Department of Education Stimulus Programs Update
Federal Trends and Opportunities - July 1, 2011
The U.S. Department of Education has announced three grant programs that all have deadlines in the near future. With a focus on early learning, rural communities and technology, stations have an opportunity be value-adds to applications in any of the three programs.
The Race to the Top — Early Learning Challenge program is a brand-new program, the final priorities and application for which are expected to be released in late summer, which could bring opportunities for stations to partner with States to be part of a comprehensive early learning initiative. A total of $500 million will be given out competitively to States to support plans for improving early learning programs, and stations can be valuable partners in those applications, as longtime providers of high-quality early learning programs, programming and educator professional development for low-income children. Stations should not wait until the application is released to start building relationships with State officials and begin brainstorming opportunities to capitalize on this opportunity. Stations can share the public broadcasting perspective on this program in comments on the Department of Education's website, before they release the final priorities. Leave a comment about the importance of including community-based partners like public broadcasting stations, utilizing proven-successful resources like Ready To Learn properties, and using public broadcasting to raise awareness of the program.
Stations can apply directly for Investing in Innovation (i3) grants, a program which provides competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) and nonprofit organizations in partnership with an LEA to fund innovative practices that improve student achievement. A total of $150 million will be granted, with individual grants ranging in size from $3 million to $25 million. Stations can apply to develop a small but successful idea, validate a strong, local program or widely scale-up a proven-successful program; applications are due August 2. A few things about the program have changed since the last round of funding in 2010. This application includes new priorities on “Improving Rural Achievement” and “Technology,” which give stations a competitive edge as applicants or partners. However, the bar for evidence of success is higher than last time. Applicants must demonstrate historical success in order to be eligible, including success working with local school districts. In the last round, evidence of success was a factor in determining ratings for each grant application. Now it is a threshold for eligibility to apply.
The Promise Neighborhoods program provides almost $30 million in funding to improve educational outcomes for low-income students and their families. Final priorities and guidelines for this competition were released on July 6, 2011. There are two types of Promise Neighborhoods grants -- Planning Grants and Implementation Grants. $5 million in Planning Grants will be awarded to up to 10 applicants, and nearly $23.5 million in Implementation Grants will be awarded to four to six applicants. APTS, PBS and CPB provided public comment on these priorities, advocating for inclusion of high-tech digital services, further requirements for outreach to communities, and inclusion of digital, multiplatform media in early learning programs. Grantees will be expected to design (planning grants) or implement (implementation grants) full-service programs that transform neighborhoods and focus them around schools. Most stations will not have the capacity to coordinate an entire Promise Neighborhood program, but can partner with nonprofit organizations to provide critical elements, like outreach, literacy programs and digital media. If stations partner with lead applicants from the start, they can be built into the application and budget. Stations can contact large local organizations and find out if they plan to apply and research if any groups nearby were awarded planning grants and find out if they plan to submit an application for an implementation grant. For more information about how to apply and how this program is a fit for public media stations, see the grant profiles: Planning Grants and Implementation Grants.
Throughout this process, the Grant Center can help you identify strong partners, good opportunities, the best research to back up your applications, and other critical resources. Contact grantcenter@apts.org for help.
