District Technology Plans requiring revision for 2008 the time is NOW!

Whether we are talking about the Ed Tech K-12 Voucher Program, Erate, Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) or EETT- Competitive funds, it all starts with your district technology plan. A district technology plan that has been approved by the CDE is a requirement for many education technology funding sources. For those districts whose technology plan is expiring in 2008 NOW is the time to begin the planning and writing process. These technology plans must meet the requirements set by the CDE for state approval listed in the Appendix C-Criteria for EETT Funded Technology Plans. The CDE has recently released its newly modified Criteria for those districts required to submit their revised technology plan in 2008. In addition, State CTAP has provided an optional writing template for a generic technology plan to assist your panning and writing team. Please feel free to to use if it is of value for you.

Submission Dates for 2008:

• Cycle A: October 5, 2007
• Cycle B: December 7, 2007
• Cycle C: April 4, 2008 (for non-Erate districts only)

To be eligible for EETT Formula funding, district technology plans must be submitted electronically by the Cycle deadlines below to Jenny Thomas via email to jthomas@ctap10.org.

The California Department of Education (CDE) will distribute approximately $16 million dollars in 2006-07 and 2007-08 to local educational agencies (LEAs) in formula-funded grants through Title II, Part D, Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT). Funds from this grant are used to assist eligible districts in using technology to enhance teaching and promote learning. Funds are allocated based upon each LEA's proportionate share of Title I, Part A funding.

As a condition of funding, a CDE-approved technology plan is required. No application is needed, as long as the LEA has a current technology plan, the CDE will automatically generate and mail the grant award documents each year funding is available. The grant award documents for the 2007-08 EETT Formula Grant are being prepared by the CDE and the target date for posting is September, 2007.

For more information: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/et/ft/eettformula.asp

CTAP has posted the revised Appendix C: Criteria for EETT Funded Technology Plans document and a Technology Plan Writing Template which incorporates all the changes in numbering and language from Appendix C. The template is a model of how your plan can be structured, and although the use of the template is not required, it is provided to facilitate the ease of writing the technology plan document. The template is available to help guide the development of your plan so that it will be aligned with Appendix C.

Additional services provided by RIMS CTAP are resources included at the end of this story. We are available to meet with you and your stakeholders to complete the Benchmark Review Form (also downloadable from our website), and are happy to meet with you and your planning team to begin the planning process.