Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE) Program

Call for Peer Reviewers

CONTEXT: The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), is interested in individuals to serve as peer reviewers for the Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE) grant competition. The purpose of the program is to support the implementation of high-quality model professional development programs in elementary and secondary education for music, dance, drama, media arts, or visual arts, including folk arts, for arts educators and other instructional staff of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools in which 50 percent or more of the students are from low-income families.

This program further supports professional development programs that use innovative instructional methods and current knowledge from education research and focus on (1) the development, enhancement, or expansion of standards-based arts education programs, and/or (2) the integration of standards-based arts instruction with other core academic area content.These grants are intended to strengthen standards-based arts education programs and to help ensure that all students meet challenging State academic content standards and challenging State student arts achievement standards.

WHO: The Department is interested in peer reviewers from various backgrounds and professions including: K-12 arts curriculum specialists and arts-integration teachers;principalsand administrators of arts-focused or arts-integration schools;district-, state- or regional-level professional development specialists and coordinators;educational program evaluators, and others with education expertise relevant to PDAE’s purpose. Reviewers will have expertise in at least one of the program's focus areas, in professional development and education administration, or in educational evaluation.

Here are specific knowledge and experience of highly qualified peer reviewers:

Development, Enhancement, or Expansion ofStandards-Based ArtsInstruction

Knowledge of national- and state-level arts education standards;
Experience with curriculum design and implementation and instructional strategies in standards-based arts classrooms;
Experience with technology applications in arts-based professional development and/or classroom instruction; and/or
Experience with collaborations between schools and arts education community organizations to deliver professional development.

Integration of Standards-Based Arts instruction With Other Core Academic Content

Knowledge of research literature concerning arts-integrated teaching and learning;
Experience in arts-integrated K-12 school settings;
Experience in arts-integrated or other interdisciplinary curriculum and instructional design and implementation;
Experience with technology applications in arts-integrated professional development and/or classroom instruction; and/or
Experience with collaborations between schools and arts education community organizations to deliver professional development.

Professional Development and Educational Administration

Understanding of research-based staff development strategies as well as high-quality professional development standards and methods, particularly as it relates to arts education and arts integration.
Knowledge of frameworks for outcome-based professional development that focuses on change in teachers’ classroom practices, change in their beliefs and attitudes, and change in students’ achievement levels.
Experience with technology applications in professional development and/or classroom instruction.

Evaluation of Educational Programs

Familiarity with What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards;
Understanding of accountability structures, program and grant project management;
Understanding of education research, quantitative and qualitative methods of project evaluation, and recent findings in the relevant literature; and/or
Fluency in reviewing organizational and project evaluation plans and evaluation results.

Review

Experience reviewing grant applications.

REQUIREMENTS: In addition to the skills, attributes, and expertise highlighted above, peer reviewers must also meet the following requirements:

Availability:Peer reviewers must generally be available for a four-week time period and willing to work remotely and via teleconference. Reviewers must also be available to participate in all scheduled panel calls. Reviewers are asked to be available betweenmid-June and mid-July. The review will consist of reading, evaluating, and scoring assigned applications and participation in panel calls, followed by working with ED staff to finalize comments. Reviewers will also be expected to participate in an orientation session by conference call/webinar prior to evaluating the applications.

Tools: Each reviewer must have access to the Internet, a phone, a printer and have the ability to interact within a web-based environment.

Quality of Review: Each reviewer must commit to providing detailed, objective, constructive, and timely written reviews for each assigned application. These reviews will be used to recommend applications for funding. They will also be shared with each applicant following the reviews.

Conflict of Interest:If you are affiliated with an organization that intends to apply for a grant under the PDAE competition, you may not be eligible to serve as a reviewer. As a reviewer, you will have a conflict of interest if: you helped prepare an application, regardless of financial interest in the success or failure of that application; you have agreed to serve, or you have been offered a position, as an employee, advisor, or consultant on the project; and/or your personal financial interest will be affected by the outcome of the competition, which would include any family members, employees or associates of the project applying for funding. These and other potential conflicts of interest will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis once identified/disclosed.

Instructions to Apply to Become a PDAE Reviewer

To serve as a reviewer, you must register as a reviewer and submit your resume in G5 ( If you need help, you may contact the G5 helpdesk at r call 1-888-336-8930. The G5 will require you to submit your resume in a PDF format only; please ensure your resume (maximum of 5 pages) includes a brief list of career highlights and/or outlines your specific expertise in one or more of the areas outlined in the above call for reviewers. Please do not exceed the five-page limit for resumes.
When the G5 system prompts you for your areas of specialization, select all that are applicable to you, but please ensure you select at least one of the aforementioned PDAE priority areas such as: “Arts Education, Arts Integration, or Arts in Education; Professional Development or Educational Administration; Educational Program Evaluation.” Please note that registering in G5 does not guarantee that you will be selected as a reviewer.
To expedite consideration of your resume, be sure to send a copy (maximum of 5 pages) . However, you cannot be selected unless you register in G5.On your resume, include bullet points highlighting your expertise in each of the specific knowledge and expertise areas above in which you wish to be considered.
Please also indicate on your resume whether you have previously been a Department of Education reviewer, including serving as a reviewer for the Arts in Education programs (AEMDD AENP, PDAE); whether you have worked on a funded AIE grant project; or whether you have served as a project director or staff person on another recent Department of Education grant.

NOTE: Even if you registered to be a peer reviewer in prior years, we ask that you check your registration to ensure that we have current information. (See instructions outlined below).

If you desire, you may indicate additional areas of expertise outside of the PDAEpriorities to indicate complementary areas of expertise, but you are not required to do so.

PROGRAM INFORMATION: For more information about the PDAE Program, go to Please direct all questions to the PDAE Peer Review inbox at .