A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

2000 New Initiatives and Funding Opportunities

Smaller Learning Communities Initiative

The FY2000 appropriations include $45 million for a Smaller Learning Communities Initiative authorized under section 10105 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This initiative will fund competitive grants to local educational agencies to plan, develop and implement smaller learning communities for students in large high schools using strategies such as creating schools within schools and career academies, restructuring the school day, instituting personal adult advocates, developing teacher advisory systems and implementing other innovations designed to create a more personalized high school experience for students, improve student achievement, and reduce violence.

• Approximately 70 percent of American high school students attend schools enrolling more than 1,000 students; nearly 50 percent of high school students attend schools enrolling more than 1,500 students.
• Gradually over the last decade, the education community has embraced the concept of small learning environments as a condition for boosting student achievement.
• Studies have confirmed that students learn more in high schools with enrollments of about 600 students. Further, enrollment size has a stronger effect on learning in schools with large concentrations of poor and minority children.
• The research ultimately confirms what parents intuitively believe: that smaller schools are safer and more productive because students feel less alienated, more nurtured and more connected to caring adults, and teachers feel that they have more opportunity to get to know and support their students.

How can the funds be used?

• Funds to create smaller schools could be used for planning and implementation costs, including costs to reorganize schools, train teachers, renovate facilities, and provide extended learning time and support services for students. An application package will be available in spring 2000.

What are the award ranges and performance periods?

• Applicants may apply for planning or implementation grants under the program. Planning grants will be funded for one year and implementation grants will be funded for up to three years. The Department anticipates awarding one-year planning grants in the amount of $25-50,000 and three-year implementation grants totaling $250-500,000 per project.

Is my school eligible?

• In general, the program targets districts with schools enrolling 1,000 or more students. However, districts may apply to fund district-wide strategies. Examples include: development of ninth-grade academies, teacher advisory systems or adult mentoring programs.

For more information, contact Todd May at (202) 260-0960 or Jeff Wilde at (202) 260-1475

Elementary School Counseling Demonstration Program

This initiative provides $20 million to establish or expand counseling programs in elementary schools. Grants will be given to applicants that demonstrate the greatest need for counseling services in the schools served, propose the most innovative and promising approaches, and show the greatest potential for replication and dissemination. The grants may be for up to three years and may not exceed $400,000 per year.

For more information, contact Loretta Riggans at 260-2661, Loretta_Riggans@ed.gov or visit the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSDFS/.

Safe and Drug-Free Schools -- Alternative Education Programs for
Suspended and Expelled Youth

Funds will be awarded for innovative strategies to reduce or prevent student suspensions and expulsions and to continue the educational progress of students who have been suspended and expelled. This program will help school districts identify effective procedures, policies, and programs that serve to discipline students without suspending or expelling them. The program will also require school districts to develop and implement strategies for continuing to provide educational services to those students who are eventually suspended or expelled. Applications will be available in March 2000.

For more information regarding this program contact Ann Weinheimer at 708-5939, Ann_Weinheimer@ed.gov or visit the SDFS Web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSDFS/.

American Indian Teacher Corps Professional Development Grants

The American Indian Teacher Corps initiative combines several program elements in a manner that will effectively train 1,000 new teachers to work in schools with high concentrations of Indian students. The program supports institutions of higher education, including Indian institutions of higher education, and consortia of institutions of higher education with local educational agencies, state educational agencies or Indian tribes, to provide programs for pre-service and in-service training of teachers. The pre-service training component may provide tuition and living expenses for students seeking bachelor's degrees in education, while the component for in-service training may provide instruction to teachers who are already working in Indian schools teaching reading and mathematics to linguistically diverse populations.

For more information regarding this program contact Cathie Martin at (202) 260-1683, or e-mail Cathie_Martin@ed.gov or visit the Office of Indian Education Web site at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/oie.

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