ALN 84.327S - Stepping Up Technology Implementation FY 23
welcome to the information session for interested applicants for the 2023 stepping up technology implementation Grant competition funded by the office of the special education programs in the office of special education and rehabilitative services at the U.S Department of Education I am Anita Vermeer a Project Officer at OSEP and the manager for this competition this competition has been assigned assistance listing number 84.327 s I would like to go over some caveats before diving into this webinar first the intent of this presentation is to provide guidance only and the information contained in this webinar provides a general summary of the information contained in the notice inviting applications and the application package therefore it is imperative that all prospective applicants read the entire notice application package and any additional relevant information such as newly updated common instructions for applications published on December 7 2022 in addition applicants are encouraged to listen to a more General webinar entitled Applying for Office of Special Education Programs Discretionary Grants for an orientation to the overall process that webinar can be found at OSEP ideas.work.org today I will cover the following areas the purpose of the osep technology program key terms absolute priority and purpose application requirements additional pertinent information General requirements and selection criteria the education technology media and materials program is otherwise known as E-Tech M2 the purpose of the osep technology program is to improve results for children with disabilities by these four outcomes promoting the development, demonstration and use of Technology supporting educational activities designed to be of educational value in the classroom providing support for captioning and video description that is appropriate for use in the classroom and providing accessible educational materials to children with disabilities in a timely manner there are a few terms for this priority that I would like to highlight the first is promising evidence that means that there is evidence of the effectiveness of a key project component in improving a relevant outcome based on a relevant finding from one of the following A) practice guide prepared by what works Clearinghouse reporting a strong evidence-based or moderate evidence base for this corresponding practice recommendation B) an intervention report prepared by the wwc reporting a positive effect or potential positive effect on relevant outcome with no reporting of a negative effect or a potentially negative effect on a single relevant outcome or C) a single study assessed by the department as appropriate that is an experimental study a quasi-experimental design study or a well-designed and well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls for selection bias for example a study using regressional regression model methods to account for differences between a treatment group and a comparison group and it includes at least one statistically significant and positive effect on a relevant outcome for definitions of promising evidence experimental study moderate evidence quasi-experimental design study relevant outcome and strong evidence you can check the CFR 77.1 please note there is an Evidence of Effectiveness form that must be completed in with your application another term is settings settings includes pre-kindergarten elementary middle or High School instructional settings including classrooms and remote learning environments applicants May propose to support Educators who serve ELs in a single grade or in a specific range of grades or ages for example Pre-K or grades one through three grades four through six middle or High School the use of terms site reference refers to a public school building or an early childhood education program as defined Under The Higher Education Act within the local educational agencies where the applicant proposes to implement the technology-based tool or approach Please be aware this application timelines it was registered in the it was published in the Federal Register on December 20th 2022 but all applications are due by March 6 2023 before 11 59 in 59 seconds in the evening eastern time we highly advise not to wait to the last date to submit your application to avoid possible technical difficulties on either end for the fiscal year of 2023 we plan to support one absolute priority which is titled supporting Early Childhood or K-12 Educators to deliver literacy instruction based on the science of reading to English Learners or as we call ELs in this document and on the application or at risk for children with disabilities OSEP intends to fund three successful application three successful applications a Cooperative agreement is similar to a grant that its principal purpose is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation as authorized by federal statute it differs from a grant in the sense that a Cooperative agreement has substantial involvement that is anticipated between the Department of Education and the recipient for the project period we will award an additional three points to an application that meets a competitive preference priority to earn these points an applicant must demonstrate that they have not had an active discretionary Grant under the 84.327 S program from which it seeks funds including through membership in a group application which was submitted in accordance with 34 CFR 75.127-75-129 within the last five years before
the deadline date of submission for the applications under this program note for the purpose of this priority a grant or contract is active until the end of the grantees or contracts project or project or funding period and this includes any extensions of those periods that extend the grantees or contractors authority to obligate funds the applicants should indicate in the abstract if the competitive preference priority is addressed and must address the competitive preference priority in the narrative section for this priority applicants must demonstrate how they will establish and operate projects that achieve at minimum these six outcomes improved literacy instruction based on the science of reading for ELs with and at risk for Disabilities through proven strategies that effectively integrate an existing accessible technology-based tool or approach that is based on at least promising evidence as mentioned earlier promising evidence is defined in footnote 3 on page B6 of the application package. Increased Educators use and knowledge of technology to deliver effective literacy instruction based on the science of reading for ELs with or at risk for Disabilities through professional learning and coaching the third outcome is to increase educator collaboration and professional learning opportunities to use technology to improve literacy outcomes of ELs with and at risk for Disabilities and to engage families to support their child's learning in the classroom and at home the fourth one is improved engagement and literacy instruction and self-regulated learning opportunities leading to improved reading achievement for ELs with and at risk for disabilities the next one is improved alignment of Technology enhanced instruction with existing curricula, state standards, and school initiatives an improved parent family teacher Partnerships to use technology in improving literacy outcomes for ELs by using effective engagement strategies such as recognizing multilingualism and multiculturalism as an asset applicants must also describe how they will build Partnerships with Early Childhood programs or local educational agencies to support Educators in the understanding use and delivery of a technology-based tool or approach to deliver literacy instruction based on the science of reading for ELs with and at-risk for disabilities in pre-kindergarten elementary middle or High School instructional settings we must also increase the capacity of Educators to effectively use and deliver a high technology-based tool or approach that supports literacy development for ELs with and at risk for disabilities in pre-k elementary middle or High School instructional settings for instruction and professional growth technology-based tool or approach refers to the technology the applicant is proposing that is supported at minimum by promising evidence with the population intended note that applicants who may propose to support Educators who serve ELs in a single grade or specific range of grades or ages such as Pre-K grades K13 grades four six middle or High School applicants must also describe how they will develop an implementation package of accessible products and resources that will help Educators and families to effectively use a technology-based tool or approach to improve literacy outcomes and evaluate whether the technology-based tool or approach meets the project schools and targeted outcomes now in this section I'm going to cover the application and administrative requirements for the significant section in the narrative in addition to the programming requirements it is to be considered for funding under this priority applicants must meet the application and administrative requirements under significance and they are address the need for a technology-based tool or approach and identify specific gaps and challenges infrastructure or opportunities to support Educators development to meet this requirement the applicant must identify a fully developed tech-based tool or approach that is based on at least promising evidence and please note that throughout the rest of this presentation I'm going to refer to technology-based Tool or approach as technology they must identify how the technology will improve Educators pedagogy and their capacity to deliver literacy instruction based on the science of reading for ELs with and at risk for disabilities in pre-k elementary middle or High School instructional settings including classrooms or remote learning environments applicants must also present applicable data at the national state Regional or local level demonstrating the need for identified technology tools or approaches to support ELs with and at risk for Disabilities in Pre-K elementary middle or High School instructional settings including classrooms or remote learning environments and they also must identify current policies and procedures and practices used by Educators that effectively incorporate technology-based tools or approaches to support literacy outcomes for ELs with and at risk for disabilities they also must show in the significant section how they're able to identify systematic barriers gaps or challenges including challenges to using the identified technology describe the potential impact of the identified technology and how its approached with Educators families and ELs and at risk for students with disabilities in the next section I'm going to cover the quality of project Services section in the narrative these are the requirements proposed project will need to demonstrate how they will ensure equal access and treatment for members of groups that have traditionally been underrepresented based on race color national origin gender age or disability to meet this requirement they must identify the needs of the intended recipients for ongoing professional learning and coaching supports they need to ensure that products and resources meet the needs of the intended recipients of the grant and the quality they also in this quality of project Services section they need to achieve its goals objectives and intended outcomes and describe how they're going to meet this requirement by providing measurable intended project outcomes , they need to be based on current research by describing how they're going to align the research policies and practices related to the benefits services or opportunities that are available with their technology to describe how the proposed project also will incorporate current current and evidence-based research and practices to guide the development and delivery of its products and resources including assessability and usability and they also need to document that the technology used by the project is fully developed and has been tested and shows has been shown to have promising evidence and addresses at least the minimum of following principles of udl and the principles of Universal Design for Learning are included on this next slide multiple means of presentation so that information can be delivered in more than one way means things like specialized software websites screen readers and so on also multiple means of expression are things that allow knowledge to be exhibited through multiple options such as writing or concept mapping or speech to text programs multiple means of Engagement or is to stimulate interest in and motivation for learning such as individual or group learning or learner choice applicants must demonstrate in the project Services section how they will develop new products and resources that are high quality and sufficient intensity and duration to achieve the intended outcomes of the proposed project to meet this requirement they must provide a plan for recruiting and selecting sites with at least 10 percent concentration of ELs and were ELs with and at risk for Disabilities are served and this must include three development sites, four pilot sites, and 10 dissemination sites there are details within the notice of inviting applications on all of these site requirements please read this information carefully as it's not included in this presentation the proposed project must also provide a description of the expected student demographics and other pertinent data whether schools such as whether schools are identified for comprehensive targeted support and improvement with the elementary and secondary Education Act in the project Services section applicants must also provide a plan for dissemination which must address how the project will systematically distribute distribute information products and services to varied intended audiences using a variety of dissemination strategies to promote awareness and use of the Project's products and resources that goes beyond conference presentations and research articles they need to provide a plan for how the project will sustain project activities that go beyond conference presentations and research articles after funding ends and they need to provide assurances that the final products disseminated to help sites effectively implement the technology-based tooler approach will be both open educational resources and licensed through an Open Access licensing Authority this section I'm going to cover the requirements for the quality of project evaluation section in the narrative section of the application under the quality of project evaluation projects should include an evaluation plan as described in these following paragraphs it must measure progress and implementation including criteria for determining the extent to which the products to which the projects' products and resources have met the goals for reaching the Project's Target population measures of intended outcomes or results of the Project's activities to evaluate those activities and how the project will assess whether the goals or objectives of the proposed project as described in its logic model have been met in designing the evaluation plan the application must also provide a logic model or conceptual framework that depicts at a minimum the goals activities project evaluation methods performance measures outputs and outcomes of a proposed project provide a plan to implement the activities described in this priority and a plan that links the Project's logic model or conceptual framework for a formative evaluation of the proposed projects activities the plan must describe how the formative evaluation will use Clear performance objectives to ensure continuous Improvement in the operation of the proposed project including objective measures of progress in implementing the project and ensuring the quality of products and resources within the evaluation plan the applicant must also describe a plan for method for assessing the development and pilot sites current educator training use and needs and any current technology Investments and the knowledge and availability of dedicated on-site technology training personnel the Readiness of development and pilot sites to Pilot or try out the technology-based tool or approach including a minimum the current infrastructure available resources and ability to build capacity whether the technology tool or approach has achieved its intended outcomes for pre-k elementary middle or High School Educators families and EL students with and at risk for and the ongoing professional learning needs of Educators to implement with fidelity evaluation activities must also include the collection of formative and summative data from the professional learning to refine and evaluate the products and the applicant should describe if the project is extended to a fifth year that they will provide an implementation patch package of products and resources developed for the technology to no less than 10 additional School sites in year five and that they will collect summative data about the success of the projects products and resources and supporting implementation of the technology by the end of the project period evaluation activities must provide information on the products resources as supported by project evaluation including accessibility features that will enable other sites to implement and sustain this implementation of the technology information in the Project's final performance report including implementation data on how intended users such as Educators families and students use the technology or how it was implemented with Fidelity how it was effective with the technology and improving reading outcomes for ELs data on how technology practices had changed and also a plan for disseminating or scaling up the technology tool or approach and accompanying projects accompanying products beyond the sites directly involved in the project this section will go over the adequacy of resources and quality of project personnel the applicant must demonstrate in the in this section how it will encourage applicants from for employment from persons who are members of groups that have been traditionally underrepresented such as race color origin gender age disability and also their key project Personnel consultants and subcontractors how they subcontractors how they have qualifications and experiences to carry out the proposed activities and achieve the intended outcomes the applicant should also list key partners and have adequate resources to carry out the proposed activities and that the costs are reasonable in relation to the anticipated results and benefits the next section is the quality of the management plan in this section the proposed management plan should ensure that the Project's intended outcomes will be achieved on time and within budget to address this requirement they need to describe clearly defined responsibilities for key project personnel um for consultants and subcontractors as applicable in timelines and milestones for accomplishing this project tasks key project personnel and any consultants and subcontractors will be allocated and how these allocations are appropriate and adequate to achieve the Project's intended outcomes the applicant must demonstrate how the proposed management plan will ensure that the products and resources provided are high quality relevant and useful to the recipients the proposed project will benefit from A diversity of perspectives including those of families Educators researchers policy makers and others in their development operation there are additional application requirements included in your notice in appendix a you can put your personnel loading charts timelines applicable to illustrate the management plan you can also include your logic model or conceptual framework by which the proposed project will demonstrate project plans and activities to achieve the intended outcomes also in the budget section please make sure that you've included attendance at the following a one and a one-half day kickoff meeting in DC also a two and one half day project directors conference in DC to annual two-day trips um that may be in other locations Beyond DC and a one-day intensive virtual or in Virtual OSEP review during the second uh half of the second year in your project these details for these budget include things to include your budget is in your NIA the secretary May extend the project one year beyond the initial 48 months to work on dissemination scale-up sites if the grantee is substantially achieving the intended outcomes of the project and making a positive contribution to the implementation of a technology-based tool or approach in the development and pilot sites each applicant must include in its application a plan for the full 60-month period in deciding whether to continue funding the project for the fifth year the secretary will consider these requirements by having a review team who has experience in knowledge and Technology implementation for personnel serving children with disabilities she'll also the secretary will also consider timeliness with which how well the requirements of the negotiated Cooperative agreement have been or are being met by the project and the degree to which the Project's activities have changed practices and improve literacy outcomes for educators and ELs with and at risk for disabilities two general requirements is that applicants must make positive efforts to employ an advanced in employment qualified individuals with disabilities and project activities and they must involve individuals with disabilities or parents with individuals with disabilities ages birth through 26 in planning implementing and evaluating projects so who is eligible for this competition? the following entities are considered eligible under this competition SEAs, LEAs including public charter schools operated as LEAs under state law IHEs other public agencies private non-profit organizations freely Associated States and outlying areas Indian tribes or tribal organizations and for-profit organizations here are some additional information regarding this award the estimated range is 450 000 to 500 000 per year the maximum award will not exceed two million five hundred thousand for the 60 month project period and we estimate funding three successful applicants the initial project period is 48 months with the possible extension of the fifth year up to 60 months so applicants must provide a budget for all five years of 60 months for formatting and Page limitation limit recommendations uh is encouraged that you check the notice of inviting applications in the package for all of the details a page of eight and a half by Eleven on one side with one inch margins is the expectation and double space all text in the application narrative which includes titles headings footnotes quotations citations captions charts tables figures graphs and screenshots use a font that's 12 point or larger Times New Roman courier, courier new or Arial are recommended and we recommend that the application narrative is no more than 50 pages as part of the process in making the funding recommendations external reviewers will judge the quality of the application using the five selection criteria for each section of the narrative each application can receive up to a total of a hundred points with significance and quality of project service with significance and quality of management plan being 15 points each quality of project Services being 30 points quality of project evaluation and adequacy of resources and quality of project Personnel are 20 points if you have any questions please don't reach hesitate to reach out I can be reached at 202-987-0155 or email is anita.vermeer @ed.gov and all the information is at grants.gov where they have an email support that is s-u-p-p-o-r-t at grants.gov and their phone number is 1-800-518-4726 there is also a grants.gov training that is available on the website
so please don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions about the priority or the grants one of us will be able to help you and I recommend that you visit www.ed.gov slash oser slash osep for more information and you may follow us on our Blog Twitter or YouTube thank you very much
2023-01-24 17:44
