Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2010

The purpose of these federal Learn and Serve America funds is to:

1. enhance Science, Technology/Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instruction at the middle school level using service-learning (CSL);

2. improve students' transition to high school, reduce the likelihood of students dropping out, and engage middle school students at-risk for school failure in innovative activities to promote youth-leadership, 21^st century skill development, and academic success;

3. implement service-learning that addresses environmental and ecological needs; and

4. encourage students, particularly those who are low-income and/or traditionally underrepresented in the STEM fields, to consider STEM career pathways.

Priorities for the use of these funds are to:

1. support the use of service-learning as an instructional strategy for the teaching of STEM subjects at the middle school level;

2. build on existing efforts to improve instruction and school climate in support of student engagement and community connections; and

3. partner with community-based organizations, local governmental agencies, and/or colleges/universities with expertise in the areas of STEM and/or the environment to design and implement service-learning activities.

Requirements for all grantees include:

1. implementing classroom-based service-learning activities aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for STEM subjects and the National Youth Leadership Council's K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice. Projects implemented must be targeted at meeting environmental needs identified by students through a needs assessment;

2. providing a minimum of four STEM teachers with training on effective service-learning methodology;

3. targeting at-risk 8^th grade students for a summer STEM service-learning project that supports successful transition to high school;

4. establishing a school Leadership Team to develop a plan to sustain service-learning practice. The plan is expected to address ongoing professional development; integrating CSL into established curriculum; connecting to the school's mission, policies, and practices; and connecting to other educational initiatives; and

5. developing youth-adult mentorships that involve students at-risk for school failure with adults from the STEM and/or environmental fields and provide opportunities for middle-school aged students to take on leadership roles and improve connections to school and community. (Note: Mentoring is not required for all students participating in CSL and does not necessarily need to be one-to-one mentoring.)

Eligible entities* include public schools that serve grade 8 students (among other grades) and that have at least 50% of its students considered to be low-income (based on free/reduced lunch data).** Priority will be given to schools with district high school dropout rates at or above the state average of 3.4%.***

NOTES:

* A list of eligible schools can be found in the Additional Information section of this RFP. Contact the Department for more details about eligibility (See Contact section below.) if you have any questions on this list or if you are an interested Approved Private Special Education School or Collaborative serving the target population for this grant.

** Free and reduced priced lunch data for schools can be found on the Department's state profile reports under Selected Populations (add the percentages in the columns for free and for reduced). Use the FY2009 (2008-2009) data, as it is the most recent available.

*** District high school dropout rates can be seen in column J of the   annual dropout rates report posted on the Department's website. Use the FY2008 (2007-2008) data, as it is the most recent available. Charter schools and others that send a significant number of students to multiple high schools can make the case for receiving priority points based on the rate for the town/district in which they are located and/or (if different) the rate(s) of the district(s) in which the majority of their students go to high school.

Applications may be for up to $25,000 and must focus on students in one eligible school.

Districts that wish to propose a program for more than one school must submit a separate application for each interested school. Note that while districts may submit applications for as many schools as are interested, it is expected that no more than two $25,000 grants would be awarded to any single district. The Department reserves the right to alter the award to each funded school.

1. Funds must be allocated to support school-level training on effective service-learning instruction, as well as for participation in trainings required by the Department.

2. Applicants must demonstrate they can meet a 100% cost share. Community partners may contribute to this match requirement. Cost share may be cash and/or in-kind goods/services. Complete Schedule B and the Cost Sharing or Matching Funds Budget Narrative Form to document the proposed 100% in-kind and/or cash match.

Funds may be used for: stipends or salaries for staff to coordinate the initiative; curriculum development; teacher stipends; consultants; substitutes; transportation of student participants; travel; conferences; purchase of materials and supplies; printing; and reproduction of materials.

Funds may not be used to pay student participants. Funds from this grant may not be used to support indirect/overhead costs; however, applicants may show indirect/overhead costs of up to 10% of the total grant as a match, provided that these costs are documented and in accordance with the district's approved indirect cost rate.

Note: In-kind and cash match must be tracked and documented as a requirement of the grant and cannot include a match from other Corporation for National and Community Service funding. See the   Learn and Serve America provisions for grant spending requirements.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Competitive proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. on the date due.

1.      Part I - General - Program Unit Signature Page - (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)

2.     Part II Workbook - Budget (II-A) and Budget Narrative (II-B)*
   
   (Print and mail with the application all four budget and budget narrative pages. See important opening instructions below.)

3.     Part III - Required Program Information

4.     Schedule B - Cost Sharing or Matching Schedule

5.     Cost Sharing or Matching Funds Narrative Form

6.     Grant Assurances

7.     Schedule C - Statement of Participation and Support (if appropriate)

*NOTE: The Budget and Budget Narrative Workbook is a Microsoft Excel file which includes macros that enable the workbook to compute totals and summary tables.

1. For Microsoft Office 2000/2003, you may need to change the security setting in Excel before opening the file. In Excel, click 'Tools', 'Macro', and then 'Security'. When the dialog box appears, change the security setting to 'Medium' and then click 'OK'. You can now open the budget file.

2. For Microsoft Office 2007, you must save the workbook as an earlier version of Excel (.xls not .xlsx).

1.      List of Eligible Schools. See Eligibility section above for more details.

2. Budget Detail - Description of Line Item Information

3.    https://egrants.cns.gov/provisions/2009_SB_Provisions_GME.pdf

4.   National Youth Leadership Council's K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice.

Submit five (5) sets, each with an original signature of the Superintendent/ Executive Director.

Mail to: