Brock ISD

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Grant Recommendations





As Brock ISD continues to grow it will face increasing pressure to maximize funding opportunities. One resource that will help this situation is to increase utilization of state and federal grant opportunities through the development of a grant writing team.

A grants team will help the District to keep up with new developments in grant opportunities as well as help district personnel to develop a knowledge base and insight into funding possibilities. Assigning an administrative laison such as the assistant superintendent to oversee and chair the team will insure accountability.

The development of funding knowledge and the sharing of grant information with district personnel will ultimately determine the success or failure of a grant team. Acquiring funding for the sake of showing numeric gain is not one of the Brock ISD grant goals. Funding proposals should always supplement current curriculum and never force our faculty to conform to guidelines that hamper their performance.

I believe we should consider the following proposals:

Proposed Goals:

  1. Build A Grants Team.
  2. Develop A Knowledge Base
  3. Develop grant expertise such as grant writing and proposal development.
  4. Dissemination of knowledge.
  5. Curriculum and Extra Curricula support and integration

Goal #1 - Build A Grants Team.

In order to be successful, our grants must be generated from the bottom up. Top down approaches of finding available funds and then assigning staff to make the new program work tends to be counter productive.

Having one person to take care of grant writing will make this approach difficult. A team consisting of representatives from each campus will make it easier to address specific program needs.

In order to insure accountability it is strongly suggested that the assistant superintendent be the chairman of the team and the superintendent meet annually with all team members to review actions and encourage future planning.

Recommendation: A seven member team consisting of two representatives from each campus and the assistant superintendent acting as the overseer.


Goal #2 - Build A Knowledge Base.

Informed decision making is the key to most any successful endeavor. Grant acquisition is no exception.

A survey of area schools to find successful practices is recommended . While particular attention should be paid to schools that approximate our student population size, larger schools such as Weatherford ISD which have grant departments in place should be thoroughly surveyed for information and routines.

Team training should be required of each member and each member should be held individually accountability for particular types of grant programs.

The Texas Education Agency has the following resources:

"A Grant Seeker's Resource Guide"

TEA Grant Opportunities Web Site



Goal #3 - Develop expertise in proposal writing and development.

Training in grant writing should be a top priority of a successful grants team. Many companies offer workshops and training assistance for grant writing and proposal developments.

Grant writing publications are also numerous. The list of grant writing publications from the TEA's "A Grant Seekers Resource Guide" provide a good place to start building a library.

Proposal Guidelines

  • The proposal needs to be clear and precise, and based on a needs assessment of the faculty.
  • The proposal should target a need or show a desire to go above and beyond what is required.
  • The proposal should address particular issues , recognizes key points, and use language that reflects the importance of these issues.
  • The proposal should be consistent with a high level of expectation.
  • The proposal should provide for stringent self-evaluation.

Concerns To Be Addressed

  1. What is the purpose or goal?
    • Is the purpose clear?
    • Is the purpose significant or trivial?
    • Is the purpose realistic?

  2. What is the question or problem to be solved?
    • Whenever you attempt to reason something out, there is at least one question or problem at issue.
    • Can you state the question or problem in a clear and relevant way?
    • Do you understand the process required for settling the question or solving the problem?
    • How will you know when the question is answered or the problem solved?

  3. What is your point of view or frame of reference?
    • Whenever you reason, you must reason within some point of view or frame of reference.
    • Is your point of view too narrow or too broad?
    • Is your point of view flexible and fair?
    • Is your point of view based on false or misleading information?

  4. What evidence is your reasoning based on?
    • Whenever you reason, there is some phenomena about which you are reasoning.
    • Is your evidence gathered and reported clearly, fairly, and accurately?
    • Is your data relevant?
    • Is the information adequate for achieving your purpose?

  5. What concepts, theories, or principles is your reasoning based on?
    • All reasoning uses some ideas or concepts.
    • Do you have a complete understanding of the theories involved or is your understanding merely superficial?
    • Are the concepts used in your reasoning clear ones?
    • Are your ideas relevant to the issue at hand?

  6. What assumptions have you made?
    • All reasoning must begin somewhere, must take some things for granted.
    • Are your assumptions clear and justifiable?
    • Are your assumptions crucial or extraneous?
    • Are your assumptions consistent or contradictory?

  7. What are the further implications or consequences of your reasoning?
    • No matter where you stop your reasoning, there will always be further implications and consequences.
    • Have you identified significant and realistic implications of your reasoning?
    • Have you communicated the implications of your views clearly and precisely enough to permit your thinking to be evaluated by the validity of those implications?

  8. What inferences have you made?
    • Reasoning proceeds by steps - "because this is so, that also is so".
    • Are the inferences you draw clear?
    • Are the inferences you draw justifiable?
    • Are the conclusions you draw consistent?































    Goal #6 -Team Accountability

    Developing a comprehensive grant team requires an investment in time and money. In order to be seen as successful, it is important that the team pays its way and provides a benefit to the district as soon as possible. This will allow the district to develop confidence in the abilites of the team.

    • Initial grants should focus on non competitive criteria.