Education Innovation Zones West Virginia Department of Education According to WVDE - BOE

Local Solution Dropout Education Innovation Zones West Virginia Department of Education According to WVDE - BOE Policy 3236 2015- 2016 GRANT APPLICATION

Please fill out all appropriate boxes and respond to all questions. The application and plan

must be submitted usingTimes New Roman, 12 pt. font and is limited to 20 pages.

Application is due by 4:00 p.m., October 1, 2015 to Rebecca Derenge, in the Office of

School Improvement, WVDE, Bldg. 6, Room 330, 1900 Kanawha Blvd., Charleston

West Virginia 25305.

Section 1 – Applicant Information:

Applicant(s):
County:
Superintendent
Principal(s)
Grant Contact Name & Title
E-mail:
Telephone:

Drop-Out Prevention Grant (must include community partners and three year budget proposal) The Local School Dropout Prevention and Recovery Innovation Zone has been allocated $2.2 million of funding by the State Legislature for this competitive grant process.

Place a check beside the appropriate designation asan innovation zone applicant:

______Single School (an entire faculty of a school working to implement a school-wide strategy)

______Consortium of Schools (fill out multiple listings below)

______Higher Education Institution(must include at least one county school system applicant)

______Feeder System of Schools or schools of the same programmatic levels working within a county or across counties to implement a strategy(to impact dropout prevention at the high school level.

_____ District Application (district wide dropout prevention initiatives with less than a 90% graduation rate, dropout prevention only)

_____ School System Collaborative Innovation Zones - The intent of this grant is to cause local communities to take action by working in coalitions, creating partnerships, hosting community conversations and ultimately creating comprehensive dropout prevention plans. The Education Alliance of WV and the WV Center for Civic Life provide resources and training to organize community dialogues and follow-up action.

_____ Innovation School Districts (to provide entrepreneurship education and include at least one partner from the local business community with opportunities for greater collaboration to plan and implement systemic approaches that include evidence-based solutions for increasing graduation rates, increasing achievement and educational outcomes while reducing the number of dropouts

Acknowledged Requirement (superintendent’s signature):

We acknowledge, as a requirement of receiving an Innovation Zone Grant or Dropout Prevention Grant, we must use the Early Warning System provided by West Virginia Department of Education to determine students who are at-risk of dropping out and provide direct interventions to support identified indicators. And upon request grantee will provide data to support decisions based upon disaggregation of the data for at-risk identified students.

______

County, Superintendent:Date:

LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBERS
Identify the school or consortium’s leadership team.
For dropout prevention grants, the leadership team should include community partners
(add additional lines as necessary)
Name / Title / Signature

Please ensure you have all of the supporting documents required completed and attached to the end of this application:

______Record of Commitment from Staff, Parent, and LSIC

______Local Educational Agency Report of Support or Concerns

______Multiple Community Partner Records of Commitment for Dropout Grants

Section 2 – Priorities:

During the 2013 legislative session, Governor Tomblin sponsored severalkey education reform initiatives through Senate Bill 359and charged the WV Board of Education with supporting the successful implementation. These areas have been identified for priority points in the grant review process.

If you are submitting an application for one of the identified priority areasplease review guidance documents and resources

Applications for Drop-out Prevention grants that choose to focus on a priority area must show clear a correlation between the priority area and the outcome of drop-out prevention. All applications that target a priority area must identify it below:

_____Community School Partnership

The term ‘‘community school’’ means a public elementary or secondary school that participates in a community-based effort to coordinate and integrate educational, developmental, family, health, and other comprehensive services through community-based organizations and public /private partnerships. Community Schools provide access to such services for students, families, and the community, such as access during the school year (including before and after-school), as well as during the summer. Some may include: Early childhood education Programs under the Head Start Act, including Early Head Start programs and child care; Remedial education activities and enrichment activities, including expanded learning time; Summer enrichment and learning experiences; Dental health care; Mental health counseling services (expanded-school mental health services). Complete guidance on can be found at:

_____Comprehensive Literacy Development (creating a school-wide elementary focus on literacy and numeracy)

_____Career Development (middle school focus to prepare students in the middle grades to set goals through interest and talent to view graduation as a culmination of planned activities and classes from year-to-year to result in a career pathway)

_____Redesign of Instructional Time (Intended to provide principals and teachers with flexibility from the constraints of certain statutes, policies and rules in order to serve as testing grounds for innovative reform strategies that enhance student success and increase accountability)

_____Personalize Learning though Technology (Project 24) is an urgent call to action on the need for systemic planning around the effective use of technology and digital learning to achieve the goal of "career and college readiness" for all students.

_____Entrepreneurship Education Innovation Zone to include at least one partner from the local

business community and thereby authorizing Innovation School Districts.

______The STEM Innovation zone applies evidence-based approaches to a trans-disciplinary

curriculum using project-based learning, differentiated instruction, and authentic assessment of mastery. The school is designed to bridge the gap between how we live and how we learn in the 21st century by blending formal schooling with cooperative learning experiences involving postsecondary education, work and informal education.

Section 3 - ABSTRACT:

Provide a one page onlyproject summary that briefly describes the project’s vision, goals, activities, and key features for student success that will be addressed. Please limit the length of the abstract to the text box found on this page only.

Section 4 - Waiver Requests:

Requires that no exception be granted to assessment programs administered by the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE), provisions of NCLB or other federal law, nor exception from WV Code §§ 18A-2-7, 18A-4-7a, 18A-4-7b, 18A-4-8, 18A-5-8b. However, exceptions may include a proposal to require that a candidate for a teaching vacancy in an innovation school possess qualifications over and above those stipulated in statute if approved in a county-wide school staff election process.

Indicate the specific type(s) of policy or code that prohibit or constrain the design that you wish to request a waiver from:

____ Specific waiver requested of county policy

____ Specific waiver requested of WVBOE policy

____ Specific waiver requested of WV code/statute

WV Code Waiver Request
(Specify section and article)
Impact of the waiver
What will the waiver enable the school to do differently?
WVBOE Policy Waiver Request
(specify section and article)
Impact of the waiver.
What will the waiver enable the school to do differently?
County Policy Waiver Request
(specify section and article)
Impact of the waiver.
What will the waiver enable the school to do differently?

Section 5- Project Design:Complete each section. Use as much space necessary.

What is the purpose and expected outcome of this project?

Explain how the school or consortium’s current data influenced the need for the project described in question one?

How is the school or consortium’s project connected to best practice and current research in reference to raising student achievement and/or dropout prevention?

What will other schools in West Virginia learn from your project and how will other schools in West Virginia benefit from your project?

Section 6- Goals, Objectives, Evaluation, Timeline:

Complete this chart for each of your goals -

Goal:
Objectives
Identify the measureable objectives that will be used to determine success in achieving these goals
(Must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely goals (SMART) / Activities
Develop activities for each objective that are: Creative and innovative; Impact student success; Allow for greater flexibility; change the way the school(s)/district currently operate / Personnel
Indicate the name and title of personnel that will be responsible for the activities. / Timeline
Identify the timeline for the activities (include month/year) / Budget
Indicate budget requirements (include formulas used to derive totals in budget sections e.g. 3 subs @$143/day=total)

Section 7- Project Evaluation and Sustainability:

It is important to explain how you will measure the success of your project and how you plan to continue the project after the grant funds are exhausted.

How will you evaluate and report the impact this innovation project has on increasing student success and/or other stated goals and objectives?

How will this innovation project be sustained beyond the initial funding period?

Section 8- Budget Justification:

The Dropout Prevention Innovation Zone allocation is approximately $2,200,000. These funds will be awarded in one competitive grant process and applicants must prepare proposals and accompanying budgets for three school years. The budget should support the activities described in the above application. Major item requests must be supported with activities within in the application. The budget range for each proposal is $50,000 to $100,000 for each of the three years (total 3 year award range $150,000 to $300,000). *Dropout Innovation Zone applicants need to complete a 3 year budget plan for FY 2015 – FY 2018

FY 2015-16
Expenditure / Amount Requested / In-Kind (Optional) / Total
Professional Salaries
Fringe Benefits
Equipment
Supplies
Professional Development
Travel
Contracts/Consultants
Other
Total
FY 2016-17
Expenditure / Amount Requested / In-Kind (Optional) / Total
Professional Salaries
Fringe Benefits
Equipment
Supplies
Professional Development
Travel
Contracts/Consultants
Other
Total
FY 2017-18
Expenditure / Amount Requested / In-Kind (Optional) / Total
Professional Salaries
Fringe Benefits
Equipment
Supplies
Professional Development
Travel
Contracts/Consultants
Other
Total

Appendix

Record of Commitment

Use this form to report the staff commitment regarding the innovation application and plan. A copy must be forwarded to the Innovation Zone Committee with the application and the plan.

School: ______

Department (if applicable): ______

Notice of Meeting (Date provided to faculty or department/subdivision): ______

Meeting Date: ______

Faculty Senate Elected Officers:

President: (Name) ______Signature: ______

Vice-President: (Name)______Signature: ______

Secretary: (Name) ______Signature: ______

Treasurer: (Name) ______Signature:______

Other: (Name) ______Signature: ______

Service Personnel Representative:

Name:______Position: ______Signature: ______

Parent Representatives:

Name: ______Signature: ______

LSIC Representatives:

Name: ______Signature: ______

We certify that 80 percent of the faculty affected by the application/plan has voted to support the

application/plan. (This Report Certification is not required of institutions of higher education in their application or plan).

Local Educational Agency Report of Support or Concerns

Use this form to report the county board or boards and superintendent’s support or concerns, or both, about the innovation to the principal and faculty senate. A copy must be forwarded to the Innovation Zone Committee.

School: ______

Department (if applicable): ______

Date of School/Department/Subdivision Receipt of Application: ______

Date of Regularly Scheduled County Board of Education Meeting: ______

County Board of Education Elected Officers:

President: (Name) ______Signature: ______

Vice-President: (Name) ______Signature: ______

Members

Name:______Signature: ______

Support: ______

Concerns: ______

(Report of the Local Education Agency must be forwarded to school/department/subdivision for submission to West Virginia Board of Education with the application/plan).

(This Report Certification is not required of institutions of higher education in their application or plan).

Community Partner Support

Use this form to document community organization/agency support

and partnership for the innovation dropout plan/project.

Use a separate form for each community partner.

Dropout grants must include meaningful documented partnerships.

School/Schools/District: ______

District: ______

Date(s) of School/District/Community Partner Dialogues: ______

______

Name of Community Organization/Agency: ______

Contact Person: ______

Contact Person email address: ______

Contact Person phone number: ______

Contact Person address: ______

Explain the community organization/agency’s commitment to the Plan/Project:

______

List the resources and contributions (not monetary) that the organization/agency is making to this Plan/Project:

______

Agency Representative (Name) ______Signature: ______

Title: ______

Innovation Zone Requirements:

Proposals must be typed in 12 point font and received no later than 4:00 p.m. on October 1, 2015
Complete the application for Innovation Zone designation
Must include use of Early Warning System to provide data
*Approval by 80 percent of faculty (those affected by Innovation Proposal)
**Record of Support from Parents, LSIC, Business Partners, Students
Record of LEA/County Board Report (Support and Concerns) on application
Record of Support from Community Partners for Dropout Grants.
Submit your application/plan in a PDF document via emailtoRebecca Derenge at

IMPORTANT NOTES:

*To determine staff support, the innovation application and plan must be submitted to all employees affected by the design of the plan for a secret ballot vote at special meetings called to determine the level of commitment.

The meeting is called with two weeks prior special notice, and the vote is conducted and certified to the principal, superintendent, and county board president by a panel.
The panel must provide an absentee ballot to each employee eligible to vote who cannot attend the meeting.
The panel consists of the elected officers of the faculty senate of the school or schools; one representative of the service personnel of the school; and three parent members appointed by the Local School Improvement Council (LSIC).
At least 80 percent of the employees who are eligible to vote must approve the school’s Innovation Zone plan.
Any regular employee at a school applying for or designated as an Innovation Zone whose job duties may be affected by implementation of the Innovation Zone plan or proposed plan may request a transfer to another school in the school district. The county board shall make every reasonable effort to accommodate the transfer.

**Please make sure your application is submitted to your local board in time to receive their signature and supports/concern before the application due date.

Completed grant application must be RECEIVED via email by 4:00 p.m. onOctober 1, 2015.

Innovation Zone Grants are subject to funding.