Pennsylvania Governor Corbett Announces Expanding Excellence School Mentoring Grant Program

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett today announced that the Department of Education is accepting applications for the 2014-15 Governor's Expanding Excellence School Mentoring Grant program.  This initiative is designed to create a culture of innovation and achievement in Pennsylvania's public schools to increase student achievement.

"This mentoring program is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania and is intended to pair high-performing schools with schools that are academically struggling," Gov. Corbett said.  "The goal is for schools to share strategies and best practices with each other to increase student achievement to ensure students are graduating prepared for the workforce, postsecondary education and the military."

Public schools with a 2012-13 School Performance Profile score of 90 percent or higher, known as mentors, are eligible to apply for up to $25,000 for each profile component that contributed to their outstanding achievement.  Applicants must analyze strategies, processes and techniques, and design a research-based model or training tools that can be used by schools across the state to improve student achievement.

Successful applicants will showcase their models at the October 2014 Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association School Leadership Conference and the Department of Education's December 2014 Standards Aligned System Institute.

Grant recipients will then partner with and mentor a public school that has a 2012-13 School Performance Profile score of 79 percent or lower to assist in implementing strategies to improve student achievement.

The deadline to apply for a mentor grant is Aug. 26, 2014.

Public school entities with a school that has a 2012-13 School Performance Profile score of 79 percent or lower are eligible to participate in the grant program as a mentee.  Grantees must work with the selected mentor school to gain the knowledge and insight necessary to implement the model designed by the partner school.  The district in which the low-performing school is located will receive up to $10,000 in funding to assist in replicating the research-based strategy designed by the mentor school.

The deadline to apply for a mentee grant is Aug. 15, 2014.

Grants for mentor schools will be announced by Aug. 31, 2014, and grants for mentee schools will be announced by Oct. 31, 2014.

Media contact: Tim Eller, 717-783-9802

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Education

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