APTS Grant Center Submits Comments to U.S. Department of Education
APTS Grant Center Submits Comments to U.S. Department of Education on Discretionary Grants
September 9, 2010
The APTS Grant Center, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service submitted comments on the U.S. Secretary of Education's proposed priorities for future Department of Education discretionary grant programs on Tuesday, September 7, 2010. We highlighted the fantastic work that stations are doing around education, suggested that the Department encourage the use of all available media technology by applicants and expressed concern over the elimination of the Ready To Teach program.
UPDATE: In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released a finalized collection of supplemental priorities for their discretionary grant programs in response to all comments filed. Two of the suggestions included in our comments were addressed in the final version of the following two priorities:
- Integration of media and technology: As our comments requested, DOE added an emphasis on educational technology that mirrors the commitment they have expressed in previous documents. The final priority is for "projects that are designed to improve student achievement or teacher effectiveness through the use of high-quality digital tools or materials, which may include preparing teachers to use the technology to improve instruction, as well as developing, implementing or evaluating digital tools or materials."
- Use of digital media for teacher professional development: In line with our request to encourage the use of digital media for teacher professional development, DOE changed the new Technology priority to include professional development. There is also an emphasis on professional development in the priority for projects that improve the effectiveness and distribution of effective teachers or principals.
Read more about these changes, and what them mean for public broadcasting stations.
