District/School Administration PK-16 Program Support
Educational Technology

1998 EdTech Update Report

Technology Literacy Challenge Grant

The department is administering five federal grants and one state grant focusing on model professional development related to education technology. For more information contact Connie Louie.

1. Technology Literacy Challenge Grant
(Fund Code 606)

(I) Model Professional Development

The purpose of this component is to provide innovative technology professional development activities (workshop series, institutes, credit courses, etc.) to teacher leaders so that they will act as mentors in their districts in using technology to support the learning standards in the Curriculum Frameworks. Ninety-Seven proposals were submitted. Each proposal was reviewed by three readers and thirty-five proposals were selected to be funded. The school districts that received the grants are listed below:

(II) Lighthouse Sites

The purpose of this component is to identify, enhance, and disseminate existing classroom projects that incorporate new technologies with the learning standards of the state curriculum frameworks in a way that is innovative and motivates students to learn. These projects, having already proven their effectiveness in the classroom, will serve as models, and the classroom teachers as mentors, for other classrooms in the school, other schools within the districts, or other districts across the state. These practices, together with other strategies, will facilitate systemic change in school districts to meet the goals of Education Reform.

173 proposals were submitted and 74 lighthouse technology sites were selected. The 1998-1999 lighthouse technology sites are:

2. Technology Literacy Challenge Grant 2
(Fund Code: 607)

The purpose of the Year 2 Statewide Impact Grants is to continue to provide seed funding for school district or collaborative-led partnerships to foster statewide impact in the use of technology to support teaching and learning. Nine school districts will continue to work with consortium partners to implement their projects, and they are:

3. Technology Literacy Challenge Grant 3
(Fund Code: 608)

The purpose of the Instructional Technology Preservice Grants is to integrate the use of instructional technology into teacher preparation programs. It is important that all new teachers learn how to use new technologies (such as the Internet, multimedia, CD-ROM) in their classrooms to create effective approaches to teaching and learning. School districts in partnership with colleges/universities will work together to accomplish this important aspect of teacher preparation.

The Department received 12 proposals for this program and 9 projects were selected to be funded. Funded school district and higher education partnerships are:

4. Adopting Best Technology Practices
(Fund Code 612)

The purpose of this grant program is to provide seed funding to adopt best classroom practices or professional development models that integrate technology into the local curriculum and align with the state Curriculum Frameworks. Examples of best practices are the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education-awarded Technology Lighthouse Sites, Model Professional Development Sites or other exemplary models. In addition priority will be given to projects that are from school districts that have a greater percentage of disadvantaged students than the state average.

Approximately $600,000 will be awarded for this program and up to 15 projects will be funded. Each grant award is up to $40,000.

Massachusetts Technology Funding, Federal and State Support

	Fund Code	Grants	Projects	Total Funds
	Fund Code 606	Model Professional Development Grants	35 Model Professional Development Projects	$1,597,959
	Fund Code 606	Lighthouse Technology Grants	74 Lighthouse Sites	$1,987,387
Federal Technology Funding:	Fund Code 607	State Impact Grants	9 Statewide Projects	$2,399,387
	Fund Code 608	Instructional Technology Preservice Grants	9 Preservice Grants	$346,714
	Fund Code 612	Adopting Best Technology Practices	Funding up to $40,000 Per Project	$600,000
State Technology Funding:	Fund Code 609	Technical Training and Professional Development	District Determined	$15,000,000

Previous | Next
Table of Contents