2010-13 Title II, Part B Mathematics and Science Partnerships Grant
Questions and Answers
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May the IHE be a Community College? Does NYSED believe that a Community College can provide a robust level of professional development that they are expecting from this grant program?
The applicant must be a partnership of a high-need educational agency and an engineering, mathematics or science department of an institution of higher education that has a registered curriculum in engineering, mathematics or science. A community college is an institution of higher education, but it must have an engineering, mathematics or science department with a registered curriculum in engineering, mathematics or science to qualify.
Could you send me a copy of the 2010-2013 Title II, Part B Mathematics and Science Partnership Grant RFP.
Go to http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ and click on Funding Opportunities.
If a school district does not appear on the "List of Eligible Districts" for the Math-Science Partnership grant, but is listed on the accompanying Schools Identified as in Improvement Status" roster, is it eligible for this competition?
An eligible applicant must be a partnership that includes a LEA on the list of eligible districts. Other LEAs may be members of the partnership.
What is the maximum dollar amount an applicant may apply for per year?
The allocations by region and priority category are listed in the RFP. SED has not established a maximum dollar amount per grant. It is expected that a partnership apply for an amount that is appropriate for the program being proposed.
The funding announcement for the 2010-13 MSP grant states that a total of $10.2 million per year will be available for grants, with $6 million allocated to NYC and $4.2 million for the rest of the state. However, it doesn't specify the estimated number of awards or the range of awards for individual projects. How many awards are anticipated to go to NYC? How many to the rest of the state? Will the amount of the award be based on the number or percentage of students in a particular district who are from low-income families, as in past years?
See the answer to #4. SED has not estimated a number or range of awards. The amount of the award in not based on the number or percentage of students in a particular district who are from low-income families.
Can partner districts overlap in several grants?
Partner districts can participate in more than one grant as long as the participating teachers from the district are different in each grant.
Does NYSED have any issue with a higher education partner being included in more than one grant?
No
NYC will no longer allow grant coordinators to start PD activities until grant funding is in place. Can the first summer be used for planning/recruiting for PD activities that will begin in Fall?
Yes. However, each participating teacher must be provided a minimum of 30 hours of professional development each year.
- Based on the definition of Professional Development in NCLB, Title IX, Part A, Section 9101 (34) - Would college credits apply to sub-section i; "improve & increase teachers' knowledge of academic subjects the teachers teach, and enable teachers to become highly qualified."?
Yes
- What are the guidelines for funding each grant as it relates to the number of participants that will receive 30 hours per year of grant sponsored PD? Is there a formula? Are there more specific guidelines regarding the award will be for each grant?
No. See the answer to #4.
Can the focus of a MSP grant be a matriculating program with a higher ed. partner (CUNY or other) that will lead to a Master's degree, some type of certification or endorsement program that prepares elementary teachers to become science clusters, math or science coaches or, math or science lead teachers? Can the higher ed. partner provide other services paired with those graduate courses, such as, materials, field experiences and site visits?
Yes
- Bullet number four under "Program Activities" states that each participant can receive 30 hours of PD over a three-year period for a total of 90 hours of PD or a total of 90 hours in all. Can the professional development be structured so that each person receives 90 hours of PD in one year and then the next year the focus is on a new group of teachers?
No. Each participating teacher must receive a minimum of 30 hours of PD each year of the grant.
- Do we only need the sign-off from the superintendent of the lead district or do we need the sign-off of the superintendents from all partnering districts as well?.
The signature of the Superintendent of the lead district is required on the cover page of the application and the last page of the FS-10. Letters of commitment from each partner outlining their role and contributions are required.
- According to the eligibility list, all NYC districts are eligible. If an entire district is eligible then are ALL schools eligible within the district or only high-need schools? If NYC wants to list multiple districts on a grant (one lead and several partners), can NYC get sign-off for all schools in the district by the district superintendent and the UFT district representative. If not, it will be extremely difficult to get ALL schools to sign the paperwork.
All NYC schools are eligible but priority will be given to proposals that have one or more participating SINI school. The signature of the Superintendent of the lead district is required on the cover page of the application and the last page of the FS-20. The teacher union representative for each participating school is required to sign-off on the Participating Schools Identification Form. Letters of commitment from each partner outlining their role and contributions are required.
- Can we discuss support of non-public schools for each grant with the Standing Committee of the Bureau of Non-public schools and have them sign-off on the NYC grants? If not, it will be extremely difficult to get ALL non-public schools to sign the paperwork if we have multiple districts.
Consultation must be done with all non-public schools in the area to be served by the proposed program and the form must be signed by a school official for each school.
- Can a grant offer support for the development of an after-school curriculum (pilot lessons/units) with teachers?
The grant must support professional development of teachers in math, science or interdisciplinary STEM. Professional development may include curriculum development. Funds can not be used to support an after-school program.
- Where can we find the FS 20 summary form in the packet?
The FS-20 is at http://www.oms.nysed.gov/cafe/forms/
- If a grant proposes to provide PD to a certain number of teachers for a certain amount of funding and is awarded but for a lesser amount, will the number of teachers also be adjusted to a lesser amount?
It depends. If a grant is reduced because SED eliminated inappropriate or unallowable expenditures, the number of teachers should not be adjusted. If funds are insufficient to fund a proposal in full, the applicant will be given the opportunity to run a smaller program with less funds and would most likely reduce the number of participating teachers.
- If a grant proposes to work with one lead district and several other partner districts, does the proposal need to include data from both the lead districts and partner districts, or only the lead?
Data from all participating partnering districts need to be addressed.
- If a grant proposes to work with one lead district all other NYC districts as partner districts, does the proposal need to include data from every district or can the proposal include citywide data?
Data from all participating partnering districts need to be addressed.
Can the institute of higher education be a two-year community college?
See answer to #1.
Is there a maximum award amount?
See answer to #4.
- Is there an estimated number of anticipated awards?
See answer to #4.
Are there a minimum number of teachers required each year?
No, but all participating teachers must receive 30 hours of professional development each year for a minimum total of 90 hours of professional development over the course of the three year grant.
Must each teacher stay with the project for ALL THREE YEARS? For example, if a teacher has 90 hours of professional development in the first 1 1/2 years of the project, can we then replace that teacher with another. In this way we can reach many more teachers and offer them the same level of PD.
Each teacher must participate in the project for all three years and receive a minimum of 30 professional development hours in each year of the grant.
What is the difference between a "subgrant" and a "contract"?
SED will make subgrants to high-need LEA awardees in this program.
Is the budget tied into the number of teachers as was the case in previous years?
No, there is no minimum or maximum dollar amount per grant. It is expected that a partnership apply for an amount that is appropriate for the program being proposed.
Would a high need applicant without SINI math status be less likely to receive a grant than if it were to include another district with the SINI math status?
Yes, priority will be given to proposals that have one or more participating SINI school.
Is there a minimum cohort of teachers to target for professional development hours within the proposal?
No. It is expected that a partnership assess the needs of its teachers and propose a program that addresses those needs. Each participating teacher must complete a minimum of 30 hours of professional development each year.
How many applications were received for the 2007-2010 grant cycle?
Forty-two.
Is there a minimum number of students to be serviced? Is it better to partner with one or more other school districts?
The purpose of this grant is to provide professional development to teachers.
Can a local two-year community college be considered an institute of higher education as long as it has a registered curriculum in engineering, mathematics, or science?
See answer to #1.
What if a large NYC university has never been paid for their services? They have only paid for program expenses previously through heir grants and donations. What can be accepted instead of a letter of reference from organizations that have paid them directly for their services?
The IHE does not receive funding. Only the lead high-need LEA receives funding and purchases services from the IHE.
Can a grant offer support for the development of an after-school curriculum (lessons/units) with teachers that will be piloted or field-tested with students before being published digitally?
The application would have to provide evidence that the program is supporting the professional development of participating teachers not the after-school program. See answer #16.
- 35. If NYC submits as a consortium of all NYC community districts, can the Chancellor and/or Deputy Chancellor, the head of the NYC chapter of the UFT and the standing committee of the Bureau of Non-Public Schools approve the application, without the need for signatures from each individual CSD? If so, would a representative sample of individual school signatures be required?
No. The signature of the Superintendent of the lead district is required on the cover page of the application and the last page of the FS-20. The teacher union representative for each participating school is required to sign-off on the Participating Schools Identification Form. Consultation must be done with all non-public schools in the area to be served by the proposed program and the form must be signed by a school official for each school.
The following excerpt from the application seems to indicate that NYC could apply as a consortium representing all NYC schools, in one proposal for each area - Sci/Math/STEM. In other words, can the NYC Department of Education submit one proposal for $2 million per year in each category (math/science/STEM)?
The partnership or consortium must designate one of the participants to serve as the applicant and fiscal agent for the grant. The applicant agency must be an eligible grant recipient. All other consortium members must be eligible grant participants, as defined by the program statute or regulation.
Yes. The applicant must be a partnership of a high-need educational agency and an engineering, mathematics or science department of an institution of higher education that has a registered curriculum in engineering, mathematics or science. The high-need LEA must be the fiscal agent of the partnership. There may be other members of the partnership.
Part d of the following seems to indicate SUNY or CUNY RF could be a fiscal agent, yet under the “Eligible Applicants” portion at the top, the RFP says “The high-need Local Education Agency (LEA) must be the fiscal agent of the partnership”. Can you clarify? We want to be sure that if CUNY is our higher ed partner that NYC Dept of Ed is the fiscal agent and not CUNY.
The applicant agency/fiscal agent must meet the following requirements:
- Must be an eligible grant recipient as defined by statute;
- Must receive and administer the grant funds and submit the required reports to account for the use of grant funds;
- Must require consortium partners to sign an agreement with the fiscal agent that specifically outlines all services each partner agrees to provide.
- Must be an active member of the partnership/consortium, except where SUNY or CUNY Research Foundations are the fiscal agent.
The high-need Local Education Agency (LEA) must be the fiscal agent of the partnership.
If an eligible school district submits an MSP proposal, is there a minimum number a teachers from that district required to participate?
See answer to #29.
Is there a specified number of students we should target for our proposal? Is this number linked to funding? For example, 1,500 students is the cutoff for a $150,000 award. This was the case with Title IID and I'm not sure if this applies to the MSP grant as well.
The purpose of this grant is to provide professional development to teachers. The guidelines in the Title II D RFP do not apply to this RFP.
Are University Computer and Information Science Departments an eligible Higher Education Partner for a STEM proposal?
See answer to #1.
How many awards do you anticipate making to the rest of the state, per category (Math, Science and STEM)?
The allocations by region and priority category are listed in the RFP. The number of awards for ROS can not be anticipated, as it depends on the scores of the applications submitted.
What will be the average range of awards?
The allocations by region and priority category are listed in the RFP. SED has not established a maximum dollar amount per grant. It is expected that a partnership apply for an amount that is appropriate for the program being proposed.
Can teachers be given a stipend for attending professional development training?
Yes. It is the LEA’s discretion to provide stipends for teachers receiving professional development training.
Is there a minimum number of teachers to be targeted for or participate in professional development?
No.
Noticing that all grant winners in the previous round of funding were all in urban areas, might it be possible to have a local BOCES submit a proposal representing a consortia of small rural schools that are on the eligible list in a general region? The significantly small size and unique attributes of many rural schools makes is almost impossible for a meaningful grant application with a critical mass of funding to effect significant change in the small rural populations. If the representative BOCES were able to submit a grant in conjunction with a consortia of small eligible schools, then the likelihood of success in serving these rural populations would probably be enhanced.
The applicant must be a partnership of a high-need educational agency and an engineering, mathematics or science department of an institution of higher education that has a registered curriculum in engineering, mathematics or science. The high-need Local Education Agency (LEA) must be the fiscal agent of the partnership. BOCES can be a member of the partnership but not the fiscal agent.
Are MSP grants applicable to any group of students and teachers? Ex: elementary only, high school only, K-12, P-16?
PreK-12 teachers can participate.
What is the allowable maximum budget per year for each grant application? Should we use the #'s from the last application period?
It is expected that a partnership apply for an amount that is appropriate for the program being proposed. The budget must align to the proposed program. Do not use numbers from the last application period.
If a high school is a SRAP school (School Requiring Academic Progress), is that the equivalent of a SINI school as a qualifying priority school?
No.
We have SINI schools that will be included in this proposal which makes us eligible for priority status, if we include non-SINI schools do we loose out propriety status?
No.