Educational service district alternative routes grant

PESB will administer grant funds to the awarded ESD Alternative Routes program’s teacher candidates in the form of a scholarship as follows:

School year 2019-20 | $5,000 scholarship per ESD Alternative Routes candidate for up to 20 candidates

School year 2020-21 | $5,000 scholarship per ESD Alternative Routes candidate for up to 30 candidates

Funding is candidate-centric and will be awarded based on the actual number of candidates the program enrolls. Program partners may not charge indirect dollars for this grant program.

The ESD Alternative Routes Grant program must implement the program in accordance with Alternative Routes policy. Applicants must submit a program design narrative that addresses the five goals listed below.

• Collaborative recruitment and selection amongst partners
• Flexible program design to meet district(s’) needs
• Provide extensive support services to candidates with all partners engaged
• Commitment by candidates to serve for two years as a teacher in a high need area in Washington State
• Job embedded program design

The program must also:

• Engage retired or practicing teachers and administrators to inform the development and curriculum of the program;
• Provide extended support and mentoring through the first three years of their candidates’ teaching career using components of the Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) model;
• Support school districts to develop school staff and community members to become teachers, with the goal of developing a teacher workforce that better reflects the region’s demographics, values, and interests; and
• Provide opportunities for classified staff (e.g., paraeducators) to become teachers.

Applicants can find resources on the Alternative Routes webpage and “Grow your own” resources page.

As required by law, the ESD Alternative Routes Grant program must report the following to PESB by November 1, 2024:

• The number of teacher candidates applying for, and completing, the Alternative Routes program;
• The number of program completers who are hired as teachers, both in the awarded ESD and elsewhere in the state;
• The retention of teachers in the awarded ESD before and after implementation of the grant;
• Feedback from school principals and teachers in the local school districts on the quality of the teacher candidates they worked with during the grant; and
• The data must be disaggregated by race and ethnicity, gender, type of endorsement, and school.

Partnerships must submit their complete application via Survey Gizmo to be considered for the ESD Alternative Routes Grant. The application deadline is July 22, 2019 at 5 p.m. A review committee will carefully vet all applications, and we will notify the awarded ESD Alternative Routes program within five weeks of the application deadline.

The application includes the following pages:

• Instructions, preparation program provider
• Contact information and Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) Addendum
  • Upload MOA Addendum
• Program design narrative (see program requirements above)
  • Upload program design narrative
• Route(s) focus and explanation
• Alternative Routes Priorities: Strategies and evaluation
• Recruitment and partnership
  • Upload summary briefing document

Please use the PDF of the application form to prepare a complete application, including the following application materials:

• ESD Alternative Routes MOA Addendum template
• Alternative Routes Priorities

To access the Survey Gizmo online application, please contact Pathways@k12.wa.us using subject line “ESD Alternative Routes application link.” You must submit your application by July 22, 2019 at 5 p.m.