National Professional Development Program

Overview

The NPD program is a Federal grant program that offers professional development specifically for educators of ELs. The purpose of these grants is to provide professional development activities that will improve classroom instruction for English learners (ELs) and assist educational personnel working with such children to meet high professional standards, including standards for certification and licensure as teachers who work in language instruction educational programs or serve ELs.

Purpose of Program: 
Under the NPD program, Grants awarded under this program may be used for effective pre-service professional development programs that will increase the number and diversity of fully licensed or certified bilingual or multilingual teachers. The purpose of the grants to be awarded under this competition is to increase the number of bilingual and multilingual teachers supporting ELs.

Absolute Priority: For FY 2024 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, The priority is: Increase the Number of Bilingual or Multilingual Teachers Through a Grow- Your-Own (GYO) Pre-Service Program that Recruits Teacher Candidates who are Bilingual or Multilingual. Projects that propose to increase the number of fully licensed or certified bilingual or multilingual teachers working in language instruction educational programs or serving ELs, and improve their qualifications and skills, through evidence-based (as defined in 34 CFR 77.1(c)) pre-service programs. We consider only applications that meet this priority.

Applicants must describe their plan for recruiting, supporting, and retaining teacher candidates who are bilingual or multilingual. Applicants must include in their proposed plan for a pre-service program, one or more of the following GYO strategies that are designed to address shortages of bilingual or multilingual teachers and increase the diversity of qualified individuals  entering the educator workforce: 
   (a) Implementing evidence-based GYO strategies for bilingual or multilingual individuals (e.g., creating dual enrollment, early college, and Career and Technical Education programs in teaching for middle and high school students paired with offering seals of biliteracy or supporting bilingual or multilingual paraprofessionals actively working in P– 12 schools in becoming teachers).
   (b) Recruiting bilingual or multilingual individuals who may have a teaching credential, but who are not certified to teach bilingual or multilingual education, and supporting them in earning the additional certification.
   c) Implementing evidence-based teacher residencies in bilingual or multilingual  education, including scaling these evidence-based pathways through a registered teacher apprenticeship program.

Competitive Preference Priority: For FY 2024 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, this priority is a competitive preference priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2), we award up to an additional five points to an application that meets the competitive preference priority. An applicant must clearly identify in the project abstract and the project narrative section of its application that it is addressing the competitive preference priority for purposes of earning competitive preference priority points.

Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $8,400,000.

The actual level of funding, if any, depends on final congressional action. However, we are inviting applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process if Congress appropriates funds for this program. Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of applications, we may make additional awards in subsequent years from the list of unfunded applications from this competition.

Estimated Range of Awards: $600,000-$700,000.
Maximum Award: $700,000 per year.
Estimated Number of Awards: 12.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this notice.
Project Period: 60 months.

To maximize student population needs and geographic diversity, the number of awards per single entity will be limited to one per DUNS or UEI number.

Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: April 11, 2024.

The Department will be able to review grant applications more efficiently if we know the approximate number of applicants that intend to apply. Therefore, we strongly encourage each potential applicant to notify us of their intent to submit an application. To do so, please email the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT with the subject line ‘‘Intent to Apply,’’ and include the applicant’s name and a contact person’s name and email address. Applicants that do not submit a notice of intent to apply may still apply for funding; applicants that do submit a notice of intent to apply are not bound to apply or bound by the information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Francisco J. Lopez, Jr.
U.S. Department of Education,
400 Maryland Ave. SW,
Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone:(202) 558–4880. 
Email: [email protected].