Summary:

The federal government, through the Department of Education, distributed millions of dollars to state education departments as part of the American Recovery and Restoration Act (ARRA). Many districts applied for and received thousands of dollars in order to make improvements to schools and impact student achievement. Several districts purchased technology equipment, along with the necessary supporting infrastructure, as a resource in the classroom with the ARRA funds. This paper examines the micro-level resource allocation of funds as it pertains to instructional technology. It identified 103 districts that requested funds for instructional technology and selected one district to track the expenditures of the money. It outlines the disposition of the monies at the district level and school levels in three categories: instructional technology, technology infrastructure/support, and non-computer technology. The district has not spent its entire allocation of ARRA funds, but has currently used 46% of its expended funds on instructional technology. FULL MANUSCRIPT AVAILABLE AT: http://cnx.org/content/m37164/latest/