Competitive Grants: Promoting K-12 Student Achievement at Military-Connected Schools (12.556)
Competitive Grants: Promoting K-12 Student Achievement at Military-Connected Schools (Assistance Listing 12.556) is run by the Department of Defense Education Activity, part of the Department of Defense. It awarded $263 million in 204 grants from fiscal 2021 to 2025, about $1.3 million per award on average. No funding opportunity is open on Grants.gov right now.
The typical award was $1.3 million. Half of the 204 awards fell between $750,000 and $2.0 million, and they ranged from $7,500 to $3.0 million.
- Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$263 million
- Grant awards204
- Typical award$1.3 million
- Awarded in FY 2025$9.9 million
- Size rank541 of 1824
- Type of assistanceProject grants (discretionary)
Key findings
- Annual funding fell from $46.3 million in fiscal 2021 to $9.9 million in fiscal 2025.
- It is the 541st largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
- The 20 largest recipients received 49% of the money.
- Awards went to recipients in 33 states and territories.
What the program funds
The DoDEA Educational Partnership Grant Program provide resources for local education agencies [LEAs] to meet the academic, social and emotional needs of the highly mobile military-connected students in their community. The Grant Program specifically provides resources to military-connected LEAs to develop and implement projects that are designed to: • Engage students where disciplines converge, including programs that meaningfully integrate science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) subjects as well as other disciplines such as Career and Technical Education (CTE), arts & humanities. • Designing innovative remote learning experiences to teach literacy, mathematics, computer science, and/or other CTE courses. • Develop partnerships or consortia approaches to implement education and outreach programs with a holistic approach to understanding real-world applications. • Fill gaps in schools that lack necessary infrastructure through innovative programming and/or novel interventions to address student achievement gaps in any curricular subject. OR progress World Languages for military-connected student through one on the following: 1) Establish and implement programs that showcase a meaningful integration of world language(s) across subject areas. Projects under this scope would include world language immersion or partial world language immersion of any of the languages included on the DoD SLL (Appendix D) and/or ASL. 2) Establish and implement an exploratory pilot program that seeks to create new world language experiences for students. For example, this type of project may link native speakers of languages other than English within the LEA with the target schools in order to promote two-way language learning. The language used for this scope must be included on the DoD SLL (Appendix D) and/or ASL. 3) Improve or expand content-based instruction in the target school’s current world language program of one or more of the languages included on the DoD SLL (Appendix D) and/or ASL. 4) Effectively use technology, such as computer-assisted instruction or distance (virtual) learning, to establish or expand course offerings of one or more world languages included on the DoD SLL (Appendix D) and/or ASL.
Open opportunities
No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.
Rules from the program listing
Who can apply
Awards are be made to local educational agencies (LEAs) on behalf of their eligible school(s). To qualify all participating schools must have a 10 percent or greater military dependent student enrollment. School districts apply on behalf of eligible schools.
What the money can and cannot pay for
Projects use nationally recognized, research-based best practices to enhance student achievement primarily in academic areas. Projects should address identified needs at the target school(s). Projects must have an evaluation plan that uses multiple sources to measure both the fidelity and the results of implementation, especially as they contribute to improving the student achievement of military students at the target schools. The definition of military student is specified in the Federal Register announcement.
Matching requirements
This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.
Deadlines
Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines
Award range and average, in the agency's words
Proposed projects are 54 months in duration and the total federal amount requested from DoDEA for each project must be no less than $500,000 and no more than $2,000,000 for all years of the project, including direct and indirect costs.
Examples of funded projects
Fiscal Year2018: For FY18 and FY19 all grant funded projects have a period of performance of approximately 54-months and are aimed to equip military-connected school districts with College and Career Ready resources necessary to successfully build and/or expand their Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) programming. I have also attached a spreadsheet of all of our funded projects to date to include their specific amount and project abstract. The FY20 grant program focus will most likely continue to prioritize STEM as directed by the SECDEF.Fiscal Year2021: High school students in Kittery School District are part of a unique program that has supported social-emotional learning and STEM efforts during the COVID environment. The Wood Island Life Saving Station Association (WILSSA) in Kittery, Maine, strives to preserve the century-old Kittery site previously manned by predecessors of our modern-day Coast Guard. As part of educational efforts to raise awareness of the heroic surfmen of the old US Life Saving Service, WILSSA is partnering with Traip Academy, the town’s public high school, to create a unique boatbuilding class. More than a dozen Traip students are not only learning new skills in wooden boat building, but local maritime history as well. The program encourages students to research and construct dories, supported by partnerships with the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Lowell's Boat Shop—the oldest boat shop in the country.
Funding history and past recipients
From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Competitive Grants: Promoting K-12 Student Achievement at Military-Connected Schools (12.556) awarded$263 million across 204 grant awards, an average of $1.3 million per award.
Who usually wins
State and local governments received 90% of the money, nonprofits 6.8% and colleges and universities 2.9%.
| Recipient type | Awards | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| State and local governments | 184 | $238 million | 90% |
| Nonprofits | 14 | $18.0 million | 6.8% |
| Colleges and universities | 6 | $7.5 million | 2.9% |
By state
27 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.
| State | Awards | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| California | 18 | $28.6 million |
| Virginia | 16 | $26.1 million |
| Florida | 14 | $23.6 million |
| Washington | 15 | $22.8 million |
| Texas | 17 | $22.6 million |
| Hawaii | 9 | $15.0 million |
| Kansas | 8 | $12.7 million |
| Illinois | 11 | $10.4 million |
| North Carolina | 8 | $9.7 million |
| Alabama | 5 | $9.3 million |
| New York | 12 | $7.9 million |
| Georgia | 7 | $7.7 million |
| Colorado | 4 | $7.0 million |
| South Carolina | 4 | $6.3 million |
| Nebraska | 3 | $6.2 million |
| Oklahoma | 7 | $6.0 million |
| New Jersey | 5 | $5.5 million |
| Missouri | 5 | $5.3 million |
| Connecticut | 6 | $5.2 million |
| Alaska | 6 | $5.2 million |
| Ohio | 2 | $4.0 million |
| Mississippi | 3 | $3.3 million |
| Arizona | 2 | $2.8 million |
| Maryland | 3 | $2.3 million |
| Rhode Island | 4 | $2.0 million |
| Kentucky | 2 | $1.3 million |
| North Dakota | 2 | $1.0 million |
| Louisiana | 1 | $750,000 |
| New Mexico | 1 | $750,000 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | $750,000 |
| District of Columbia | 1 | $500,000 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | $500,000 |
| Maine | 1 | $500,000 |