Hillsborough County Public Schools Student Services and Federal Programs
Action Item

DATE: Tuesday, October 7, 2008
TO: School Board Members
FROM: MaryEllen Elia, Superintendent

SUBJECT / RECOMMENDATIONS

Approve $127,837 Payment to the University of South Florida (USF) for Year Two Services Associated with Their Partnership in Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) Federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) Grant, Project/Award #S374A070100-08. (Student Services and Federal Programs Division)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The United States Department of Education (USDOE) awarded $15,402,538 to Hillsborough County Public Schools to implement the TIF grant (Project Performance Optimized With Effective Rewards – POWER), which provides differentiated compensation for teachers and administrators at high poverty schools, in alignment with the State and District’s Merit Award Program (MAP). The awarded amount for year two of the five year project is $4,110,855. Faculty and staff from USF College of Education’s Anchin Center, through the Tampa Bay Educational Partnership, a formal partnership with the University, are providing expert leadership training to assist school administrators in developing the specialized skills necessary to become effective leaders at high needs, high poverty schools. A description of the leadership training is found in “Attachment A - Scope of Work,” of the attached sub-agreement. Year two of the five year project began July 1, 2008, and ends June 30, 2009.

ANNUAL DISTRICT GOAL(S) AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S)

All Annual Goals and Critical Success Factors.

FINANCIAL IMPACT (Budgeted: No)

Funding for this project is provided by the United State Department of Education, PR/Award # S374A070100-08. HCPS is the grant’s fiscal agent, and project funds reside with the District.

EVALUATION

Under the terms of the grant, an external evaluator, contracted by HCPS, will evaluate the project, providing Annual Reports to HCPS and the USDOE. Copies of the Annual Reports, and the final evaluation report will be provided to the District Office of Assessment and Accountability. The year one annual report has been submitted to the USDOE, and will be amended in October, to include incentive payout data for year one of the project.

SUBMITTED BY: Lynn Fell, Supervisor, Grants and Research Operations Officer

Gwendolyn L. Luney
Assistant Superintendent, Student Services and Federal Programs
(813) 272-4879
Gretchen Saunders
Chief Business Officer
(813) 272-4270
A 5.11
Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida) * Mtg.#20081007_301 * Section A Item# 5.11