article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Preparing Teachers for Digital Age Learners Act of 2008''. SEC. 2. TEACHER PREPARATION. Part B of title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1041 et seq.) is amended to read as follows: ``PART B--PREPARING TEACHERS FOR DIGITAL AGE LEARNERS ``SEC. 221. DEFINITIONS. ``For purposes of this part: ``(1) Arts and sciences.--The term `arts and sciences' means-- ``(A) when referring to an organizational unit of an institution of higher education, any academic unit that offers 1 or more academic majors in disciplines or content areas corresponding to the academic subject matter areas in which teachers provide instruction; and ``(B) when referring to a specific academic subject area, the disciplines or content areas in which academic majors are offered by the arts and sciences organizational unit. ``(2) High-need school.--The term `high-need school' means a public elementary school or public secondary school that-- ``(A) is among the highest 25 percent of schools served by the local educational agency that serves the school, in terms of the percentage of students from families with incomes below the poverty line; or ``(B) is designated with a school locale code of Rural: Fringe, Rural: Distant, or Rural: Remote, as determined by the Secretary. ``(3) Poverty line.--The term `poverty line' means the poverty line (as defined in section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applicable to a family of the size involved. ``(4) Professional development.--The term `professional development' has the meaning given the term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. ``SEC. 222. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. ``(a) Program Authority.--The Secretary is authorized to award grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, eligible consortia to pay the Federal share of the costs of projects to-- ``(1) graduate teacher candidates who are prepared to use modern information, communication, and learning tools to-- ``(A) improve student learning, assessment, and learning management; and ``(B) help students develop skills to succeed in higher education and enter the workforce; and ``(2) strengthen and develop partnerships among the stakeholders in teacher preparation to transform teacher education and ensure technology rich learning environments throughout a teacher candidate's pre-service education, including clinical experiences. ``(b) Amount and Duration.--A grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this part-- ``(1) shall be for not more than $2,000,000; ``(2) shall be for a 3-year period; and ``(3) may be renewed for one additional year. ``(c) Non-Federal Share Requirement.--The Federal share of the cost of any project funded under this part shall not exceed 75 percent. The non-Federal share of the cost of such project may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including services. ``(d) Definition of Eligible Consortium.--In this part, the term `eligible consortium' means a consortium of members that includes the following: ``(1) At least one institution of higher education that awards baccalaureate or masters degrees and prepares teachers for initial entry into teaching. ``(2) At least one State educational agency or local educational agency. ``(3) A department, school, or college of education at an institution of higher education. ``(4) A department, school, or college of arts and sciences at an institution of higher education. ``(5) At least one entity with the capacity to contribute to the technology-related reform of teacher preparation programs, which may be a professional association, foundation, museum, library, for-profit business, public or private nonprofit organization, community-based organization, or other entity. ``SEC. 223. USES OF FUNDS. ``(a) In General.--An eligible consortium that receives a grant or enters into a contract or cooperative agreement under this part shall use funds made available under this part 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 pre- service preparation of teacher candidates with high-needs 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) Uses of Funds for Partnership Grants.--In carrying out a project under subsection (a)(1), an eligible consortium shall-- ``(1) provide teacher candidates, early in their preparation, with field experiences in educational settings with technology; ``(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 success in higher education and 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 with respect to technology implementation by members of the consortium; ``(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) Uses of Funds for Transformation Grants.--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 pre- service 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 pre- service teachers to-- ``(A) develop and implement a plan for pre-service 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 pre-service teacher populations with programs that connect such pre-service 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 achievement in high-need schools; ``(5) provide additional technology resources for pre- service 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. ``SEC. 224. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS. ``To be eligible to receive a grant or enter into a contract or cooperative agreement under this part, an eligible consortium shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. Such application shall include the following: ``(1) A description of the project to be carried out with the grant, including how the project will-- ``(A) develop a long-term partnership focused on effective teaching with modern digital tools and content that substantially connects pre-service preparation of teacher candidates with high-need schools; or ``(B) transform the way departments, schools, and colleges of education teach classroom technology integration, including the principles of universal design, to teacher candidates. ``(2) A demonstration of-- ``(A) the commitment, including the financial commitment, of each of the members of the consortium for the proposed project; and ``(B) the support of the leadership of each organization that is a member of the consortium for the proposed project. ``(3) A description of how each member of the consortium will participate in the project. ``(4) A description of how the State or local educational agency will incorporate the project into the agency's technology plan, if such a plan already exists. ``(5) A description of how the project will be continued after Federal funds are no longer available under this part for the project. ``(6) A description of how the project will incorporate-- ``(A) State teacher technology standards; and ``(B) State student technology standards. ``(7) A plan for the evaluation of the project, which shall include benchmarks to monitor progress toward specific project objectives. ``SEC. 225. EVALUATION. ``Not less than 10 percent of the funds awarded to an eligible consortium to carry out a project under this part shall be used to evaluate the effectiveness of such project. ``SEC. 226. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. ``There is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 to carry out this part for fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 2 succeeding fiscal years.''.
summary: Preparing Teachers for Digital Age Learners Act of 2008 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to replace the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology program of part B of title II with the Preparing Teachers for Digital Age Learners program. Authorizes the Secretary to provide funds, through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements, to consortia of institutions of higher education, states or local educational agencies, and entities able to assist in the technology-related reform of teacher preparation programs, covering up to three-fourths of the costs of projects to: (1) develop long-term partnerships among consortium members that are focused on effective teaching with modern digital tools and content that connect pre-service teacher preparation with high-need schools; or (2) transform the way departments, schools, and colleges of education teach classroom technology integration to teacher candidates.