TRC RFA WEBINARThursday, January 16, 2014

10:00 a.m.

Application• Done in the TRC DataCenter. • Submission due 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 18.

Application notes• Fill in all of the pink fields.• Required supporting documentation – upload PDF

documents only.• Create a PDF of entire DataCenter application by clicking

“Application PDF” button.• Save supporting documentation separately. A saved

application PDF does not attach the supporting documents.

• You can submit only after all pages are complete.• Submission due 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 18.

Project Contacts• The people listed on the contacts page will appear in the

contract. • Please double-check spelling, address, number, email of

each person.• Project co-directors are allowed but not required.

However, only one can be listed in application.

Narrative

Comprehensive Professional Development Program• Project Overview• Summer Institute• Online Professional Development (if any)• Teacher Mentors and Cadre Members• Project Evaluation:

• Teacher Content Knowledge• Teacher Instructional Skills• Student Achievement

Events Timeline

• Make event descriptions as clear as possible. What goes in here becomes the description in the DataCenter.

Events Timeline

• “Focus Contact Hours” field refers to Math or Science content specified in the RFA. Focus contact hours can be all or part of the total contact hours of an event.

Events Timeline

Pre-Test and Post-Test of Teacher Content Knowledge

The pre-test for teacher content knowledge must take place before any content training. The post-test must be after all the content training is complete, but no earlier than March 1, 2015.

• The post-test must be documented in the events timeline. • The pre-test can be part of the summer institute; make

sure it is part of the description.

Events Timeline

Summer Institute• Minimum 40 hours of intensive, content focused

professional development must be scheduled for summer 2014.

Events Timeline

Content Focus• Minimum 40 hours, during the grant, of instruction in

algebraic thinking and reasoning (Mathematics) or biology (Science) content knowledge.

Budget

NEW: DataCenter budget plus uploaded PDF of budget signed by project director and fiscal authority. • If application budget is changed, a new, signed budget

must be uploaded.

Budget

Budget

Budget

Budget

Budget - Leveraging

Budget - Basics

• Mark the Direct Teacher Support box “yes” if line item is teacher materials, participant travel and registration, substitute pay, tuition (colleges and universities), or stipends.

Budget - Basics

• Use FAR fund codes that work best for your institution. Remember, the 4-digit number you assign to a line item will carry through to the invoicing process.

Budget - Basics

• Please enter the dollar amount matching your IDC rate. The rate will need to be verified before proceeding with a contract.

• The indirect cost rate is either 8% or your local approved rate, whichever is less.

ITMs• Your instructional team must have at least one professor

of engineering, math, or science. That professor must deliver professional development. List that person first.

IHE and District Partners• Institution of higher education: one university or college

department of science, mathematics, or engineering.• Districts: three participating school districts. The majority

of teachers served must be employed in high-need local education agencies.

• Letters from each entity listed in application.

IHE and District Partner Letters• IHE applicants need a letter of commitment from the

department of science, mathematics, or engineering.

• District letters must state the following:• the dates of the summer institute• that TMs will receive 100 hours of professional development during

the grant period• that TMs are allowed to mentor and provide professional

development to Cadre Members.

Immersion Campus Partners• Five specified campuses, all working on the same grade

level or subject.• Each campus training everyone who teaches at that

tested grade level or subject. One teacher must be a Mentor (100 hours). All others can be either additional Mentors or Cadre Members.

• Immersion Cadre Members get 24 contact hours of training or support.

Immersion Campus Partner Letters• Letters from each immersion campus required. Single

letter from district okay if campuses are specified.• Immersion letters must state the following:

• the specific campus• the grade level or subject at which all teachers receive professional

development• that at least one teacher at the tested grade level or subject will

receive 100 hours (MTM/STM) and all other teachers will receive 24 hours (CM) of professional development during the course of the grant period, and that the teachers are authorized to take the time needed to do so

• the TRC will be provided with campus-level STAAR data in time for final TRC reports

Immersion Campus Partners

Don’t list too many immersion campuses. • It’s not giving you additional points in the application.• Compliance is not necessarily easy. Every teacher at the

selected grade level/subject must participate, and at least one of those teachers must be a Mentor (100 contact hours).

Recruitment

Teacher Application or Letter Sample• Teacher mentors need to be fully aware of commitment.

The application or letter must contain the following:• completion of 100 hours of professional development by a certain

date• mentoring of __ teachers for __ hours and provision of

documentation submitted through mentoring logs• attendance at the summer institute – dates must be specified• completion of all evaluation requirements by __ deadline, including

pre- and post-tests of content knowledge and submission of teacher STAAR data by June 15, 2015.

Recruitment

Teacher Application or Letter Sample• This specific wording must be included, with regard to

submission of STAAR data:• 1) Number of students taught by the Teacher Mentor• 2) Number of students from question 1 with state assessment data

in math/science for 2015• 3) Number of students from question 2 who did not meet standard

on the state assessment in 2015• 4) Number of students from question 2 who did meet standard on

the state assessment in 2015

Recruitment

Other Recruitment Documentation• Samples of any additional recruitment documents

Private Nonprofit Participation

Summary Page

Enter the number of Non-Immersion CMs and TMs on this page in the pink fields. Immersion data from Partners page will pre-fill the gray fields.

Summary Page

NEW: Project Abstract

Mentors (STMs and MTMs)

The most successful projects plan for some TMs to drop out of the program.• To meet your numbers, recruit more TMs than you need.

Promise a lower stipend than the budget states, then increase the stipend at the end of the year if funding allows. The initial stipend commitment to teachers does not have to match the application budget.

Minimum Mentor and Cadre Member Hours

Mentors• Your goal should be that each Teacher Mentor receives

100 hours of professional development. • Starting in 2014-2015, participants who do not receive at

least 80 hours will not count as Teacher Mentors.

Immersion Cadre Members• Each Immersion Cadre Member should receive 24 hours

of professional development/support.• Starting in 2014-2015, Immersion CMs must receive at

least 20 hours to be compliant with the Immersion model.

Minimum Mentor and Cadre Member Hours

Regular Cadre Members• Each regular Cadre Member should receive 12 hours of

professional development/support.• Starting in 2014-2015, participants who do not receive at

least 6 hours will not count as Cadre Members.

Teacher and Principal Evaluation and Support Systems• We’ve told you as much as we know.

LMT – Math Assessment

Important changes for users of the Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) measures and the Teacher Knowledge Assessment System (TKAS):• To cover the ongoing costs of support, users will begin

paying an annual fee of $500 for use of both paper and pencil versions of LMT measures as well as the online measures through TKAS.

• If you are coordinating the assessment through the TRC, then you don’t have to worry about this change. If you coordinate your own assessments as an authorized user, you will need to incorporate this fee into your application budget.