Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2007

Federal legislation states that dissemination funds shall be used to "assist other schools in adapting the charter school's program (or certain aspects of the charter school's program), or to disseminate information about the charter school, through such activities as:

1. assisting other individuals with the planning and startup of one or more new public schools, including charter schools, that are independent of the assisting charter school and the assisting charter school's developers, and that agree to be held to at least as high a level of accountability as the assisting charter school;

2. developing partnerships with other public schools, including charter schools, designed to improve student performance in each of the schools participating in the partnership;

3. developing curriculum materials, assessments, and other materials that promote increased student achievement and are based on successful practices within the assisting charter school; and

4. conducting evaluations and developing materials that document the successful practices of the assisting charter school and that are designed to improve student achievement."

Competitive Priority:

Competitive priority will be given to proposals that:

1. disseminate innovative activities designed to improve student achievement through an explicit partnership with one or more non-charter public schools/districts in the school's charter region, or with schools/districts that have been identified as under-performing in the Massachusetts School and District Accountability System, or as in need of improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under No Child Left Behind;

2. share best practices and/or exemplars related to high school science curriculum/ pedagogy, due to the new MCAS Science exit requirement passed by the Board of Education. See http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.asp?id=2461 for more details; or

3. continue or extend successful projects that have met performance benchmarks and were funded previously under this grant program in FY2006.

An eligible charter school is one that has been in operation for at least three (3) consecutive school years and has demonstrated overall success, including:

1. substantial progress in improving student achievement;

2. high levels of parent satisfaction; and

3. the management and leadership necessary to establish a thriving, viable charter school.

A charter school that meets these criteria can apply for funds solely or serve as the lead applicant for a consortium of schools.

A charter school is eligible to receive funding through the Massachusetts Charter School Dissemination Program for up to two years. While continuation funding is not guaranteed (and is contingent upon submission to the Department of a Year 1 progress report prior to the request for a second year of funding), schools can consider projects that expand over a two-year period.

Schools that have already received two years of funding in previous fiscal years are NOT eligible for additional funding under this program. Please see the Eligibility List in Additional Information below.

Schools that intend to apply for funding must participate in a Dissemination Grant Orientation Web Conference on Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Information about how to register for this conference is posted at www.doe.mass.edu/charter.

Dissemination funds are made available to assist charter schools in disseminating their successful innovations to other charter and district schools. Dissemination grants are not to be used to support the operation of the charter school. Rather, these funds are to be used exclusively for the preparation and dissemination of a product or service to other public schools.

Indirect costs may be charged to this grant if the school is has received an approved indirect cost rate from the Department.

All applicants should consider including expenses to present at the Charter School Best Practices Dissemination Showcase in Spring 2007, sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Schools that intend to apply for funds should e-mail a Letter of Intent to Apply to Cliff Chuang at cchuang@doe.mass.edu by Friday, June 16, 2006.

Friday, September 1, 2006

Complete grant proposals are due on or before Friday, September 1, 2006.

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

		Eligibility List
		Reviewer Evaluation Criteria Form

Examples of potential projects include, but are not limited to:

• establishing a formal partnership around a specific program, curriculum, or educational approach with one or more non-charter district schools;

• establishing a formal mentoring program with a detailed curriculum for a charter school that is in its planning phase or in its first year of operation. For example, the grant recipient may establish a partnership with one or more charter schools that are not yet open or that opened recently; or

• documenting an effective instructional strategy or program of a teacher or group of teachers at the school to be shared with other schools.

Submit five (5) sets of the proposal. Package each set in order (Part I, Part II, Part III) with a single staple in the upper-left hand corner-no binding, please. Be sure that there is an original signature of the Charter School Leader on the Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants for each set. Mail to:

Cliff Chuang
Charter School Office
Massachusetts Department of Education
75 Pleasant Street
Malden, MA 02148-4906