Enhancing Education Through Technology –E2T2 Application 2006-2009

Deadline January 20, 2006

Iowa Department of Education

John O’Connell

Consultant Instructional Technology

For questions about the E2T2 grant application contact any of the following:

Mary Smith Phone (515) 242-6014

e-mail mary.smith@iowa.gov

John O’Connell Phone (515) 242-6354

e-mail john.oconnell@iowa.gov

It is the policy of the Iowa Department of Education not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, age or marital status in its programs or employment practices. If you have questions or grievances related to this policy, please contact Del Hoover, Bureau Chief, Bureau of Administration and School Improvement Services, Grimes State Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319, (515) 281-4750

Due: January 20, 2006

Enhancing Education Through Technology

Grant Application

Your application cannot be considered if directions are not followed, if any part or section of your application is missing at the time of submission, or if the application is not received by the deadline. It's the applicant's responsibility to see that all requirements are met.

Introduction

The primary goal of the Enhancing Education Through Technology (E2T2) program is to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in schools. It is also designed to assist every student in crossing the digital divide by ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the end of eighth grade. It is also and to encourage the effective integration of technology with teacher training and curriculum development to establish successful research-based instructional methods.

Activities carried out under E2T2 should be linked to the national goals of No Child Left Behind, the state of Iowa vision and goals, and the state of Iowa’s educational initiatives.

No Child Left Behind Goals:

I. By 2013-2014, all students will reach high standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading /language arts and mathematics.

II. All limited English proficient students will become proficient in English and reach high academic standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading/language arts and mathematics.

III. By 2005-2006, all students will be taught by highly qualified teachers.

IV. All students will be educated in learning environments that are safe, drug-free, and conducive to learning.

V. All students will graduate from high school.

The State of Iowa Vision: To improve teaching and learning for all Iowa learners through the appropriate use of educational technology.

Goal 1: Establish an environment that promotes the appropriate and effective use of educational technology.

Goal 2: Support and strengthen the school improvement process by facilitating effective integration of technology in Iowa Schools to improve teaching and learning.

Goal 3: Improve support systems for the school improvement process through appropriate and effective technology integration and use in Iowa schools.

State of Iowa Initiatives for the improvement of:

· Reading (language arts), Mathematics and Science

· Teacher/Administrator Induction/mentor program

· Evaluator training

· Provide support for high-need LEAs and schools in need of Assistance (SINA) as they incorporate state initiatives into their Comprehensive School Improvement Plans (CSIP).

Available Funding

The funding for E2T2 is divided into two equal parts for distribution:

Formula grants -- The State will distribute 50 percent of the funding on a formula basis to eligible LEAs that have submitted applications to the State. If the LEA is part of a competitive consortium then the competitive application will be considered by the state as the LEA’s formula application. The State’s distribution of E2T2 formula grant funds to eligible LEAs will be on the basis of each LEA’s proportionate share of funds under Part A of Title I for the 2005-06 school year. The State will award E2T2 formula grant funds only to LEAs that receive funds under Part A of Title I or to other LEAs that apply as part of a consortium with LEAs that receive funds under Part A of Title I.

Competitive grants -- The State will distribute 50 percent of the funding on a competitive basis to eligible local entities that have submitted applications to the State. Consortium applications will only be accepted from AEAs that have at least one LEA that is above 15 % according to the Title I census poverty rate or UEN members that have more than 1,100 students according to Federal Eligible Census living in their district.

Guidelines and Requirements

1. Unless the LEA is of sufficient size (must have at least 16 schools of which 3 must be high schools and would receive at least $29,000 under the formula component of the part of the ESEA) or a member of the UEN organization, it must be part of a consortium. The intent of the effort is to create resources of such magnitude as to make the improvement efforts practical. If an LEA chooses, it may write a letter to the Director in care of John O’Connell at the Iowa Department of Education explaining why it does not need to be a member of a consortium and offer assurances that it can construct and conduct a formula application of sufficient size and scope. It must also document that it possesses the resources and experience in conducting professional development activities as well as other assurances and addresses all elements of this application process – items 3-9 of guidelines and requirements, and all of the E2T2 grant requirements –pages 9-21.

2. To maximize the resources of the state and the LEAs and to allow all LEAs a chance to participate in the activities of the competitive grant, the Iowa Department of Education will solicit consortium grant applications that allow LEAs to apply for their formula funds as part of the consortium efforts. Since many of the LEAs (306) will receive formula funds of less than $5,000, this effort will allow school districts to participate in efforts of sufficient size and scope to be meaningful. The consortia approach will result in no more than 20 competitive applications, 12 AEAs and 8 Urban Eight Network (UEN) LEAs for the funds. The state education agency will make sure the application is linked to one of the state initiatives, at least one of the national goals of No Child Left Behind, and to one of the state goals. Members of the consortium, led by the AEA, will agree to focus on one content area, linked to one of the state initiatives, and have at least one high-need school as a member of the consortium. Under the competitive component and formula application, the group application will be written and led by an AEA or a UEN member. Collaboration between AEAs and UEN members will be encouraged but no more than four AEAs or UEN members may be involved in a single application. A wavier may be granted for this restriction if it is justified in writing by the applicant and approved by the state department before the final application is submitted. The focus of each application will be on at least one or more high-need school(s) representative of the consortium needs located in the boundary of the AEA(s) or UEN member involved in the application. Other LEAs within the AEA boundaries may also participate in the grant activities. Each member of the consortium must utilize their formula funding received under this act as their in-kind contribution to the consortium activities.

3. At least 25% of the grant total must be for professional development activities.

4. Subpart 4 of the E2T2 legislation incorporates into the ESEA the requirements of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). These provisions require LEAs or consortium to certify, under certain circumstances, that schools have adopted and are enforcing Internet safety policies. As a condition of participating in the E2T2 program, if an LEA has not been approved as being CIPA compliant, then an LEA must submit a CIPA certification form to their SEA. The CIPA requirements in the ESEA apply with respect to elementary or secondary schools that do not receive e-rate discounts and for which E2T2 funds are used to purchase computers used to access the Internet, or to pay the direct costs associated with accessing the Internet. The CIPA requirements in the ESEA do not apply to schools that receive e-rate discounts.

An LEA seeking E2T2 funds must certify to its SEA that one of the following conditions exists –

1. Every “applicable school” has complied with the CIPA requirements in subpart 4 of Part D of Title II of the ESEA. (An “applicable school” is an elementary or secondary school that does not receive e-rate discounts and for which E2T2 funds are used to purchase computers used to access the Internet, or to pay the direct costs associated with accessing the Internet.)

2. Not all “applicable schools” have yet complied with the requirements in subpart 4 of Part D of Title II of the ESEA. However, the LEA has received a one-year waiver from the U.S. Secretary of Education under section 2441(b)(2)(C) of the ESEA for those applicable schools not yet in compliance.

3. The CIPA requirements in the ESEA do not apply because no funds made available under the program are being used to purchase computers to access the Internet, or to pay for direct costs associated with accessing the Internet, for elementary and secondary schools that do not receive e-rate services under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

5. An assurance that all non-public schools in the district have been contacted to participate in the implementation and support of the plan in all activities done by the LEA under this act. All accredited private schools that are within the boundaries of the LEA, will participate in the grant application activities to the fullest extent possible. LEAs and eligible local entities must engage in timely and meaningful consultation with appropriate private school officials during the design and development of programs and continue the consultation throughout the implementation of these programs. Therefore, for both E2T2 formula and competitive awards, the consultation should begin during the development of the local grant proposals. Eligible LEAs that seek both competitive and formula funding under E2T2 may engage in consultations that simultaneously involve the E2T2 competitive and formula grants.

LEAs and local entities must provide, on an equitable basis, special educational services or other benefits that address the needs under the program of children, teachers, and other educational personnel in private schools in areas served by the LEAs and local entities. Expenditures for educational services and other benefits for private school children, teachers, and other educational personnel must be equal, taking into account the number and educational needs of the children to be served, to the expenditures for participating public school children. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES are funds to be given directly to the private school.

6. An assurance that financial resources provided under the E2T2 program will supplement, and not supplant, local funds.

7. An assurance that their CSIP contains or will contain a description of how the LEA will provide incentives to teachers who are technologically literate and remain in their content area. This is in support of the assurance document the LEAs have submitted to the department.

8. An assurance that the LEA will coordinate activities funded through the E2T2 program with technology-related activities supported with funds from other sources.

9. As assurance that up to ten (10) % of the first year’s grant will be used to develop an evaluation process including assessment instruments regarding utilization, effectiveness and integration of technology into the curriculum.

To help ensure accountability for E2T2 funds, LEAs and eligible local entities must also develop a process and accountability measures that they will use to evaluate the extent to which activities funded under the program are effective in (1) integrating technology into curricula and instruction; (2) increasing the ability of teachers to teach; (3) enabling students to meet challenging district standards and (4) ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the end of eighth grade. Because the E2T2 program is a State-administered program, the SEA is responsible for ensuring that LEAs and eligible local entities comply with E2T2 statutory requirements. In addition, as part of its evaluation of the program, the Department will examine the extent to which LEAs and eligible local entities have effectively used funds to meet the goals of the program.

Definitions

SEA: State Education Administration in this case the Iowa Department of Education

AEA: Area Education Agency. There are currently 15 agencies in the state of Iowa. Each agency furnishes educational services and programs to the pupils enrolled in public or nonpublic schools located within its boundaries, which are on the list of accredited schools. The programs and services provided to pupils enrolled in nonpublic schools are comparable to programs and services provided to pupils enrolled in public schools within constitutional guidelines. The area education agency board provides for special education services and media services for the local school districts in the area and encourages and assists school districts in the area to establish programs for gifted and talented children.

LEA: Local Education Agency. For the purpose of this document this means any of the accredited public schools located with the STATE OF IOWA.

UEN: Urban Education Network. An organization of the 8 largest school districts in the STATE OF IOWA that have at least three high schools including an alternative high school.

CSIP: Comprehensive School Improvement Plan. Each LEA must submit a CSIP to the SEA once every five years. This long range plan must contain the following general characteristics: specific to a school district, designed at a minimum to increase achievement of all students, designed for continuous school, parental, and community involvement, aligned with determined needs, and be consolidated – state and federal programs/initiatives. For the E2T2 application, the districts new CSIP must contain the following elements, which a district must have on file with the SEA in order to be eligible. Any changes to the CSIP must be submitted to the SEA and the AEA will assure in the application that all districts that are part of the consortium have modified their CSIP as part of this application.

Strategies for improving academic achievement and teacher effectiveness

Goals –Student-learning goals district standards and benchmarks

Steps to increase accessibility

Promotion of curricula and teaching strategies that integrate technology

Professional development

Technology type and costs

Coordination with other resources – Ed tech funds and other resource

Integration of technology with curricula and instruction

Innovative delivery strategies

Parental involvement

Collaboration with adult literacy service providers.

Accountability measures

Supporting resources

Assurances - CIPA compliant; at least 25% of the funding will be used for Professional Development; and accredited private school participation.

APR: Annual Progress Report. Each LEA must submit to the SEA each year a report that address it’s progress in implementing its CSIP for the improvement of student learning.

SINA: Schools in Need of Assistance.

ICN: Iowa Communication Network.

IN-KIND MATCH – the applicant uses funds of their choosing to help support the grant application.

STANDARDS – statements of what students should know and be able to do.

BENCHMARKS – what a standard looks like at a particular grade (or grade level).

SCIENTIFICALLY BASED RESEARCH- The term ‘scientifically based research' —

(A) means research that involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs; and

(B) includes research that —

(i) employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on observation or experiment;

(ii) involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn;

(iii) relies on measurements or observational methods that provide reliable and valid data across evaluators and observers, across multiple measurements and observations, and across studies by the same or different investigators;

(iv) is evaluated using experimental or quasi-experimental designs in which individuals, entities, programs, or activities are assigned to different conditions and with appropriate controls to evaluate the effects of the condition of interest, with a preference for random-assignment experiments, or other designs to the extent that those designs contain within-condition or across-condition controls;

(v) ensures that experimental studies are presented in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at a minimum, offer the opportunity to build systematically on their findings; and

(vi) has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT- The term ‘professional development' —

(A) includes activities that —

(i) improve and increase teachers' knowledge of the academic subjects the teachers teach, and enable teachers to become highly qualified;

(ii) are an integral part of broad school-wide and district-wide educational improvement plans;

(iii) give teachers, principals, and administrators the knowledge and skills to provide students with the opportunity to meet challenging State academic content standards and student academic achievement standards;

(iv) improve classroom management skills;

(v) (I) are high quality, sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused in order to have a positive and lasting impact on classroom instruction and the teacher's performance in the classroom; and

(II) are not 1-day or short-term workshops or conferences;

(vi) support the recruiting, hiring, and training of highly qualified teachers, including teachers who became highly qualified through State and local alternative routes to certification;

(vii) advance teacher understanding of effective instructional strategies that are — (I) no listed

(II) strategies for improving student academic achievement or substantially increasing the knowledge and teaching skills of teachers; and

(viii) are aligned with and directly related to —

(I) State academic content standards, student academic achievement standards, and assessments; and

(II) the curricula and programs tied to the standards described in subclause (I) except that this subclause shall not apply to activities described in clauses (ii) and (iii) of section 2123(3)(B);

(ix) are developed with extensive participation of teachers, principals, parents, and administrators of schools to be served under this Act;

(x) are designed to give teachers of limited English proficient children, and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and appropriate language and academic support services to those children, including the appropriate use of curricula and assessments;

(xi) to the extent appropriate, provide training for teachers and principals in the use of technology so that technology and technology applications are effectively used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning in the curricula and core academic subjects in which the teachers teach;

(xii) as a whole, are regularly evaluated for their impact on increased teacher effectiveness and improved student academic achievement, with the findings of the evaluations used to improve the quality of professional development;

(xiii) provide instruction in methods of teaching children with special needs;

(xiv) include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct classroom practice; and

(xv) include instruction in ways that teachers, principals, pupil services personnel, and school administrators may work more effectively with parents; and

(B) may include activities that —

(i) involve the forming of partnerships with institutions of higher education to establish school-based teacher training programs that provide prospective teachers and beginning teachers with an opportunity to work under the guidance of experienced teachers and college faculty;

(ii) create programs to enable paraprofessionals (assisting teachers employed by a local educational agency receiving assistance under part A of title I) to obtain the education necessary for those paraprofessionals to become certified and licensed teachers; and

(iii) provide follow-up training to teachers who have participated in activities described in subparagraph (A) or another clause of this subparagraph that are designed to ensure that the knowledge and skills learned by the teachers are implemented in the classroom.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: The term ‘parental involvement' means the participation of parents in regular, two-way, and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities, including ensuring —

(A) that parents play an integral role in assisting their child's learning;

(B) that parents are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at school;

(C) that parents are full partners in their child's education and are included, as appropriate, in decision making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child;

(D) the carrying out of other activities, such as those described in other sections of NCLB.

PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION:

(a) PARTICIPATION

(1) IN GENERAL- Except as otherwise provided in this Act, to the extent consistent with the number of eligible children in areas served by a state educational agency, local educational agency, educational service agency, consortium of those agencies, or another entity receiving financial assistance under a program specified in subsection (b), who are enrolled in private elementary schools and secondary schools in areas served by such agency, consortium, or entity, the agency, consortium, or entity shall, after timely and meaningful consultation with appropriate private school officials provide to those children and their teachers or other educational personnel, on an equitable basis, special educational services or other benefits that address their needs under the program.

(2) SECULAR, NEUTRAL, AND NONIDEOLOGICAL SERVICES OR BENEFITS- Educational services or other benefits, including materials and equipment, provided under this section, shall be secular, neutral, and nonideological.

(3) SPECIAL RULE- Educational services and other benefits provided under this section for private school children, teachers, and other educational personnel shall be equitable in comparison to services and other benefits for public school children, teachers, and other educational personnel participating in the program and shall be provided in a timely manner.

(4) EXPENDITURES- Expenditures for educational services and other benefits provided under this section for eligible private school children, their teachers, and other educational personnel serving those children shall be equal, taking into account the number and educational needs of the children to be served, to the expenditures for participating public school children.

(5) PROVISION OF SERVICES- An agency, consortium, or entity described in subsection (a)(1) of this section may provide those services directly or through contracts with public and private agencies, organizations, and institutions.

(b) APPLICABILITY-

(1) IN GENERAL- This section applies to programs under —

(A) subparts 1 and 3 of part B of title I; (B) part C of Title I;

(E) part D of Title II;

(F) part A of Title III;

(G) part A of Title IV; and (H) part B of Title IV.

(2) DEFINITION- For the purpose of this section, the term eligible children means children eligible for services under a program described in paragraph (1).

(3) APPLICATION- (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), this subpart, including subsection (a)(4), applies to funds awarded to a local educational agency under part A of Title II only to the extent that the local educational agency uses funds under that part to provide professional development to teachers and others.

(B) Subject to subparagraph (A), the share of the local educational agency's subgrant under part A of Title II that is used for professional development and subject to a determination of equitable expenditures under subsection (a)(4) shall not be less than the aggregate share of that agency's awards that were used for professional development for fiscal year 2001 under section 2203(1)(B) (as such section was in effect on the day preceding the date of enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) and section 306 of the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2001.