U.S. Department of Education
Office of Innovation and Improvement
Washington, DC
20202-5900
[Application for grants under the Skills for Success program]
CFDA Number: 84.215H
Skills for Success Grants
Form Approved
OMB No. 1894-0006
Expiration Date: 11/30/2017
Closing Date: 07/29/2015
Table of Contents
I. Letter to Applicant 3
II. Program Background Information 4
III. Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) 7
IV. Application Submission Procedures 8
Submission Procedures 8
Application Tips 13
DUNS Number Instructions 14
V. Application Instructions 15
Electronic Application Format 15
Completing and Submitting Your Application 15
Application Checklist 17
A. Required Forms 18
Standard Forms Instructions 18
Assurances and Certifications Instructions 28
B. Application Narrative Instructions 32
Instructions for Project Narrative 32
Skills for Success Application Selection Criteria 33
Instructions for Budget Narrative 35
VI. Additional Information 37
Executive Order 12372 37
Paperwork Burden Statement 37
I. Letter to Applicant
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in applying for a Skills for Success grant. In its first year, the Skills for Success program seeks projects that implement, evaluate, and refine tools and approaches for developing the non-cognitive skills of middle-grades students in order to increase student success. The Department is pleased that Congress has appropriated funds that will allow $2 million in grants this year to support the implementation, evaluation, and refinement of existing tools and approaches that integrate the development of students’ non-cognitive skills into classroom-level activities and existing school improvement strategies.
This competition supports projects that improve upon existing tools and approaches for enhancing students’ non-cognitive skills by collecting and using data, as well as leveraging other analytical methods, throughout the project. Through these grants, and Local Educational Agencies’ (LEAs) partnerships with nonprofit organizations, Institutions of Higher Education, or some combination thereof, we expect to build schools’ long-term capacity to implement, improve upon, and evaluate strategies that enhance students’ non-cognitive skills. By identifying and strengthening tools and approaches that enhance student’s non-cognitive skills, LEAs are also expected to expand the impact of their projects by sharing their emerging practices with other LEAs or schools. All projects are required to serve middle-grades students (grades 5-8) and utilize existing tools and strategies for enhancing non-cognitive skills.
Thank you for your interest in the Skills for Success program. Ensuring that every student receives a world-class education requires all of our efforts, and I commend you for taking advantage of this opportunity to help improve education for our nation’s students.
Sincerely,
/s/
Nadya Chinoy Dabby
Assistant Deputy Secretary
Office of Innovation and Improvement
II. Program Background Information
Program Overview
Program Office: Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII)
Skills for Success Program
CFDA Number: 84.15H
Dates:
Application Available: June 9, 2015
Date of Pre-Application Information Sessions:
The Department has posted an overview of the Skills for Success competition on the program Web site listed below. The Department also plans to host a pre-application webinar, designed to help interested applicants with the application process. Interested applicants are encouraged to participate in this webinar. The overview, and any further information about this pre-application webinar, as it becomes available, may be found on the Skills for Success Web site, at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/skillssuccess/index.html.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: June 29, 2015
Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify us of their intent to submit an application for funding by completing a web-based form. The form can be accessed at the following URL: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VB5L3BR.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 29, 2015
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 28, 2015
Authorizing Legislation
Sections 5411-5413 of Subpart 1 of Part D of Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Improvement Act, the Fund for Improvement of Education, 20 USC. 20 U.S.C. 7243-7243c.
SEC. 5411. PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED.
(a) AUTHORIZATION- The Secretary is authorized to support nationally significant programs to improve the quality of elementary and secondary education at the State and local levels and help all children meet challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards. The Secretary may carry out such programs directly, or through grants to, or contracts with —
(1) States or local educational agencies;
(2) institutions of higher education; and
(3) other public and private agencies, organizations, and institutions.
(b) USES OF FUNDS- Funds made available under section 5401 to carry out this subpart may be used for any of the following programs:
(1) Activities to promote systemic education reform at the State and local levels, including scientifically based research, development, and evaluation designed to improve —
(A) student academic achievement at the State and local level; and
(B) strategies for effective parent and community involvement.
(2) Programs at the State and local levels that are designed to yield significant results, including programs to explore approaches to public school choice and school-based decisionmaking.
(3) Recognition programs, which may include financial awards to States, local educational agencies, and schools that have made the greatest progress, based on the Secretary's determination or on a nomination by the State in which the school is located (or in the case of a Bureau funded school, by the Secretary of the Interior) in —
(A) improving the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students and students from major racial and ethnic minority groups; and
(B) closing the academic achievement gap for those groups of students farthest away from the proficient level on the academic assessments administered by the State under section 1111.
(4) Scientifically based studies and evaluations of education reform strategies and innovations, and the dissemination of information on the effectiveness of such strategies and innovations.
(5) Identification and recognition of exemplary schools and programs, such as Blue Ribbon Schools, including programs to evaluate the effectiveness of using the best practices of exemplary or Blue Ribbon Schools to improve academic achievement.
(6) Activities to support Scholar-Athlete Games programs, including the World Scholar-Athlete Games and the U.S. Scholar-Athlete Games.
(7) Programs to promote voter participation in American elections through programs, such as the National Student/Parent Mock Election and Kids Voting USA.
(8) Demonstrations relating to the planning and evaluation of the effectiveness of programs under which local educational agencies or schools contract with private management organizations to reform a school or schools.
(9) Other programs that meet the purposes of this Act.
(c) BASIS OF AWARDS- The Secretary is authorized to —
(1) make awards under this subpart on the basis of competitions announced by the Secretary; and
(2) support meritorious unsolicited proposals for awards under this subpart.
(d) EFFECTIVENESS OF PROGRAMS- The Secretary shall ensure that programs supported under this subpart are designed so that their effectiveness is readily ascertainable, and shall ensure that such effectiveness is assessed using rigorous, scientifically based research and evaluations.
SEC. 5412. APPLICATIONS.
(a) SUBMISSION- To be eligible for an award under this subpart, an entity shall submit an application to the Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
(b) CONTENTS- Each application submitted under subsection (a) shall —
(1) establish clear objectives, which are based on scientifically based research, for the proposed program; and
(2) describe the activities the applicant will carry out in order to meet the objectives described in paragraph (1).
(c) PEER REVIEW- The Secretary shall use a peer review process in reviewing applications for awards under this subpart and in recognizing States, local educational agencies, and schools under section 5411(b)(3), only if funds are used for such recognition programs. The Secretary may use funds appropriated under this subpart for the cost of such peer review.
SEC. 5413. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.
(a) EVALUATIONS- A recipient of an award under this subpart shall —
(1) evaluate the effectiveness of the program funded under the award in achieving the objectives stated in applications submitted under section 5412; and
(2) report to the Secretary such information as may be required to determine the effectiveness of such program, including evidence of progress toward meeting such objectives.
(b) DISSEMINATION OF EVALUATION RESULTS- The Secretary shall provide for the dissemination of the evaluations of programs funded under this subpart by making the evaluations publicly available upon request, and shall provide public notice that the evaluations are so available.
(c) MATCHING FUNDS- The Secretary may require recipients of awards under this subpart to provide matching funds from non-Federal sources, and shall permit the recipients to match funds in whole or in part with in-kind contributions.
(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR RECOGNITION PROGRAMS- The application requirements of section 5412(b), and the evaluation requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, do not apply to recognition programs under section 5411(b)(3).
III. Notice Inviting Applications (NIA)
2015 Skills for Success Notice Inviting Applications
The full text of the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for the FY 2015 Skills for Success competition can be found on the Federal Register Web site at the following URLs:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-06-09/pdf/2015-14081.pdf (PDF)
https://federalregister.gov/a/2015-14081 (Text)
All applications must be received on or before 4:30:00 pm Washington, DC time on July 29, 2015. Please note that U.S. Department of Education grant application deadline is 4:30:00 P.M., Washington, DC time. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted and must be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30:00 P.M., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Late applications will not be accepted. The Department is required to enforce the established deadline to ensure fairness to all applicants. No changes or additions to an application will be accepted after the deadline date and time.
An applicant may check the status of its application(s), any time after submission, by using the "Track My Application" feature available from the upper navigation on the Grants.gov site. Applicants may also check the status of a submission by logging into their Grants.gov account using theApplicant Login. After logging in, an applicant should click on the "Check Application Status" link on the left-hand menu. Only applications that are successfully submitted by the established deadline will be peer reviewed.
2015 Skills for Success Package
Please note that the Application Package is for applicants to download and use as a guide only. Unless the applicant qualifies for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, all grant applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov.
Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: June 29, 2015
Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify us of the applicant’s intent to submit an application for funding by completing a web-based form. The form can be accessed at the following URL: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VB5L3BR. Please note that you may have to copy and paste this link into your browser and that this link works best in the Google Chrome browser.
Apply!
All applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov.
To locate the application package on the Grants.gov website and hover over the “Applicant” tab. Select the “Apply for Grants” option, then click on “Download a Grant Application Package.” Key in the CFDA (84.215) or the Funding Opportunity Number (ED-GRANTS-060915-001). Click “Download Package.”
IV. Application Submission Procedures
Submission Procedures
IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ FIRST
U.S. Department of Education
Grants.gov Submission Procedures and Tips for Applicants
The deadline for submission of all Skills for Success applications through Grants.gov is July 29, 2015 at 4:30:00 P.M., Washington, DC time.
To facilitate your use of Grants.gov, this document includes important submission procedures you need to be aware of to ensure your application is received in a timely manner and accepted by the Department of Education.
ATTENTION – Browser Support
Grants.gov is a Custom Java Application that uses standard web-browsers as the client. Grants.gov leverages the latest web technologies such as Ajax which relies extensively on JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Grants.gov recommends you use the most up-to-date web browser possible for the best User Experience. If you are unsure about which version of the browser you are using, please check the following places:
· Microsoft IE – the About Internet Explorer setting under Help on your toolbar
· Firefox – the About Firefox setting under Help on your toolbar
· Chrome- the About Google Chrome setting under the Customize and Control Google Chrome option (located on the far right ) in your toolbar options for your browsers.
The table below lists supported Web Browsers:
Web Browser / Support / Comments /Microsoft IE 9/10/11 / Supported
Mozilla Firefox / Supported / Versions change frequently; we recommend you have the latest version. Legacy versions are functional but may experience some issues. It is recommended to upgrade to the latest version.
Google Chrome / Supported / Versions change frequently; we recommend you have the latest version. Legacy versions are functional but may experience some issues. It is recommended to upgrade to the latest version.
Apple Safari / Supported / Versions change frequently; we recommend you have the latest version. Legacy versions are functional but may experience some issues. It is recommended to upgrade to the latest version.
Please see the Grants.gov Browser Support Page, which includes the above information and any additional updates: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support/technical-support/software/browser-support.html
ATTENTION – Adobe Forms and PDF Files Required
Applications submitted to Grants.gov for the Department of Education will be posted using Adobe forms. Therefore, applicants will need to download the latest version of Adobe reader (at least Adobe Reader 10.1.14). Information on computer and operating system compatibility with Adobe and links to download the latest version is available on Grants.gov at this link: compatibility table. We strongly recommend that you review these details on www.Grants.gov before completing and submitting your application. In addition, applicants should submit their application a day or two in advance of the closing date as detailed below. Also, applicants are required to upload their attachments in .pdf format only. (See details below under “Attaching Files – Additional Tips.”) If you have any questions regarding this matter please email the Grants.gov Contact Center at or call 1-800-518-4726.