Notice of Grant Opportunity
Improving Achievement
in English Language Arts and Mathematics
for Students with Disabilities
13-BC32-F01
Christopher D. Cerf
Commissioner of Education
Tracey Severns
Assistant Commissioner
Division of Academics
Chris Snyder
Manager
Office of School Improvement
March 2013
Application Due Date: May 2, 2013
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. Box 500
Trenton, NJ 08625-0500
http://www.state.nj.us/education
26
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
ARCELIO APONTE ………………………………………………. Middlesex
President
ILAN PLAWKER ………………………………………………….. Bergen
Vice President
MARK W. BIEDRON...... Hunterdon
DR. RONALD K. BUTCHER ……….…………………………… Gloucester
CLAIR CHAMBERLAIN Eckert………………………………. Somerset
JOSEPH FISICARO………………………………………………. Burlington
JACK A. FORNARO……………………………………………… Warren
EDITHE FULTON …………………………………………………. Ocean
ROBERT P. HANEY ……………………………………………… Monmouth
ERNEST P. LEPORE ……..………………………….……………. Hudson
ANDREW J. MULVIHILL…..……………………………………. Sussex
J. PETER SIMON………………………………………………….. Morris
DOROTHY S. STRICKLAND …………………………….………. Essex
Christopher Cerf, Commissioner
Secretary, State Board of Education
It is a policy of the New Jersey State Board of Education and the State Department of Education that no person, on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, age, sex, handicap or marital status, shall be subjected to discrimination in employment or be excluded from or denied benefits of any activity, program or service for which the department has responsibility. The department will comply with all state and federal laws and regulations concerning nondiscrimination
TABLE OF CONTENTS
When responding to this Notice of Grant Opportunity (NGO), all application forms are attached to this NGO. Applicants may also access the "Discretionary Grant Application (DGA)" for additional information governing the grant program. See www.nj.gov/njded/grants/ or call the Application Control Center (ACC) at (609)-633-6974.
PAGE
SECTION 1: GRANT PROGRAM INFORMATION
1.1 Description of the Grant Program 4 1.2 Eligibility to Apply 4
1.3 Federal Compliance Requirements (DUNS, CCR) 4
1.4 Statutory/Regulatory Source and Funding 5
1.5 Dissemination of This Notice 6
1.6 Technical Assistance 6
1.7 Application Submission 7
1.8 Reporting Requirements 8
1.9 Assessment of Statewide Program Results 8
1.10 Reimbursement Requests 8
SECTION 2: PROJECT GUIDELINES
2.1 Project Design Considerations 9
2.2 Project Requirements 10
2.3 Budget Design Considerations 13
2.4 Budget Requirements 14
SECTION 3: COMPLETING THE APPLICATION
3.1 General Instructions for Applying 16
3.2 Review of Applications 16
3.3 Application Component Checklist 18
APPENDICES:
A: List of Eligible Schools 19
B: Resources 26
C: Application forms 27
SECTION 1: GRANT PROGRAM INFORMATION
1.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE GRANT PROGRAM
The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) provides funds dedicated to the development of public school programs and services for students identified as eligible for special education and related services. Specifically, the New Jersey Department of Education, Office of School Improvement, in collaboration with the Office of Special Education Programs, is offering a 14-month grant program to increase subgroup achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) and/or Mathematics among students with disabilities in Priority and Focus Schools.
Programs implemented through this grant will be designed so as to be sustainable, thereby resulting in continued achievement gains beyond the grant period. This 14-month grant program will begin July 1, 2013 and end August 31, 2014.
State Outcomes for Grant Program
Through this NGO, the New Jersey Department of Education expects the following outcomes by the end of the grant program in schools selected as grant recipients:
· sustainable increases in academic performance for students with disabilities, with a focus on English Language Arts (ELA) and/or Mathematics (Math) achievement; and
· increased inclusion of students with disabilities within general education settings.
The NJDOE will select award recipients based on the likelihood that their proposals will result in the above outcomes. School applications will vary in their proposed approaches to meeting the above goals, depending on school and district capacity, needs, and opportunities.
1.2 ELIGIBILITY TO APPLY
This grant competition is open to New Jersey Local Education Agencies (LEAs) with Priority and Focus Schools at the time of release of the NGO. Eligible LEAs may submit no more than one application targeting up to a maximum of three (3) schools (Priority and/or Focus Schools). A list of eligible Priority and Focus Schools by county and LEA is included in Appendix A. Applicants will be required to complete and submit a Documentation of Eligibility Form (see Appendix C) as part of the application.
1.3 FEDERAL COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS (DUNS, CCR)
In accordance with the Federal Fiscal Accountability Transparency Act (FFATA), all grant recipients must have a valid DUNS number and must also be registered with the federal System for Award Management (SAM), the successor to the federal Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database. DUNS numbers are issued by Dun and Bradstreet and are available for free to all entities required to register under FFATA.
· To obtain a DUNS number, go to http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/
· To register with the CCR/SAM database, go to www.sam.gov
For additional information regarding SAM, please refer to www.sam.gov .
Applicants are required to complete and submit the Documentation of Federal Compliance (DUNS/CCR) form found in the DGA. This form must be submitted either with the grant application, or during the pre-award revision process. No award will be made to an applicant not in compliance with FFATA.
1.4 STATUTORY/REGULATORY SOURCE AND FUNDING
The applicant’s project must be designed and implemented in conformance with all applicable state and federal regulations. The Improving Achievement in English Language Arts and Mathematics for Students with Disabilities grant program defined by this NGO is 100 percent federally funded under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B, for a total allocation of $1,000,000. The maximum size of an individual school award will be either $50,000 or $75,000 depending on the number of students with disabilities at a given school at the time of application submission. These maximum amounts are determined as follows:
Number of Students with Disabilities Maximum school award
Up to 100 $50,000
101 or more $75,000
As an example, an LEA applying on behalf of 1 school with 117 students with disabilities may apply for a maximum of $75,000. An LEA applying on behalf of 2 schools, one of which has 61 students with disabilities and the other of which has 158 students with disabilities, may apply for a total amount of $125,000, with a maximum of $50,000 to be allocated to the first school and $75,000 to the second school.
LEAs may also include a budget request for an additional 5% of their total grant request for administrative costs.
For the purposes of this grant, New Jersey is geographically divided into three regions (North, Central, and South), and further divided into 21 counties. The chart that follows indicates the counties located within each of the three regions.
Northern Region / Central Region / Southern RegionBergen County
Essex County
Hudson County
Morris County
Passaic County
Sussex County
Warren County / Hunterdon County
Mercer County
Middlesex County
Monmouth County
Somerset County
Union County / Atlantic County
Burlington County
Camden County
Cape May County
Cumberland County
Gloucester County
Ocean County
Salem County
The NJDOE will make awards based on application score, while also ensuring reasonably proportionate distribution by geography. Applications must score a minimum of 65 points to be considered eligible for funding consideration. The first three (3) awards will be made on a regional basis in rank order. There will be one award in the Northern Region, one in the Central Region and one in the Southern Region. Once the geographic distribution is satisfied, remaining awards will be made in rank order, regardless of geographic region.
The total number of schools awarded is expected to range from 15 to 20, depending on the final individual grant amounts. The number of winning LEA applications will vary depending on the number of schools for which successful LEA applicants apply. Each proposal should demonstrate a plan for strategic spending that is based on the needs of the individual school (or each individual school within an LEA application cohort) and will lead to sustainable program implementation or augmentation.
Final awards are subject to the availability of IDEA Part B funds. If balances are available, or if additional funds become available during the fiscal year, the next highest scoring application(s) above 65 points may become eligible for award.
1.5 DISSEMINATION OF THIS NOTICE
The Office of School Improvement will make this notice available to the following groups: Chief School Administrators of LEAs with Priority and Focus Schools, County Executive Superintendents, Regional Achievement Center (RAC) Executive Directors, and established listservs. Additional copies of the NGO are also available on the NJDOE web site (http://www.nj.gov/njded/grants/discretionary/) or by contacting the Office of School Improvement at the New Jersey Department of Education, River View Executive Plaza, Building 100, Route 29, P.O. Box 500, Trenton, NJ 08625-0500; telephone (609) 292-2835; fax (609) 633-6825.
1.6 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Applicants may attend a technical assistance webinar, which will be held on April 4, 2013 from 9:30 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. Attendance is not mandatory, but registration is required. Applicants must register online at: http://education.state.nj.us/events/ no later than April 2, 2013. Registrants requiring special accommodations for the webinar should identify their needs at the time of registration. If there are any registration issues, please contact .
1.7 APPLICATION SUBMISSION
The NJDOE administers discretionary grant programs in strict conformance with procedures designed to ensure accountability and integrity in the use of public funds and, therefore, will not accept late applications.
The responsibility for a timely submission resides with the applicant. Applicants must submit an original and four (4) copies of the completed application to the Application Control Center (ACC) no later than 4:00 P.M. on May 2, 2013. Without exception, the ACC will not accept, and the Office of Grants Management cannot evaluate for funding consideration, an application received after this deadline. An applicant agency will lose the opportunity to be considered eligible for an award if the application is received after the due date.
The original and four (4) copies of the application must be mailed or hand-delivered to the ACC. Postmarks are not acceptable evidence of timely submission. Receipt by the due date and time is required. Applicants are encouraged to obtain a dated receipt from the ACC or to sign in upon delivery to verify DOE receipt. Complete applications are those that include all elements listed in Section 3.3, Application Component Checklist of this notice. Applications received by the due date and time will be screened to determine whether they are, in fact, eligible for consideration. The Department of Education reserves the right to reject any application not in conformance with the requirements of this NGO. Applications submitted via facsimile will not be accepted under any circumstances.
To ensure timely delivery, applicants are encouraged to:
· Hand-deliver the application to 100 River View Plaza, Trenton, New Jersey, which is located next to the Mercer County Waterfront Park on Route 29, between the hours of 8:30 A.M. and 4:00 P.M., Monday through Friday (excluding state holidays) and obtain a dated receipt; or
· Send the application by Certified Mail or Return Receipt; or
· Arrange for delivery by an overnight courier service to ensure timely delivery.
The mailing and courier service addresses are listed in the chart below:
Mailing Address / Courier Service AddressApplication Control Center
New Jersey Department of Education
100 River View Plaza
P.O. Box 500
Trenton, NJ 08625-0500 / Application Control Center
New Jersey Department of Education
100 River View Plaza
Trenton, NJ 08625
1.8 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Grant recipients are required to submit periodic project and fiscal progress reports. For additional information about post award requirements see the Grant Recipient’s Manual for Discretionary Grants at http://www.nj.gov/njded/grants/discretionary/management. Reports for this program will be submitted through EWEG and will be due as follows:
Report Reporting Period Due Date
1st Interim July 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013 January 15, 2014
2nd Interim July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014 July 15, 2014
Final July 1, 2013 – August 31, 2014 September 30, 2014
1.9 ASSESSMENT OF STATEWIDE PROGRAM RESULTS
The NJDOE will analyze the progress report information for the purpose of identifying the extent to which the grant program resulted in:
· an increase in the number of students with disabilities proficient in ELA and/or Math;
· student growth in ELA and/or Math as demonstrated by state/district/school formative and summative assessments;
· increased inclusion of students with disabilities in general education programs or classes; and
· measured progress towards other goals defined by the applicant through this proposal.
1.10 REIMBURSEMENT REQUESTS
Payment of grant funds is made through a reimbursement system. Reimbursement requests for any grant funds the local project has expended are made through the Electronic Web-Enabled Grant (EWEG) system. Requests may begin once the contract has been fully executed and processed by the NJDOE. Grantees must submit requests no later than the 15th of the month. You may include in your request funds that will be expended through the last calendar day of the month in which you are requesting the reimbursement. If the grantees’ request is approved by the NJDOE program officer, the grantee should receive payment around the 8th-10th of the following month.
SECTION 2: PROJECT GUIDELINES
The intent of this section is to provide the applicant with the framework within which it will plan, design, and develop its proposed project to meet the purpose of this grant program. Before preparing applications, potential applicants are advised to review Section 1.1, Description of the Grant Program, of this NGO to ensure a full understanding of the state’s vision and purpose for offering the program. Additionally, the information contained in Section 2 will complete the applicant’s understanding of the specific considerations and requirements that are to be considered and/or addressed in their project.
Please note that the passage of the School District Accountability Act (A5 or Chapter Law 53) places additional administrative requirements on the travel of school district personnel. The applicant is urged to be mindful of these requirements as they may impact the ability of school district personnel to participate in activities sponsored by the grant program.
2.1 PROJECT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Applicants have the latitude to design a program that will, based on the capacity, needs, and opportunities present within the school, accomplish the following goals (also shown in section 1.1):