U.S. Department of Education: Charter Schools Program Dissemination Grants

The Charter Schools Program (CSP) expands opportunities for all students, particularly underserved students, to attend charter schools and meet challenging State academic standards; provide financial assistance for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of public charter schools; increases the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United States; evaluates the impact of charter schools on student achievement, families, and communities; shares best practices between charter schools and other public schools; aids States in providing facilities support to charter schools; and supports efforts to strengthen the charter authorizing process.

Through the CSP National Dissemination Grants program, the U.S. Department of Education provides funds on a competitive basis to organizations to support the charter school sector and increase the number of high-quality charter schools available by disseminating best practices regarding charter schools. The current competition includes three absolute priorities; applicants must meet at least one of these priorities in order to apply.

Absolute Priority 1—Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Students, Educators, and Faculty. Projects that are designed to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts that extend beyond the duration of the pandemic itself, on the students most impacted by the pandemic, with a focus on underserved students and the educators who serve them, through one or more of the following priority areas:
(a) Conducting community asset mapping and needs assessments that may include an assessment of the extent to which students, including subgroups of students, have become disengaged from learning, including students not participating in in-person or remote instruction, and specific strategies for reengaging and supporting students and their families;
(b) Providing resources and supports to meet the basic, fundamental health and safety needs of students and educators;
(c) Addressing students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs through approaches that are inclusive with regard to race, ethnicity, culture, language, and disability status; or
(d) Using evidence-based instructional approaches and supports, such as professional development, coaching, ongoing support for educators, high-quality tutoring, expanded access to rigorous coursework and content across K-12, and expanded learning time to accelerate learning for students in ways that ensure all students have the opportunity to successfully meet challenging academic content standards without contributing to tracking or remedial courses.

Absolute Priority 2—Supporting a Diverse Educator Workforce and Professional Growth to Strengthen Student Learning. Projects that are designed to increase the proportion of well-prepared, diverse, and effective educators serving students, with a focus on underserved students, through building or expanding high-poverty school districts’ capacity to hire, support, and retain an effective and diverse educator workforce, through providing opportunities for educators to be involved in the design and implementation of local and district wide initiatives that advance systemic changes. Applicants responding to this Absolute Priority may develop, identify, expand, and disseminate information on best practices for those charter schools that are their own districts.

Absolute Priority 3—Strengthening Cross-Agency Coordination and Community Engagement to Advance Systemic Change. Projects that are designed to take a systemic evidence-based approach to improving outcomes for underserved students in one or more of the following priority areas:
(a) Conducting community needs and asset mapping to identify existing programs and initiatives that can be leveraged, and new programs and initiatives that need to be developed and implemented, to advance systemic change;
(b) Establishing cross-agency partnerships, or community-based partnerships with local nonprofit organizations, businesses, philanthropic organizations, or others, to meet family well-being needs;
(c) Identifying, documenting, and disseminating policies, strategies, and best practices on effective approaches to creating systemic change through cross-agency or community-based coordination and collaboration; or
(d) Expanding or improving parent and family engagement.

Amount: $4,800,000 is available for 6-10 grants ranging from $500,000-$800,000 per year for up to 3 years.

Eligibility: State Education Agencies; State charter school boards; State Governors; charter school support organizations; authorized public chartering agencies; and public and private nonprofit organizations that operate, manage, or support charter schools.

Link: https://oese.ed.gov/fy-2022-csp-national-dissemination-nd-competition/

Note: Applicants are strongly encouraged, but not required, to submit a notice of intent to apply by August 8, 2022.

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