Fact Sheet

FY 2009 Funding:
$269 million

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:
$650 million

Grantees:
States, which make subgrants to school districts

Type of Grant:
Formula to States, and formula or competitive subgrants to school districts

Purpose:

The primary goal of the Ed Tech Grants program is to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in schools. It is also designed to help ensure that every student is technologically literate by the end of eighth grade and to encourage the effective integration of technology with teacher training and curriculum development.

The ARRA and regular FY 2009 grants provide an unprecedented opportunity for states, districts, and schools to use innovative strategies to enhance instruction, facilitate teaching and learning, and improve student achievement. They also will enable districts to acquire new and emerging technologies, create new, state-of-the- art learning environments, and offer new training and more support for teachers so that students acquire the technological skills they will need to compete in a global economy.

Current Program Operations:

Under the Ed Tech program, the U.S. Department of Education provides grants to states following a formula. States may retain up to 5 percent of their allocations for state-level activities, and must award at least one-half of the remainder competitively to eligible districts. A state may elect to award up to 100 percent of the subgrant funds on a competitive basis.

The Department strongly encourages States to award all of the funds competitively. Larger, competitive grants potentially will have a greater impact than smaller formula grants awarded across all of a state’s districts.