Improving Teacher Quality State Grants

Board of Regents of University System of Georgia
Deadline: October 8 (email due for review process); November 8 (proposal due)

The purpose of each grant is to plan and conduct professional learning experiences with the goal to strengthen and deepen teachers’ content knowledge in their academic subjects. Special attention should be given to how the deepened content knowledge will impact teaching practices and student learning. Grants can also address teachers’ use of technology, alternative assessment strategies, or innovative teaching strategies, all with the goal to improve teaching practices and student learning. Projects that attend to the content within and implementation of Georgia’s Performance Standards (GPS)/Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are encouraged.

Projects must serve at least 12 teachers from elementary, middle, or high schools in Georgia. Projects with groups from local schools (4 or more teachers per school) and/or 50% or more of the faculty at one school are encouraged. It is expected that participating institutions of higher education and school systems will provide some form of matching contribution. Contributions borne by another Federal grant (e.g., grants from the Georgia Math Science Partnership, NSF, DOE, NIH, etc.) cannot be shown as matching funds in the budget.

All grant applications must include a scientifically-based rationale for principle components of the proposed project. See the Georgia Teacher Quality website (www.coe.uga.edu/teacherquality/)  for information on this requirement. Grants are for the professional development of teachers in language arts, mathematics, reading, science and/or social studies. The use of technology is encouraged in all grant proposals.

Grant activities must be clearly focused on the Georgia Performance Standards/Common Core Standards and Georgia Framework for Teaching/Class Keys. Activities must be related to the needs of teachers, principals, and/or paraprofessionals. The project should have attainable goals that will be accomplished and will demonstrate an increase in teachers’ knowledge, change in teachers’ classroom practice, improvement in student achievement and/or increase the number of highly qualified teachers. Proposals must include evidence that the project will provide professional development activities in the specific discipline(s) as well as in the related pedagogy.

Project grants have two parts and consist of a semester/quarter graduate-level course (3-6 credit hours), workshop (5- 10 Professional Learning Units, PLUs), or special activity (e.g., field trip), and sustained contact over at least one additional semester or quarter. Part 1 should be the course, workshop, or special activity and Part 2 should consist of sustained contact between project personnel and participants in the participants’ classrooms or group meetings to share and reflect or to plan and conduct dissemination. Part 2 may involve course or PLU credit. It is expected that projects that award 3 hours of credit or 5 PLUs will engage teachers in a minimum of 50 hours of professional learning, and projects that award 6 hours of credit or 10 PLUs will engage teachers in a minimum of 100 hours of professional learning. Projects that have at least 50 contact hours (including follow-up), use a hands-on, inquiry-based, problem-solving approach, and incorporate follow-up activities during the school year are encouraged.

Projects must be designed and implemented by partnerships that include 1) K-12 administrators, faculty, teachers, and guidance counselors in participating local education agencies (LEAs); 2) higher education faculty and administrators from teacher education; and 3) higher education faculty and administrators from the arts and sciences. Other partners are encouraged and may include additional LEAs, professional or cultural organizations, museums or similar non-profit organizations, other components of an Institution of Higher Education (IHE), or businesses. [If the content unit and the unit that prepares teachers are in the same Division or College, then an explanation of this organizational arrangement should be included in the Capacity description in Appendix 3.]

The project partnership must demonstrate substantial collaboration among higher education faculty, LEAs, and other education entities. Every proposal submitted must verify this collaboration with letters from the major stakeholders. Submitted proposals must show true collaboration with at least one high-need LEA in the planning of the proposed project and indicate a willingness to recruit and work with additional high-need LEAs if space in the professional development project allows. A proposal that addresses the professional learning needs of individual teachers or groups of teachers from four or more high-need LEAs may request funding for 2 years. An estimated budget total for Year 2 should be included in the budget narrative; however, all awards will be made on a year by year basis and in no case will a proposal be awarded outside of the project period.

For more information: http://www.coe.uga.edu/teacherquality/