KyNT3 Pilot District Grant Application

Q & A Document:

Eligibility:

Who can apply?

  • Can an educational cooperative or university apply?
  • The National Board is firm that that grant needs to be a tight connection with a district based on some experiences they’ve had in the past and the ability to learn a lot about improving a district and its schools. However, with that said, I would encourage you to partner with a district to apply (the application would come from the district), especially one that you think would be the readiest, and recommend that you collaborate together on the project. Collaboration is in the scoring rubric and your expertise could really strengthen the application – you could also really think about potential spread to your larger coop or university community.

Examples from Current Pilot Districts:

What are the existing KyNT3 pilot districts (started in 16-17):

  • Oldham County & Floyd County

What does the work look like in the existing pilot districts?

  • Oldham
  • Changing from a central office-led and located one-on-one candidate support system to a NBCT teacher leader school-based cohort model
  • Building pre-candidacy support
  • Moving towards an induction program that will be 3 years and aligned with board certification so that the pre-candidacy work will be integrated for all employees and a smooth transition to the school-based cohorts in fourth year
  • Pilot schools are embedding the accomplished teaching body of knowledge to address different issues. For example: one is focusing on achievement gap by analyzing and improving equity at the classroom level
  • Floyd
  • Connecting several different existing programs that are in place: induction program, candidate support, teacher leadership cohort - using the accomplished teaching body of knowledge and board certification process to build capacity in the district.
  • Administrative conversations include analysis of video (ATLAS) to calibrate exemplars of accomplished teaching and to lead PLC conversations at the school level.
  • Two pilot schools: one focused on differentiation and one on student engagement. Both are using ATLAS to lead PLCs. Both are aligning learning to respective components of board certification.

Can you share the current pilot schools plans with us to see models of what this project looks like?

  • The current pilot schools are still learning from this work and constantly adjusting and improving their plans. Please see the current district work notes earlier for an overview of what each pilot school is focused on in the KY pilot districts.

Are there examples of applications from last year that can be shared?

  • Actually this is the first time we’ve used the RFA process. Last year we had a tight timeline turnaround to get pilot districts so we looked at data trends and approached five districts through conversation. We were hoping to get three districts last year but only two districts decided that it was a good fit for them at the time – Oldham and Floyd. So, there are not examples to share.

Required training, meetings, expectations of Pilot Districts:

Improvement Science onboard training:

  • National Board has not determined the details for this training yet. At this point, I have been told that the information about this year’s training will be available in mid-March. I know there will be some changes from last year’s training in terms, but I can’t speak to what these are yet. Some information about last year’s training:
  • Last year was 2 days.
  • Last year this training took place in Kentucky.
  • Last year, people that were expected to attend the training were: Improvement Lead, small teams from the pilot schools (principal and 1-2 other people per pilot school - at least one teacher per school), ideally the District Sponsor (or proxy) but this person is not required.

Improvement lead position:

  • The RFA says that it can be up to .5 FTE. What does this look like in the existing districts?
  • Floyd County - created a new position, and their board funds a lot of it. They have a plan to sustain the position after the grant and see this person as building capacity and cohesiveness across the teaching continuum.
  • Oldham County – does not use any grant money to fund the Improvement Lead. There are two co-leads that are central office staff who see this as part of their existing roles.
  • The Improvement Lead is responsible for making sure the systems plan is moving forward and reporting the progress monthly (not a long report). They are also responsible for supporting the pilot schools.

The RFA refers to “Teams” within the networked improvement community section. Who exactly are members of this team? Is the expectation to be the district administrator and school administrator? Are teachers expected to be part of this team?

  • There are several teams within the NT3 work. Kentucky has a state team made up of a member from the KDE (Robin Hebert), KEA (Michelle New), EPSB (Donna Brockman), the site director (Suzanne Farmer), and the NBCT Advisor (Holly Bloodworth). Our state travel team (goes to learning sessions twice a year) includes these people and also the improvement lead from each pilot district. Sometimes the district sponsor has also been invited to attend the learning sessions.
  • Each Pilot District has a team of people doing the work. There is not any regulation on who has to be included on this team or how often they meet as a team. The District Improvement Lead should be on this team as they are responsible for reporting and supporting the work with the KY Site Director and the National Board.
  • Each Pilot School within the Pilot District will have a team of people doing the work at the school level. There are not any regulations on who has to be included on this team or how often they meet as a team. Our early work as a network across the state has indicated that it is important that the principal of each pilot school should see the value of this work and be involved to be most successful.
  • This work does not need to be “extra meetings” or “new teams” for teams or districts to get the work accomplished within the schools or district. In fact, this work should feel connected and be embedded in within the existing routines and systems of the schools and district.

If teachers are expected to be part of this team, is it required for them to also be involved in the monthly virtual meetings? What time do the virtual meetings occur?

  • At this point, there are two monthly virtual meetings:
  • District Improvement Lead meetings with Kentucky Improvement Leads, the KY Site Director and the National Board. The Improvement Leads are expected to attend these meetings. These will be scheduled to accommodate those that are expected to attend.
  • Network Meetings: these meetings are intended for the State Steering Teams (not the District teams), but anyone, including district team members, is welcome to attend. These meetings currently take place at 3:00 PM EST and are recorded.

Pilot Schools:

The RFA states each district must have 1-3 pilot schools during the 17-18 school year. Are we allowed to have 4 pilot schools involved?

  • No. The Improvement Science approach is to start small and learn fast – then plan for scale and spread. We’ve learned that this is really important in our work.
  • It’s okay to only have one pilot school at first. Your other schools don’t have to “miss out” on the learning and opportunities; you can support all of your schools with the district/system approach part of your plan.
  • It might be helpful to know that last year one of the pilot districts with about 15 schools that thought it wanted to start with 6 schools and then after the Improvement Science training decided to start with two and then think about spread.
  • If you have a small district with 1-6 schools, it may be especially important to start with fewer than 3 pilot schools.

Do we have to have pilot schools? Can we work with a team of teacher leaders as a district to meet this need by embedding the work of the body of knowledge of accomplished teaching?

  • Yes, the accomplished teaching body of knowledge could help your group of teacher leaders as they work together on their own problems of practice at the content level and to help lead this learning in others.The strategy of working with these experts is a great one for working with your teacher leaders/professional teachers. This strategy would be considered part of your district system approach for supporting the continuum.
  • We would still need to have at least one school where there would be strategies that would live more at the school level to innovate ideas of embedding this work in a school community. We are learning that it’s really important to have principal buy-in to do this work as a pilot school. You may want to mention the opportunity to your principals and see who is interested.
  • You may want to consider intentionally planning for opportunities for spreading the learning from your pilot(s) school through your existing district systems.

Do the pilot schools have to involve all teachers in the process or can it be a small cohort of teachers?

  • Not all teachers have to be involved in the work at pilot schools. If it makes sense in your plan to start with a cohort, follow your instincts. The Improvement Science approach encourages starting small and learning before spreading.

Assessment:

Are we expected to have an evaluation plan in our application?

  • No, the evaluation plan will be created at the Improvement Science training. This training is about learning how to measure improvement and refining innovation plans.
  • There is a reporting system that we use nationally for NT3 that all pilot schools, districts, and states use to report progress. This will also be part of the Improvement Science training.

Budget:

Can teachers receive a stipend for extra time after hours or on Saturdays?Can we pay people to attend professional development aligned to the body of knowledge of accomplished teaching, for example analyzing student work protocol if they already have hours?

  • This would depend on a variety of factors including connection to aim, driver diagram, change ideas; subject to final approval
  • Paying candidates is tricky and will likely not be approved. However, you can pay candidates in matching funds. If you do, consider a plan to sustain such investments.
  • Stipend teacher leaders is fine (again if connected to the aims of the work and approved by National Board) - outside of work hours to avoid a double-dip

Does travel need to be included in the district budget application?

  • Travel for the Improvement Science training and the Learning Sessions is covered by National Board.
  • If the district proposes travel for their plan - to visit other districts, attend training, etc. that would need to be included in the district budget.

Data:

Can KyNT3 share candidate and NBCT data for districts and schools?

  • Yes. Email and include specifics of what data you want in your request. This request is not subject to the February 21, 2017 Q & A deadline, but please provide a couple of days to process your request.

Could “high need” be tied to content needs or does it have to explicitly be tied to a demographic like FRL?

  • Your high need should be a local priority defined by data. It can include content needs like STEM, reading, etc.

What kind of data should be included in the application?

  • Approach your narrative much like the narrative of National Board Certification. Do not limit yourself to norm-referenced data. Consider the evidence that led you to identify the problem you seek to solve. For example, if you think you have a lot of teachers that are ready for National Board, how do you know?
  • What data about your staff indicates they are eligible?
  • What about your teachers achieving board certification would help to address the needs of your students specifically? What data about your students and teachers supports that?
  • Anecdotal data might be important to include.

Current National Board Certified Teacher analysis:

  • In part one of the narrative, you must include a detailed analysis of your National Board Certified Teacher situation. This may include NBCTs, their content areas, school placement, leadership roles/influence, renewed NBCTs, and a similar analysis of current candidates. You should consider trends and a plan that makes the most sense for your district. Goals in the NT3 work are aspirational (think of a “stretch” goal) and will not be used as an accountability measure for your district with the National Board.
  • If our district doesn’t have any NBCTs or very many, will we be scored lower?
  • No. The rubric relies on your ability to understand your current situation and to create a plan for your situation. Why don’t you have any/many NBCTs? How will you best move forward building the capacity to support this work with no/few NBCTs?

Teaching Continuum:

On the continuum, it looks like teachers have to be board certified to be teacher leaders. We have a lot of teachers that lead content work in our district who are not (yet) board certified. Would they be considered professional teachers?

  • Teachers do not have to be board certified to be teacher leaders. I know the continuum illustration looks like you have to become board certified first.
  • Board certification will always be voluntary – we don’t want to require anyone to become board certified. It’s possible that embedding this work in your teacher leadership work will build the professional muscle of these teachers with the body of knowledge and help them to see the relevance, value, and their own readiness for pursuit of board certification.