DROPOUT AWARENESS AND YOUTH ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVE

Grant: Dropout Awareness and Youth Engagement Initiative, Public Media Community Hub Application
Agency: Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)
Deadline: March 2, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. EST

Description: In response to the nation’s dropout crisis, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is soliciting proposals from public television stations in high-need communities to form Public Media Community Hubs. Each community hub, in partnership with local education, community, civic, corporate and other relevant organizations, will develop and implement effective plans to positively impact the dropout crisis. CPB encourages collaborations among public television and public radio stations serving the same community. The Community Hubs will be a primary component of the Dropout Awareness and Youth Engagement Initiative aimed at increasing awareness of the dropout crisis and its impact on children and communities. The initiative will demonstrate the power of public media to help communities address this critical problem and leverage public media assets to help teachers and parents work with students in danger of dropping out.

Public media stations selected to be Community Hubs will work in close consultation with CPB and under the direction of an Initiative Manager. Community Hubs are expected to build a community coalition, create and disseminate content and educational materials, build networks and partnerships and work with established organizations that are already addressing the dropout crisis in their local communities.

CPB is looking for stations that have the capacity for and interest in pioneering new approaches to this work. Stations will be expected to create a preliminary Action Plan describing their approach to this work, but specific engagement activities will be determined only after close communication and collaboration with community partners. Stations are expected to remain flexible and to adapt their preliminary Action Plans to meet community needs, partner expectations and initiative goals.

Public Media Community Hubs are expected to achieve the following outcomes through the Dropout Awareness and Youth Engagement Initiative:

• Communities will better understand the dropout crisis and its impact on local communities and on the country, and they will be aware of resources available to help communities.
• At-risk youth will have access to enhanced learning experiences, including access to interactive, hands-on learning tools and digital media resources that will engage and motivate them. They will be supported by educators who have received targeted professional development to effectively assist students with these tools.
• Adults will have enhanced knowledge and capacity to support at-risk youth.
• Public media organizations will gain increased capacity to have an impact around the most important issues facing local communities and the nation.
• Communities will be aware of public media’s role – nationally and locally – and its capacity in partnering with organizations to address issues of vital importance to the nation and to local communities.

Community Hubs will be required to develop and implement an action plan to address the dropout crisis in their local communities or to build on and contribute to the work of an existing plan already developed by community partners. Stations will employ strategic partnerships with education and community partners, including at least one high-need middle school and a youth-serving agency in addition to business and philanthropic partners. All Community Hubs will be required to integrate teachers and students in their target population (middle school students in grades seven through nine) into the planning design and implementation of Hub a ctivities. The models and resources created by the Community Hubs will be shared with the public media system to enable other stations to replicate and build on this project in their communities.

Fit for public broadcasting: This program is specifically for public media stations to form Public Media Community Hubs that will work toward increasing dropout awareness and youth engagement. Stations must identify partners, specific middle schools that are feeder schools for low-performing high schools and organizations to target. Stations should identify and partner with local organizations or coalitions already involved in addressing the dropout crisis.

CPB wants to include as many stations as possible in this initiative. For stations that are not selected as hubs during this round, there may be other related opportunities later, so that more stations can play a role.

Public radio stations that want to apply must have a confirmed public television station partner to apply. The radio station can be the lead applicant, but it must have a formal partnership with a television station.

Eligibility: Public media stations are eligible to apply and will be evaluated based on demonstrated capacity, need, partnerships, leadership, commitment, sustainability and budget. A station must demonstrate that it serves a metropolitan, suburban or rural area that is within the top 25 epicenters of the dropout crisis with the lowest high-school graduation rates as listed in the recent ‘Diplomas Count’ report in Education Week, or is in one of the 200 communities with two or more low performing schools. Data on schools in communities is available from The Alliance for Excellent Education.

Public radio stations that want to apply must have a confirmed public television station partner to apply. The radio station can be the lead applicant, but it must have a formal partnership with a television station.

Anticipated funding: CPB anticipates making grants in up to 12 markets. The grant term will be March 21, 2011 through September 30, 2012.

How to apply: A PDF of the application can be accessed here. Applications must be submitted online by March 2, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. EST; the online application form will be unavailable after that time.

Resources:
Program notice
Program website
The National Center for Media Engagement (NCME) hosted a webinar about the initiative on Wednesday, February 16, 2011. The recording is available here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions regarding the Dropout Initiative can be directed to Doug McKenney or Fiona Macintyre.