What's It All About?
Teachers in  Tennessee now have an opporutnity to earn up to $1150 through the Technology Literacy Grant 2001.  To do so each teacher develops and teaches units as they did in the TLG 2000. 

Purpose: 
1. To integrate the Internet into classroom instruction and have teachers using this resource with their students to overcome identified learning deficiencies. 
2. Use the Internet and teacher-defined learning activities to support student learning goals defined in the School Improvement Plan. 
3. Overcome problems of TLG2000 where many teachers were individually applying at one time. 
4. Meet Federal Guidelines that require a competition among School Systems for the TLG2001 Technology Literacy Funds. 

What Do I Have to Do?
Components of the Grant Process:
1. Teachers will use the Technology Literacy Workbench to develop up to 2 units of study (tracks, etc.) that meet defined student learning gaps. This is essentially the same tool that was used for the TLG2000 grant process, with each teacher defining a learning gap and unit. The tracks must be different than the ones approved last year. 
2. Schools will prepare a "School Learning Plan" that is built upon at least one of the student learning goals identified in the School Improvement Plan. The student learning goals may be taken from the School Improvement Plan that was submitted and refined during the school year 1999-2000 or a school may use a goal that will be submitted as part of its plan that is to be submitted in December, 2001. 
3. The TLG2001 grant proposal consists of the responses to the questions in the attached Grant Submission Form. The entire School Improvement Plan does not need to be submitted for TLG 2001. 
4. The Superintendent or designated representative must sign off on the Grant Submission and may submit the forms for as many schools as are prepared to participate in the grant process. A Superintendent may submit a school's form, but no later than September 30, 2000. Any Grant Submission Form may be submitted at any time before this date. 
5. The School System must submit its latest version of a 3-year Technology Plan. This is due no later than Oct. 15, 2000. If a system is unable to do this, special technical assistance may be requested and this requirement is postponed, but a Technology Plan must be submitted to fulfill the requirements of this grant and for e-rate funding. 
6. The Grant Submissions will be evaluated and approval given to as many as possible. This timeline of submission and evaluation is designed so approval may be provided and teachers may begin working on the units of study that are expected for the School Learning Plan during the summer. 

The federal guidelines require a competition among school systems.
Deadlines for Submitting TLG 2001 Grant Proposals: The TLG2001 is set up with 3 competition opportunities; so school systems can select which one will work best for each. 
For all Grant Submission proposals submitted by June 15, every effort will be made to approve them in two weeks. 
For all Grant Submission proposals submitted by June 30, every effort will be made to approve them in two weeks. 
All Grant Submission proposals must be received by September 30, 2000, and every effort will be made to approve the final entries in two weeks. 
School systems are the only entities permitted to submit grant proposals. A school system may submit some of its schools in any of the 3 time periods. However, a school’s plan must be submitted in its entirety and the school is eligible for approval of only one plan. Amendments or changes to any school’s plan are only permitted if the initial Grant Submission Proposal is not approved. Such non-approved plans may be resubmitted up until the final deadline of Sept. 30, 2000. 

How Do I Earn the Money?
Approval of Grant Proposals will be based upon the following: 
(a) Approvals will be made with priority given to those schools that are currently low academic performing schools. Schools should examine their Report Card data and look at the # of students falling below average academically and incorporate this information into their student learning goal. 
(b) Approvals will also examine the quality of the School Learning Plan to provide support and training for teachers so they are able to complete the TLG2001 defined teaching units successfully 
(c) Approvals will also be awarded based upon the number of free/reduced lunch students in the school. 

Grant Awards:The initial approval of a Grant Submission Proposal determines the maximum amount of money that may be received for each school in the school system. The actual amount received is dependent upon the teachers submitting and receiving approval on the units of study. The money must be spent in the teacher’s classroom or school (see Option 1 and 2 below) who completes the program. 

The design of this project is to impact student learning during the entire school year of 2000-2001. Proposals submitted in the early rounds (June 15, 2000 and June 30, 2000), if acceptable will have more certainty of being funded than those in the last round of submission, due September 30, 2000. 

Distribution of Funds:
Federal guidelines require that money be distributed based on reimbursement of school system expenditures. Initial Grant Awards will be announced, but money will not be distributed until teachers have successfully completed the units of study that meet a defined learning gap, and purchase orders or receipts for expenditures are submitted to the Department of Education for reimbursement. 
The first unit completed per teacher will be awarded $600; the second will be awarded $300 and the third unit if completed will be awarded $250. The maximum award per teacher is $1150. 

Award dollars may be spent on option 1 or option 2, at the discretion of the Superintendent:
Option 1: Awards may be spent on the reimbursement of technology hardware, software or supplies in the classroom of the teacher who has successfully completed the unit(s). Awards may also be reimbursed for professional development options identified by the teacher who has successfully completed the unit(s). 
Option 2: Awards may be spent on the reimbursement of technology hardware, software or supplies in the school of the teacher who has successfully completed the unit(s). Awards may also be reimbursed for professional development options identified for the school of the teacher who has successfully completed the unit(s). 

What Are the Deadlines?
Deadlines for Completion of Teachers’ Units of Study
In order to facilitate timely submission of intermediate products and obtain evaluative comments as the project proceeds, the following deadlines will be in effect: 
"Initial Steps for the Unit of Study" are defined on the Workbench as 5 items: learning gap, evidence, curriculum or assessment standard, pre-surveys and a relevant on-line web site identified. 
"Final Steps for the Unit of Study" are defined on the Workbench as completing all tasks for a unit of study for 1 to 2 weeks of student work. These steps include the approved initial steps, track, rubric, teaching the unit, post-surveys, and teacher reflection. (See separate document for further detail, "Unit of Study Requirements"). 

Deadlines for submitting Teachers’ Units of Study:
1st Unit Initial Steps: Oct. 30, 2000 1st Unit Final Steps for Review: Dec. 15, 2000 
Next Unit Initial Steps: Jan. 15, 2001 Next Unit 
DEADLINES EXTENDED: The final submission deadline for those completing two or three units of study has been moved from Feb. 19 at 5:00 pm central standard time to Feb. 23 at 5:00 pm central standard time. 
The Mar. 1st and Apr. 1st deadlines have also been extended to Mar. 9th and Apr. 9th, respectively. 

If a deadline for a unit is missed, the opportunity to submit that unit is lost, including the dollars associated with its completion. For example, if a teacher is approved to submit 2 units, but misses the Oct. 30 deadline, then only 2 units may be submitted, according to the remaining deadlines indicated above. 
Upon approval of Teachers’ Units of Study, request for reimbursement for receipts or purchase orders may be made on a monthly basis to the Department of Education beginning in January 2001. 

These steps are the same steps as teachers followed in completing TLG 2000. A teacher may submit up to 2 units, but they are submitted one at a time, according to the time schedule in the Grant Guidelines. A teacher cannot submit a unit that was