Applicants

• The grants can only be applied for by Local Education Agencies (LEAs) working in partnership with nonprofit organizations, libraries, museums or an institution of higher learning. An LEA is defined as a public board of education or any other institution that has administrative control over a school. Public charter schools may qualify, but private schools do not. Two or more LEAs may band together in a consortium for the purposes of applying for a TAH grant. The LEAs apply for the grant, but in order to receive the grant, they must be working in a partnership.
  
  

Types of Programs

• The TAH grant may be used to develop a wide range of projects and programs. Grants may be used for projects such as supporting study trips to historic areas, developing relationships between teachers and experts, such as historians, setting up summer programs, seminars or mentoring programs for teachers, assisting teachers with obtaining an advanced degree or advanced training in American history, conducting historical research, developing online research or archives or developing teaching materials. The project can aim to support history teachers in just one grade, such as fifth grade, in a field, such as middle school, or for all teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade.
  
  

Application Process

• Application forms are available online in January or early February each year. Applicants are encouraged to notify the U.S. Department of Education of their intention to apply by the end of February. Applications are submitted electronically and must be sent in by the deadline at the end of March or early April. Applicants are notified of their award in August. LEAs may only receive one grant each year, but if they already have one or more TAH grants, they may apply for additional grants at the same time, as long as the grants will not duplicate services. Grant forms and information are available on the TAH website (see Resources).
  
  

Selection Criteria

• Applicants are approved based on a two-tier selection process. All applications are first reviewed by a panel and scored on four major criteria: quality of the project design, quality of the project, demonstrated need for the project and quality of the project management plan. Applicants who achieve a high score on the first tier will then be scored on the quality of the project evaluation. Applicants are then ranked according to their scores, and available funding is granted according to rank. The amount awarded will depend on the scope and magnitude of the project, with larger projects being awarded higher grants.