Drexel University’s School of Education proudly presents the Teacher Collaboration Award.  This award is designed to support the collaborative efforts of teachers.  Collaborations should develop an educational program, project, or curriculum that aims to promote academic achievement in innovative ways.  The project can focus on a specific content area, multiple content areas, or it can be interdisciplinary.  We are interested in teacher-generated, collaborative work that demonstrates the promise of richly enhancing the learning experiences of urban youth.

The award recipients will be honored at the fall 2014 Critical Conversations in Urban Education (CCUE) reception and event.  The award recipients will be required to attend these events.  A monetary award will be made to the recipients.  Products of the collaboration will be widely disseminated and shared with other schools across the School District of Philadelphia.

Award Details

Deadline for Submission

The date will be posted in Spring 2014

Eligibility

Collaborative groups comprised of two or more people, where at least one person is a teacher in the School District of Philadelphia.  Collaborative groups may be configured as:

• Two or more teachers working within the same school in the School District of Philadelphia
• Two or more teachers working across schools in the School District of Philadelphia
• At least one teacher working collaboratively with parents and other stakeholders (i.e., community-based organizations, places of worship, etc.)

Charter schools are eligible for consideration.  School-university partnerships are ineligible.

The collaborative project should emerge from the expressed interest and vision of teachers.  Preference is given to existing projects that are well underway or in early stages of implementation within a school or across schools.

Application Materials

Please prepare a five-page proposal that includes the information requested below:

Page 1 should present a brief description of the collaboration, including:

1. Title of Collaboration
2. Start Date
3. List of individuals and institutions involved in the project
4. Purpose of the project
5. Expected outcomes
6. Projected products

Page 2 should list contact information for each member of the collaboration, designating the primary contact person for all correspondence.

1. Name
2. Title
3. Institutional affiliation
4. Email address
5. Phone number

Pages 3 – 4 should contain a detailed description of the project, addressing the prompts below:

1. In 750 words or less, provide a detailed description of the collaboration [including the nature of the collaboration, how the collaboration developed, scope of the collaboration, objectives, targeted population, grade level(s), subject(s)/discipline(s), activities involved, outcomes and products, etc.].  If the collaboration is presently up and running, please offer specific examples of how it has transformed (or will transform) teaching practices to further engage students within a single discipline or across disciplines.
2. In 250 words or less, provide a brief description of the collaboration (i.e., how do partners work together to develop and/or sustain the program).
3. In a single page, provide a budget that accounts for how funding will be used to support the work of the collaboration.

Page 5 should provide the budget that accounts for how funding will be used to support the work of the collaboration.

In addition to the five-page proposal, please submit supporting materials:

1. Collaboration members should solicit letters of support from the department chairs, principals, or organizational leadership at their respective institution(s).
2. Each member of the collaboration should submit a 2 – 3 page resume.

The 5-page proposal, letter(s) of support, and resumes should be merged into A SINGLE PDF DOCUMENT, and submitted using the designated link.

Judging and Criteria

During the review of applications, award committee will consider the following criteria:

• How does the collaborative project help urban youth achieve academic success and engage students in a single subject area or across content areas in ways that are innovative and culturally responsive?
• If a project is currently running or if a project is being developed, please offer specific examples of how it has transformed (or will transform) teaching practices to further engage students within a single discipline or across disciplines?
• How has the project transformed (or will transform) learning for students within a single discipline or across disciplines?
• How has the project supported and fostered collaboration between teachers of different grade levels and/or disciplines?
• How has it helped (or will help) the most able and struggling learners achieve academic success?
• In what ways is this project culturally responsive to the diverse backgrounds and needs of the students within the school?
• How can other schools across the district adapt/reproduce the product/framework from the collaborative project?

Selection Process

The award committee will select finalists (collaborative groups) who may be contacted and asked to share other related information.  The award recipient will be selected from the finalists.  Awards will be announced Summer 2014.

How to Apply

Please save your application materials (5-page proposal, letter(s) of support, and collaboration members’ resumes) as a SINGLE PDF DOCUMENT. Instructions for submission will be posted in the Spring 2014.

For more information, please direct your questions to ccues@drexel.edu or 215.895.6770.