To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize a program to prepare teachers for digital age learners.

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.