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Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY10
K-12 Literacy Professional Development Partnerships
Fund Code: 738
| Purpose: | The purpose of the state-funded K-12 Literacy Professional Development Partnerships grant is to support professional development in critical K-12 literacy issues. Eligible districts may apply individually or together with other districts in the same region. If applying as a partnership, applicants will need to appoint one district or a collaborative as the lead agency.
The grant will fund partnerships between eligible districts or groups of districts and institutions of higher education or other providers with demonstrated expertise in literacy.
All K-12 literacy partnerships will be funded under the State Consolidated Literacy program line. Priority points will be given to the Bay State Reading Institute and Reading Recovery partnerships. However, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) encourages K-12 literacy professional development partnership proposals from a wide variety of partners that will work with elementary, middle, and/or high schools across the Commonwealth. Funds will be awarded to partnerships that support the implementation of effective, research-based instructional practices designed to increase the numbers and percentages of students who achieve proficiency in literacy. Proposed strategies must be related clearly to the district's literacy plan or to the plans of multiple districts to close specified literacy achievement gaps. |
| Priorities: | Program priorities are to implement effective research-based literacy strategies that will improve student achievement in literacy and close the achievement gap at the target grade(s). Strategies must be associated specifically with the district's literacy plan with respect to a continuum of curriculum delivery and support for educators as they implement core and intervention instructional approaches intended to meet the needs of all students. The Department invites proposals that address professional development related to research-based K-12 instructional practices in: 1) districts identified for improvement or with schools identified for improvement; and 2) districts in corrective action or with schools in corrective action or restructuring. Proposals that target language and literacy instruction for English learners and interventions for struggling readers, K-12, as well as those that advance the integration of literacy skills and content knowledge are encouraged.
The Department seeks proposals that provide general professional development for K-12 classroom teachers on core literacy instruction and the integration of content knowledge and literacy skills. In addition, the Department seeks proposals that provide specialized professional development for educators who are implementing supplemental or intensive intervention for struggling readers.
Priority strategies for professional development must be linked directly to the district's literacy plan (or districts' literacy plans). They include:
- the design and delivery of tiered literacy curriculum, including the use of data from formative and interim assessments to guide core instruction for all students and supplemental and/or intensive intervention in the general education program for struggling readers, K-12;
- the integration of language and literacy and content knowledge in science, history/ social sciences, mathematics, and literature;
- strategic vocabulary instruction, including academic language across the content areas and discipline-specific vocabulary to support reading comprehension, writing, and spoken language;
- writing across domains, including narrative writing, writing to inform and persuade, and writing in a particular academic area;
- enhancements to core reading instruction, including engagement of students in reading, writing, and discussing high-quality fiction and informational text; and
- foundations of literacy professional development, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, motivation, writing, and language development.
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| Eligibility: | This is a competitive grant for eligible school districts. Collaboratives may apply on behalf of districts. (See funding below.) The eligible school districts are: 1) districts identified for improvement or with schools identified for improvement; and 2) districts in corrective action or with schools in corrective action or restructuring. Eligible districts are encouraged to prioritize eligible schools as those that are eligible for Title I funding and are among the district's highest need schools with respect to high poverty and low performance on MCAS. See the attached list of eligible districts in Additional Information. |
| Funding: | In FY2010, approximately $2,340,500 is available to eligible school districts and district partnerships for competitive grants. Funds awarded must be matched by other sources of state, federal, or local funds. Districts must indicate how they will coordinate this funding with other funds in their district, including stimulus money. Matching funds may include the salaries of people coordinating this grant, literacy coaches, or the funds used to purchase a program that is being researched.
A district or collaborative may propose multiple partnerships in one grant application. A separate budget must be included for each partnership; one set of combined budget pages should be submitted for the district or collaborative that will be the lead agency.
There are three funding options:
- a district may apply for one or more partnerships;
- a district may serve as a lead agency for a consortium of districts. Each district in the partnership must provide the information indicated in the narrative (Part III), assurances, and individual budget information; and
- a collaborative may apply on behalf of districts. For each district the collaborative is working with, the information indicated in the narrative (Part III), assurances, and individual district budget information must be provided.
| Number of Students Per District | Maximum Amount/District |
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| Up to 1,000(40 eligible districts) | $10,000 |
| Up to 2,000(35 eligible districts) | $20,000 |
| 2,001- 4,500(61 eligible districts) | $30,000 |
| 4,501 and higher(33 eligible districts) | $50,000 |
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| Fund Use: | K-12 Literacy Professional Development Partnerships grant funds may be used only to support the grant priorities. Funds may be used for specific purposes, including:
- providing effective professional development for K-12 teachers consistent with funding priority strategies;
- purchasing high-quality fiction and informational texts for school and classroom libraries, other curriculum and assessment materials associated with the implemented practice related to the identified critical issue, and related professional development in support of the implementation;
- conducting and reporting on a local evaluation of the effectiveness of the proposed initiative; and
- other related items (e.g., partial salary of interventionists related to the implemented recommended practice).
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| Project Duration: | Upon Approval - 6/30/2010
Literacy Professional Development Grants are multi-year to encourage long-range planning and implementation of grant activities. FY2010 applicants will have the potential to receive funds for three years, pending state appropriations and successful achievement of annual partnership goals. |
| Program Unit: | Office of Literacy |
| Contact: | Dorothy Earle dearle@doe.mass.edu |
| Phone Number: | (781) 338-6265 |
| Date Due: | Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Competitive proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. on the date due. |
| Required Forms: |
- Part I - General - Program Unit Signature Page - (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)
 
- Part II - Budget Detail Pages (Include both pages.)
 - Instructions
- Part III - Required Program Information (Narrative) and Instructions
- Part IV - Assurance from Participating School District(s)
- Part V - Assurance from Participating School(s)
- Part VI - Assurance from Participating Partner
- Submission Checklist (for district use prior to submission)
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| Additional Information: |
- Part VII School District Eligibility
- Part VIII Review Sheet for Evaluating Proposals
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| Submission Instructions: | The Literacy Professional Development Partnerships grant application package, including the Submission Checklist, Narrative, Assurances, School District Eligibility, Standard Contract and the Budget Detail Information, may be downloaded from the Grants Management website. http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/
Mail two (2) hard copies, each with original signatures, of the signed cover page (Standard Contract), Budget Detail pages, Narrative (Part III), and Assurances to Alexia Cribbs.
The budget and narrative (Part III) should be submitted electronically to reading@doe.mass.edu. For questions, please contact Alexia Cribbs at 781-338-3581.
Alexia Cribbs
Office of Literacy
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street
Malden, MA 02148-4906 |
last updated: August 19, 2009
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