Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 5.djvu/160

 108 STAT. 3650 PUBLIC LAW 103-382—OCT. 20, 1994 geographic region of the United States shall be served by such a consortium. "(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Each consortium receiving a grant under this section shall— "(A) be composed of State educational agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, or a combination thereof; "(B) in cooperation with State and local educational - agencies, develop a regional program that addresses professional development, technical assistance, and information resource dissemination, with special emphasis on meeting the documented needs of educators and learners in the region; and "(C) foster regional cooperation and resource and coursework sharing. " (b) FUNCTIONS. — "(1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. — Each consortium receiving a grant under this section shall, to the extent practicable— "(A) collaborate with State educational agencies and local educational agencies requesting collaboration, particularly in the development of strategies for assisting those schools with the highest numbers or percentages of disadvantaged students with little or no access to technology in the classroom; "(B) provide information, in coordination with information available from the Secretary, to State educational agencies, local educational agencies, schools and adult education programs, on the types and features of various educational technology equipment and software available, evaluate and make recommendations on equipment and software that support the National Education Goals and are suited for a school's particular needs, and compile and share information regarding creative and effective applications of technology in the classroom and school library media centers in order to support the purposes of this part; "(C) collaborate with such State educational agencies, local educational agencies, or schools requesting to particif pate in the tailoring of software programs and other supporting materials to meet challenging State content standards or challenging State student performance standards that may be developed; and "(D) provide technical assistance to facilitate use of the electronic dissemination networks by State and local educational agencies and schools throughout the region. "(2) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. — Each consortium receiving a grant under this section shall, to the extent practicable— "(A) develop and implement, in collaboration with State educational agencies and institutions of higher education, ' technology-specific, ongoing professional development, such as— "(i) intensive school year and summer workshops that use teachers, school librarians, and school library personnel to train other teachers, school librsirians, and other school library media personnel; and "(ii) distance professional development, including—

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