Program Office: Office of School Support and Technology Programs

CFDA Number: 84.318
Program Type: Formula Grants
Also Known As: Ed Tech State Program, Ed Tech; EETT

The primary goal of this program is to improve student achievement through the use of technology in elementary and secondary schools. Additional goals include helping all students become technologically literate by the end of the eighth grade and, through the integration of technology with both teacher training and curriculum development, establishing research-based instructional methods that can be widely implemented.

Local activities include the support of continuing, sustained professional development programs and public-private partnerships. Activities also include: the use of new or existing technologies to improve academic achievement; the acquisition of curricula that integrate technology and are designed to meet challenging state academic standards; the use of technology to increase parent involvement in schools; and the use of technology to collect, manage, and analyze data to enhance teaching and school improvement.

Under the Ed-Tech program, the U.S. Department of Education provides grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) on the basis of their proportionate share of funding under Part A of Title I.

States may retain up to 5 percent of their allocations for State-level activities, and must distribute one-half of the remainder by formula to eligible local educational agencies and the other one-half competitively to eligible local entities.

In the Department's fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations bill, Congress also included language overriding the statutory provision that SEAs use 50 percent of the amount available for grants to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) for formula awards and 50 percent for competitive awards. The FY 2006 language provides SEAs with the flexibility to reserve up to 100 percent for competitive awards to eligible local entities.