ARRA EETT-Competitive Application Announced

On September 11, the California Department of Education (CDE) posted the Request for Applications (RFA) for $33 million in new one-time grants as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 that President Obama signed into law on February 17, 2009. These ARRA Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) Competitive grant awards will be identified through a competitive Request for Application (RFA) review process. Forty-one school districts and direct-funded charters in CTAP Region 10 are eligible to apply for approximately $5 million  in funding through this one-time federal program. Schools previously funded through the No Child Left Behind EETT Competitive process ARE ELIGIBLE to apply for ARRA EETT-C funds.

The EETT Competitive Grant Program was established as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Public Law 107-110, Title II, Part D. The purpose of this grant is to provide additional funding to improve student academic achievement in grades four through eight through the use of technology. These funds must address the ARRA goals of sustaining and creating employment, improving student achievement, ensuring transparency in reporting and accountability, and investing thoughtfully to ensure sustainability beyond the availability of these funds.

In addition to the focus on academic achievement, the grant helps to bridge the digital divide with expanded access to technology resources. With the integration of grade level technological proficiencies that will help ensure all students achieve technology literacy by the time they finish the eighth grade, regardless of the student's race, ethnicity, gender, family income, geographic location, or disability. The RFA is available on the CDE Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r5/eettca09rfa.asp. The RFA details the funding structure, funding priorities, and programmatic requirements of the ARRA EETT Competitive grant program.

The application must be received by the CDE no later than 5 p.m. on October 15, 2009.

For more information about the ARRA EETT Competitive Grant, please contact Cliff Rudnick in the Education Technology Office at 916-323-5072 or by e-mail at edtech@cde.ca.gov.

RIMS CTAP will be holding a rollout meeting to provide information and guidance about the Request for Applications after our Technology Leadership Network (TLN) meeting on Tuesday, September 22 at the San Bernardino County Schools Support Center. Please register online to attend this meeting, which will include a summary of the differences between the new RFA and prior rounds of EETT, and organizational suggestions to ensure that applications are closely aligned with the scoring criteria.

For more information about the ARRA EETT-C program, please visit the CDE’s website, or contact Molly Large at RIMS CTAP.