NDE RFA: Nevada K.I.D.S. Read – Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program - Phase IV

REQUEST FOR APPLICATION

Nevada K.I.D.S. Read ~ Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program

Phase IV State Grant (2018-2019)

Office of Student and School Supports

Nevada K.I.D.S. Read ~ Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program

Due Date: / Submit Applications to:
This application is due on or before:
Friday, April 20, 2018
by 5:00 p.m. (PST)
(Pacific Standard Time)
700 East 5th Street, Suite #110 / Brandi Roberts, Administrative Assistant II
Nevada Department of Education
Office of Student and School Supports
Carson City, Nevada 89701

Submission Requirements:

Applicants are required to submit one (1) original paper application and eight (8) additional copies.These documents must be either hand-delivered or mailed. Applications received after the April 20, 2018 deadline will not be reviewed.

Total Funding Amount:

In 2017 the Nevada State Legislature allocated a total of $20,500,000.00 for Read by Grade 3 competitive grants for the 2018-2019 academic year(SB 544, Section 21:1–4).By January, 2018, NDE made the determination to provide an initial partial continuation (P.C.) grant to Phase III programs that were previously awarded Read by Grade 3 funds during the prior2017-2018 academic year.ThisPhase IV Read by Grade 3 grant opportunity constitutes the amount remaining in Read by Grade 3 funding after all partial continuation allocations have been approved. The approximate total amount available for this Read by Grade 3 Phase IV competitive grant opportunity is $5,000,000.00.

Restrictions/Conditions:

This grant application process is open to all Nevada public school districts, district-sponsored charter schools, charter schools sponsored by the State Public Charter School Authority, and Achievement charter schools.

Please address questions to:

Northern / Southern
Dr. Kevin Marie Laxalt
Nevada K.I.D.S. Read ~
Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program
Northern Nevada Program Professional
Phone: (775) 687-9261
/ Joan Jackson
Nevada K.I.D.S. Read ~
Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program
Southern Nevada Program Professional
Phone: (702) 668-4343

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPLICATION GUIDANCE

I. Phase IV RFA Overview

A. General Information about the Read by Grade 3 Grant …………………3

B. Technical Assistance…………………………………………………………3

C. Funding Allocations …………………………………………………………3

II. Phase IV RFA Instructions & Requirements

A. Eligible Applicants ……………………………………………………...... 4

B. Use of Funds …………………………………………………………………. 4

C. Review Criteria ………………………………………………………………. 5

D. ESSA Evidence-Based Requirement ………………………………………5

E. Proposed Timeline ……………………………………………………………6

F. Application Preparation ………………………………………………………7

G. Formatting Requirements …………………………………………………….8

APPLICATION

Section 1: Certification Page …………………………………………………….10

Section 2: Application Narrative …………………………………………………11-17

Section 3: Budget and Expenditure Summary …………………………………18-19

Section 4: Assurances ……………………………………………………………20-25

Section 5: Required Appendices…………………………………………………26

Appendix A:K-3 Local Literacy Plan Self-Assessment Profile…………….....27

Appendix B: Template - Local Literacy Plan……………………………………28-29

Appendix C: ESSA Evidence Support Document...... 30-31

Appendix D: Measurable Performance Objective (MPO) Tables…..…………32-33

Appendix E: Parent Notification Letter…………………………………………… 34

Appendix F: Sample Individual Student Literacy Plan ………………………… 35

APPLICATION EVALUATIONS

A. Application Review Process ……………………………………………………..36

B. Application Evaluation Form with Rubric ….. ………………………………….37-41

RESOURCE DOCUMENTS

Resource Document #1: Learning Strategist Roles & Responsibilities ………..42

Resource Document #2: K-3 Teachers’ Roles & Responsibilities ………………43

Resource Document #3: Levels of ESSA Evidence………………………………44

Resource Document #4: Resources for Verifying Levels of ESSA ……………45

APPLICATION GUIDANCE

I. RFA Overview

A. General Information about the Read by Grade 3 Grant:

On July 1, 2015, the Nevada State Legislature enacted Senate Bill 391, Nevada’s Read by Grade Three Act. A primary aim of this critical state statute is to promote effective literacy instruction in grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade across both public school districts and charter schools of Nevada in order to ensure that all K–3students achieve a proficiency level of achievement in the subject area of reading (as measured by the MAPGrowth K-3 Reading Assessment that was approved by the Nevada State Board of Education).

Section 15 of SB 391 specifically requires the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) to distribute funding allocations in order to carry out Sections 1–14 of this act through a competitive grant process. It is critical that all applicants of this specific Request for Application (RFA) recognize that this opportunity solely applies to the Phase IV component of the Read by Grade 3 Grant. This grant opportunity is a stand-alone funding opportunity; it is not contingent on any prior activity with the Read by Grade 3 Program.

B. Technical Assistance:

NDE’s Read by Grade 3 Team will be providing several upcoming webinars to assist applicants in the preparation of their Read by Grade 3 Phase IV application. These technical assistance webinars will include step-by-step guidance through all of the required documents, a detailed description of how the NDE grant process works, and a complete review of the Early Childs Succeeds Act (ESSA) evidence-based requirements (required in the ESEA federal law).The schedule for these webinars is forthcoming.It will be posted on the NDE website.

C. Funding Allocations:

The 2017 Nevada Legislative session allocated $20,500,000 for the Phase IV Fiscal Year 2018–2019 of SB 391 (2015) to carry out the identified provisions the Nevada Read by Grade 3 Act. Actual funds were awarded via Senate Bill 544: 21:1–4. SB 544 mandated that the money appropriated must be done so in accordance with NRS 353.150 to 353.246. This Phase IV Read by Grade 3 grant opportunity constitutes the amount remaining in Read by Grade 3 funding after all partial continuation allocations have been approved. The approximate total amount available for this Read by Grade 3 Phase IV competitive grant opportunity is $5,000,000.00.All allocated funds must be committed for expenditure by June 30, 2019, of the respective fiscal year. Funds not committed for expenditures by June 30, 2019, will revert to the State General Funds after all payments of funds committed have been made.The Annual Final Financial Report will be due to NDE’s Fiscal Division during late summer of 2019 (the date hasyet to be determined).

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NDE RFA: Nevada K.I.D.S. Read – Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program - Phase IV

II. Application Instructions & Requirements

A. Eligible Applicants:

Eligible applicants include all Nevada public school districts, district-sponsored charter schools, charter schools sponsored by the State Public Charter School Authority, and Achievement charter schools. Since the Read by Grade 3 grant specifically directs the work of the Kindergarten through 3rd grades respectively, such entities must offer coursework across the K–3 grade levels.

B. Use of Funds:

1. Alignment to the Nevada State Literacy Plan:

All literacy objectivesidentified in the Phase IV Read by Grade 3 competitive grant application must demonstrate a direct alignment back to the Nevada State Literacy Plan. This will be accomplished through the local literacy plan requirement. All applicants for Phase IVwill be required to identify the formal status of its local literacy plan (see page 12 for specific directions).The five key essentials of the Nevada State Literacy Plan will provide asustainable framework for this work. They are noted below:

The 5 Key Essentials of the Nevada State Literacy Plan

  1. Leadership and Sustainability
  2. Data-Driven Standards-Based Instruction and Intervention
  3. Literacy Assessment Systems
  4. Professional Learning
  5. Family and Community Engagement

Phase IV applicants may access an electronic version of the 2015 Nevada State Literacy Plan to utilize as a reference guide to this work. The following link provides access to this document:

2015 NEVADA STATE LITERACY PLAN

  1. Alignment to SB 391 (2015) – The Nevada Read by Grade 3 Act:

SB 391 (2015)is comprised of sixteen separate sections. Applicants for Phase IV funds must align their work to 5 specific sections of the law: Section 5, Section 6, Section 8, Section 9, and Section 15. The following bulleted items describe each of these primary requirements.

  • Section 5 identifies the required components for all local literacy plans which SB 391 (2015) requires for allK–3 district and charter school programs across the entire state.
  • Section 6 identifies the responsibilities and training requirements of the Read by Grade 3 learning strategists and K–3 classroom teachers.
  • Section 8 identifies specific requirements for the school principal regarding procedures for notifying the parent or legal guardian ofK–3 students who have been identified as “deficient” in reading.
  • Section 9 identifies specific requirements for school sites to create and implementprogress monitoring plans for K–3 students who have been identified as “deficient” in reading.
  • Section 15 identifies the competitive grant and reporting requirements for Read by Grade 3 programs.

It is recommended that all Phase IV applicants access an electronic version of the 2017 Read by Grade 3 Guidance Document for additional guidance on these elements of the law. The following link provides access to this document:

Read by Grade Three Guidance Document\

C. Review Criteria:

The review criteria for this grant can be found in the application rubric located in the Application Evaluation section of the RFA. An expert review team will review and score all applications according to this rubric. The Read by Grade 3 Phase IV Review Team will ultimately recommend: “total funding”, “partial funding”, or “no funding”. Final determinations on the review team’s recommendations will be made by NDE leadership.

D. ESSA Evidence-Based Component:

In 2017 the Nevada State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 7 (AB 7) which aligned state education programs with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act(ESSA) requirements. Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Phase IV grant application requires applicants to provide research evidence that supports the implementation of proposed “programs, services, or curriculums”. The ESSA definition of “evidence-based” includes four levels of evidence: Level 1 (Strong), Level 2 (Moderate), Level 3 (Promising), and Level 4 (Demonstrates a Rationale).The top 3 levels of evidence require the documentation of study findings that demonstrate astatistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes. This grant application requires all applicants to support implementation efforts with evidence that meets ESSA evidence-based requirements at a Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3level of evidence. These levels are defined in Resource Document #3 titled Levels of ESSA Evidence. Resource Document #4 provides applicants with a list of resources to aide in the verification of levels of ESSA evidence-based support. This document is titled Resources for Verifying Levels of ESSA Evidence. Applicants are required to provide documentation that demonstrates that the proposed implementation efforts meet the required levels of ESSA evidence on Appendix C: ESSA Evidence Support Document.

E. Proposed Timeline:

PHASE IV Read by Grade 3 Timeline Grant Application Process

2018 Dates / Activity
March 16 /
  • RBG3 Phase IV applications are made available to all interested applicants
  • All documents are posted on the Grants Page on the NDE Website

March - April / NDE RBG3 Team provides technical assistance webinars for all interested applicants(dates to be determined).
April 20 / Applications are due to the Nevada Department of Education by 5:00 p.m. (PST)
Applications documents must be in paper form and either hand-delivered or mailed (electronic submissions will not be accepted)
April 23 - 24 / NDE Team prepares application reviewmaterialsand disseminates to the RBG3 Phase IV Review Team members
April 26 - May 4 / Independentapplication reviewsare conducted by RBG3 Phase IV Review Team members
May 7 - 9 /
  • In-person group reviews are conducted by RBG3 Review Team members
  • Group consensus is established
  • Budget line items are determined

May 10 -11 / NDE RBG3 Team (including Grants Analyst) analyze and aggregate allfunding allocations that are recommended by the formal review team
May14 - 18 / A final spreadsheet of all recommended funding allocations is submitted to NDE Leadership Team for final approval
May 21 / Preliminary award announcements are emailed to all awardees
May 22 - 25 / NDE RBG3 Grants Analyst prepares all NDE Budget Modification documents
May 28 – June 8 / Awarded programs create final budgets and submit to NDE
June 11- 15 / NDE approves final awarded budgets
June 18 / Official award documents are disseminated to all awardees (official award letter, final approved budget, and formal award notification)
July / NDE RBG3 Team provides “Start-Up” technical assistance to Read by Grade 3 Phase IV awarded districts and schools

F. Document Preparation:

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NDE RFA: Nevada K.I.D.S. Read – Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program - Phase IV

In preparing documents for this application, it is important to recognize that there are five separate sections required. These include:

Section I. The Certification Page: All sections of this page must be completed.This page must be signed and dated by the authorized school district or charter school representative.

Section II. The Application Narrative: All required components must be Included in the order presented.

Section III. Budget and Expenditure Summary Forms:

  • Summary Section: Complete this form, as appropriate. Please take note that there are three (3) separate tabs to this actual form (a Summary tab, an Instruction tab, and a Support tab). Please make sure that all figures and sums are accurate. The Budget/Expenditure Summary must have an original signature of a person who is authorized by the applicant.
  • Narrative Section: Complete this form, as appropriate. Please be certain that figures on the Budget Summary tab match those figures provided on the Instruction and Support tabs. For the narrative portion, provide information that supports and justifies that expenditures are appropriate. Make sure that major costs of the project are aligned with the program goals and objectives. The required budget forms are located on the NDE website. They are listed right below this RFA. You may access them by clicking on the link titled: Read by Grade 3 Budget Forms.

Section IV.The Assurances Page: This document must be signed and dated by the authorized school district/charter school representative and included in the application.

Section V. Required Appendices:This section of the application includes six additional documents that are required in this application. They include:

Appendix A: K-3 Local Literacy Plan Self-Assessment Profile

Appendix B: Template - Local Literacy Plan

Appendix C: ESSA Evidence Support Document

Appendix D: RBG3 Measurable Performance Objectives (MPO) Table

Appendix E: Parent Notification Letter

Appendix F: Sample Individual Student Literacy Plan

Applicants are required to complete and/or attach these documents in detail. Each document is to be labeled with the appropriate Appendix title.

G. Formatting Requirements:

All applications must be prepared inaccordance to the appropriate formatting requirements.These requirements must be met in order for an application to be considered for review. Please pay close attention to the following guidelines:

  • The application is required to be typed, double-spaced on 8 ½” x 11” white paper (without lines).
  • The font-size is to be no less than 10 points.
  • Required items are in the specified order.
  • Collate applications with one staple in the upper left-hand corner of the page or with a large binder clip. Do not place any of your documents in binders.
  • Each page of the application is to be numbered consecutivelywith the Certification Page as page 1.
  • The Application Narrative may not exceed 20 pages (The Required Appendices are not included in the 20-page maximum).
  • Applicants must submit an original copy with required signatures in BLUE INK, plus eight (8) additional copies (9 TOTAL SETS).
  • The Required Appendices are the only allowableattachments. Unsolicited attachments will not be reviewed.
  • NDE reserves the right to require awardees to amend any and all applications before formal awards are made.

Applications must be received in the NDE Office of School and Student Supportson or before Friday, April 20, 2018 at 5:00 P.M. (PST).Applications will not be accepted after this date. Faxed or electronic copies of applications will not be accepted. Submitted applications may not be changed and/or appended after submission. Please mail or hand-deliver applications to:

Brandi Roberts, Administrative Assistant II

Nevada Department of Education

Office of Student and School Supports

700 East Fifth Street, Suite #110

Carson City, Nevada 89701

APPLICATION

SECTION 1: Certification Page

Certification Page

Application for Nevada K.I.D.S. Read –

Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Phase IV Grant (2018–2019)

Nevada Department of Education

Office of School and Student Supports

Read by Grade 3 Program

700 East Fifth Street, Suite #110

Carson City, Nevada 89701

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NDE RFA: Nevada K.I.D.S. Read – Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program - Phase IV

1. Legal Name of Agency:______

2. Mailing Address: (Street, P.O. Box, City, State, ZipCode):

______

3. Amount of Funding Requested: ______

4. Proposed Number of Phase IV Read by Grade 3 Participants to be served:

Number of Schools: ______Number of Students: ______Number of Teachers: ______

5. Name, Title, Phone Number and
Email Address of Authorized
Grant Contact Person: / 6. Name, Title, Phone Number and
Email Address of Authorized
Follow-up Fiscal Contact Person:
Name:
Title:
Phone Number:
Email Address: / Name:
Title:
Phone Number:
Email Address:

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NDE RFA: Nevada K.I.D.S. Read – Nevada’s Read by Grade 3 Program - Phase IV

7. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT:

I HEREBY CERTIFY that, to the best of my knowledge, the information contained in this application is correct.

The applicant designated below hereby applies for a sub-grant of State funds to provide instructional activities and services to meet the educational needs of the K–3 students as set forth in this application. The local Board of Trustees or governing board of the applicant’s organization has authorized me to file this application, and such action is recorded in the minutes of the agency's meeting held on ______

(Date)

This plan may remain in effect for the duration of the authorization of the project, except as amendments are determined necessary, and for parts that require annual revision or a district may annually reapply.

Signature:______Date: ______

APPLICATION

Section 2: Application Narrative

The maximum number of pages allowed for the entire Application Narrative section is twenty (20) pages (this does not include the RequiredAppendices). Please answer each of the following lettered questions in the order of presentation.

Application Narrative

Narrative Question A: What is the Status of Your Local Literacy Plan?

[Legal Requirement:SB 391, Section 5: “The board of trustees of each school district and the governing body of each charter school shall prepare a plan to improve the literacy of pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1, 2 and 3. Such a plan must include, without limitation . . .”]NDE has also determined that all local literacy plans must be directly aligned to the 2015 Nevada State Literacy Plan.

Status of Local Literacy Plan:

In order to accurately respond to Narrative Question A, each applicant must first identify