Last week, Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced competitive grant opportunities for local education agencies (LEAs) including one opportunity directly related to National Board Certification, which would support districts pursuing Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) funds.
LEAs can now submit their letter of intent to the TEA for teacher leadership grants. Pathway two, National Board Candidacy Cohorts, supports LEAs who want to help teachers pursing certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). LEAs can use grant funding to create candidacy cohorts, provide ongoing meetings and individual mentoring, as well as hire external entities to support the grant process.
The goal of the grant is to support teacher leaders in obtaining certification from the NBPTS, as well as increase the number of recognized teachers through TIA. LEAs can receive TIA funds based on the number of teachers within their schools who hold current certification through NBPTS. With this new grant opportunity, LEAs can now obtain financial support to create candidacy cohorts that grow teachers pursuing the NBPTS credential, as well as support their ongoing work in the TIA process.
Grant funding is available for the 2021–22 school year, and if awarded, can be applied to cohort implementation and funding for technical assistance. The application deadline for LEAs is December 7, 2020. An informational webinar will be available in mid-October, and an FAQ page will be published mid-November. LEAs awarded grant funds will receive notice by mid-January with a grant start date anticipated in early March 2021.
For more information about teacher leadership grant opportunities, check out TEA's Competitive LOI Opportunity: Teacher Leadership page.
Jennifer Barton is a compensation and HR consultant at TASB HR Services. Send Jennifer an email at jennifer.barton@tasb.org.
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Tagged: Certification, "Professional development", TEA, "Texas Education Agency"