-+Competitive+Grant+Excerpts

Introduction
http://education.vermont.gov/new/pdfdoc/pgm_edtech/title_II_spark_070108.pdf

From page 1: •	The focus of this grant is to promote student centered learning and flexible learning environments by providing modest funding amounts for program development in the area of classroom-based instruction through  full time student access to computer technology. There will be three awards of $20,000 awarded to schools demonstrating the ability and commitment to carry out a “starter” initiative on portable computing for a grade level group of students. One of the crucial aspects of the program will be the fostering of student centered learning concepts and the 25% professional development requirement ($5000.00) should address this specifically.

From page 2: •	Must use a minimum of twenty-five percent (25%) of these funds for ongoing, sustained, intensive, high-quality professional development in integrating and using advanced technologies in instruction and in new learning environments to: a.	Address student-centered learning b.	Let teachers use the Internet & other technology to communicate with parents, other teachers, principals, & administrators, and to retrieve internet-based learning resources c.	Lead to improvements in classroom instruction in the core academic subjects

From page 3: A.  Purpose:   The purpose of this grant is to promote student-centered learning and flexible classroom environments through student use of portable computing devices and teacher tools for classroom instruction. The intention of the grant is to foster classrooms in which students and teachers utilize technology to create a student-centered learning experience. Grantee should approach this proposal as a "jump-start" as funds may or may not be available in successive funding years. Schools should consider carefully the long-term aspects that may impact decisions from their local school board on future funding. B.	Requirements: The application must outline the intention of the school to utilize the funds for a student centered learning environment in which both students and teachers utilize technology for their work. Best proposals will tie grant goals to direct instruction in specific classrooms (e.g. ongoing Social Studies classroom embarking on student-centered project around issues of world-wide oil consumption or Science classrooms tackling water quality studies in local communities over a period of time). The application must strive to convince the reviewers that the applying district or supervisory union has the capacity to support this project and that the size and/or scope of the grant are appropriate. An outline of the grant evaluation plan that is aligned to the project goals must be included in the application. Finally, an itemized budget must be included (see Budget Page). a.	The grant will support the following: i.	“x” number of computing devices for grade level classroom ii. 25% of funds targeting professional development structured towards supporting teacher understanding of student-centered environments and the use of technology to support learning within those environments. iii. Other devices as seen necessary for classrooms to achieve stated grant goals. Some of these devices may be: a computer LCD projector, an interactive white board, a classroom response system, etc.