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Application Deadline: July 1, 2008
To submit your application, go to: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/projects/66

Overview

This year, grants of $3,000 or $5,000 will be awarded to as many as ten state or regional networks. Grants are available to groups of sites that belong to networks or are located in the same region, and to individual sites that serve an entire state. Applications need not include every site within the state or region. The writing of the grant proposed may be collaborative; however, the funding must be sent to a designated host site.

Possible purposes for the grant include, but are not limited to

• strengthening the capacity of sites in a particular state or region to provide professional development
• building capacity to offer professional development that addresses state or regional needs, issues, or educational priorities, such as examining state standards and assessments, supporting students' transition to college, or closing the achievement and equity gap for English language learners
• convening sites within a state or regional network to do collaborative work, including planning documentation projects, sharing inservice or continuity resources and expertise, or developing plans to increase visibility
• providing statewide or regional continuity opportunities for teacher-consultants to
  • study current developments in writing
  • conduct collaborative teacher research
  • examine state professional development priorities in light of current research
• underwriting a state or regional conference designed to further the work or increase the visibility of local sites and/or the network
• convening site leaders within states and regions to share resources and expertise for administering, growing, or sustaining a site.

The choice of funding ($3,000 or $5,000) allows a network to apply for the level of funding that best supports the proposed project.

Applying for a Minigrant

Submit a grant proposal online at http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/projects/66.

Your proposal should have four parts:

• Narrative
• Budget
• Timeline
• Summary

See below for detailed instructions.

Narrative

Submit a narrative of approximately four pages describing your proposed project. Because the proposal will come from a host site, consider attaching letters of support from the sites that are collaborating on the project.

Your narrative should include the following:

• Proposal rationale: Explain the purpose of the proposed project, program, or initiative. Identify and describe the state or regional issues, priorities, or needs the proposed work addresses and provide any additional background information that will be helpful for the reviewers.
• Description of proposed work: Include project goals and activities, as well as the roles and responsibilities necessary for program implementation.
• Description of collaboration: Describe the collaboration across and among sites in the state or regional network. Provide support letters from the collaborating sites or similar evidence of sites' support for the proposal, as appropriate.
• Explanation of capacity-building: Describe how the proposed project will develop the capacity of the local sites involved and the network to address identified state or regional needs.

Budget

Please include a completed budget request for $3,000 or $5,000 using the State and Regional Networks Minigrant Budget Template (Excel file) at http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/projects/66. Minigrant budgets and project reporting must meet federal requirements and schedules as specified in overall site awards. Minigrants are funded with federal funds, which must be used for activities that provide professional development opportunities to professional educators.

Explain how you will use the funds. Requests cannot exceed $5,000, as funds are limited. If desired, funds may be budgeted for costs related to minigrant presentations. If any supplementary funding is to be used, explain its source and how it will be spent.

Timeline

Provide a timeline of your activities, showing what you plan to do and when activities are scheduled as you move toward completion of the project.

Summary

Compose a one-paragraph description of your project. If your project is funded, the summary may be used in whole or in part on NWP's website.

Assessment of Proposals

See "Supporting Information: Assessment of Proposals" below.

Obligations of the Grant

Minigrant progress reports are due March 2009 and final reports are due June 2009. Minigrant award letters will specify reporting requirements. Additionally, minigrant recipients are expected to share projects, models, and lessons learned from their work. This sharing will take two forms:

• a project narrative and budget report
• a presentation at a cross-site event (e.g., the NWP Annual Meeting, other NWP meetings of state and regional networks, or state and regional retreats) or resources to be shared with other sites on the NWP website or another public forum.

Schedule

• March 15, 2008: Minigrant opportunity announced, with applications available on the NWP website
• July 1, 2008: Minigrant proposal deadline
• August 2008: Minigrant awards announced
• March 2009: Progress reports due
• June 2009: Final reports due

Supporting Information

Assessment of Proposals

In addition to reading the proposal for how they address the guidelines, the review team will assess them with a focus on how each proposal as a whole

• makes a strong case for the proposed project and clearly explains how the work will develop the capacity of each collaborating site and the network of sites to address the identified state or regional need(s)
• explains how the proposed project builds both on the talents and expertise and also on the needs, questions, or interests of the collaborating sites; if the proposed work is a continuation of a project that has previously been funded by a minigrant, explains how the new work expands the project or builds on lessons learned from the previous work
• demonstrates that the collaborating sites have the commitment and resources to carry out the work
• describes the proposed work so that connections among the goals, activities, roles, and responsibilities are clear and coherent
• provides a realistic timeline and a reasonable budget.