COSEBOC-School-Award-2015-Application-Package

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School Awards for 2015
SUMMARY
Purposes
• Identify, recognize, and reward schools that have a proven track record of effective pre K-6
education of its male students of color
• Promote the replication and adaptation of educational practices that contribute to the success
of male students of color
• Demonstrate to the public that schools can successfully educate male students of color
Eligible Applicants
Any school in the United States (including district, charter, or private schools) serving students in
grades preK-6 where at least 25% of the male students are students of color (African-American,
Asian-American, Hispanic, Native American, Multi-racial).
Application
• Completed Online Form
• Support Materials including: Perspectives from Students and Parents, Letters of
Recommendations & Other Support Documents emailed to SchoolAwards@coseboc.org
COSEBOC School Awards Recipients
• Receive $10,000 cash grant
• Attend and present on their strategies and promising practices at 2015 COSEBOC Gathering
of Leaders in Memphis
• Participate in national COSEBOC public education campaign highlighting their successes and
promoting practices that contribute to their success
Deadline: 5 p.m. (EST) on February 23, 2015

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School Awards for 2015
BACKGROUND
COSEBOC Mission, Vision and Key Achievements
Male students of color continue to face severe hardships in most American schools. Available data reveals
significant gaps in academic achievement and social outcomes between male students of color and all other
groups. Boys of color are consistently under-represented on virtually every measure of educational success
and are consistently over-represented on virtually every measure associated with educational failure and
distress.
COSEBOC exists to help end these disparities. Its mission is to connect, inspire, support and strengthen
school leaders dedicated to the social, emotional and academic development of boys and young men of color.
The organization grew out of the 2007 call by Rosa Smith (former Executive Director of the Schott Foundation)
to build a movement committed to the goal of generating a positive future for black boys. In response to this
call, Ron Walker, national education reform leader, and David Banks, principal of Eagle Academy, organized a
Gathering of Leaders that first brought together the leaders of several single-gender schools profiled in Ebony
and later brought together leaders from a large number of public, private, independent, and charter schools –
both coed and single-gender. Out of their urgency, passion, collaboration, and need, COSEBOC was born. By
2014, COSEBOC had organized eight annual Gatherings of Leaders with a 9 th Gathering scheduled for in April
2015 in Memphis.
In its initial years, COSEBOC is promoting a vision of schools whose male students of color demonstrate
successful educational outcomes and the reality that many existing schools already meet these high
expectations. COSEBOC’s key initiatives include:
• Newly revised and expanded Standards for Schools Educating Boys of Color (developed in
collaboration with NYU’s Metropolitan Center for Urban Education)
• School self-assessment process grounded in the COSEBOC Standards
• Growing membership of school districts, schools, and individuals who educate 500,000 male students
of color annually
• Weekly stream of current research, policies, and innovative strategies for members only
• Professional development program for school leaders to explore educational approaches and practices
that can successfully engage and educate boys and young men of color
• New, more informative, and more interactive website
COSEBOC is the only national education organization of practitioners solely focused on promoting the
educational success of boys and young men of color. COSEBOC connects research, policy and practice to
create a cutting-edge learning community for school leaders.
ANNOUNCEMENT

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School Awards for 2015
Statement of Purpose
The COSEBOC School Awards will:
• Identify, recognize, and reward schools that have a proven track record of effective pre K – 6 education
of its male students of color
• Promote replication and adaptation of educational practices that contribute to the success of male
students of color
• Demonstrate to the public that schools can successfully educate male students of color
Recipients of COSEBOC School Awards will be schools where male students of color succeed on traditional
measures of academic achievement. In addition, male students of color will demonstrate social/emotional
development, appreciation for their own identity and heritage and that of others, and engagement in their
community. As a result, these will be schools where graduates demonstrate powerful evidence of their
affirmative development.
Award Recipients
• Will receive a $10,000 grant for use in continuing their work with boys of color.
• Will be invited to send teams to attend the 2015 COSEBOC Gathering of Leaders in Memphis where
their work will be celebrated and their practices shared during workshops and presentations.
• Will be featured in a national COSEBOC public education campaign highlighting their successes and
promoting their practices as models for replication and adaptation by other schools.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the COSEBOC School Awards, a school must demonstrate that it meets both of the following
criteria:
• At least 25% of its male students are students of color (African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic,
Native American, Multiracial)
• Academic achievement of its male students of color is at least equal to the academic achievement of
all students in its state.
Any school that serves grades preK-6 in the United States and that meets both criteria is encouraged to submit
an application. This includes district, charter, and private schools, as well as co-educational and single gender
schools. A school need not be a member of COSEBOC to submit an application nor will membership in
COSEBOC be considered during the selection process.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Instructions for Completing & Submitting Application

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School Awards for 2015
APPLICATION CONTENT. To be considered for a 2015 COSEBOC School Awards, a school must
complete the Online Form. A school is encouraged but is not required to submit the support materials
listed in the chart below. All sections must comply with the instructions in this document.
Online Form
Item
Support Materials 1: Letters from parents and
students
Support Materials 2: Letters of
recommendation
Support Materials 3: Additional materials
Recommended Length
All relevant items completed
Not to exceed 10 pages (2 pages per letter)
Not to exceed 6 pages (2 page per letter)
Not to exceed 15 pages
FORMAT. Please answer all questions in the Online Form.
NOTICE OF INTENT TO APPLY. If you want to apply for an award, you must send an email ASAP to
SchoolAwards@coseboc.org with a contact name and email. We will respond with a personalized link
to the Online Form and a digital copy of the COSEBOC Standards and Promising Practices for
Schools Educating Boys of Color.
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION. To submit your application 1) complete the Online Form and 2) attach
all SUPPORT MATERIALS documents to an email. You do not need to complete the Online Form all
at one time. You may use your personalized link to modify or add information until the application
deadline. Attached is a sample form which includes all of the information you will be required to
complete. However, you must complete the Online Form to be eligible. We will not accept the
application form as a file or in hard copy. We strongly recommend that applicants prepare answers
elsewhere and then paste it into the Online Form. All SUPPORT MATERIALS documents should
either be in Word format or converted to PDF and titled with your school’s name. The deadline for
submitting the application is 5 pm on February 23, 2015. The Online Form will be closed at that time
and responses cannot be modified after that time. Applications not sent by the deadline date will not
be reviewed for the 2015 COSEBOC School Awards.
APPLICATION INFORMATION

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School Awards for 2015
The following support materials are encouraged but not required. Save each of the three types of support
materials as a single Word or PDF file, use the titles below, and send them in one email to
SchoolAwards@coseboc.org.
Description of Support Materials
SUPPORT MATERIALS 1. Perspectives of Students and Parents (ENCOURAGED BUT NOT REQUIRED)
Instructions: This file may not exceed 10 total pages (2 pages each). Title this single document with your
school’s name and “SUPPORT MATERIALS 1”- ie: JohnElementary_SUPPORT MATERIALS1
School may include essays written by male students of color and their parents regarding their successful
experience at the school. Each essay must not exceed 2 pages. No more than 5 separate essays may be
included.
SUPPORT MATERIALS 2. Letters of Recommendation (ENCOURAGED BUT NOT REQUIRED)
Instructions: This file may not exceed 6 total pages. The name of this file should be your school name followed
by ”SUPPORT MATERIALS 2” - ie: JohnElementary_SUPPORT MATERIALS 2
You may include letters of recommendations written by members of your school community or by others in the
community who are familiar with your school. Each letter should not exceed 2 pages. Each letter may be
written and signed by one or more individuals. No more than one letter should be submitted representing each
of the following perspectives:
• The faculty/staff perspective
• The perspective of relevant community member(s)
• The perspective of the school district or independent school equivalent.
SUPPORT MATERIALS 3. Additional Materials (ENCOURAGED BUT NOT REQUIRED)
Instructions: This file may not exceed 15 total pages. The name of this file should be your school name
followed by ”SUPPORT MATERIALS 3” - ie: JohnElementary_SUPPORT MATERIALS3
You may include the following documents as part of this section:
• Data reports used in completing the Online Form that are not publicly-accessible
• Charts or figures that support your narrative statements
• News Articles
SCORING CRITERIA
Applications will be reviewed using the following four criteria:

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School Awards for 2015
1. Excellence among its male students of color on traditional academic measures
2. Appropriate social-emotional development of its male students of color
3. Appreciation of personal identity and heritage of themselves and others by male students of
color
4. Community engagement by male students of color
Additionally, the review panel will consider the application’s alignment with the COSEBOC
Standards and Promising Practices for Schools Educating Boys of Color. A digital copy of this
document will be sent to prospective applicants.

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School Awards for 2015
APPLICATION REVIEW AND SELECTION
PROCESS
COSEBOC will use a three-stage process to review applications submitted under this program and
to select 2015 COSEBOC School Awards recipients.
During the FIRST STAGE, COSEBOC staff will review all applications to ensure that applications:
• Are complete
• Were submitted in a timely manner
• Meet both eligibility criteria
During the SECOND STAGE, COSEBOC will convene a panel of education experts to review all
remaining applications. In reviewing these applications, the panel will use a scoring criteria to assess
statistical and qualitative evidence demonstrating that a school has successfully produced:
• Excellence among its male students of color on traditional academic measures including
results on standardized academic achievement test, rates of course completion, grade
promotion, high school graduation, college entry, and school attendance
• Social-emotional development of its male students of color
• Appreciation of personal identity and heritage of themselves and others by male students of
color
• Age-appropriate engagement by male students of color with their community and commitment
to community service
Ideal candidates for the 2015 COSEBOC School Awards will show consistent excellence across
these four criteria during the last three years. In addition to these criteria, the panel will consider the
alignment of school design, operation, programs, or services with the COSEBOC Standards and
Promising Practices for Schools Educating Boys of Color. Based on its review of the applications, the
panel will select a group of finalists.
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During the THIRD STAGE, COSEBOC staff will conduct site visits to the finalist schools to interview
students, parents, and staff and review documents relevant to their application. Based upon the
application as supplemented by the site visits and other relevant information, COSEBOC will select
the award-winning schools from among the finalists.

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School Awards for 2015
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Technical Assistance Resources
COSEBOC will conduct an open technical assistance webinar at 1 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday,
January 28, 2015 for schools interested in submitting an application to the 2015 COSEBOC School
Awards. Anyone interested in participating in the webinar must send an email confirming such interest
to SchoolAwards@coseboc.org by Tuesday, January 27 to receive further instructions. During the
webinar, COSEBOC staff will review the instructions and requirements of the application. In addition,
they will answer questions submitted by interested schools prior to and during the conference call.
COSEBOC will make a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document available at its website
(http://www.coseboc.org/Awards/) after the technical assistance webinar. The FAQ will summarize
responses to all questions asked during the webinar. If prospective applicants have questions that
were not answered by the webinar or the FAQ, these questions can be submitted by email to
SchoolAwards@coseboc.org. Both questions and answers will be added to the FAQ. Other than
during the conference call, COSEBOC staff will not answer any questions regarding the COSEBOC
Schools Award Program by telephone.
Timeline
January 19, 2015
January 27, 2015
February 23, 2015
April 2, 2015
April 2015
April 22-24, 2015
Release of 2015 COSEBOC School Awards Application Package
Technical Assistance Webinar
Deadline for submission of complete application
2015 COSEBOC School Awards recipients notified
COSEBOC staff work with award recipients on their presentations
for the 2015 Gathering of Leaders
COSEBOC 2015 Gathering of Leaders in Memphis