Grants
The purpose of RSI grants is to:
- Foster concrete links between CASLT initiatives and the professional realities and experiences of our members;
- Highlight the pedagogy and professional learning of our teacher members; and
- Provide models for new teachers and networks of professional practice.
RSI grant recipients conduct research or initiate projects related to language teaching. After the project’s completion, they produce a report detailing their project and discussing their findings.
Application Requirements
Applicants must be teams of two or more CASLT classroom teacher members. Teams must have the endorsement of their principal or supervisor.
Topics and research questions should be linked to CASLT initiatives and areas of support, e.g., the CEFR and language portfolio, intensive language programs, multiliteracies, international languages, assessment, differentiation and inclusion, intercultural competency, or school-based leadership to support language programs.
Applications Must Include:
- A letter of intent from the team leader
- A brief description of the project based on the Research Project Description Template
- A budget plan
- A short CV for each team member (3 pages maximum each)
- A letter of recommendation from the team leader’s principal or supervisor
Deadline and Selection Process
The deadline to submit RSI grant applications is:
May 31 (each year)
A CASLT committee adjudicates the applications.
Grant Recipients
Successful applicants may use their grants for teacher release time, classroom resources, travel, or meeting costs related to their project.
Grant recipients must provide an interim report on their project through email no later than January 31 as well as submit a final report by July 31. Twenty percent of each grant is retained and remitted upon receipt of the final report.
Apply for a grant
Research Project Description Template
Use the following section headings and prompts to organize the description of your proposed project.
Note: For successful RSI grant applicants, a final report to CASLT following this same template will be due by July 31.
Section |
Questions/Prompts |
| Context | Describe the school community and the nature of the learners in question. |
| Area of Interest | Within which broad L+ learning topic does your proposed research project fall? (E.g., use of the CEFR, the LP, assessment, implementation of intensive language programs, etc.) |
| Research Question | What question about language learning does your team wish to investigate? (E.g., How does the use of the Language Portfolio at the school level support plurilingual learners in Core French classrooms? How can oral language assessments inform and motivate learners?) |
| Communication with school administration, students, and parents | How will you inform and respect the consent of the school administration, students, and parents? How will you communicate the results of the project? |
| Action | What exactly will you do? (E.g., three teachers in the district will use the Language Portfolio in their classes and monitor its success/impact) |
| Data Collection | What three data collection methods will you use to monitor and evaluate the impact of the project? (E.g., teacher journals, notes from team meetings, classroom observation notes, video clips of classes, student products, results of student assessments and self-assessments, one-on-one student conferencing results, etc.) |
| Key Findings | How will you present the information you will gather? (E.g., in terms of how the project made a difference, what was learned, what the resulting recommendations are for schools/teachers, etc.) |
| Timeline | Outline the timeline for the project. When will you start? When and where will you have team meetings? When will you conclude? When will you communicate results? |
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CASLT supports its members by creating opportunities for professional development, initiating and disseminating research, and facilitating the exchange of information and ideas among language educators. Memberships start at only $45 per year!
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