federal grants « Advance CTE Blog

Highest-Rated Investing in Innovation Applicants Announced

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the 49 school districts, nonprofit education organizations and institutions of higher education have been selected as finalists for funding under the Investing in Innovation (i3) program which will support local efforts to start or expand research-based innovative programs that help close the achievement gap and improve outcomes for high-need students. The Department narrowed down the nearly 1,700 applicants down to these 49 finalists based on recommendations from independent peer review panels.

Grants fall into three categories:

Up to $50 million per “scale-up” grant for programs with a strong track record of success;
Up to $30 million per “validation” grant for growing programs with emerging evidence of success; and
Up to $5 million per “development” grant for promising ideas.

To receive a share of the $650 million in i3 grants, the applicants must now secure a commitment from the private sector for a 20 percent match in funds by September 8, 2010. You may view all 49 finalists here.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: federal grants, funding, innovation grants

Legislative Update: ESEA, Education Jobs Fund, Clean Energy Works Act

Friday, July 30th, 2010

ESEA Reauthorization Unlikely This Year

An article in Wednesdayâ€™s Washington Post sums up what we have been piecing together for some time — ESEA will probably not be reauthorized this year. While the President has made education a top priority and Congress has held hearings and is working behind the scenes to hammer out a bipartisan bill, progress has been slow and the upcoming elections make Congress wary of moving such a controversial piece of legislation. Former Secretary of Education and Republican Senator on the HELP Committee, Lamar Alexander (TN) does not think we will see a bill this year: “I’d say time is up,” Alexander said Tuesday. “I don’t see it happening.” In an interview with the National Journal the same day, Chairman George Miller (CA) of the House Ed and Labor Committee said that he and Ranking Member John Kline (MN) have agreed to work through August on a bill and want to be ready when the opportunity arises to introduce it. Only time will tell what Congress will do, but we will keep you posted on any new developments.

Education Jobs Fund Stripped from Supplemental

While the House voted earlier this month to include the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund in the emergency supplemental appropriations bill, the Senate lacked the votes to include the fund in their version of the supplemental. As a result, House Democrats have accepted the Senate’s plan to pass a stripped-down supplemental bill and are seeking another vehicle for the Education Jobs Fund.

Clean Energy Works Act

Sen. Patty Murray (WA) recently introduced S. 3631, the Clean Energy Works Act which would help prepare workers for clean energy careers. In addition to expanding the State Energy Program and making investments in national clean energy research, the bill would provide grants to clean energy companies for job training:

Regional Energy Alliance Skills Grants: Â Competitive grants to producers of low-carbon producing energy industries in states or multi-state regions to educate, train, hire, and retain the skilled workers they need to grow their ability to provide energy at scale.
Regional Industry Energy Efficiency Grants: Competitive grants to industries that are high energy consumers (such as within manufacturing) to train or retrain workers to have the skills necessary to reduce their energy use through the use of new equipment, new practices, or other means.
Customized Renewable Energy Training Grants: Competitive grants to single companies either in the low-carbon producing energy industry, or an industry that supports such an industry, to provide the training necessary to have the skilled workforce to be competitive. Â These grants need individual company needs, especially to companies that may not be in a regional cluster of similar companies in an industry.

By admin in Legislation
Tags: appropriations, Congress, federal grants, federal legislation, funding, green jobs, Job training, NCLB/ESEA

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Marks Up Education Bill

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

On Tuesday the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education held a markup of and approved by voice vote their FY 2011 appropriations bill. While the text of the bill is not available, the subcommittee did release a summary of whatâ€™s included in the bill. There is no mention of Perkins funding in the summary, but we have heard from the Committee for Education Funding that Perkins was flat funded in the Subcommitteeâ€™s bill. We have also learned that the Presidentâ€™s proposed consolidation of Tech Prep was not in this bill, or the House Appropriations Subcommitteeâ€™s bill that they marked up earlier this month.

Some highlights of this bill:

An increase of nearly $163.6 million over the fiscal year 2010 level for state grants for job training and employment services, for a total of $3.8 billion.
$25 million increase for the Green Jobs Innovation Fund, for a total of $65 million.
$14.9 billion for Title I grants to local education agencies for improving education for low-income students. This amount is $450 million higher than the budget request and the fiscal year 2010 funding level.
$242 million for five new Workforce Innovation Funds, which will be administered jointly by the Secretaries of Labor and Education, consist of $55 million for dislocated workers, $35 million for adult job training, $95 million for youth, $27 million for disabled individuals and $30 million for adult education programs.

The bill now moves to the full Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, but Sen. Tom Harkin (IA), chair of the subcommittee, has indicated that the bill will not go to the floor for a vote before December.

By admin in Legislation
Tags: appropriations, budget, Congress, federal grants, federal legislation, green jobs, Job training, NCLB/ESEA, Perkins

Race to the Top Finalists Announced for Round Two

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

This afternoon, in a speech at the National Press Club, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the finalists for round two of the Race to the Top grant competition. There were 19 finalists, out of 36 that applied for the remaining $3.4 billion in grant money:

Arizona,
California,
Colorado,
District of Columbia,
Florida,
Georgia,
Hawaii,
Illinois,
Kentucky,
Louisiana,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
New Jersey,
New York,
North Carolina,
Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, and
South Carolina.

Each state will send a group of five representatives to Washington, D.C. in early August 9 to make their case to the review panel. Duncan said that there could between 10 and 15 winners, which will be announced in September.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: federal grants, funding, Public Policy, race to the top, Secretary Duncan

Financial Education for College Access and Success Program Grants Available

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

On Monday the Office of Vocational and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education announced a funding opportunity to support â€œState-led efforts to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of personal finance instructional materials and corresponding teacher training, with the express purpose of providing high school students with knowledge and skills to make sound financial aid and other personal finance decisions, particularly in relation to obtaining access to, persisting in, and completing postsecondary education.â€ Eligible applicants are State educational agencies that have included personal finance in their State education standards.

This is a great opportunity for the CTE community to help the nation meet the Presidentâ€™s challenge of once again having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. One of the barriers to achieving this goal is the lack of financial literacy among youth, and studies have shown that Americans do not have the skills they need to make sound financial decisions, including decisions about postsecondary education. The Administration recognizes the role that CTE can play in equipping students with the financial literacy skills they need — the notice specifically mentions CTE as an area where teachers can integrate financial literacy instruction, and requires that the State project team include the agencies in the state representing CTE and 2-year postsecondary institutions.

Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: August 5, 2010.

Deadline to Apply: September 9, 2010.

For more information, please see the Federal Register notice.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: community colleges, federal grants, Financial literacy, funding, OVAE, Post Secondary Access and Affordability, postsecondary, president, Public Policy, Secondary

Strengthening Institutions Program Grants Now Available

Monday, July 19th, 2010

The Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education recently announced a notice inviting applications in the Federal Register for the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP). SIP provides $17.8 million in discretionary grants to eligible institutions of higher education to help them become self sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students, by providing funds to improve and strengthen the institutionâ€™s academic quality, institutional management and fiscal stability. The Department will give priority to applications that address the following areas:

Support activities that will improve the institutionâ€™s persistence and graduation rates.
Work with the appropriate State agencies to develop strategies for using State longitudinal data systems to track outcomes for students attending the grantee institution, including the extent to which the students complete certificates, two-year degrees, and four-year degrees at other institutions.
Develop academic programs to improve course completion rates or develop innovative support programs that are designed to increase completion rates.
Develop dual enrollment programs that facilitate the transition between high school and college or career pathway programs that integrate basic academic instruction with technical or professional occupational training to advance individuals, particularly adult learners, on a career path toward high-wage occupations in high-demand industries.

The deadline to apply is August 5, 2010.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: career pathways, community colleges, Data, dual enrollment, federal grants, funding, Graduation Rates, Job training, postsecondary

Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow Grants Available

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

The Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education recently announced a notice inviting applications in the Federal Register for the Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow (TCT) program. The TCT program will award up to four discretionary grants Â to institutions of higher education to build partnerships with eligible recipients that will develop and implement 2-or 3-year part-time masterâ€™s degree programs in STEM or critical foreign language education for teachers in order to enhance the teachersâ€™ content knowledge and pedagogical skills; or to develop and implement programs for professionals in STEM or critical foreign language education that lead to a masterâ€™s degree in teaching that results in teacher certification.

Eligible applicants must enter into a partnership that includes:

The eligible recipient;
A department within the eligible applicant that provides a program of study in STEM or a critical foreign language; and a school, department, or program of education within the eligible applicant, or a two year institution of higher education that has a teacher preparation offering or a dual enrollment program with the eligible applicant; or
A department or school within the eligible applicant with a competency based degree program (in STEM or a critical foreign language) that includes teacher certification; and
Not less than one high-need LEA and a public school or a consortium of public schools served by the agency. A partnership may include a nonprofit organization that has a demonstrated record of providing expertise or support to meet the purposes of this initiative.

Awards will range from $200,000â€“$250,000. The deadline to apply is July 30, 2010.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: federal grants, postsecondary, STEM, teachers

Health Information Technology Education Grants Awarded

Friday, July 9th, 2010

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $36 million in grants to five regional community college consortia to develop or improve non-degree health IT training programs that students can complete in six months or less. The grants were funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These grants will be used to establish or expand programs with the goal of training more than 10,500 new health IT professionals annually by 2012. This goal is in response to President Obamaâ€™s healthcare reform initiatives, specifically transitioning to electronic health records by 2014.

The grants will also fund the development of model curriculum materials and technical skill assessments based on validated industry standards. These new HIT careers will provide opportunities for students participating in programs of study in both health science and information technology career clusters.

For a listing of the consortia as well as all the individual participating community colleges and funding levels, please visit HHSâ€™s health IT webpage.

By admin in News
Tags: ARRA, community colleges, federal grants, funding, Job training, postsecondary, president, programs of study, Public Policy, technical skills assessments

Making the United States a â€œGrad Nationâ€

Monday, March 1st, 2010

President Obama joined Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and General Colin Powell this morning to announce â€œGrad Nationâ€ â€“ a 10-year, $900 million initiative aimed at reversing the dropout crisis and helping students prepare for success in college, work and life. The goals of the campaign include ensuring that 90% of 4th graders graduate from high school on time and fulfilling the Presidentâ€™s goal to be the worldâ€™s leader in the college graduates by 2020.

The campaign, a partnership between the Education Department and Powellâ€™s Americaâ€™s Promise Alliance, would give money to states and school districts that agree to drastically change or even close their worst performing schools. Twelve percent of the nationâ€™s high schools generate half of our dropouts.Â By focusing on the lowest-performing schools, their feeder schools and neighborhoods, Americaâ€™s Promise Alliance believes they can have a tremendous impact. The president’s plan would seek to help 5,000 of the nation’s lowest-performing schools over the next five years.

To be eligible to receive the grants, states and school districts must adopt one of four approaches to fix their lowest-performing schools:

“Turnaround” the school by firing the principal and at least half the staff.
“Restart” the school by opening it as a charter school or a school under the management of an education organization with expertise in running schools.
Close the school and transfer students to a higher-achieving school in the district.
“Transform” the school by firing the principal but retaining — and retooling — personnel to implement “comprehensive instructional reform strategies.”

The administration is also investing $50 million in dropout prevention strategies, including personalized and individual instruction and support to keep students engaged in learning, and better use of data to identify students at risk of failure and to help them with the transition to high school and college.

By admin in Public Policy
Tags: dropouts, federal grants, Public Policy

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