The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) to distribute unspent Federal Fiscal Year 2007 and new Federal Fiscal Year 2008 funds allocated under the No Child Left Behind: Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund. The State Agency for Higher Education Partnership grants are funded by the Title II: Part A Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) component of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). The goal of this funding is to improve student academic achievement through initiatives that provide high-quality training for teachers that are grounded in scientific research.
The DHE will award competitive sub-grants to eligible Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) and local educational agency (LEA) partnerships. The partnerships will use the funds to conduct professional development activities to enhance high school teacher knowledge in the area of quantitative reasoning/literacy, mathematical reasoning, and/or mathematical modeling, in order to ensure that teachers, paraprofessionals, and (if appropriate) principals have this subject matter knowledge to raise student achievement in this content and to enhance students’ readiness for the rigor of college mathematics. ITQ funds cannot be used for curriculum development.
Under the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants Program, the DHE will make competitive grants to partnerships comprised, at a minimum, of the department that prepare teachers and arts and science faculty at Massachusetts public or independent degree-granting institutions of higher education, along with one or more high-need local school districts. In addition, these partnerships may include other school districts and higher education institutions.
Project directors or co-directors must be higher education faculty members and/or permanent staff persons with background and expertise in mathematics or mathematics education. Furthermore, participating IHEs must have a record of demonstrated effectiveness with an existing college level course in quantitative reasoning/literacy, mathematical reasoning, and/or mathematical modeling and the IHE faculty/staff must have experience working with high school teachers to ensure that these teachers will acquire sufficient knowledge in the outlined topics and possess appropriate teaching methodologies to later design comparable high school courses or enhance existing courses.
The DHE currently has approximately $140,000 available to support up to three mini-grants that will run from May 2009 until February 2010. These funds will be allocated to partnership activities designed to enhance student achievement in mathematics in participating high-need school districts, which will increase the chance of student success and ultimately, reduce the number of Massachusetts students who are unprepared to begin credit-bearing mathematics courses upon college admission. This focus will align the 2009 projects with the mission of the Board of Higher Education (BHE) in the areas of college readiness and curriculum alignment.
No Child Left Behind Improving Teacher Quality State Grants Program Purpose
The goal of this federal grant program is to help partnerships develop innovative initiatives that prepare, train, recruit, and retain highly-qualified educators so that all students can achieve high academic standards. These initiatives should be aligned with current Massachusetts’ education reform initiatives including the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS).
Funds must support one or more of the following types of activities to enhance student achievement in LEAs and schools participating in the partnerships:
· Professional development activities in core academic subjects to ensure that teachers, highly qualified paraprofessionals and, if appropriate, principals have subject matter knowledge in the academic subjects that the teachers teach, and
· Development and provision of assistance to LEAs and its teachers, highly qualified paraprofessionals, or school principals, in providing sustained, high-quality professional development activities that:
· ensure that those individuals can use challenging State academic content standards, student academic achievement standards, and State assessments to improve instructional practices and student academic achievement;
· may include intensive programs designed to prepare individuals who will return to a school to provide instruction related to the professional development described in the preceding paragraph to others in their schools; and
· may include activities of partnerships between one or more LEAs, one or more of the LEAs’ schools, and one or more IHEs for the purpose of improving teaching and learning at low-performing schools.
No Child Left Behind Improving Teacher Quality State Grants Program Priorities
The program priorities focus on closing the student achievement gap through innovative projects that address the following priorities:
Recruitment and Preparation
Professional Development and Retention
Massachusetts Educator Professional Development Priorities
The highest priorities for Massachusetts’ professional development initiatives in this round of funding are:
All projects shall meet the following requirements:
A high-need LEA is
defined as an LEA satisfying both criteria A and B described below:
A. (1) that serves at least 10,000 children from families with incomes below the poverty level; or (2) for which at least 20% of the children served by the agency are from families with incomes below the poverty line;
and
B. (1) for which there is a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic subjects or at the grade levels that the teachers were trained to teach; or (2) for which there is a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or licensing. (Section 2102)
See the list of MA school districts that meet the "percentage of children below the poverty line" eligibility criteria.
This law requires that no single participant in an eligible partnership (i.e., no single high-need LEA, no single IHE and its division that prepares teachers and principals, no single school of arts and sciences, and no single other partner) may "use" more than 50% of the subgrant. This provision does not focus on which partner receives the funds, but which partner directly benefits from them.
§ A. Be grounded in scientifically-based research. This is defined in the federal guidelines as “research that involves the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs.” [Section 9101(37) of ESEA as amended by No Child Left Behind]; and
§ B. Reflect an assessment of local needs of the school district’s teaching force in order to be able to have all students meet challenging State content and academic achievement standards.
Funded activities are restricted to students and teachers in Massachusetts schools.
All awards will fund partnership activities to enhance student achievement through high-quality, innovative professional development for teachers, paraprofessionals, or school principals to support professional development activities related to mathematics for college readiness.
The DHE expects to support up to three projects with a value range between $40,000 and $70,000, to run from May 2009 until February 2010. The announcement of awards will be made in April 2009. Projects may begin upon approval of the Interagency Service Agreement (for awards to public colleges and universities) and the Standard Contract (for awards to independent colleges and universities and nonprofit organizations).
Upon receipt of an award, an institution of higher education becomes a sub-recipient of federal assistance. It must retain all program and financial records for the funded project for a minimum of five years. The sub-recipient also is required to provide records and financial statements as well as access to those records and statements such that DHE can assure that an audit of the sub-recipient meets the requirements of OMB Circular A-21 or A-122. Disbursement of funds is contingent upon an approved Interagency Service Agreement or Standard Contract.
Timetable
|
Description |
Date |
|
Requests for Proposals Available |
February 13, 2009 |
|
On-line proposals due at DHE |
By noon on March 25, 2009 |
|
Announcement of Awards |
April 2009 |
|
Project Period Begins |
May 1, 2009 |