This page last updated April 10, 2008

The District Awards for Teacher Excellence grant program will have a planning period from fall 2007 to spring 2008.  A required Notice of Intent to apply will be due October 26, 2007.  Grant applications will be due in April of 2008.  Program funds will be available in September 2008 for the 2008-2009 school year.  DATE funding is designed to be awarded in two parts.  Part I funds must be used on teacher awards and must make up at least 60 percent of the total grant allocation.  Part II funds can be used for other incentives and can make up the remaining amount (no more than 40 percent) of the total grant allocation.  If districts choose not to implement their district award plans district-wide, more than half of participating campuses must be prioritized towards Target Campuses.

If districts do not choose to implement their local award plans district-wide, and choose to select certain campuses to participate, more than half of the selected campuses selected to participate must be Target Campuses.  Districts must identify Target Campuses, consistent with district goals, for participation.  Districts may set criteria for establishing Target Campuses that are consistent with district goals and rules set by the commissioner.  Target Campuses are those that are, at least two of the following criteria:   

• Rated academically unacceptable (2007 accountability ratings); or
• Performs lower than the district’s average proficiency on TAKS (by subject, by grade, and/or by campus to be determined by the district); or
• Receives comparable improvement (CI) ratings in the bottom quartile relative to other campus types in the district; or
• Experiences above average dropout/non-completion rates relative to other campus types in the district; or
• Ranks in the bottom half in gains on the Texas Growth Index (TGI)
• Ranks within the top quartile of campuses enrolling high percentages of economically disadvantaged students; or
•  Other academic or non-academic indicators, such as experiencing high rates of teacher migration and attrition, free and reduced lunch, etc

Districts can select other participating campuses consistent with their district goals for DATE. Participation of selected campuses in DATE must be approved by a majority of classroom teachers assigned to the selected campus by a vote of simple majority.

District grant award amounts will be based on the average daily attendance (ADA) of the previous school year calculated among the total number of districts opting into the grant program.  

The district grant award requires a cash or in-kind match from federal, state and/or local sources. Districts must explain how they plan to provide matching funds and how those funds will be used to supplement or support activities identified in the district grant application. The grant will require districts to provide a 15% match in the first year and second year. If a district fails to adhere to matching requirements, the TEA may suspend, in whole or in part grant funds, terminate the district’s participation in the grant program or impose other sanctions as determined by the commissioner.