Colleagues,
Please take advantage of the grant opportunity by the New Jersey Department of Education described below if it is appropriate for your institution.
Notice
The Mathematics and Science Partnership Program (MSP)-Competitive Notice of Grant Opportunity (NGO) has been approved and posted to the NJDOE Website at: http://www.nj.gov/education/grants/gropps.shtml.
The Office of Secondary Education is offering MSP funds to recruit, train, and mentor regional cohorts of Science or Mathematics Ambassadors (ambassadors). Once trained, ambassadors will provide training and technical support for teachers in their school and region.
Eligible Partnerships include: One Institution of Higher Education (science faculty, Science Education faculty or the Mathematics faculty or Mathematics Education faculty from that Institution of Higher Education (IHE)) in partnership with a consortium of schools that include at least one Priority, Focus, or other Title I school.
The funding will be awarded to regional partnerships. Each partnership will identify approximately 30 teacher leaders to serve as Science or Mathematics Ambassadors (ambassadors). The ambassadors will receive intensive professional development on the standards and on the Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products Rubric for Science and Mathematics (EQuIP). Training will begin with an intensive Summer Institute. The Summer Institute training must be consistent with the purposes of Title I Part B, as described on page 2, New Jersey Mathematics and Science Partnership Goals and Objectives, as identified on pages 11 and 12 of this Notice of Grant Opportunity. The professional development plan must provide for follow-up training during the academic year that is conducted in the schools for a period of not less than four consecutive or nonconsecutive days. Partnerships may choose to recruit new cohorts of ambassadors annually or to provide ongoing support for the two-year performance period.
Ambassadors will also serve as liaisons between the Office of Secondary Education and classroom teachers. This network will be a two-way process. Standards-specific information, tools, and resources will be shared with ambassadors through an ambassador’s listserv and questions and concerns at the school level can then be communicated directly to the Office of Secondary Education through the ambassadors.
Funds available for the MSP competitive grant program will be awarded by the Department of Education to support proposals submitted by eligible partnerships that provide programs to improve science teaching and learning. The Department of Education has established a two-year project using federal funds, as follows:
· Year One, July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 and
· Year Two, July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018;
Eligibility for Year Two awards is contingent upon successful completion of funded program goals and objectives while adhering to all requirements.
The success of MSP programs depends on the quality of the partnerships. Strong partnerships are those which everyone shares responsibility for planning, implementing, and evaluating the project. The work should benefit all of the partners.
The NJDOE will award approximately $3,400,000 in MSP Grants annually for two years. A total of up to nine awards may be made annually. Each award will be funded up to a maximum request of approximately $380,000. Successful projects will be eligible for up to one year of continuation funding.