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Request for Promising Proposals

for

Montana Grow Your Own Educator Programs

2025-2027

Estimated Maximum Award: $225,000 over the biennium

Estimated Number of Awards: 2
Period of Performance: July 1,2025 – June 30, 2027

Match Requirement: Provide dollar for dollar match (match may be in kind and is subject to approval and agreement upon award)

Montana public post-secondary institutions, in collaboration with one or more qualified school districts, should submit applications to amclean@montana.edu by Noon on Friday, July 18, 2025.  Please note that:

• A qualifying K-12 school district is one which is impacted by a quality critical educator shortage.
• For full consideration, two-year, community college and tribal institutions of higher education without educator preparatory programs should demonstrate coordination and collaboration with a Montana-based accredited educator prep program.

Successful applications will:

• Outline a compelling collaboration with at least one qualifying K-12 school partner that will enable students at the high school level or adult learners to matriculate successfully in a Work Based Learning model.
  • Applicants must demonstrate capacity to use grant funds to support a cohort of students to completion of their degree and monitor progress toward completion.
• Outline a collaboration that will enable students to start and complete an educator prep program where they live in a reduced amount of time.
• Demonstrate the ability to sustain the program beyond the start-up, submitting a sustainability plan as a component of the application
• Demonstrate the collaboration’s ability to start the first cohort in Fall 2025
• Provide last-dollar-in scholarships up to $10,000 (no more than $5,000 in one year) for students who matriculate
  • Detailed local spending reports will be provided to the OCHE each fall/spring semester
• Provide an opportunity for students to engage in Work Based Learning in education.
• Consist of collaboration between one or more qualified K-12 school districts and post-secondary institutions.
• Include dedicated professionals to guide and support students toward completion of an educator prep program.
• Provide dollar for dollar match (match may be in kind and is subject to approval and agreement upon award).
• Demonstrate how the program will recognize middle skill degree completion or competency attainment such as completion of a two-year degree or micro pathway as they work toward their degree.

Applicants are encouraged to:

• Embed the Montana Educator Residency Program in the project design.
• Innovate by connecting a dual enrollment, 2+2 or other pathway to a registered educator apprenticeship and/or to the Montana Educator Apprenticeship*.

To apply:

• Please describe your Grow Your Own development and implementation plan. Please include a timeline that matches grant expectations for roll out.
• How many students will you serve in your program in year one/year two? How will you ensure cohort completion?
• Explain how you and your partners will sustain the program once it is started. Include information about sustaining student engagement beyond the initial startup as well as your ability to sustain program delivery.
• Include detailed project budget, expenditure timeline and match. The timeline should point to how your overall expenditures will be used over the course of the next two years. (This may be added as an attachment.)
• Include a 100 word synopsis of your proposal.
• Please use the included application form for signatures of respective partners.

Award recipients must agree to:

• Submit fall/spring detailed budget report including (but not limited to): number of students served, number of completed courses, expenditures overall and expenditures per student, number of courses established and delivered and to how many students, number of credit earned per students.
• Participate in monthly meetings (online or in person) with the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.
• Be prepared to present performance metrics the Montana Legislature as requested.
• Survey program participants at the local level and return results to the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

A complete application (click green the Apply Now button below) describing how you will deliver each of the grant components should include no more than 10 pages including budget, grant narrative outlining how the proposal meets all of the listed requirements, budget narrative, sustainability plan and match explanation.

Letters of support from partnering K-12 districts or institutions of higher education do not count toward the 10 pages. 

*Please contact amclean@montana.edu with questions you may have in regard to a registered educator apprenticeship.   Costs to engage the intermediary for this must be at least 20% of the overall budget.