESS teacher to do this? Solution Overview: Technology initiatives take a more active role in managing ACCESS computers to ensure there is a common computing environment shared by all ACCESS students and teachers. This does not translate into increased spending. It can be accomplished with relatively... half the paper... side and stability on the other. The easiest way to do this would be to choose the current setup of the school system and try to duplicate it on the ACCESS computers. Then, take a step back and carefully look at what works and what doesn't work and make any necessary changes. Bottom line: The ideas presented here are not radical changes. Throughout the state everyone one of the ideas is used somewhere in the school system. It's just that no one has brought all these ideas together in one place to be used in a distributed system like ACCESS. Technology Initiatives has already taken the first steps in this direction with an effort to standardize the hardware purchased for the ACCESS labs. These ideas are just a continuation of the same effort with the application of standardized system management applied on a large scale across the entire ACCESS program.