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Sample Successful Proposals/Links
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You can find several successful proposals--including some from Lubbock-Cooper--posted
at the following site: http://www.schoolgrants.org/proposal_samples.htm#Tips.
The following is the successful application to the Jones Foundation,
funded for $200,000.00 over five years.
Project LEAD (Leadership Education
and Development) for Junior High/Middle Level Preservice and Beginning
Teachers
Executive Summary
The College of Education at Texas Tech University proposes to develop
a practical project that will address two problems in public education:
the teacher shortage caused by beginning teacher attrition and beginning
teacher attrition caused by feelings of inadequacy. The present shortage
in Texas of 37,000 to 40,000 can be attributed to the attrition of beginning
teachers, not the failure of enough new teachers to be certified, according
to Ed Fuller, co-director of research at the State (Texas) Board for Educator
Certification (“Lawmakers Hear Teacher-Shortage Report,” 2002).
Since it is the certified beginning teachers, 40 to 50 % nationwide, who
are the ones who are unwilling to stay in the classroom, this proposed
project will seek to address the problem of new teacher attrition and;
therefore, the teacher shortage.
The College of Education at Texas Tech University, along with partners
from local school districts, proposes to develop a two-part project--LEAD
(Leadership Education and Development) for Junior High/Middle Level Preservice
and Beginning Teachers, which will be built around the theme of leadership
and which will consist of two distinct but interrelated programs: a preservice
and an induction program. The premise is that if beginning teachers are
developed as leaders, they will be retained at a higher rate than those
young teachers who do not have their courses, their field experience and
their first two years of teaching infused with leadership skills. The
LEAD group will be better prepared to do well and to be retained because
they will begin teaching with training that will give them a sense of
control and support as they begin.
LEAD will be developed by a partnership of beginning teachers, selected
junior high/middle level principals and their teachers, and faculty and
staff of the College of Education at Texas Tech University. This collaboration
will
• Define the term leadership and determine the leadership outcomes
that young teachers need;
• Write the mission and philosophy and the goals and objectives
of LEAD;
• Determine the type of students to recruit and how to best recruit
them;
• Determine how to best implement and evaluate the determined leadership
skills in the preservice courses, including student teaching;
• Develop and implement a Leadership Seminar preservice component;
• Plan and implement a two-year induction program that will continue
to emphasize leadership skills and will collaborate with district induction
programs;
The project will begin with a selected cohort of 30 junior
high/middle level preservice teachers in 2004, and by second and third
cohorts of 30 in 2005 and 2006. Group one will participate in two years
of induction while group two will have one year, and group three will
have none, unless additional funding can be secured. Assessment and evaluation
of each aspect of the program will be ongoing, and appropriate annual
reports will be made to the funding agency.
Need for LEAD
The College of Education and partners from ISD’s in Lubbock County
propose to initiate a project to develop teacher leaders. The College
of Education is interested in developing this project because of the desire
to help address the critical issues of the teacher shortage and the attrition
rate of beginning teachers in the public schools. The attrition of certified
teachers (40-50%) during the first five years of teaching appears to be
a major cause of the teacher shortage across the nation and in Texas (35,000
to 40,000 in Texas alone). Addressing these issues requires a systematic
approach that cultivates teacher leaders during their preservice training
and supports them during the transition into their teaching careers. Project
LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) for Junior High/Middle Level
Preservice and Beginning Teachers will consist of two distinct but interrelated
programs: a two-year preservice teacher program and an induction program
designed to address the critical concerns of teacher shortage and beginning
teacher attrition by developing teacher leaders.
Description of LEAD
Three cohorts of students seeking junior high/middle level certification
will be recruited to participate in Project LEAD, based on their perceived
level of commitment to the teaching profession at the time of their selection.
LEAD will tailor the junior high/middle level certification preservice
education courses that these students take to stress leadership skills.
Once these students are certified and are beginning teachers in local
junior high/middle level classrooms, they will be supported by an induction
program, which will help them to implement leadership skills in their
classrooms. As a result of stressing leadership in the junior high/middle
level preservice courses and in the induction program, LEAD teachers will
be better prepared to succeed as educators and to be retained in the profession
than will other beginning teachers who do not have this training, for
this project will enhance the sense of control and support that are critical
to the retention of beginning career teachers.
One important strategy for implementing Project LEAD is for the College
of Education to collaborate fully with local ISD’s to develop the
preservice and induction programs of LEAD. The College of Education faculty
and staff will enlist the help of junior high/middle level principals,
their teachers, and some of their junior high/middle level beginning teachers
who had no special leadership preparation during their preservice courses
to advise the faculty and staff on what the preservice and induction components
of LEAD should be. For example, they, along with faculty and staff from
the COE, will
• Specify what the term leadership means for junior high/middle
level teachers and schools;
• Determine the leadership outcomes that young teachers need;
• Write the mission and philosophy of LEAD;
• Write the goals and objectives of LEAD;
• Determine the type of students to recruit and how to best recruit
them;
• Determine how to best implement and evaluate the determined leadership
skills in the preservice courses, including student teaching;
• Develop and implement a Leadership Seminar preservice component;
• Plan and implement a two-year induction program that will continue
to emphasize leadership skills and will collaborate with district induction
programs;
• Identify Teacher Leaders from the schools who will help with induction;
• Develop and implement an evaluation plan.
Project directors will be especially considerate of the time commitment
of ISD participants, being careful not to duplicate programs but to participate
in district programming that helps further the goals of both the COE and
the district and to provide compensation for students and partners in
the ISD’s. Mr. Wayne Havens, Interim Superintendent, and Ms. Ann
Graves, Assistant Superintendent, of the Lubbock ISD have committed verbally
to this project, and we will be receiving a letter of support from them.
The first actual cohort of preservice junior high/middle level teachers
will begin in the fall of 2004. This will allow time to develop the partnership
with district personnel, to get the items listed above in progress, and
to conduct the recruitment of the first cohort. Years 2004-2008 will see
three cohorts of 30 each finish their preservice courses and participate
in varying times of induction (See Timetable). Assessment and evaluation
will be ongoing as will be revisions of the programs given the results
of assessment and evaluation.
Timetable
(Please see Judy Aycock Simpson for a copy of the timetable.)
Uniqueness of the Project
The College of Education believes that the idea for the development of
LEAD is unique because
• It will be developed as a result of collaboration with Lubbock
County ISD’s;
• It will target junior high/middle level preservice and beginning
teachers;
• It will develop teacher leaders;
• It will enable beginning teachers to be better prepared to succeed
because their preservice courses will provide them with the skills to
do so;
• It will provide an induction period that will support beginning
teachers
Future Plans
If assessment and evaluation efforts reveal that LEAD results in greater
success and retention of beginning teachers, the College of Education
will seek funding to implement the full induction program for Cohorts
2 and 3 and to implement a secondary preservice component of LEAD.
Proposed Budget Justification
The budget goal is to provide as much incentive as possible for the partners,
the preservice teachers, and the beginning teachers. Because faculty and
staff believe so strongly in the value of this project, neither the Principal
Investigators, the Project Advisor, nor the faculty and staff of Texas
Tech working on the project committee will receive any compensation for
services, such as being project director or advisor or the like. A total
budget of $33,500.00 is sought for redevelopment of the preservice courses,
the development of the induction program, and the coordination and implementation
of these programs. This amount equals 16% of the $203,800.00 that is necessary
to implement this project. Students, principals, and junior high/middle
level teacher leaders and beginning teachers will be the recipients of
81% of the funds sought. The College of Education will commit another
$129,237.00 of in-kind contributions to make this project a success.
LEAD Budget
Personnel Preparation Costs
Redevelopment of courses $ 7,500.00
Development of Induction $ 7,500.00
Coordination and Implementation of Seminars $ 3,000.00
Coordination and Implementation of Induction Program $ 3,000.00
Evaluation: $2500 for 1 for 5 yrs. $ 12,500.00
Total Personnel Preparation Costs $ 33,500.00
In Kind Personnel Support Cost
Graduate Student Worker: 9 months/20 hrs. week/salary, tuition, fringes,
$ 81,737.00
Time of 2 Principal Investigators each year: $2500 each for 5 yrs. $ 25,000.00
Time of Project Advisor/Liaison person: 2500 for 5 yrs. $ 12,500.00
Time for COE Committee: $220 each a yr for 5 yrs. $ 10,000.00
Total Personnel Support Costs $ 129,237.00
Partnership Costs
Teacher Leaders from ISD's: $350 each for 190 of 4 yrs. $ 66,500.00
ISD Advisory Groups: $250 for 40 (8 each yr.) for 5 yrs. $ 10,000.00
Parking and Misc. for Teacher Leaders and Advisory Board for 5 yrs. $
2,000.00
Total Partnership Costs $ 78,500.00
Student and Beginning Teacher Costs
Seminar Materials: Tapes, recorders, white boards, erasers, etc. $ 2,500.00
Seminar Speakers: $100 each for speakers for 14 a year over 4 yrs. $ 19,600.00
Seminar Texts: $100 each for 200 students over 4 yrs. $ 20,000.00
Professional Materials for seminars: $50 each for 200 students over 4
yrs. $ 10,000.00
Leadership Tapes $ 1,200.00
Food for seminars for 4 yrs/200 students $ 4,000.00
Capstone Materials: Texts and Professional Materials for 200 over 4 yrs.
$ 8,000.00
Awards Ceremony: Students, partners, etc. for 250 over 2 yrs. At $15 each
$ 4,000.00
Stipends for Summer Induction Institute: $350 each for 50 over 2 summers
$ 17,500.00
Total Student and Beginning Teacher Costs $ 86,800.00
General Office Supplies
Paper, pens, copying, phones, mailing, brochures, etc. for 8 over 5 yrs
$ 5,000.00
Total General Office Supplies $ 5,000.00
Total MoneySought: $ 203,800.00
In Kind Contribution: $ 129,237.00
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