RFA Webinar

For those who could not attend, a recording of the webinar is available for online viewing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated on February 3, 2012
(Includes Q/A from webinar)

I am proposing that our Collaborative be separate from our ESC co-op, which would allow any district in our region to participate in the 12-13 Collaborative. In order to do this, I would have to charge a workshop registration fee for each workshop we provide. Can we charge a fee for collaborative teachers to attend the collaborative trainings? The ESC would be providing the funding for the presenter, providing the room and presentation equipment.

You are allowed to charge the grant a registration fee (per teacher or per event) for your workshops. That would make it possible for you to serve districts outside your co-op. You are not allowed to charge the teachers.

On the FAQs there is a question that indicates you prefer a 3 CMs to 1 STM ratio. Is that firm (a requirement) or just a suggestion?

That is a firm limit. Please do not propose serving CMs at a ratio greater than 3:1 for STMs. If we find we have additional funds after the first round, we may solicit proposals for more CM training but we do not expect that to be the case. Also, please do not propose more than 50 MTMs/STMs and 150 CMs.

For our immersion campuses we are focusing on high school chemistry. Do all teachers need to be high school chemistry or can we target other teachers to be STMs?

If your content focus is high school chemistry the majority of your group should be chemistry teachers. You can bring other teachers into the Collaborative, though.

In the RFA Guidelines, it states:

"Asummer institute consisting of a minimum of one week (minimum of 40 contact hours) intensive, content focused professional development must be scheduled for summer 2012. All Teacher Mentors must be required to attend (as evidenced in their applications for participation or letters of commitment)."

But in the additional information it says:

"(2) SUMMER WORKSHOP OR INSTITUTE- The term summer workshop or institute' means a workshop or institute, conducted during the summer, that — (A) is conducted for a period of not less than 2 weeks…"

What is actually required?

The federal MSP program defines a summer institute as one that consists of at least 2 weeks. This isn't a federal requirement but just their "definition" of summer institute. We require only 40 hours because feedback from our projects indicates 2 weeks won't work for most of them. We should probably use a term other than "summer institute" but we don't. Applicants are REQUIRED to offer only 40 hours in the summer.

On the part about "partners," we are supposed to input each district with information on each line. Can I write, "see attachment" and upload the PDF of the excel spreadsheet that I use or do I have to go in and put in each one on a line item?

You need to use the online form. This year we are requiring that all partners on the list have a partnership letter submitted as well, so only list districts that have an accompanying letter. You can have more districts involved but for the application we are primarily interested in seeing districts that have made a formal and detailed commitment to the program.

We thought the math content focus was Algebra and Geometry. Are you changing it to Algebraic Reasoning and Proportional Reasoning? Or can we stay with Algebra and Geometry?

The Algebra and Geometry are just a bit broader, which is fine.

There is a sentence in the RFA guidelines that mentions that stipends can only be paid for non-contract days. We pay a stipend at the end of the year for the teachers that complete many items, not just attending training. Are we still able to do that?

We are assuming that some of the things you are asking teachers to do are outside of the school day. That is what makes a stipend allowable. However, if all of your training were to consist of release days from school, they shouldn't be paid a stipend since they are already being paid for those days. By doing a summer institute, you take care of that.

Do we need to have a partner letter from ALL districts? We don’t know who all that will be yet.

You need to have a partner letter from any district that is an official partner. You may end up having teachers from 15 districts in your program but you need to have at least 3 districts in your application.

I will have the 3 letters from my required 3 LEAs and I will have letters from my immersion model schools. So, I do not need letters from all the other districts? I am asking because in the instructions for Section 7 there is a sentence that says "Provide a commitment letter from each partner listed."

If you list a district as a partner, you need a partnership letter from them. So, at a minimum, you need your 3 districts and either individual campuses for immersion (5) or overall a district commitment for 5 immersion campuses. You are allowed to serve additional districts but your application MUST include partnership letters from those cited as partners.

So will we have to do both your state report AND the federal MSP report? Or will we have to do just one? If so, will that start this Aug. 2012 or Aug. 2013?

You will not personally have to fill out the federal MSP report any more — the TRC state office will do that. (That includes the current grant period, 2011-2012.) However, you will be required to provide us, through the DataCenter, any data needed to complete those reports, by the final report due date.

Do signed teacher commitment letters for STMs need to be included with the application or just the commitment letter from the schools/districts with an example commitment letter for STMs?

Signed teacher commitment letters are not required; only samples are needed. The signed school/district letters are definitely needed.

When will the physics and chemistry pre/post tests be available for our STMs to take? We want to make sure we don’t begin our institutes prior to the pretest availability. Also, is this something our mentors can take as part of the institute, or is it better that they do this on their own time?

The pre/post tests should be available no later than June 1. The tests are already created and are currently in the process of being field-tested. We are hoping it will be sooner than June 1.

Yes, the mentors can take the pre-test during the summer institute.

We have a Project Directors Meeting on our calendars for Sept. 13, but we also have Addressing the Physics TEKS for Sept. 10-13. Do we have these dates correct?

Yes, we are committed to the Physics PDA on Sept 10-13. Please note that the PDA ends by noon on the 13th, with the Project Directors Meeting starting after lunch.

Does the 100 hours of mentor training INCLUDE the 12 hours of mentoring, or do STMs get 100 hours of training and additionally provide up to 12 hours of mentoring?

The 100 hours of mentor training includes the 12 hours of mentoring so they really are receiving 88 hours of training from you directly if they complete 12 mentoring hours.

In the Immersion Model, all teachers at the tested grade level in that subject area must be served by the TRC?

Yes, at the tested grade level/subject.

Can teachers be recruited for both an immersion model and traditional model?

Yes – not all teachers recruited must be on immersion campuses.

What if a campus only has one Chemistry teacher? Will that count as an immersion campus?

Yes.

If the chemistry teachers teach at different levels (i.e. 3 teachers at AP chem, 3 pre-AP chem, 3 regular chem) does that mean that 9 teachers must be in the program for the immersion mode or 3 teachers in the level of the subject?

The teachers who should be in the immersion model are only the ones who work with a class that is at the selected STAAR tested grade level/subject. Note: AP chem is not STAAR tested unless the student is substituting AP chem for regular chem/Pre-AP chem, which is rare.

What data will you want collected for a campus where the TM is a non-teaching instructional coach?

TM pre- and post-test, and campus-level STAAR data for immersion campuses.

Can one campus serve as both a math and science immersion campus?

As long as the campus is willing to commit to that level of participation.

If an elementary campus has 2 grade levels that want to participate can 1 MTM who is the math coach serve for both grade levels or is another MTM necessary?

The immersion model is for the purpose of choosing one tested grade level across at least five campuses. A second grade level/subject is not meaningful unless there is a second set of five campuses. It is possible to conduct two immersions on one campus as long as the teachers and administration are willing to commit to that level of participation.

For a subject such as Algebra I that is taught at 8th and HS, can the 5 campuses be a combination of both?

Yes, as long as the STAAR test taken (Algebra I) is the same test.

If there is just one 5th grade teacher at a campus, that STM will mentor 4 other grade level teachers for 24 hours each?

No. The only CMs that will need 24 hours of training are the ones at the tested grade level. If the teachers being mentored are at grade levels other than the selected immersion grade level/subject, they only need 12 hours of training.

Does the CM training need to be 100% content based or is pedagogical training ok also?

No - it can contain pedagogy as well.

Page 14 of the guidelines states a minimum of 40 hours content training during the summer. Is it okay to have some pedagogy (2 days) as part of the 40-hour summer institute?

The guidelines require a summer institute, a minimum of 40 hours. Content training for the year is to be 40 hours. They do not necessarily need to be one and the same. In other words, pedagogy can be part of summer institute. To make a powerful application, your summer institute should be one that all mentor teachers attend, versus having teachers pick and choose a collection of PD that equals 40 hours.

Could we have makeup days for the summer institute in the fall? Many teachers teach summer school.

Your summer institute should be an integral part of a comprehensive and coherent professional development plan for all teachers. Therefore, teachers who are unable to attend the summer institute should not be MTMs or STMs. If teachers are committed but are unable to attend due to an emergency it is allowable to schedule makeup days, but this should not be standard practice.

So if an STM ends up not being able to attend summer institute and you don't know this in advance, how should we deal with this? My question is more about someone who has committed and then flakes out without notifying us. What do we do then?

If people do not show without a good reason, they should not be part of the grant. The TRC recommends that you start with one or two extra teachers because it is often the case that a teacher will for legitimate reasons will not be able to complete their grant obligations.

If we are going to have a HS Chem and a MS Science cohort do you recommend all teachers take the chemistry exam or should we create a separate exam for our MS STMs?

If you are providing the same content to MS and HS teachers they should all take the same test. TRC’s preference is that as many teachers as possible take the physics or chemistry tests provided by the TRC, so that aggregating data across projects is possible.

Does the summer institute need to be consecutive days or can it be divided into two sessions during the summer?

It can be divided.

Can science coaches be in the program and serve to train CMs?

Yes - they would be STMs.

Our region borders OK and AR, and many of our students attend colleges in these states. Can our higher ed partner be out of state?

There is no particular restriction from doing so. If you are working with an out-of-state IHE partner, please address in the narrative how teachers will be supported by the IHE and how they will develop meaningful relationships with that IHE.

Will the pre- and post-tests will cover both physics AND chemistry or will they be separate exams?

Separate exams.

If we propose to use a specific pre- and post-test in the application and find later that we want to use a different one, is that allowable?

Such changes need to be cleared with Carol Fletcher at the TRC.

Budget question: Page 10 states a max of $215,000 but on page 11, if you serve 50 secondary MTMs and 300 CMs it totals $230,000. Should we lower number of CMs to only request the $215,000?

We are looking for a ratio of three CMs to one MTM, so if you’re serving 50 MTMs, reduce your CM count to 150.

Where in the RFA does it specify what portion of the budget must be spent by what date?

We will specify that in the scope of work when an applicant is funded.

We already have districts that have turned in letters that include the original wording from the RFA that mentioned a secure web portal for data entry. Do we need to have those letters redone?

No – it will be via a secure portal but the information will be information entered by the project director.

Are CMs required to attend PD or does mentoring by TMs still count?

Mentoring by TMs can be counted toward training received by CMs.

I still have several MTMs in the current year that do not have UTEID numbers and therefore cannot enter their data. Any word on how to fix this? They have had a prior UTEID number in the past and the system will not allow them to get another one.

If you have trouble obtaining or using your UT-EID, please call 512-475-7387 for assistance.

Note: UT-EIDs are issued and administered by the UT Office of Admissions.

The April meeting conflicts with the NCTM annual conference April 17-20

We apologize for the conflict in schedule. Unfortunately we cannot change the Project Directors Meeting scheduled for April. You are able to send a substitute, an instructional team member, for example, to the meeting.

Can webinars be utilized to conduct book studies? (and count for hours?)

Book studies can count as part of the 24 hours of online professional development. (See the application, Narrative section, about online professional development.)

In our proposal we are suggesting two week-long institutes — one for elementary and one for high school — each with a chemistry and physics theme. Is that allowable?

Yes.

Looking at the makeup Instructional Team, what is the TRC's definition of a "Master Teacher"? Must this person be a classroom teacher? Could it be a district specialist? Is this person a TEA/SBEC certified Master Teacher?

Master Teacher is not an official designation but rather someone who has demonstrated evidence of effectiveness in teaching science or math and preferably has experience in providing mentoring or professional development for other teachers. It could be a current classroom teacher or a district coach or specialist.

We're developing a summer institute that will embed the improvement of math and science content knowledge within various real world (STEM) contexts. May the content instruction for algebra/geometry and chemistry/physics be integrated with sessions on STEM applications or is it the TRCs intent that these be stand-alone TEKS-focused sessions?

If the primary objective of the teacher training is to build teacher content knowledge (as opposed to learning pedagogy, instructional technology, etc.), then the training will count as content knowledge training. The most important part is that the training address the chemistry or physics TEKS that we specified in the RFA, not just any science training.

Concerning the partnership requirement, does a college of medicine qualify as a IHE math/science department?

Yes.

Can private schools be counted as campuses in the Immersion Model? Edited 1/18/2012

We encourage Collaborative projects to provide service to private school teachers and teacher mentors. However, immersion campuses must administer the STAAR and deliver STAAR data (at the selected grade level/subject), and only public schools can do so.

Charter schools can be immersion schools as long as they administer the STAAR.

If I have a HS Math subject covered as immersion and then a different HS Math subject covered as immersion at the same school, is that considered two campuses or one?

The requirement is to pick one tested subject (or grade level) and have five separate campuses do it. The second subject would not be meaningful unless you are doing five of those as well.

In an immersion school, can the school's science specialist be the STM with the regular teachers as CMs?

You are allowed to designate an instructional specialist, an instructional coach, or a similar position as the MTM/STM as long as all the teachers at the tested grade level or subject are CMs.

What is the recommended browser for completing the application?

Firefox, which can be obtained for free at GetFirefox.com

When I click a button to enter into a field, calculate a word count, or calculate a total, the screen refreshes and I'm back at the top.

This is normal behavior.

I forgot my application code. How can I get back to my application?

Your code was emailed to the address you provided at the beginning of the application. Additionally, if you've created a PDF of any page of the application, your code is displayed at the top. If you still cannot locate your application, email Karl Hereim.

Do I need three high-need school districts in order to apply?

Not precisely. To foster a truly regional Collaborative, the TRC is requiring that an institution of higher education and three school districts be part of the Collaborative project. In addition, a majority of the teachers served in each district must be employed at a high-need local education agency (LEA). The requirements can be met in a couple of ways:

• A partner district could be one where one or more individual campuses are designated as high-need, even if the district as a whole is not. The majority of teachers served in such a district must be from the high-need schools.
• An entire partner district could be designated as high-need. See the guidelines for the definition of "high-need local education agency."

Physics and/or chemistry? Edited 1/18/2012

Projects can concentrate on physics or chemistry or both but must measure changes in teacher content knowledge in at least one.

The TRC will provide projects with a teacher content test for the Physics TEKs and Chemistry TEKS cited in the RFA. In Mathematics, projects are encouraged to use LMT or the UT Tyler test of algebraic knowledge.

On page 13 of the guidelines under c. Mathematics and Science Teacher Mentors, the second bullet point should read as follows:

• "A minimum of 40 of the 100 contact hours must be focused on improving the algebra and/or geometry (Math) or physics and/or chemistry (Science) content knowledge and instructional skills of participating teachers." This should match the requirement stated on page 14 under e. Instructional Timeline.