April 1, 2003. Commissioner Lana C. Seivers announced the award of thirteen competitive technology grants to schools in Tennessee.  Funded under Title II Part D (EdTech) of the No Child Left Behind act, these grants will give the schools receiving them opportunity for whole school professional development under the guidance of a full time technology coach.  Grant awards for $300,000 fund the programs through August 15, 2004.  Seventy applications were submitted from thirty-seven systems across the state.  Four of the awards were made to rural schools.

The goals of the grant are to improve academic achievement through the use of technology; ensure that every student is technologically literate by the end of eighth grade; and encourage effective integration of technology with teacher training and curriculum to establish research-based instructional methods that can be widely implemented as best practices.  As part of their grants, the schools will develop a library of portfolio instruments for assessing student technology literacy.  The Department of Education will provide these instruments for all schools in Tennessee to use