01/09/15 4:00 PM email receipt or postmarked by.
Grants of up to $10,000 per Connecticut school district to be shared with school boards, charter schools, Connecticut Technical High School System, and others to evaluate whether or not it is possible to eliminate some testing within the district. Funds will be provided for school systems to determine the need for tests and eliminate those that are not contributing to student learning.
This will free up time for teaching and improve the quality of student assessments already in use, including the tailoring and personalization of assessments to student needs.
The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) recognizes that a variety of pressures at the federal and state level has often resulted in more local testing than is needed. The following trends in testing have been observed:
• New local tests were added without first reviewing the efficacy of existing tests, resulting in more testing than is truly necessary to inform effective decision-making.
• In the non-assessed subjects and grade levels, often constrained by limited time and resources, LEAs may have chosen to create or purchase tests relying primarily on selected-response questions. In many of these instances, performance-based assessments would provide more information for instruction.
• To set goals for students, LEAs may have chosen to use pre-tests rather than using prior academic performance to set baselines, adding to assessment time and reducing instructional time.
Given these trends, this grant aims to encourage LEA applicants to take a constructive view of their assessment practices in order to determine how to best make changes that will positively impact teaching and learning processes, thus benefiting the students served.
Estimated Total Program Funding:
Estimated Size of Grant:
Grantees must complete program activities by June 30, 2015. They must fully encumber funds by June 30, 2015 but can liquidate encumbrances through July 30, 2015.
For questions:
Abe Krisst
Phone: (860) 713-6894
abe.krisst@ct.gov
To submit an application:
Assessmentgrant@eastconn.org
or
EASTCONN, Assessment Grant
376 Hartford Turnpike
Hampton, CT 06247
Before starting your grant application, please review the funding source's website listed below for updates / changes / addendums / conferences / LOIs.