Application Guidelines:

• Only full-time classroom teachers assigned to teach mathematics or science in the K-12 regular education program in public schools are eligible to submit proposals. Classroom teacher is defined as "any employee of a parish or city school board who holds a teacher's certificate and whose legal employment requires a teacher's certificate."
• Maximum award: $1,000. A teacher may not submit more than one application.
• Proposals must be submitted no later than midnight, September 15, 2019.
• To maintain anonymity, any mention of names, schools, parishes, districts, or towns within the body of the proposal, OR on the Budget File, will disqualify the application.
• The QSM grant funds must be used for the purchase of non-consumable instructional materials, equipment, or educational technology. The funds may not be used to purchase furniture, carts, access to online portals, subscriptions of any type, annual fees, protective covers for technology, software, fixed assets such as refrigerators, etc.  Kits that have non-consumable instructional materials included may be purchased.
• All applications must be strongly linked to science/math instructional goals and performance objectives. The proposal should include specific ways the requested materials/technology will support student learning. Full justification must be provided within the sections of the proposal. Software, online subscriptions, furniture, and protective covers for tablets, are not eligible. 
• Violations of the state’s policy regarding use of confidential student data or implication of knowledge of the content of an assessment beyond what has been provided by the governing agency will automatically exclude the proposal from consideration. For example, including student names on reports is a violation of student confidentiality laws. Inclusion of information that could only have been obtained by reviewing individual items on a state assessment is a violation of state policy.
• The QSM Council maintains the right to disqualify proposals showing evidence of plagiarism. This includes, but is not limited to, 1) substituting synonyms for another individual's words but preserving sentence structure; 2) mixing the individual's words or phrases with the applicants' paraphrasing, and 3) using the exact text that a company uses in their product descriptions. Don’t run the risk of having your proposal denied because of plagiarism.
• It is suggested that proposals not be shared with others who are also writing a QSM proposal to avoid any plagiarism.
• Special Request: The primary method of communication with QSM is through email. School system network controls often reject QSM emails. While not mandatory, we are requesting that applicants consider using an email address that is not associated with a school system.
• Please direct any questions concerning the QSM Grant Program to Brenda Nixon at the QSM Office: bnixon@lsu.edu or (225) 205-2680.

If Funded:

• Recipients of QSM Grants will be required to complete all online components, including award acceptance and the final report. An award acceptance letter is also required of the school principal.
• Original receipts (no packing slips) for purchases made under the QSM funded projects are due to qualityscienceandmath@gmail.com no later than December 6, 2019.
• All grant funds must be expended as specified in the approved proposal.
• Note: Any requests for budget changes must be related to fulfilling the goals and objectives of the reviewed project and approved by the QSM Office PRIOR to expenditure. Recipients are encouraged to spend all funds to ensure a successful project by purchasing non-consumable items for project success.
• If unforeseen developments occur that make it impossible for the project to be completed as submitted, the teacher or principal will need to contact the QSM Office to decline the award.

Failure to adhere to the above standards may result in revocation of the grant which requires the reimbursement of the full amount of funding to the QSM program and the disqualification of the applicant for future funding.

Contact Information:

For questions about this application, please contact Brenda Nixon at bnixon@lsu.edu. 225-205-2680