TEACHER INSTITUTES FOR ADVANCED STUDY GUIDELINES:

NOTE: Due to reductions in state funding, LEH leadership is compelled to announce the cancellation of the October 1, 2010 Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study deadline.

Deadlines
Application Deadline: Receipt by 11:59 p.m. on October 1. When October 1 falls on a weekend, the deadline is extended to 11:59 p.m. on the following business day.
Optional Review Deadline: Receipt by September 1 for staff critique of Preliminary Applications. All applicants, especially first-time applicants, are encouraged to submit a Preliminary Application to the appropriate member of the LEH grants staff. Preliminary applications should be developed using the Preliminary Application Worksheet found on the Web page of the appropriate grant type, and should be submitted to the appropriate LEH staff member via email. This written response is followed by telephone consultations as needed and, where necessary and feasible, a personal meeting. Applicants who do not submit a full narrative and budget for review by September 1 are limited to a maximum grant request of $30,000.
Award Notification Date: December 1.

Goals & Objectives
Teacher Institutes for Advanced Study provide elementary, middle 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. The LEH intends that the institutes will encourage permanent cooperation among educators at universities and elementary, middle and secondary schools. Ultimately, Louisiana’s students benefit from teachers with advanced knowledge in their respective fields. Institutes take place in June and July. Elementary teachers are eligible to participate in all institutes, based on the appropriateness of the subject matter.

Sponsors & Applicants
A university or college sponsors the institute and offers three hours of credit, typically graduate credit in a humanities discipline. The LEH strongly encourages sponsors to offer tuition waivers or tuition reductions to participating teachers. Participants may enroll in the institute without receiving credit, but sponsoring organizations may not charge tuition for noncredit enrollment in the Teacher Institute.

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 adaptable for the classroom. Competitive applications will contain evidence of this cooperative planning in the form of letters of support from local Master Teacher(s) and Curriculum Supervisor(s). Competitive applications will also involve such specialists in the instruction of the Institute itself.

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 1,200 copies of a full-color, high-quality recruiting brochure. The enrollment goal for summer institutes is 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.

While continuing to encourage applications grounded in solid academic, humanities content, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities recognizes the changing professional development needs of teachers, especially due to the “highly qualified” requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the Louisiana Department of Education’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), “the requirement that ‘all’ teachers be highly qualified applies to ‘all public elementary and secondary school teachers’ assigned to core academic subjects.” Core academic humanities subjects defined in the mandate include English, reading or language arts, foreign languages, civics and government, arts, history and geography. Project directors must demonstrate explicit connections between the content of the proposed Institute and specific Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) the Institute will meet in core academic subjects as set forth by the Louisiana Department of Education at http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/index.htm. Competitive proposals will include plans for the development of GLE-driven unit plans which participating teachers may put to immediate use in their classrooms.

When developing a proposal, applicants should be prepared to address the following:

• Proposal should demonstrate how the institute’s content can be translated into the classroom.
• Proposal should identify the Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) the institute will meet in the core academic subject(s). To learn more about GLEs, visit the Louisiana Department of Education’s website at http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/index.htm.
• Proposal’s timetable of activities should incorporate periods in the seminar devoted to translating course content into classroom application.
• Budget proposal should consider including consultant fees ($1,000 honorarium) for a Curriculum Supervisor, Master Teacher or equivalent alternative in order to assist teachers in translating course content into classroom application.
• Sponsoring organization is strongly encouraged to provide 3 graduate credit hours (the equivalent of 45 Continuing Learning Units) in the humanities or a comparable number of CLUs for an undergraduate humanities course upon satisfactory completion of 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, preferably in the month of June, 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 4-6 weeks in advance. A post-institute meeting should also be held to evaluate the institute’s impact on teachers and their schools and students.

Enrollment
Each institute must enroll between 15 and 20 participants. 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,
• a detailed syllabus integrated with a class schedule describing texts, discussion topics, and time devoted to translating course content into classroom application, and
• 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 multimedia component, yet remaining focused on the humanities;
• offering three hours of graduate credit in a humanities discipline;
• offering tuition waivers from the sponsoring university;
• attracting teachers from more than one parish and strengthening ties between the sponsoring university and the local schools;
• where teachers spend up to 20% of their time designing curricular and lesson plans incorporating core studies in the humanities;
• involving a curriculum specialist as a guest scholar.

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
Maximum request: Applicants and sponsoring organizations must provide cost share, either cash or in-kind, equal to or greater than the amount requested from the LEH. As a rule, budgets exceeding $30,000 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. LEH staff must be consulted in advance in these cases. 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 a $30,000 request must submit a preliminary application by September 1 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% 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. Honoraria for guest scholars from outside the sponsoring university is negotiable.

Teacher Stipends: Teachers are offered stipends 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, nominal university fees and books may not exceed $750 per teacher. 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. 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. Unless the university waives tuition, 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 above.