Teaching American History Grant Meeting on January 21, 2004

Teaching Traditional American History grants are offered by the United States Department of Education and the guidelines are now available online. These three-year grants are made to partnerships of districts, universities, and cultural institutions. Although this year's funding level has yet to be determined, in Fiscal Year 2003 a total of $99,350,000 was awarded to 114 applicants across the nation. This year's application deadline for Teaching Traditional American History grant proposals is March 2, 2004.

Eleven Massachusetts projects have received these grants since 2000. District, higher education, and cultural institution staff who are considering submitting an application may find the experiences of these partnerships helpful. Please join our staff and leaders of these partnerships for a discussion about planning programs and writing proposals from 3 to 5 PM on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 in the Elmarion Room of the Goddard Daniels House of the American Antiquarian Society at 190 Salisbury Street in Worcester. Directions and a map may be found at the American Antiquarian Society Web site. Please contact Janet St. Don, 781-338-6234 or jstdon@doe.mass.edu by Friday, January 16, 2004 to register for this meeting.

Due Date

March 2, 2004

Posted by Paul Keleher

Collaboration Works!

Some good news for four Goddard Collaborative member institutions:

• Holy Cross and Assumption awarded $172,000 National Science Foundation Grant for network infrastructure. More...
• WPI and Higgins Armory share $316,000 grant from Institute of Museum and Library Services. More...

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education -- Comprehensive Program

OMB NO.: 1840-0514

The Comprehensive Program is the central grant competition of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). The competition is designed to support innovative reform projects that hold promise as models for the resolution of important issues and problems in postsecondary education.

Several characteristics of the Comprehensive Program make it unique among Federal programs.

• It is inclusive.  All nonprofit institutions and organizations offering postsecondary education programs are eligible to receive FIPSE grants. Those grants may be in support of any academic discipline, program, or  student support service.
     
• It is action-oriented.  Although FIPSE will consider proposals to assess existing reforms, or to study the feasibility of reforms in the development stage, it does not ordinarily support basic research. The Comprehensive Program supports a wide range of practical reform initiatives and assists grantees in assessing their results and disseminating what is learned to other institutions and agencies.
 
• It encourages bold thinking and innovative projects.  The resources of the Comprehensive Program are devoted to new ideas and practices and to the dissemination of proven innovations to others. FIPSE will support controversial or unconventional projects, as long as they are well justified, carefully designed, and responsibly managed.
• It is responsive to practitioners.   In its Agenda for Improvement (see following pages), FIPSE identifies common issues and problems affecting postsecondary education and invites applicants to address these or other problems imaginatively. The Comprehensive Program welcomes proposals addressing any and all topics of postsecondary improvement and reform.

Due Date

Application due November 3, 2003

Information Technology Workforce (ITWF)

NSF 03-609

Since its inception in 2000, the Information Technology Workforce Program (ITWF) has supported basic research studies on the underrepresentation of women and minorities in information technology (IT). ITWF is expanding its portfolio to include implementation/intervention projects that -- based on research findings -- seek to increase the numbers of women and underrepresented minority students and/or faculty in IT in the Nation's colleges and universities. Implementation projects must incorporate rigorous programs of evaluation and dissemination.

Due Date

January 21, 2004

Posted by Paul Keleher

Massachusetts Mathematics and Science Partnerships Program

NCLB, Title IIB - Informational Sessions

A Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Massachusetts Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSP) Program, funded through Title II, Part B of the federal education act, No Child Left Behind, will be released by the Massachusetts Department of Education in late September and will be available on our website at http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/. Approximately $1.6 million dollars will be awarded on a competitive basis to eligible mathematics and science partnerships to improve student achievement. Partnerships of higher education, K-12 districts, and other stakeholders will draw upon the strong disciplinary expertise of mathematicians, scientists, and engineering faculty from higher education institutions to develop and provide substantial courses of study for teachers who are currently teaching mathematics, science, and/or technology/engineering. Partnerships must include follow-up activities to support implementation of the content from the institute or course into the classroom.

We are planning two informational sessions in October to discuss the new MSP program, review program requirements, and outline the process for developing and submitting a partnership proposal. The first session will be held from 2:00-4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 2, 2003 at the Department of Education in Malden on the 3rd floor. The second session will be held from 2:00-4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 9, 2003 in Shrewsbury at the UMASS Medical School Hoagland-Pincus Conference Center. If you are interested in attending one of these sessions, please contact Michele Cipoletta at mcipoletta@doe.mass.edu or 781-338-3492 by Tuesday, September 30, 2003.

Posted by Carole Schuster, MEC

Math and Science Partnership Program (MSP)

NSF Grant: 03-605

The Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program is a major research and development effort that supports innovative partnerships to improve K-12 student achievement in mathematics and science. MSP projects are expected to both raise the achievement levels of all students and significantly reduce achievement gaps in the mathematics and science performance of diverse student populations. Successful projects serve as models that can be widely replicated in educational practice to improve the mathematics and science achievement of all the Nation's students.

In this solicitation, NSF seeks to support three types of MSP projects:

1. Targeted Partnerships for the secondary (i.e., middle and high school) grade levels;
2. Institute Partnerships - Teacher Institutes for the 21st Century; and
3. a focused set of Research, Evaluation and Technical Assistance (RETA) projects that directly support the work of the Institutes.

Due Dates

Letter of Intent - November 17, 2003
Final Submission - December 16, 2003

Posted by Paul Keleher