CFDA Number: 84.303A
Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants
Also Known As: Challenge Grants, TICG

This program provided grants to LEAs to build capacity and improve teaching and learning with technology.

Grants were five-year development and demonstration projects. Each consortium developed a plan to begin start-up activities in year one, including initial trials of new learning content and sustained professional development for teachers. Years two and three were devoted to refinement and expansion of the new applications of technology. Years four and five supported systemwide adoptions that could become self-sustaining after the fifth year.

The Technology Innovation Challenge Grants (TICG) program supports partnerships among educators, business and industry, and other community organizations to develop innovative applications of technology and plans for fully integrating technology into schools. The program provides competitive 5-year awards to consortia that include at least one local educational agency with a high percentage or number of children living in poverty. Consortium members also include other local educational agencies, state educational agencies, and institutions of higher education, businesses, museums, libraries, academic content experts, software designers, and others. Priority is given to consortia that serve areas with high numbers of disadvantaged students or with the greatest need for educational technology, as well as consortia that provide direct benefits to students, ensure sustained professional development for teachers and other educators, and devote substantial additional resources to the project.

Over the past 6 years, the TICG program has supported partnerships among educators, business and industry, and other community organizations to develop innovative strategies that fully integrated technology into standards-based curricula. The program has funded 100 projects. These projects include programs designed to:

• develop standards-based curricula in a wide range of subjects;
• provide professional development for teachers;
• increase student access to technology and online resources;
• provide technology training and support for parents in low-income areas;
• devise techniques for assisting teachers in developing computer-based instruction;
• create strategies for accelerating the academic progress of at-risk children via technology; and
• develop new approaches to measuring the impact of educational technology on student learning.

The purpose of this Web site is to provide local school districts, state education agencies, institutions of high education, and the public at large information on these technology projects. Abstracts for each project are available on the Web site that include contact information, scope of work, and project Web sites.