Archived: First Formative Evaluation of Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3)

Beginning in 1999, the PT3 program began awarding discretionary grants around the country to support widespread reforms in the ways prospective teachers are prepared to use technology in the classroom. These grants were awarded to eligible consortium consisting primarily of schools of education partnered with schools of arts and sciences, school districts, nonprofits, and other entities interested in reforming the way prospective teachers are prepared to use technology in the classroom. The purpose of the First Formative Evaluation of PT3 is to evaluate the activities, strategies and trends of the 224 grantees awarded funds in 1999. The formative evaluation examines and documents the types of reforms that are taking place within PT3 consortia, how and why reforms occur, and the kinds of progress consortia have made in creating lasting change in the area of teacher preparation in technology.

What are the primary goals and objectives of PT3 grantees?
How have preservice teacher education programs provided training in the use of technology in the past, and in what ways are the PT3 grants enhancing and reforming this training?
What are the focus areas of reforms?
Are all preservice students being taught technology in the same way and at the same level regardless of the academic subject they will teach? Do instructional uses in technology differ according to subject area? Which technology area(s) are the focus of program reforms?
What strategies will be used, and what practices undertaken to redesign preservice teacher education curriculum to improve the efficiency of prospective teachers in the use of technology?
Who are consortium members?
What is the geographic location and distribution across urban, suburban, and rural areas of the preservice teacher education programs and participants they serve?
What cross-disciplinary collaborations and partnerships with K-12 schools and with schools of arts and sciences will be in place and for what purpose?
What (if any) outside evaluators will be assessing the impact of grantees?
What key questions will be asked? How will the evaluation be undertaken, and how will the grantees and other interested parties use the evaluation?
In what ways will grantees ensure that system reform of teacher preparation results in sustained, institutionalized changes?
What does the research identify what good preservice teacher training looks like with respect to educational technology?

General Evaluation Design and Data Collection Activities

The evaluation will include the following key tasks: 1) Literature review on high-quality preservice training in technology; 2) Two sets of in-depth case studies to 10 grantees around the country; 3) Grant Review and Analysis report; 3) Development of web-based annual program performance reports and analyses of data collected through these reports from all 1999 grantees; and 4) Report on assessment instruments for testing the technology competency of prospective teachers, and on design issues in future evaluation work.

Timeline

The evaluation is being conducted from September 1999 through February 2001.

			U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PLANNING AND EVALUATION SERVICE First Formative Evaluation of Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) This document also available as MS Word (39K) Acrobat (8K)

		Purpose Beginning in 1999, the PT3 program began awarding discretionary grants around the country to support widespread reforms in the ways prospective teachers are prepared to use technology in the classroom. These grants were awarded to eligible consortium consisting primarily of schools of education partnered with schools of arts and sciences, school districts, nonprofits, and other entities interested in reforming the way prospective teachers are prepared to use technology in the classroom. The purpose of the First Formative Evaluation of PT3 is to evaluate the activities, strategies and trends of the 224 grantees awarded funds in 1999. The formative evaluation examines and documents the types of reforms that are taking place within PT3 consortia, how and why reforms occur, and the kinds of progress consortia have made in creating lasting change in the area of teacher preparation in technology. Research Questions Technology Literacy Challenge Fund and E-rate What are the primary goals and objectives of PT3 grantees? How have preservice teacher education programs provided training in the use of technology in the past, and in what ways are the PT3 grants enhancing and reforming this training? What are the focus areas of reforms? Are all preservice students being taught technology in the same way and at the same level regardless of the academic subject they will teach? Do instructional uses in technology differ according to subject area? Which technology area(s) are the focus of program reforms? What strategies will be used, and what practices undertaken to redesign preservice teacher education curriculum to improve the efficiency of prospective teachers in the use of technology? Who are consortium members? What is the geographic location and distribution across urban, suburban, and rural areas of the preservice teacher education programs and participants they serve? What cross-disciplinary collaborations and partnerships with K-12 schools and with schools of arts and sciences will be in place and for what purpose? What (if any) outside evaluators will be assessing the impact of grantees? What key questions will be asked? How will the evaluation be undertaken, and how will the grantees and other interested parties use the evaluation? In what ways will grantees ensure that system reform of teacher preparation results in sustained, institutionalized changes? What does the research identify what good preservice teacher training looks like with respect to educational technology? General Evaluation Design and Data Collection Activities The evaluation will include the following key tasks: 1) Literature review on high-quality preservice training in technology; 2) Two sets of in-depth case studies to 10 grantees around the country; 3) Grant Review and Analysis report; 3) Development of web-based annual program performance reports and analyses of data collected through these reports from all 1999 grantees; and 4) Report on assessment instruments for testing the technology competency of prospective teachers, and on design issues in future evaluation work. Timeline The evaluation is being conducted from September 1999 through February 2001.


Last modified on 11/30/05

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