Educator Preparation Partnership

Educator Preparation Partnership Grants

Teacher & Leader Effectiveness Branch

Educator Preparation Partnership Grant

Request for Application

FY 2017

Deadline:

April 7, 2017

Address applications to:

Shannon Holston, Education Associate, Educator Preparation

Teacher & Leader Effectiveness Branch

Background and Purpose

Research indicatesan effective teacher is the number one in-school factor of increasing student achievement. As Delaware educators work to continuously improve to meet learner needs, teacher preparation programs must also keep pace in order to adequately prepare the next generation of educators. In order to ensure a strong pipeline of educators, educator preparation providers must aim to prepare a diverse pool of candidates who are learner-ready and align their programs with the learner needs and workforce demands of the Delaware P-12 educational system. However, educator preparation providers must work hand in hand with schools and districts, building strong partnerships, to accomplish this challenge.

Why focus on building partnerships?

Schools and districts face an ongoing challenge of ensuring effective teachers for all students, particularly those in hard-to-staff schools and critical needs subject areas. If an unprepared teacher enters the classroom, the teacher not only can do harm to their students by not providing a quality education and culture, but also most likely will leave the profession furthering the need to recruit, train, hire, and develop more educators, expending precious resources. In a recent study, teacher attrition was estimated to cost the State of Delaware between two and four million dollars in 2009, basing the average cost of teacher attrition on a scale ranging from $4,365 –for a teacher from a not-poor, small, rural school district to $9,501 for a teacher from a low-income, large, urban school district[i].

Similarly, education preparation programs face challenges in recruiting candidates, finding strong student teaching placements and master teachers, and keeping up with the rapidly changing needs of students and the teacher workforce. They want to ensure their candidates are well-prepared and securing jobs after graduation and are now tracking their graduates more than ever before to inform continuous improvements. Educator preparation programs desire to work more closely with schools and districts to understand the workforce needs and the realities of the classroom in order to build a strong pipeline with the quantity and quality of educators needed for the school system.

Research suggests that teachers are more likely to stay in the profession when they feel prepared and supported. Additionally, we know from research that teachers are more likely to live within 20 miles of where they attended schools than other college graduates[ii]. Currently, only 50% of hires come from Delaware educator preparation providers, including traditional and alternative route programs. Furthermore, the state average of recent completers from Delaware educator preparation programs staying beyond three year was only 68 percent. The Educator Preparation Partnership Grant provides the opportunity to build stronger partnerships between the K-12 community and education preparation providers in order to ensure a strong pipeline of not only well-prepared effective educators that can meet the needs of all students, but also meet K-12 workforce needs in hard-to-staff schools and subject areas.

Objectives

The Educator Preparation PartnershipGrant focuses on three statewide priorities through the development of partnerships between schools, districts and educator preparation providers. A local education agency (LEA) and education preparation provider may seek to focus on only one priority or all three.In order to build strong partnerships, school and district leaders and educator preparation program leaders must be at the table designing these structures together so partnerships are mutually beneficial to all parties. A framework for these types of partnerships is below:

(Education First. Ensuring High Quality Teacher Talent: How Strong, Bold Partnership between School Districts and Teacher Preparation Programs are Transforming the Teacher Pipeline. Seattle, Washington.)

Priority 1: Clinically Oriented Teacher Preparation

Several research studies[iii] show that purposeful partnerships between teacher preparation and school districts can improve teacher preparednessif the partnership includes tightly aligned curricula and field experiences, as well as an extensive clinical practice component. Given that teaching is a profession of practice, future teachers should be prepared as such and must place practice at the center of teacher preparation. Therefore, this statewide priority supports partnerships that will rethink the nature of the clinical experience in terms of structure, time, and quality. This focus on clinical practice aims to strengthen the quality of a candidate’s experience during clinical practice by revising the structure and amount of time candidates spend in classrooms throughout their preparation program. Partnerships focused on this priority area may include, but not be limited to,the following strategies–

• Creation or expansion of yearlong residencies.
• Establishment of a co-teaching model during the clinical experience.
• Formation of a lab-school or team/cluster approach.
• Mentor selectivity and mentor development.
• Development of competency-based assessments throughout the clinical experience.
• Revision of the structure and roles (at the university and/or district) to implement an enhanced clinical practice experience.

Priority 2: Program Design to Meet Workforce Needs

In 2015, Delaware school districts reported that the areas of world language, high school mathematics and science, special education, and English as a second language had the least number of high-potential applicants during the hiring season.Additionally, only 13% of graduates from Delaware teacher preparation program in 2014–15 pursued the most needed areas. During the 2014-2015 school year, 65% of emergency certificates were issued for the certification areas listed above, thereby placing educators who were not fully prepared in classrooms. Not only are certain certification areas difficult to fill, but positions in high-need schools are hard to staff as well. Delaware’s equity data revealed that schools in the highest quartile of students from low-income families and schools in the highest quartile of minority students experience more teachers teaching out-of-field as well as higher teacher turnover than schools in the lowest quartile of students from low-income families and minority students. Despite these challenges, there exists an opportunity to create strategic partnerships between districts and educator preparation providers to develop pipelines for hard to staff subject areasand/or hard to staff schools. Partnerships focused on this priority area may include, but not be limited to, the following strategies–

• Redesign of programs or pathways to certification in secondary math, science, or other critical need subject areas.
• Creation of programs or pathways that support earning certification in a critical needs subject areas (math, science, world language, etc.) through a 5th year residency program, dual program, etc.
• Design of a new preparation program to meet workforce needs (EX: bilingual or immersion).
• Development of partnerships with high-need schools for placing and training student teachers and/or residents and redesign of program to focus on developing cultural competencies.

Priority 3: Recruitment Strategies and Partnerships

Challenges currently exist in ensuring a robust teacher supply in terms of quantity and quality for Delaware school districts. Between 2010 and 2015, Delaware educator preparation programs experienced a 41% drop in enrollment overall. Furthermore, Delaware educator preparation programs have recently focused efforts on recruiting more candidates that are diverse to work towards promoting a diverse teacher workforce. Currently, only 28% of 2015 graduates in Delaware educator preparation programs were from underrepresented backgrounds as compared to 54% of the state’s K-12 learners. During the most recent hiring season, the number of new hires with no experience grew by almost 100 or nearly 30% prior to the previous year. In order to meet the needs of the Delaware education workforce, districts and educator preparation providers must work together to develop partnerships to recruit and select a diverse and accomplished pipeline of aspiring educators who are likely to succeed in the classroom in terms of readiness as well as quantity and certification area.Partnerships focused on this priority area may include, but not be limited to, the following strategies–

• Districts with newly approved Teacher Academies as an approved Career and Technical Education pathway create partnerships with Delaware educator preparation providers incentivizing high achieving students to enter the teaching profession and perhaps return to teach in the district or consortium of districts.
• Districts and educator preparation providers create new structures or incentives such as stipends for residencies, loan forgiveness, or deferred tuition to attract candidates to meet demand.

Overview

Award Amount:

The Delaware Department of Education anticipates approximately $400,000 of funding available for the Educator Preparation Partnership Grant. Awards for selected LEAs could range from $10,000 to $100,000 or more, depending on the number and type of applications received. Award amounts will vary depending on the size of the applicant LEA, the scope of the proposed project and the number of participants involved. Applicants should plan their proposals based on a partnership for three years. However, funding will only be awarded on a year-by-year basis upon the recipient meeting milestones and funding availability. Funding awarded during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years are contingent upon availability in the Fiscal Year 2018 and 2019 Annual Appropriations Acts.

Evaluation Criteria:

All proposals will be scored using the Educator Preparation Partnership Grant scoring rubric found in Section E of the application.

Eligible Applicants:

Any Delaware LEA (ie. public school district, charter school, limited LEA or combination thereof), may apply for funds to implement innovative strategies to support the next generation of Delaware’s aspiring educators. LEAs must secure a partnership with at least one educator preparation provider to work collaboratively to address at least one of the identified priorities of the grant.

Fiscal Agent:

The fiscal agent for this grant will be the LEA. The attached “Budget Form” (page 8) must be included in each grant application. The fiscal agent will receive the grant payment from the Delaware Department of Education.

Length of Awards:

Applicants should plan their proposal based on a partnership for three years. However, awarded funding will only be distributed on a year-by-year basis upon the recipient meeting milestones and funding availability. Funding awarded during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years are contingent upon availability in the Fiscal Year 2018 and 2019 Annual Appropriations Acts..The partnership may choose 2017-2018 as the first year of implementation or may choose to use 2017 to plan for full implementation in the 2018-2019 school year, if necessary.

All funded initiatives, regardless of duration, will be expected to complete semi-annual reports in July 2017 and December 2017 respectively. Additionally, grant recipients may be asked to present an overview of their program and outcome results during an end of school year summit.

Submission of Proposals:

Proposals must be typed, double-spaced, one-sided, using no smaller than 10-point type. All pages must be numbered and legible. The total number of pages of the proposal (Section A) shall not exceed eight (8) pages, excluding the action plan (Section B) and budget form (Section C).

The proposed schedule of events regarding this grant application are outlined below:

Public NoticeDate: February 8, 2017

Deadline for QuestionsDate:March 10, 2017

Deadline for Receipt of ProposalsDate: April 7, 2017

Estimated Notification of AwardDate: April 2017

All proposals must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word to the Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Branch (TLEB), Mrs. Shannon Holston, at no later than 3:00PM on April 7, 2017.

Proposals from ineligible applicants and incomplete proposals or late submissions will not be reviewed. Questions may be addressed to Mrs. Shannon Holston at or 302-735-4194.

Reporting Requirements:

LEAs that are awarded grants must submit a narrative report in July 2017 and December 2017 (a template will be provided). More information on reporting will be shared with grantees upon receiving the grant.

Grantees are asked to keep records and provide reports that fully show:

1. The amount of funds under the grant;
2. How the grantee used the funds in accordance to the objectives of the grant.

In addition, all grantees are required to keep records to show their compliance with program requirements. Record keeping should permit an audit trail that clearly documents that all funds were used for activities that were reasonable, allowable, and allocable to the program [EDGAR Sections 76.730 and 76.731].

Closing Date and Deliver Address

All proposals must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word to the Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Branch (TLEB), Mrs. Shannon Holston, at no later than 3:00PM on April 7, 2017.

IV. Educator Preparation Partnership Grant Application

Proposal Date: Click here to enter a date.

LEA Name: Click here to enter text.

LEA Educator Preparation Provider: Click here to enter text.

LEA Point of Contact Phone: Click here to enter text.

LEA Point of Contact Email: Click here to enter text.

Educator Preparation Provider Point of Contact Phone: Click here to enter text.

Education Preparation Provider Point of Contact Email:Click here to enter text.

Section A: Narrative

Teacher Preparation Challenges and Goals

Describe the teacher readiness challenges and/or shortages faced by participating schools or district(s). Explain how the challengeswere determined through a needs assessment. Identify the statewide priorities that this proposal will address.

Partnership Goals

State the specific measurable goals the partnership is aiming to achieve. Describe the key expectations the district and partner provider have for new educators, mentors, district partners, faculty, or other key members of the partnership.

Partnership Design

Provide a brief but thorough overview of the proposed partnership. Connect how the proposed partnership and activities align to the goals. Identify clear roles and responsibilities for each partner.

Evaluation

Outline the plan for evaluating the partnership and intended outcomes. What will be the indicators of a success, both short term and long term? What will the process be to continually evaluate and improve the partnership? What data will be gathered and reviewed and at what frequency to indicate the partnership is having its intended effect?

Partnership Sustainability

Describe the plans for continuing the program once grant-funding ends. How will the partnership be sustained in the long-term?

Section B: Action Plan

Year 1

Add rows as necessary

Year 2

Year 3

Section C: Budget

The budget form in Excel can be foundhere.

Section D: Sub-grant Application

State of Delaware

Department of Education

Sub-Grant Application

Grant Title: Education Preparation Partnership Grant

LEA/Agency/Organization Information

For FSF users, indicate department number under which funds should be loaded:

Description of Project:

Specific Activities:

*Attach the Action Plan to application(Section B)

Printed Name: ______Date: ______

Printed Name: ______Date: ______

Section E: Evaluation Rubric

Grant Title: Educator Preparation Partnership Grant

Sub-Grant Evaluation Rubric

Using the rubric, reviewers will assign numerical scores, prepare comments, and meet to determine consensus.

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