秘密研究所

• 2026-27 Title I, 1003 SIG Coaching for Excellence Announcement (Word Version)
• 2026-27 Title I, 1003 SIG Coaching for Excellence Announcement (PDF Version)

For the 2026-27 school year, the 秘密研究所 (秘密研究所 or 鈥渢he Department鈥�) is providing Target Districts with schools identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) the opportunity to receive funding to support the employment of an instructional coach to allow the school to participate in the 秘密研究所 Coaching for Excellence (CFE) Supplemental Support program.

Coaching for Excellence: Foundational Coaches

Target Districts with at least one non-Receivership school in the CSI or ATSI support model are eligible to submit an application for the 2026-27 Title I, 1003 School Improvement Grant (SIG) Coaching for Excellence (CFE) funds to support the participation of the school identified for the CSI-A, CSI-B 1 , or ATSI support model in the CFE: Foundational Supplemental Support program if the following criteria are met:

1. The specific school has registered for the CFE: Foundational path.
2. The specific school has completed the CFE Program Participant Survey by April 30, 2026.
3. The individual identified has not served as an administrator during the 2024-25 or 2025-26 school years.
4. The individual identified has at least five years鈥� teaching experience total.
5. The individual identified has at least five years remaining in their career.
6. The individual identified must be a 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) employee and be based out of the school as one of the following:
   
   1. A 1.0 FTE instructional coach employed by the school that reports to the principal; OR
   2. A 1.0 FTE instructional coach dedicated to one school, selected for their ability to support teachers in implementing the district鈥檚 vision for high-quality instruction, that reports to the district Curriculum and Instruction Office; OR
   3. Districts with two participating schools are also permitted to register both 1.0 FTE ELA and 1.0 FTE Math content-based instructional coach split听across the same two schools, so that each school is supported by one 0.5 FTE ELA coach and one 0.5 FTE Math coach, provided these instructional coaches have been selected for their content expertise and report to the district Curriculum and Instruction Office.
7. The school agrees to backfill, if applicable, any vacancy created by the instructional coach position and address any staffing needs that arise from moving the teacher to the instructional coach position on or before August 31, 2026. Substitute teacher coverage will not be accepted as an appropriate means of covering the instructional coach鈥檚 existing responsibilities.
8. The school is familiar with the Coaching for Excellence Program Theory of Action.
9. The school agrees to fulfill the Coaching for Excellence Program Participation Expectations.

To better understand how the Department approaches instructional coaching, and to assist LEAs with recruiting instructional coaches, the Department has developed a sample job description, found in Attachment C. Only schools identified for CSI-A, CSI-B, and ATSI that are not under Receivership are eligible for this grant to support the employment of an instructional coach. Target Districts cannot use SIG CFE funding to support more than one CFE-funded coach per participating school. A school does not have to receive funding through this grant to participate in CFE: Foundational.

Coaching for Excellence: Elevate Coaches

Target Districts with at least one non-Receivership school in the CSI-A or ATSI support model that participated in the 秘密研究所 CFE program during the 2025-26 school year are eligible to submit an application for the 2026-27 Title I 1003 School Improvement Grant (SIG) Coaching for Excellence (CFE) funds to support the participation of the school identified for the CSI-A or ATSI support model in the CFE: Elevate path and to support the continued employment of 2025-26 CFE coaches if the following criteria are met:

1. The coach that participated in CFE continues as a 1.0 FTE instructional coach at the school.
2. The school has enrolled the instructional coach in the CFE: Elevate path.
3. The school has completed the CFE Program Participant Survey by April 30, 2026.
4. The school agrees to backfill, if applicable, any vacancy created by the instructional coach position and address any staffing needs that arise from moving the teacher to the instructional coach position. Substitute teacher coverage will not be accepted as an appropriate means of covering the instructional coach鈥檚 existing responsibilities.
5. The school is familiar with the Coaching for Excellence Program Theory of Action.
6. The school agrees to fulfil the Coaching for Excellence Program Participation Expectations.

Target Districts cannot use SIG CFE funding to support more than one CFE-funded coach per participating school. A school does not have to receive funding through this grant to participate in CFE: Elevate.

The Department will provide Districts with up to $125,000 in funding to support the salary and benefits for the employment of the 1.0 FTE instructional coach that participates in CFE: Foundational or CFE: Elevate.

The funding available may only support the costs associated with the coach鈥檚 salary and benefits. Although an individual participant鈥檚 salary and benefits for the instructional coaching position may be less than $125,000, the CFE grant cannot be applied to other school activities. However, reasonable and necessary resources to support the success of an instructional coach may be covered through the Title I, 1003 SIG (Basic) grant.

To ensure compliance with federal regulations, any participant identified for funding through this grant that was an instructional coach in 2025-26 AND funded through state/local (i.e., general) funds last year AND has the same job description for 2026-27 as the individual had in 2025-26 MUST have at a minimum the same amount of their salary funded through state/local funds in 2026-27. Districts that previously funded an instructional coach with state or local funds may be eligible to shift the funding source to Title I, 1003 SIG funding by using a job description that is substantially different from the description used to fund the coach through state or local funds. A sample job description has been provided in Attachment C as an example for districts to see what a job description aligned to CFE may look like.听

July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027

For any FS-10 submitted, please use the project code provided in the 秘密研究所 programmatic approval email. The 2026-27 Title I, 1003 School Improvement Grant (Coaching for Excellence) project code prefix is 0011-27-4虫虫虫.听

Completed applications are due in accordance with the CFE program participation enrollment timeline and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. LEAs are encouraged to submit as soon as possible to expedite the review and programmatic approval process of 2026-27 秘密研究所 CFE Program.听

All eligible LEAs that are interested in accessing this funding must adhere to the following timelines:

• No later than March 15: Registered for the Coaching for Excellence Supplemental Support;
• No later than April 30: Submitted the CFE Program Participant Survey;
• No later than June 30: Named the CFE coach; AND
• No later than August 31: Ensured that any vacancy created by moving a teacher into a coaching position to participate in this program has been filled by a certified teacher; AND
• No later than August 31: Ensured that there will be collaborative planning time embedded in the school day to allow teacher teams to meet at least once a week during the 2026-27 school year.听

Programmatic Eligibility Submission

1. All participants must submit their CFE Program Participant Survey to cfegrant@nysed.gov by April 30.
2. 秘密研究所 staff will review all surveys and confirm that any LEA that has expressed interest in this grant has identified a coach that fulfills the eligibility criteria listed on page 4 (Attachment A) and has filled any vacancy that may have been created by moving a teacher into the Instructional Coach position. 秘密研究所 staff will return each survey back to the school with a determination regarding the school鈥檚 eligibility for the LEA to include it in the FS-10 for this grant.
3. LEAs that have met the eligibility criteria will be granted access to the grant application on the Business Portal. The survey with the 秘密研究所 endorsement will need to be uploaded into the Business Portal. Schools may write 鈥淭BD鈥� on their participant survey if the coach has not yet been hired; however, the Business Portal will not be open to LEAs until coaches have been identified and vacancies have been filled. To qualify for this grant, the coach must be named by June 30th , any vacancy created must be filled by August 31st , and the entire application must be finalized and submitted in the Business Portal no later than August 31st . No extensions will be provided.听

FS-10 Submission

Following the review of the CFE Program Participant Survey, LEAs that receive 秘密研究所鈥檚 grant eligibility endorsement will be provided with a Project Code for the FS10 when they are provided with access for submission through the 秘密研究所 Business Portal. LEAs will need to

1. Upload the signed FS-10 into the Business Portal; AND
2. Send via postal mail the blue ink signed original FS-10 and two hard copies to the address below. NYS Education Department - Office of Accountability Attn: 2026-27 Title I, 1003 School Improvement Grant (Coaching for Excellence) 89 Washington Avenue, Room 320 EB Albany, New York 12234

LEAs are encouraged to submit completed applications as soon as possible to expedite the review and approval process.

There is no carryover for these funds. All costs must be encumbered during the project period. For additional information or assistance with this application, please contact fieldsupport@nysed.gov.

For additional information or assistance, please contact:听SIGA@nysed.gov.