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Section 27h Mentoring and Induction Grants

Section 27h Mentoring and Induction Grants

To help increase retention of new teachers, administrators, and counselors, Section 27h of the State School Aid Act authorized three separate grants totaling $50 million related to mentoring and induction: 

  1. Mentoring Standards, Curriculum, and Professional Learning Creation Grant: Awarded to Western Michigan University.
  2. Program Evaluation Grant: Awarded to American Institutes for Research. 
  3. Mentoring and Induction District Support Grant: Awarded to 121 districts. View the complete list of awardees here: Section 27h Mentoring and Induction District Support Grant Awardees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updates

The mentoring and induction evaluation survey links were sent December 10th. Please send to the mentoring program leader to complete if your district has yet to complete the survey. 

Mentoring and Induction District Support Grant

Purpose

To provide $49 million (up to $10 million per year over 5 years) to districts to support mentoring and induction programming for teachers, administrators, and school counselors.

Eligible Applicants

Districts: Intermediate school districts and local education agencies, including both traditional public schools and public school academies.

First Round Grant Award

Second Round Timeline

  • Application Open: Tentatively March 2026.
  • Technical Assistance: Instructional Video and Office Hours available in March (dates TBD).
  • Application Close: Tentatively April 2026.
  • Second Round Awarded: Tentatively June 2026.

Grant Information

NOTE: Changes were made to statute in the FY26 State School Aid Act. The most notable changes are removing school counselors and administrators from most activities. Administrators are still able to receive mentorship through partnering with professional education organization. The below information applies to the upcoming second round.
 
Expenditure Period
  • Funds for this round may be spent between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2027.

Allowable Expenses

  • Stipends to mentors of teachers.
  • Training for mentor teachers.
  • Books, materials, professional learning expenses, and other resources necessary for mentoring and onboarding new teachers.
  • Staffing costs to cover time spent by both new and mentor teachers dedicated to mentoring and onboarding rather than being in the classroom or performing other job duties.
  • Contracting with 1 or more established state professional organizations to provide mentoring services to school administrators. Only $3,000.00 per administrator per year or the actual program cost, whichever is lesser, is allowed. Organizations must be selected from a department developed list (in development).

Unallowable Expenses

  • Full salaries for current or new full-time staff members.
  • Administrative costs to run the program.
  • Items that are supplanting existing activities and resources rather than supplementing.
  • Benefits. NexSys will ask for an amount to be entered into benefits if an amount is entered into salaries. The amount entered should $0 because benefits are not an allowable expense.
  • Items budgeted beyond the timeline of the funds for this round (ending September 30, 2027).

Separate Administrator Allocation

  • $1.5 million of the $10 million is allocated to administrator mentoring. Subsection 5 states: “From the appropriation under subsection (1), there is allocated $1,500,000.00 per year to provide mentoring services for school administrators subject to subsections (3) and (4). Grants under this subsection must be awarded in the amount of $3,000.00 per eligible school administrator per year or the actual program cost, whichever is less. If funding under this subsection is not sufficient to fully fund all eligible applicants, the department shall not prorate awards. If funding remains unspent under this subsection after grants to all eligible applicants have been awarded, the department may reallocate those funds to other approved mentoring activities under this section.”

Mentoring Standards, Curriculum, and Professional Learning Creation Grant

Purpose

Section 27h(5) gives $500,000 to an intermediate school district or other educational entity to assist the Michigan Department of Education to create standards, curricula, and professional learning for mentors of teachers, administrators, and counselors.

Timeline

  • Grant awarded: June 2024 to Western Michigan University
  • Public Comment for Standards: November 13 – December 22, 2025.
  • Standards Finalized: Tentatively March 2026.

Mentoring Program Evaluation Grant

Purpose

To award $500,000 to a qualified evaluation entity to evaluate mentoring and induction programming in Michigan, including providing recommendations to improve programming.

Grant Information

Awardee of this grant will gather and analyze baseline data from current mentoring and induction programs and then conduct an evaluation of mentoring and induction programs in Michigan after the implementation of the grants awarded per Section 27h. The final evaluation needs to include a recommendation on how to improve programs.

Timeline

  • Grant awarded: October 2024 to American Institutes of Research (AIR).
  • Initial Evaluation Survey: Released in December 2025.