Montana Office of The

Montana Office of the

Commissioner of Higher Education

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Improving Teacher Quality State Grants

Title II, Part A

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB Act)

Grant Period: January 1, 2016 – December 15, 2016

Deadline for Proposals: October 30, 2015

Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education

2500 Broadway, Helena, MT 59620-3201

Phone: (406) 444-6570

Fax: (406) 444-1469

Email:

Year 2016 Awards

Based upon the past NCLB award the anticipated total amount to be awarded for

2015-2016 is $291,057. OCHE will award approximately three to six competitive grants, depending on the quality of the proposed projects and the amounts requested. The amount

awarded for each project will reflect a judgment about the project’s potential to provide sustained, high-quality professional development. Key considerations in evaluating amounts requested are institutional financial support and the relative cost effectiveness of the proposals submitted in terms of the number of participants served, the cost per

participants, priorities and assurances of participation by school districts. The grants will be examined based on the quality of the proposals submitted, the collaboration among partners, scientifically-based research, measurable objectives and final negotiated budget amounts within the constraints of the total funds available.

2016 Grant Timeline

October 30, 2015 Grant submission deadline December 1, 2015 Formal notification of grant awards Jan. 1, 2016-Dec. 15, 2016 Official funding period

March 15, 2017 End of fiscal year for 2016 grant awards

Eligibility

Basic Grant Project Requirements

In order to be eligible for the Improving Teacher Quality Grant provided by OCHE (the

SAHE), a proposed grant project must achieve the following:

• Develop and maintain a significant and equitable partnership involving:

one institution of higher education, including its division that prepares teachers and principals;

one school of arts and sciences; and

one high-need school.

• Develop a project that focuses on helping the high-need school ensure its teachers are highly qualified and have the knowledge and teaching skills they need to help all students achieve to high standards.

• Develop a project that contributes to high-quality teaching and leadership throughout the state.

• Develop a project based on scientifically-based research (e.g. research involving the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs).

For detailed information on grant requirements and project development, please visit the Title II Improving Teacher Quality Grant Program website.

Priorities for Funding

Montana’s Education Priorities

Working collectively with the Office of Public Instruction, the Governor's Office, and the Department of Labor and Industry, it is the mission of the Commissioner of Higher Education to

• Provide a lifetime continuum of quality education from preschool through adulthood;

• Graduate every high school student college- and workforce-ready;

• Increase the number of Montanans who earn college degrees;

• Increase academic access; and

• Increase student success.

By implementing measures that increase educational access and success, the Commissioner of Higher Education can effectively

• Decrease the time it takes to earn a degree;

• Decrease the overall cost of education;

• Increase college completion; and

• Ensure a workforce that is prepared to meet the dynamic needs of local economies.

ITQ Funding Priorities

Priority consideration is given to proposals that target one or more professional development opportunities for

• Low performing, “high-need” schools;

• Professional development aligned to the CCSS;

• Teacher recruitment and/or induction activities;

• Partnerships that increase access for teachers and students from historically underrepresented and underserved groups; and

• Professional development linked to student achievement.

Pathways to Achievement

Improving Teacher Quality grant partnerships must increase their commitment to rigorous and systematic approaches to collaborative professional learning by partnering with programs already in place to help meet Montana's education goals. Successful grant projects will focus on improving academic achievement by developing projects that enhance the efforts described in the following links:

Complete College Montana Montana Dual Credit Incentive Program

Montana Common Core Standards Main Street Montana Project

American Indian / Minority Achievement Program Graduation Matters Montana

Indian Education for All (IEFA) College!Now

Big Sky Pathways Developmental Education Reform

Montana Career Information System (MCIS) Math-in-CTE

Career and Technical Education (Carl D. Perkins)

Proposal Elements

Successful proposals will contain the following elements:

• Collaboration among colleges of education and colleges of arts/sciences;

• A full and clear explanation about how the proposed project will address an identified need in the LEA;

• Content focused on mathematics, science, foreign languages, English, reading or language arts, civics and government, economics, arts, history and geography;

• Collaboration among K-12 schools and post-secondary institutions, including a letter of intent to collaborate and participate from each school or district and each post-secondary institution;

• An evaluation component grounded in scientifically-based research on the project content, pedagogy, and delivery method; and

• A specific assurance to make public all products (e.g., example capstone curricular materials including student assignments, tasks, prompts, and research and project ideas, assessment rubrics, performance exemplars, etc.) resulting from the project and in a format that can be posted to a web site and used by Montana school divisions and teachers.

In addition, priority will be given to projects that include one or more of the following elements:

• Substantive participation and “vertical teaming” of teachers and administrators and higher-education faculty in the pre-planning, implementation, and evaluation of the project for private and public schools;

• Collaboration/partnerships involving two or more institutions of higher education;

• Multi-year projects focused on long-term, sustainable, and widely-disseminated models (note, project funding is not guaranteed and will always be contingent upon federal funds received; henceforth, project directors will have to apply each year);

• Development and/or dissemination of demonstrated models of success through partnerships with high-need schools;

• Focus on improving the percentage of highly-qualified teachers through coursework for endorsement for provisionally-certified and out-of-field teachers; and

• Assurance of teacher participation from school districts.

Procedures for Submitting Proposals

One (1) electronic copy of the complete proposal must be received before midnight on

Friday, October 30, 2015.

Proposals should be emailed to:

Title II, Part A ITQ State Director

Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education

Proposals from ineligible applicants and incomplete proposals or late submissions will not be reviewed.

Procedures and Criteria for New Proposals

Proposals will be reviewed and rated by a selection committee comprised of individuals with system-wide perspectives on K-16 education and by the federal accountant.

A total of 100 points may be awarded to each proposal. The maximum possible points for each criterion is based on:

Identification of local need 20 points Goals of the project 15 points Description of project activities 15 points Scientifically-based evaluation plan 20 points Role of key project personnel 10 points Adequacy of resources and 20 points

cost effectiveness

Procedures for Making Awards

Final confirmation letters will be sent on or before December 1, 2015. Further information about grant administration, the funding cycle, and reporting requirements will be provided to project directors at a mandatory project directors’ meeting in January 2015 (location, date and time to be determined).

Format for New Proposals

Each proposal must include the following five parts and three appendices: Part One Cover Page (with signatures or e signatures)

Part Two Project Abstract

Part Three Project Director’s Questionnaire

Part Four Proposal Narrative

Part Five Budget Forms

Appendix A Statement of Assurances (with signatures) Appendix B Collaborating School Divisions (with signatures) Appendix C Key Project Personnel

In addition, nonprofit organizations must include an Addendum for Nonprofit Organizations, not to exceed an additional ten (10) pages. This requirement applies to museums, libraries, educational organizations, etc., NOT to institutions of higher education.

At the end of this Request for Proposals is a set of forms for use in preparing a proposal. Each proposal must include all five parts and three appendices to be considered. Detailed instructions for preparing each part of the proposal follow.

Part One: Cover Page. Please fill in all requested information on the form provided as Part One of the proposal. If a question is not applicable to your situation, please write “N/A” in the box rather than leaving it blank. Project titles in box number one should be brief, no more than eight words. Please list the principal project director (PI) first in box number three; this will be the person to whom all official correspondence about the grant will be mailed (please list his or her mailing address in box number four). The project director will be responsible for notifying the fiscal staff at his/her institution for budget and expenditures concerns or requests. No more than three project directors may be listed on any one application. Project Directors should notify the coordinator of any personnel changes and provide the necessary information for updating the records. E-mail addresses are very important, since that is the preferred mode of communication with OCHE staff.

Original signatures or e signatures are required from the project director(s), the chief academic officer or (in the case of nonprofit organizations) the executive director, and the fiscal or grant administrator who would be responsible for the grant. (Please note that signatures from some of these same officers are required on the Statement of Assurances, which is Appendix A.) Do not substitute the signature of the director of sponsored programs or any other administrator for that of the chief academic officer.

Part Two: Project Abstract. Please fill in all requested information and furnish an abstract of the proposed project on the form provided as Part Two of the proposal. Abstracts should be a single paragraph of approximately 100 words, summarizing the project's goals, objectives, activities, target population(s), and expected number of participants. Please avoid highly specialized vocabulary and technical jargon; abstracts should be written so as to be understandable to a well-educated lay audience.

Part Three: Project Director’s Questionnaire. As Part Three of the proposal, a form is provided for project directors to fill out, with sufficient space provided for typical responses to each question. If a question is not applicable to your situation, please write “N/A” in the space provided rather than leaving it blank. Where there are as many as three project directors, or where answers require elaboration beyond the space provided, please attach an additional page and number it to correspond to the number of the question being answered.

Part Four: Proposal Narrative. (No form is provided for Part Four. Please complete as a word document and insert after the director’s questionnaire.) The narrative must include the following sections:

• Identification of local need (20 points) Identify and describe the specific need for enhancement of content knowledge and improvement in pedagogical skills of teachers in the proposed service area(s):

Explain how the needs of the participating local school division(s) and nonpublic school(s) were determined and

Describe and include a summary of the needs assessment instrument,

which must not be an interest inventory. Applicants may want to use information such as:

§ student achievement data;

§ information about numbers of teachers who lack full teacher licensure;

§ assessments by administrators and mentor teachers who evaluate

teacher and student performance;

§ teacher self-evaluations and information on gaps from pre-service and past in-service training in the specific core academic subject.

Do not provide summaries of needs from national studies and reports;

proposal authors and reviewers presumably are aware of these issues.

• Goal of the project (15 points) Describe how the project will meet the criteria and purposes as set forth in this document. Provide a clearly stated list of the specific goals of the project.

• Description of project activities (15 points) Provide a clearly stated list of specific goals and achievable objectives for the proposed project. Then describe project activities and how they relate to achievement of the goals and objectives. Details should be provided concerning the:

Type of activities planned;

The schedule and time allotment for those activities; The responsible instructional staff;

A description of follow-up activities;

Evidence that the project will foster professional development that is of high quality and of sufficient duration and intensity to have a positive,

lasting effect on classroom instruction and student achievement;

Strategies to provide greater access to and participation in the core academic areas by students of diverse populations so that all students are able to achieve the state’s content and student performance

standards;

Description of the targeted schools or school divisions;

A recruitment plan for participating teachers and specify recruitment strategies to ensure participation of teachers from public and private

schools, minority and female teachers, teachers of the underserved and underrepresented, and teachers from areas where there is a high concentration of low-income students and/or from sparsely populated areas;

Strategies to include hard-to-reach participants, e.g., teachers who fear mathematics, science, or any of the other core academic areas (Note that mailing brochures to principals is not an effective recruitment method;

one-on-one interaction with potential participants is more effective.);

and

A dissemination plan indicating how information about the project will be shared with other teachers within the participants’ school(s), with

other schools within the local school district(s), and among school districts.

• Evaluation plan (20 points) Each proposal must have a formal evaluation plan that:

Adequately measures achievement of goals and effectiveness of