§ 1032a — Uses Of Funds

(a) An eligible consortium that receives a grant or enters into a contract or cooperative agreement under this subpart shall use funds made available under this subpart to carry out a project that— (1) develops long-term partnerships among members of the consortium that are focused on effective teaching with modern digital tools and content that substantially connect preservice preparation of teacher candidates with high-need schools; or (2) transforms the way departments, schools, and colleges of education teach classroom technology integration, including the principles of universal design, to teacher candidates. (b) In carrying out a project under subsection (a)(1), an eligible consortium shall— (1) provide teacher candidates, early in their preparation, with field experiences with technology in educational settings; (2) build the skills of teacher candidates to support technology-rich instruction, assessment and learning management in content areas, technology literacy, an understanding of the principles of universal design, and the development of other skills for entering the workforce; (3) provide professional development in the use of technology for teachers, administrators, and content specialists who participate in field placement; (4) provide professional development of technology pedagogical skills for faculty of departments, schools, and colleges of education and arts and sciences; (5) implement strategies for the mentoring of teacher candidates by members of the consortium with respect to technology implementation; (6) evaluate teacher candidates during the first years of teaching to fully assess outcomes of the project; (7) build collaborative learning communities for technology integration within the consortium to sustain meaningful applications of technology in the classroom during teacher preparation and early career practice; and (8) evaluate the effectiveness of the project. (c) In carrying out a project under subsection (a)(2), an eligible consortium shall— (1) redesign curriculum to require collaboration between the department, school, or college of education faculty and the department, school, or college of arts and sciences faculty who teach content or methods courses for training teacher candidates; (2) collaborate between the department, school, or college of education faculty and the department, school, or college of arts and science faculty and academic content specialists at the local educational agency to educate preservice teachers who can integrate technology and pedagogical skills in content areas; (3) collaborate between the department, school, or college of education faculty and the department, school, or college of arts and sciences faculty who teach courses to preservice teachers to— (A) develop and implement a plan for preservice teachers and continuing educators that demonstrates effective instructional strategies and application of such strategies in the use of digital tools to transform the teaching and learning process; and (B) better reach underrepresented preservice teacher populations with programs that connect such preservice teacher populations with applications of technology; (4) collaborate among faculty and students to create and disseminate case studies of technology applications in classroom settings with a goal of improving student academic achievement in high-need schools; (5) provide additional technology resources for preservice teachers to plan and implement technology applications in classroom settings that provide evidence of student learning; and (6) bring together expertise from departments, schools, or colleges of education, arts and science faculty, and academic content specialists at the local educational agency to share and disseminate technology applications in the classroom through teacher preparation and into early career practice.