Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program CFDA Number 84.374A | ED GRANTS 122016 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 122016 001

The Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program (TSL), administered by the U.S. Department of Education through the Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), is a discretionary grant program listed under CFDA 84.374A. Its central aim is to help education agencies and their partners build, strengthen, or scale systems that use performance-based compensation and broader human capital management strategies to support teachers, principals, and other school leaders. The program places special emphasis on high-need schools and on approaches intended to raise student academic achievement while narrowing achievement gaps between higher- and lower-performing student groups.

In practical terms, TSL funding is meant to support more comprehensive educator workforce systems, not just isolated bonus plans. The opportunity is framed around developing or expanding coherent models that connect educator effectiveness to key talent-management functions such as recruitment, placement, development, evaluation, retention, and compensation. The intent is to encourage systems that recognize and reward educators who contribute to improved student outcomes, while also helping districts and states organize staffing and leadership in a way that better serves students most at risk of being left behind.

A notable feature of the program is that a portion of TSL funds is reserved for studying the systems being supported. That research focus is aimed at examining whether performance-based compensation and human capital management approaches are effective and whether they operate as intended across different contexts. The notice specifically calls out the importance of assessing effectiveness as well as fairness, quality, consistency, and reliability, signaling that the Department is concerned not only with results but also with whether the underlying measures and processes are sound and equitable.

Eligibility is relatively broad within the K-12 public education landscape. Eligible applicants include (a) local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that qualify as LEAs, and consortia of LEAs; (b) state educational agencies (SEAs) or other state agencies officially designated by a governor or chief executive to participate; (c) the Bureau of Indian Education; and (d) partnerships that combine one or more of those public agencies with at least one nonprofit organization (as defined in 2 CFR 200.70) or at least one for-profit entity. This structure allows applicants to propose projects led by districts or states alone, or collaborative efforts that pair public agencies with external organizations that can provide technical expertise, implementation capacity, or analytic and evaluation support.

Applications for this competition were required to be submitted electronically through Grants.gov rather than by email or other methods. Applicants would locate the correct application package by searching the CFDA number without the letter suffix (searching for 84.374 rather than 84.374A). The notice also underscores that the brief description provided in the opportunity posting is only a synopsis and that the controlling requirements are contained in the official Federal Register application notice, which includes the full details on priorities, application components, performance measures, submission rules, and program contacts.

From the source data provided, the opportunity number is ED GRANTS 122016 001, the category is discretionary, and the funding instrument is a grant within the education activity category. The agency is the Department of Education. The posting lists an original closing date of March 24, 2017, an expected number of awards of 15, and a creation date of December 20, 2016. The award ceiling is not specified in the provided excerpt, and applicants would need to consult the Federal Register notice for precise award amounts, project periods, and any matching or cost-sharing expectations.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program CFDA Number 84.374A" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.374.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-12-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-03-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 15 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for ED GRANTS 122016 001

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