Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2009

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."

Mass. Gen. Laws. c. 71, §89 (s) and (ll), in part, state that:

• "The commissioner shall facilitate the dissemination of successful innovation programs of charter schools and provide technical assistance for other school districts to replicate such programs;"and

• "... a commonwealth charter shall not be renewed unless the board of trustees of the charter school has documented in a manner approved by the board of education that said commonwealth charter school has provided models for replication and best practices to the commissioner and to other public schools in the district where the charter school is located."

Competitive Priority

Competitive priority for FY2009 will be given to applications that propose to:

1. disseminate best practices 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 the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001;

2. assist other individuals or founding groups 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; or

3. complete comprehensive, well-planned, dissemination activities over a two-year period.

Please review the Potential Eligibility List in Additional Information to determine if your charter school meets the minimum criteria to submit an application under this grant program. A charter school that meets these criteria can apply for funds solely or serve as the lead applicant for a consortium of schools. In addition, note the following eligibility requirements.

• Basic Eligibility Requirements: 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 Note about Charter Schools with Conditions: Though a charter school that is operating currently with conditions on its charter is not automatically ineligible for consideration under this grant program, the school would have to demonstrate clear progress toward addressing the conditions as well as compelling evidence that it is qualified and has the capacity to conduct successfully the proposed project despite its conditions.

• Length of Funding: 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.

• Mandatory Training Participation: In order to be eligible to apply for funding, a representative of a charter school must participate in a Dissemination Grant Orientation Web Conference. Information about how to register for one of the web conferences scheduled during the spring of 2008 can be found at http://www.doe.mass.edu/conference/?ConferenceID=361.

• Letter of Intent to Apply: Each charter school that intends to apply for funding under this program must submit a Letter of Intent as described in Part III - Required Program Information. Department staff will review these letters in order to determine if proposed projects meet state and federal guidelines and priorities. Staff will determine which applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal. Please be prepared to participate in an additional training prior to the submission of a full grant proposal; details to be announced.

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.

Indirect costs may be charged to this grant if the school has received an approved indirect cost rate from the Department, at the time of the submission of the grant proposal.

See http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/grants/other/indirect_app09.html for information about how to apply for approval to charge indirect costs.

5:00 p.m., Friday, September 26, 2008

Each charter school invited to submit a full grant proposal must follow the requirements as described in Part III - Required Program Information.

These competitive proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 26, 2008.

•      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 for a founding group that is preparing to start a new public school; or

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

1. Hard Copy Submission

   Submit five (5) hard copies of the entire proposal. Package each set in order (Part I, Part II, and 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
   Elementary and Secondary Education
   75 Pleasant Street
   Malden, MA 02148-4906

2. Electronic Submission

   Submit via e-mail, one (1) set of electronic copies of the proposal package (Part I, Part II, and Part III); no signature required.

   Use an e-mail subject line of "LEA Code 04XX: Fund Code 537 Dissemination Grant Proposal" (where 04XX represents the school's LEA code) and ensure that each of the three (3) attachments is identified clearly.

   E-mail to:

   cchuang@doe.mass.edu