2010 Supplemental Guidelines: Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study

Deadline
Application Deadline: Receipt by 5:00 PM on October 1, 2009. When October 1 falls on a weekend, applications are due the following business day.
Optional Review Deadline: Receipt by September 1, 2009 for staff critique of draft proposals.
Awards Announcement: December 2009

Goals & Objectives
Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study provide elementary and secondary classroom teachers with additional professional training and intellectual stimulation in the humanities. The Teacher Institute experience is an opportunity for teachers to work closely with professional humanities scholars. Ultimately, Louisiana’s students benefit from teachers with advanced knowledge in their respective fields. The 2010 institutes will take place in June and July.

Once again, the LEH invites proposals designed for elementary and secondary teachers. Elementary teachers are eligible to participate in all institutes, based on the appropriateness of the subject matter.

The LEH intends that the institutes will encourage permanent cooperation among educators at universities and elementary and secondary schools.

Sponsors & Applicants
A university or college sponsors the institute and offers three hours of credit, typically graduate credit in a humanities discipline. University professors apply for the institute grants, serving as scholars and project directors. All participating scholars for the institutes must submit resumes demonstrating their academic credentials and teaching experience in a humanities discipline, such as literature, history, philosophy, foreign languages, art history, religious studies, or other liberal arts subject areas.

Institute Planning
Applicants must consult with local and regional school representatives when designing an institute, assuring that the seminar will meet the needs of classroom teachers. Institutes must avoid being too narrow or too esoteric and should focus on providing teachers with material potentially adaptable for the classroom. Competitive applications will demonstrate ample evidence of existing contacts with teachers or school systems from which teachers will be recruited. Proposals must include a detailed strategy for teacher recruitment, as well as describe the process and criteria for choosing participants. The proposal should include funds sufficient for the design and printing of 1,500 copies of a full-color, high-quality recruiting brochure. The enrollment goal for summer institutes is 15-20 teachers per seminar.

Proposals with computer and Internet components are encouraged. All institutes must remain focused on the humanities; the LEH does not fund purely technical training. Please consult with LEH staff regarding the use of technical resources in humanities courses.

Academic Content
Solid academic content is the benchmark for successful applications. Institutes may examine a topic in a single humanities discipline or employ an interdisciplinary approach. Institutes for elementary teachers are most appropriate for interdisciplinary study. Project directors are strongly encouraged to consult the Louisiana Department of Education at www.doe.state.la.us in order to identify the Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) the institute will meet in the core academic subject(s) to be taught during the institute.

Structure
University professors conduct seminars where scholars and teachers work together studying humanities materials and discussing them in a collegial atmosphere. Seminars may be led by a single scholar, or a team of two scholars. Guest lecturers from the same campus or other universities may be invited as visiting scholars to address specific topics.

Institutes meet 4-5 weeks for a minimum of 48 class hours over the course of the seminar. Applicants should also consider field trips, visits to museums, libraries or archives, and site visits to other appropriate locations.

The applicant must schedule a pre-institute meeting, allowing teachers to begin their readings four to six weeks in advance.

Enrollment
Each institute must enroll between 15 and 20 participants, 21 if employing a master teacher/ curriculum specialist. Preferred participants are classroom teachers with a contract for the coming school year, although principals, school librarians, and parish curriculum supervisors are also eligible. Undergraduates or graduate students who do not teach in Louisiana elementary or secondary schools are ineligible. Teachers may elect to attend the institute without receiving credit. Applicants must recruit regionally, including all parishes within a reasonable commuting distance of the sponsoring college or university.

Criteria
The LEH Grant Review Committee evaluates applications according to:

• scholar credentials,
• humanities content and its applicability in the classroom (GLEs) demonstrated in a thorough project narrative,
• detailed syllabus integrated with a class schedule describing texts, discussion topics, and time devoted to translating course content into classroom application,
• a core bibliography.

These materials are crucial to the success of an application, serving as evidence of academic rigor, relevance in the classroom, and thoughtful selection of materials. The LEH also requires evidence of cooperation among prospective institute directors and teachers, administrators, and school boards from an appropriate region around the host campus. Letters of support from parish school superintendents and other education administrators are strongly recommended.

Evaluation
The grant application must include an independent evaluator—a humanities scholar who is not a member of the faculty at the sponsoring institution. The LEH does not supply the evaluator, but staff will consult with applicants to assist in selection of one if necessary. The application should identify the evaluator and include his/her resume.

Preferences
The LEH prefers institutes:

• emphasizing a thorough and engaging study of humanities subjects applicable in the classroom, rather than arcane topics of limited classroom utility;
• featuring a strong Internet or multi-media component, yet remaining focused on the humanities;
• offering three hours of graduate credit in a humanities discipline;
• attracting teachers from more than one parish;
• where teachers spend ~25-30% of their time designing curricular and lesson plans incorporating core studies in the humanities;
• involving a master teacher/curriculum specialist.

For seminars designed for elementary teachers, the LEH prefers institutes where an interdisciplinary approach that accommodates the multiple subjects elementary teachers are required to teach is taken.

Budget
While recent TIAS awards averaged $35,000, applicants should consult with LEH staff to determine an appropriate and competitive request. Applicants and sponsoring organizations must provide cost share, either cash or inkind, equal to the amount requested from the LEH. As a rule, budgets exceeding $315,000 are allowed only if the project director’s honorarium, based on 22% of the 9-month salary, would limit teacher stipends or other line items. This exception is intended to encourage proposals from senior faculty, whose salaries might otherwise preclude their applications, as well as their more junior colleagues. Applicants who anticipate exceeding this $35,000 limit must submit a preliminary proposal by September 1, 2009, for staff review in order to be eligible for their full request.

Salaries: Applicants may request up to $1,000, including fringe benefits, for an administrative assistant or other clerical support. The LEH strongly encourages applicants to include funding for an administrative assistant, who may be an undergraduate or graduate student worker or other clerical employee.

Honoraria: This line item includes payment for the project director and guest scholars. For institutes directed by a single scholar, the honorarium may be calculated at a rate up to a maximum of 22% of the 9-month academic salary, plus fringe benefits at the university’s standard rate. For institutes where 2 scholars team-teach, the honorarium for each may be calculated at 11 percent of the 9-month salary, plus fringe benefits. Since 22% salary equals the normal full-time university summer salary, the LEH requires that project directors devote their full time to directing the institute.

Honoraria for guest faculty from the sponsoring university are limited to $200 per scholar, including benefits.

Teacher Stipends: Teachers are offered to cover institute costs such as books, and to offset the loss of income on which many teachers depend during the summer. Note that the total cost of stipends and books may not exceed $750 per teacher. If employing a master teacher/curriculum specialist, the total cost of his/her stipend and books may not exceed $1,750.

An amount equal to the stipend is considered the teachers’ own in-kind contribution, in lieu of other income they might receive for summer teaching or other jobs. It may be counted as cost share, as shown on the sample budget.

Publicity: To enhance recruitment efforts, the LEH encourages project directors to use the services of a graphic artist to ensure the professional design and printing of full color brochures to publicize the program. Project directors at public institutions should consult the university business office for advice regarding public bid requirements, as well as the university public relations office regarding graphic design and printing procedures.

Tuition and Credit: Applications should be explicit (i.e. letter from Office of the President or Provost) about tuition and credit policies. The LEH recommends that teachers be offered 3 hours of graduate credit, preferably in a humanities discipline, and that teachers receive a tuition exemption or waiver should they wish to enroll for credit. Tuition exemption or waivers may be counted as applicant cost share within the overall budget. If university policies prohibit tuition exemption or waiver, tuition reductions are recommended when possible. Teachers who do not wish to receive credit must be allowed to enroll with only nominal fees for parking, library privileges, etc. For planning purposes, project directors should note that teachers must apply to their local school district for tuition exemptions.

Additional information appears on the sample budget below:

How to Apply
Applicants must use a Public Humanities Grant form and incorporate these institute guidelines into their narrative and budget.

For additional information, please contact:
Walker Lasiter, Grants Director
504.620.22631 in New Orleans
1.800.909.7990, x132 outside New Orleans
Email: lasiter@leh.org
Mail: 938 Lafayette Street, Suite 300
New Orleans, LA 70113