Agenda Item
i. Boundless Educator's Initiative (BEI) Ignite Teachers Residency Grant ($130,000)
Summary: Presented by: Dr. Cherisse M. Campbell, Chief of Community Engagement & Innovative Partnerships, Division of Community Engagement & Innovative Partnerships
Request: It is requested that the DeKalb County Board of Education accept the BEI IGNITE Teacher Residency Grant Award for $130,000, funded through the Boundless Educators Initiative (BEI), to provide financial support for the IGNITE DeKalb County School District Teacher Residency Program during the 2026-27 school year.
Why: Approving this grant will strengthen DCSD’s teacher pipeline by expanding financial, certification, wellness, and post-residency supports for IGNITE residents. The award reduces barriers to completion, supports early-career teacher retention, and helps prepare educators who reflect and understand DeKalb’s students and communities.
Details: The $130,000 BEI award will expand IGNITE’s teacher residency through resident financial support, GACE preparation, wellness programming, alumni engagement, and post-residency mentoring. These initiatives are expected to reduce barriers to completion, strengthen certification readiness, and improve early-career retention among educators who reflect DeKalb’s communities.
Financial impact: There is no cost to the District or to accept the donated funds from BEI.
Contact: Dr. Cherisse M. Campbell, Chief of Community Engagement & Innovative Partnerships, Division of Community Engagement & Innovative Partnerships, 678-676-0409,
Ms. Carina Harrigan, Director of IGNITE Teacher Residency, Division of Human Resources, 678-676-0385
Effective: Upon Board Approval
Status: Approved by Office of Legal Affairs
BEI YEAR 8 APPLICATION FOR NEW APPLICANTS
Describe how BEI funds will strengthen your program’s efforts to recruit, prepare, and retain educators who reflect the students and communities you serve.
Include:
• Your key program priorities for the upcoming year
• How BEI funds will support those priorities
• Which activities are new versus expansions of existing efforts
• Any relevant data or early indicators (e.g., applications, enrollment, projected outcomes)
Where possible, reference recent trends in applications, enrollment, and completion. (400 words)
The IGNITE Teacher Residency Program is committed to recruiting, preparing, and retaining highly effective educators who reflect the students and communities of DeKalb County
School District. As we enter our next phase of implementation, our focus is on strengthening the full educator pipeline from entry into the profession through the critical first years of
teaching.
Our key priorities for the upcoming year are to launch a comprehensive post residency support model, expand our focus on resilience and wellness, and strengthen GACE support to
ensure certification success. Over the past two years, we have refined a residency year experience aligned to IGNITE’s mission and vision and are now intentionally extending that work
beyond the residency year.
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model, including a Post Residency Professional Learning Community (PLC), quarterly alumni Connect sessions, and the creation
of a dedicated position focused on first year teacher support. These efforts are designed to strengthen our alumni network and create intentional opportunities for graduates to remain
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funds will support earlier, targeted test preparation, structured study sessions, and offset assessment costs to reduce financial barriers.
The students of DCSD are predominantly Black and Brown, and research consistently shows that students benefit academically, socially, and emotionally from seeing themselves
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What data sources (e.g., Residency Year Experience Survey, resident or graduate feedback, internal program data) do you currently use or plan to use to inform program improvement?
How will these data inform your priorities and use of BEI funds? (200 words)
IGNITE draws from various data sources to drive continuous program improvement. Through the NCTR Residency Experience Surveys, we gather feedback from current residents,
alumni, mentor teachers, and training academy principals. This provides a comprehensive, multi-perspective view of program effectiveness.
Internally, we administer surveys at the conclusion of all professional learning sessions, including our eight Bridge Weeks, for both residents and mentor teachers, capturing real-time
feedback and addressing immediate needs. We also survey both groups at the close of the Resident Summer Experience and the Summer Mentor Training to assess their preparation
and readiness entering the school year. Lastly, we survey program alumni to understand their ongoing needs as early-career teachers, helping us identify gaps in our post-completion
support.
These data sources directly inform our priorities for BEI funding, which will focus on two areas: alleviating financial burdens for current residents and launching meaningful alumni support
for the first time in our program's history. Cohorts 1 and 2 received limited post-completion support - BEI funds will begin to change that. For current residents, planned investments
include emergency funds, testing/licensure fees, graduation regalia, meals during Bridge Weeks, and support for wellness. These targeted supports respond directly to what our data
tells us residents need most to complete the program and thrive beyond it.
What systems and staff will be involved in your grant management process (i.e., specific budgeting tools and processes, examples of other grants your program currently manages, etc.)?
(200 words)
Grant management for the IGNITE Teacher Residency Program is supported through a collaborative structure that includes the IGNITE leadership team, DeKalb County School District
Human Resources, the Finance Department, and the Grants and Partnerships Department. The Director oversees implementation and ensures alignment between grant priorities and
program outcomes, working closely with the Finance Department and HR Budget Analyst to monitor expenditures and maintain fiscal accountability.
The district utilizes established financial systems and processes to manage funds, including internal budgeting tools, purchase order protocols, and monthly reconciliation practices. All
expenditures follow district procurement guidelines, including approval workflows and documentation requirements to ensure compliance and transparency.
Programmatically, the IGNITE team is responsible for tracking progress toward grant deliverables, including recruitment, preparation, and retention metrics. Key indicators such as
application volume, enrollment, certification passage rates, and retention outcomes are regularly monitored to ensure alignment with grant goals.
While BEI would represent a new funding stream for IGNITE, the program operates within a large urban school district that manages multiple state and federally funded initiatives. This
infrastructure provides strong systems of support and oversight, ensuring effective grant management and successful implementation.
Having reviewed the guidelines for BEI Evaluation, can you confirm that:
• You will be able to submit all of the required program and outcome-related data for grant evaluation,
• NCTR can survey all teacher residents, mentor teachers, graduates, and principals who have hosted and/or hired residents and graduates (i.e., NCTR's Residency Experience Surveys),
and you will be able to provide the necessary contact information for NCTR to do so (i.e., names and email addresses for participants).
• NCTR can also contact these individuals to participate in an interview or focus group.
If no to any of the above, please share more information in the appropriate space provided below.