Requirements

To be eligible to receive E-Rate discounts, public and charter schools in Texas must obtain [|technology plan approval] from Texas Education Agency. To meet E-Rate requirements of the FCC Fifth Report and Order, [|FCC 04-190], released August 13, 2004, technology plans must include the following five elements: Technology plans should align district goals and objectives for infrastructure and Internet access with professional development and curriculum reform.
 * E-Rate Technology Plan Requirements**
 * 1) The plan must establish clear goals and a realistic strategy for using telecommunications and information technology to improve education or library services;
 * 2) The plan must have a professional development strategy to ensure that staff know how to use these new technologies to improve education or library services;
 * 3) The plan must include an assessment of the telecommunication services, hardware, software, and other services that will be needed to improve education or library services;
 * 4) The plan must provide a sufficient budget to acquire and support the non-discounted elements of the plan: the hardware, software, professional development and other services that will be needed to implement the strategy; and
 * 5) The plan must include an evaluation process that enables the school or library to monitor progress toward the specified goals and make mid-course corrections in response to new developments and opportunities and they arise.

> a. identify and promote curricula and teaching strategies that integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction, based on a review of relevant research, leading to improvements in student academic achievement, as measured by challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards; and > b. provide ongoing, sustained professional development for teachers, principals, administrators, and school library media personnel serving the local educational agency, to further the effective use of technology in the classroom or library media center, including, if applicable, a list of the entities that will be partners with the local educational agency involved in providing the ongoing, sustained professional development.
 * No Child Left Behind, Title II, D identifies 12 criteria that must be addressed by schools.**
 * 1) A description of how the applicant will use Federal funds to improve the student academic achievement, including technology literacy, of all students attending schools served by the local educational agency and to improve the capacity of all teachers teaching in schools served by the local educational agency to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction.
 * 2) A description of the applicant's specific goals for using advanced technology to improve student academic achievement aligned with challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards.
 * 3) A description of the steps the applicant will take to ensure that all students and teachers in schools served by the local educational agency involved have increased access to educational technology, including how the agency would use funds under this subpart (such as combining the funds with funds from other sources), to help ensure that students in high-poverty and high-needs schools, or schools identified for improvement or corrective action, have access to technology; and teachers are prepared to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction.
 * 4) A description of how the applicant will:
 * 1) A description of the type and costs of technologies to be acquired under this subpart, including services, software, and digital curricula, and including specific provisions for interoperability among components of such technologies.
 * 2) A description of how the applicant will coordinate activities carried out with funds provided under this subpart with technology-related activities carried out with funds available from other Federal, State, and local sources.
 * 3) A description of how the applicant will integrate technology (including software and other electronically delivered learning materials) into curricula and instruction, and a timeline for such integration.
 * 4) A description of how the applicant will encourage the development and utilization of innovative strategies for the delivery of specialized or rigorous academic courses and curricula through the use of technology, including distance learning technologies, particularly for those areas that would not otherwise have access to such courses and curricula due to geographical isolation or insufficient resources.
 * 5) A description of how the applicant will ensure the effective use of technology to promote parental involvement and increase communication with parents, including a description of how parents will be informed of the technology being applied in their child's education so that the parents are able to reinforce at home the instruction their child receives at school.
 * 6) A description of how programs will be developed, where applicable, in collaboration with adult literacy service providers, to maximize the use of technology.
 * 7) A description of the process and accountability measures that the applicant will use to evaluate the extent to which activities funded are effective in integrating technology into curricula and instruction, increasing the ability of teachers to teach, and enabling students to meet challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards.
 * 8) A description of the supporting resources (such as services, software, other electronically delivered learning materials, and print resources) that will be acquired to ensure successful and effective uses of technology.