                                                                                                                                                                                  Page

I.               Introduction/Background                                                                                                                              1

II.             Program Description                                                                                                                                       1

A.      Purpose

B.       Eligibility

C.       Use of Funds

D.      Duration of Grants

E.       Supplement Not Supplant

III.           Proposal Requirements                                                                                                                                  3

A.      Evidence of Meaningful Partnership

B.       Needs Assessment

C.       Project Plan that Meets the Identified Needs

D.      Research Base

E.       Evaluation and Accountability Plan

F.       Sustainability

IV.           Preparation of Application                                                                                                                            4

A.      Cover Page

B.       Assurances

C.       Partnership Agreements

D.      Results of Needs Assessment

E.       Abstract

F.       Project Narrative and Timeline

G.       Bibliography

H.      Description of Alignment to State Standards

I.         Evaluation and Accountability Plan

J.        Budget

K.      Budget Narrative

L.       Appendix

V.             Proposal Submission and Review                                                                                                                6

A.      Submission

B.       Review Process

C.       Review Criteria

VI.           Award Administration                                                                                                                                    7

A.      Notification of the Award

B.       Award Conditions

C.       Reporting Requirements

VII.         Definitions                                                                                                                                                        7

A.      Highly Qualified Teacher

B.       Professional Development

C.       Scientifically Based Research

D.      High-Need School District

E.       Summer Workshop or Institute

VIII.       Appendices                                                                                                                                                      9

A.      Cover Page

B.       Statement of Assurances

C.       Partner Identification Form

D.      Budget

E.       Partner Funding Request

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONS OF

HIGHER EDUCATION, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS SEEKING A MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE PARTNERSHIP GRANT

I.             Introduction/Background

In January of 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) became law. Title II, Part B of this legislation authorizes a Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) competitive grant program. The purpose of this program is to improve the academic achievement of students in the areas of mathematics and science by encouraging State education agencies, institutions of higher education, local education agencies, elementary schools, and secondary schools to participate in programs that improve instruction and upgrade the status and stature of mathematics and science teaching.

The Utah State Office of Education (USOE) is responsible for the administration of this program. Funds available for the Mathematics and Science Partnership competitive grant program will be awarded by the USOE to support successful proposals submitted by Utah Institutes of Higher Education (IHEs), School Districts, or Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs), that have formed partnerships focused on the improvement of mathematics and science instruction. Partnerships must include, at a minimum, a high-need district and a department of mathematics, engineering, or science in an IHE.

II.          Program Description

A.   Purpose: The purpose of this program is to:

(1) Provide professional development that has significant and meaningful mathematics and science content that models the instructional strategies that will enable teachers to teach in a manner that will improve student achievement in mathematics and science.

(2) Improve and upgrade the status and stature of mathematics and science teaching by encouraging institutions of higher education to assume greater responsibility for improving mathematics and science teacher education.

(3) Focus on the education of mathematics and science teachers as a career-long process that continuously stimulates teachers’ intellectual growth and upgrades teachers’ knowledge and skills.

(4) Bring mathematics and science teachers in elementary schools and secondary schools together with scientists, mathematicians, and engineers to increase the subject matter knowledge of mathematics and science teachers and improve such teachers’ teaching skills through the use of sophisticated laboratory equipment and workspace.

(5) Develop more concise and rigorous mathematics and science instructional resources that are precisely aligned to State and local academic content standards and with the standards expected for preparation of students for postsecondary study in engineering, mathematics, and science.

(6) Improve and expand training of mathematics and science teachers, including training such teachers in the effective integration of technology into curricula and instruction.

B.     Eligibility (Eligible Partners):

(1) Partnerships applying for a Mathematics and Science Partnership grant must include:

(a) An engineering, mathematics, or science department of an institution of higher education; and

(b) A high-need local education agency.

(2) Partnerships may also include:

(a) Another engineering, mathematics, science, or teacher training department of an institution of higher education.

(b) Additional local education agencies, public charter schools, public or private elementary schools or secondary schools, or a consortium of such schools.

(d) A nonprofit or for-profit organization of demonstrated effectiveness in improving the quality of mathematics and science teachers.

C.     Uses of Funds: A partnership shall use funds provided for one or more of the following activities related to elementary schools or secondary schools:

(1)   Creating opportunities for enhanced and ongoing professional development of mathematics and science teachers that improves the subject matter knowledge of such teachers.

(2)   Establishing and operating mathematics and science summer workshops or institutes, including follow-up training, for elementary school and secondary school mathematics and science teachers that shall:

(a) Directly relate to the curriculum and academic areas in which the teacher provides instruction, and focus only secondarily on pedagogy;

(b) Enhance the ability of the teacher to understand and use the challenging State academic content standards for mathematics and science and to select appropriate curricula.

(c) Provide teachers with experiences that lead them to values and use curricula effectively that are based on scientific research, aligned with challenging State academic content standards, and are objective-centered, experiment-oriented, and concept- and content-based.

(3)   Other uses of funds as selected from those listed in Title II, Part B that are substantively supported by the needs assessment and the Intended Learning Outcomes for mathematics and science in Utah.

D.     Duration of Grants: Grants may be awarded for a period of 3 years, subject to: 1) federal appropriations, 2) compliance with program requirements, 3) demonstration of effectiveness, and 4) timely reporting of findings and budgets by partnerships.

E.      Supplement Not Supplant: Funds received shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, funds that would otherwise be used for proposed activities.

III.       Proposal Requirements

Each proposal submitted must include:

A.     Evidence of Meaningful Partnerships: Partnerships should exhibit characteristics including, but not limited to, the following:

(1)    Sustainability: A partnership must demonstrate an ability to maintain the targeted activities beyond the length of the project and a description of how the partnership will continue the activities funded under this proposal after the original grant period has expired.

(2)    Commitment: Evidence of active long-term planning and involvement of all partners must be documented.

(3)    Capacity: Evidence of the number and quality of staff to carry out the proposed activities and the institutional resources to support the activities must also be included.

(4)   Scope and Impact: A partnership must demonstrate that the scope of the project and the impact is of sufficient scale to warrant funding.

B.     Needs Assessment: The results of a comprehensive assessment that identifies the teacher quality and professional development needs for school districts and schools in the partnership with respect to the teaching and learning of mathematics and science.

C.     Project Plan That Meets Identified Needs: Implementation plans shall include:

(1)   Evidence that the planned activities will achieve the long- and short-term goals and objectives of the program.

(2)   A description of how the activities to be carried out by the eligible partnership will address the most pressing professional development needs of the participating school districts or schools, as determined by the needs assessment, and how these activities will be aligned with challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards in mathematics and science and with other educational reform activities that promote student academic achievement in mathematics and science.

(3)   A description of how the eligible partnership will carry out the authorized activities.

(4)   A description of the instructional strategies that will be modeled and that are supported by Scientifically Based Research (SBR) and meet the educational needs of all students.

D.     Research Base: A description of how the activities to be carried out by the eligible partnership shall be based on a review of SBR specific to teaching and learning mathematics and science and an explanation of how the activities are expected to improve student academic achievement and strengthen the quality of mathematics and science instruction.

E.      Evaluation and Accountability Plan: An evaluation and accountability plan shall include rigorous objectives that measure the impact of funded activities on student achievement in participating schools.  The evaluation shall include measures of gains in teacher content knowledge.

F.      Sustainability: A description of how activities funded in the partnership shall continue beyond the period of the original grant.

IV.  Preparation of Application

Listed below are the required components of an acceptable application.  The narrative sections of the proposal must be double-spaced and the font used must not be smaller than 12-point. The application, not including the appendix, shall not exceed 20 pages.  Applicants must adhere to the page limitations on the narrative sections, and may not append additional material beyond that allowed in the following list.

A.     Cover Page: Use the form provided in Appendix A.  The cover page should be the first page of the application.

B.     Assurances: Use the form provided in Appendix B.  Attach the assurances page behind the cover page as the second page of the application.

C.     Partnership Agreements: This section shall include a narrative of the roles of the partners and their duties and responsibilities related to the goals and objectives of the project.  This section shall provide the scope and scale of the partnership and the demographics of the schools positively impacted by the partnership.  This section shall also describe the partnership’s governance structure specific to decision-making, communication, and fiscal responsibilities.  In addition to this narrative section, each application must append:

(1)   A Partner Identification Form (see Appendix C) for each partner; and

(2)   A letters of commitment from each partner outlining the role and contributions of the partner and providing evidence that the proposed partnership activities are integral to the partner’s instructional mission.

D.     Results of Needs Assessment:  This section will:

(1)   Identify and prioritize baseline professional development needs of teachers in partnered school districts and include the number of teachers in these districts who do not meet the State’s definition of a highly-qualified teacher, disaggregated by grade level or subject area that they teach.  This baseline information must be determined using a current (within past 12 months) assessment of teacher quality and professional development needs.

(2)   This section will include data of student achievement specific to the target audience.  This section will also include a description of the methodologies used to collect this information.

(3)   Describe how the results of the assessments have been used in the establishment of the goals and objectives for this proposal.

(4)   Relate priority needs in (1) to student achievement in (2).

E.      Abstract: Provide an abstract of the proposal that briefly and concisely describes the program to be implemented and summarizes the intended results of the program.  The abstract may not exceed 250 words.

F.

Public Law 107-110

Title II, Part B

Partnership Program