51871.
(a) The Digital Education Equity Pilot Program (DEEPP) is hereby established, and shall be administered by the department, to establish model programs and strategies for providing cost-effective technical assistance and teacher professional development to local educational agencies on the implementation of educational technology as set forth in policies of the state board. In administering the DEEPP, the department shall administer and fund the establishment of four pilot county offices of education, as provided in subdivision (b), to develop and establish effective professional development and technical support that may be adopted or adapted by each of the remaining 54 county offices of education, to more effectively address
locally determined educational needs with the use of technology, including, but not necessarily limited to, all of the following areas:(1) Professional development for teachers, school administrators, and certificated and classified staff.
(2) Promoting strategies and best practices for increasing the use of technology in classroom instruction.
(3) Digital resource selection and use for pupil instruction.
(4) Digital network infrastructure and needed bandwidth for schools and homes.
(5) Technical assistance to local educational agencies in developing a support system to operate and maintain technology infrastructure
to improve pupil recordkeeping and tracking related to the use of technology to improve pupil instruction.
(6) Planning and coordination with, and support for, the local funding and implementation of federal, state, and local programs.
(7) Accessing and using a variety of funding sources for instructional technology.
(8) Technical assistance and information to support access, planning, and the use of high-speed telecommunications networks.
(9) Technology planning and implementation assistance to rural and technologically underserved local educational agencies and technologically underserved pupil groups.
(10) Assistance in the use of online instruction to replace or supplement classroom instruction when necessary, and to establish online and hybrid learning proficiency for teachers as requested by the local educational agencies served by the county office of education.
(11) Helping to ensure that instruction using technology is aligned to the state’s academic content standards and incorporates related pupil learning assessment.
(b) On or before June 30, 2024, the department, in consultation with the executive director of the state board, shall authorize grants to the Napa, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Riverside four
county offices of education to serve as the pilots for the DEEPP. They DEEPP after completing a request for application process. The selected pilot county offices of education shall develop, implement, and demonstrate effective professional development strategies and support services for school districts and charter schools they serve within their jurisdictions. Grant funding may be awarded and received for subsequent three-year terms.
(c) The strategies and practices developed by these the
four
selected
pilot county offices of education may shall be disseminated and
may be adopted by the remaining 54 county offices of education as needed.
(d) Each of the four pilot county offices of education shall be awarded grant funding to Applicant county offices of education shall be evaluated based on the extent to which they each provide a plan in their application that clearly documents or describes how it plans to address all of the following:
(1) Knowledge of technology to improve teaching and learning.
(2) Technology planning and technical assistance.
(3) Proven success in providing professional development in technology and curriculum integration.
(4) An ability to work collaboratively with local educational agencies and businesses in the region.
(5) The ability to deliver services specified in this article to all local educational agencies in the county served by the county office of education.
(6) The support of local educational agencies for the county office of education application in the region.
(7) Specific strategies for documenting and addressing the needs of local
educational agencies and technologically underserved pupil groups.
(8) A plan for evaluating the implementation of, access to, use of, and local impact of, the services provided by the county office of education.
(9) The capacity to assist in the use of online instruction when necessary.
(10) A commitment to help ensure that instruction using technology is aligned to the state’s academic content standards and incorporates related pupil learning assessments.
(11) A strategy and staff level necessary to assist additional county offices of education to adopt or adapt the effective professional development and technical support strategies established by one or
more of the four pilot county offices of education.
(e) Each of the four selected pilot county offices of education shall develop or test established strategies for the delivery of professional development and technical support to be made available for other county offices of education to adopt or adapt according to local needs.
(f) To receive funding for the second and subsequent years of a grant awarded pursuant to subdivision (b), the four selected pilot county offices of education shall each submit an annual report to the department for approval that describes the services provided, the
local educational agencies served within its jurisdiction, and the funds expended for those services described in this article, demonstrates successful strategies for professional development and equitable uses of educational technology, and describes the observed and anticipated impact on instructional practice supported by technology.
51872.
(a) The department shall establish an Office of Educational Technology and Digital Equity with sufficient staff to administer this article as well as other duties. The duties of the department under this article shall include, but are not necessarily limited to, all of the following:(1) Providing for the statewide coordination, planning, and evaluation of technology programs and resources to include the planning and services provided by the four selected pilot county offices of education as described in this article.
(2) Providing sufficient staff to provide ongoing support, direction, and coordination of the regional and statewide educational technology services described in this article.
(3) Advancing the use of technology in the curriculum and in the administration of elementary and secondary schools.
(4) Providing ongoing planning, funding, and policy information to all other county offices of education as needed, for planning and distribution to local educational agencies served by those county offices of education.
(5) Coordinating educational technology planning, policies, and information with other divisions of the department to include, but not necessarily be limited to, curriculum, assessment, technical support,
budgeting, and professional development.
(b) The Superintendent may provide centralized statewide educational technology services that address locally defined needs and are more efficiently and effectively provided on a statewide basis. The department may contract with a county office of education to provide specific educational technology services that may include, but are not necessarily limited to, any or all of the following:
(1) Review of electronic learning resources, including, but not necessarily limited to, software, online resources, and video, for alignment with the content standards adopted by the state board and for the results of reviews to be accessible online, as needed by all public educators in the state.
(2) Professional development focused on digital school leadership for educational administrators in the areas of data-driven analytics, equity, and accessibility, integrating technology into standards-based curriculum, technology planning, professional development needs of staff, digital citizenship and privacy aligned to the Model School Library Standards developed pursuant to Section 18101, and financial planning for technology.
(3) Access for schools to training, support, and other resources for technical professionals in the state.
(c) The Superintendent shall annually submit a written report to the state board and the Legislature on the services provided, persons served, and funds expended for purposes of this article. A report to be submitted to the Legislature
pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.