ALN 84 327T - National Center on Technology Systems in Local Education Agencies FY 2023

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hello welcome to the information  session for interested applicants for   the 2023 National Center on technology  systems in local educational agencies   this is assigned assistance living  assistance listing number 84.327t this grant competition is funded by the office of  special education programs at the U.S Department   of Education I am Anita Vermeer a project officer  at OSEP and the contact for interested applicants I would like to go over some caveats before  diving into this webinar first the intent of   this presentation is to provide guidance only  and the information contained in this webinar   provides a general summary of the information  contained in the notice inviting applications   and the application package therefore it is  imperative that all prospective applicants   read the entire notice application package  and any additional relevant information such   as the newly updated common instructions for  applicants published on December 7th 2022.   applicants are encouraged to listen to a  more General webinar entitled applying for   office of special education programs discretionary  grants for an orientation to the overall process   that webinar can be found at osepideasthatwork.org today I will cover the following areas  purpose of the OSEP technology program   key terms absolute priority and  purpose application requirements   additional pertinent information General  requirements and selection criteria the education technology media and  materials program is known as E-Tech M2   the purpose of the OSEP technology  program is to improve results for   children with disabilities by promoting the  development demonstration and use of Technology   supporting educational activities designed to be  of educational value in the classroom providing   support for captioning and video description  that is appropriate for use in the classroom   and providing accessible educational materials  to children with disabilities in a timely manner   there are a few terms for this priority  that I would like to highlight the first   in this priority evidence-based means at a  minimum evidence that demonstrates a rationale   where a key project component included in the  Project's logic model is informed by research   or evaluation findings that suggests the project  component is likely to improve relevant outcomes   framework refers to the theories knowledge  base policies and practices that form the   basic conceptual structure of effective systems  a framework is a guide to increase the capacity   of LEAs to understand improve and Implement  effective systems. Another term, systems, in this

priority refers to interrelated components such as  funding professional development data collection   accountability and quality improvement that need  to be in place to support the identification   procurement deployment and effective use  of assistive and instructional technology assistive technology device is defined by section  602 of IDEA as any item piece of equipment or   product system whether require commercially off  the shelf modified or customized that is used   to increase maintain or improve functional  capabilities of a child with a disability   instructional technology is defined  as technology processes and resources   that facilitate learning and improve  student performance for all students Please be aware of application timelines this  notice was published in the Federal Register on   December 19 2022. all applications are due on  or by March 6 2024 before 11 59 and 59 seconds   in the evening Eastern Time we highly advise  not to wait to the last minute or the last   date to submit your application to avoid any  possible technical difficulties on either end for the fiscal year of 2023 we plan to support  one absolute priority which is to establish and   operate a national Center on technology  systems in local educational agencies   this award will be a Cooperative agreement a  Cooperative agreement is similar to a grant   and that its principal purpose is to accomplish  a public purpose of support or stimulation as   authorized by his federal statute it differs from  a grant in the sense that a Cooperative agreement   is substantial involvement that is anticipated  between the department of Ed and the recipient for this priority applicants must  demonstrate how they will establish   and operate projects that achieve at  minimum the following expected outcomes   increase knowledge on providers and decision  makers in LEAs about evidence-based assisted   assistive and instructional technology tools  and practices for students with disabilities   and their families increased effective use of  assistive and instructional technology in LEAs   within comprehensive and sustainable  SEA Alliance systems as applicable other outcomes increased Partnerships between  LEAs and Community stakeholders to support   sustainable and comprehensive systems  and increased capacity of providers and   decision makers to sustain comprehensive LEA  and state Alliance systems for the effective   use of assistive and instructional technology  by students with disabilities and their families the application requirements are  broken down into these five sections   significance, quality of project services,  quality of the project evaluation, adequacy   of resources and quality of project personnel and  the quality of management plan the first section   is significance the applicant must describe how  they will address the need for LEAs to build   capacity to develop and sustain systems for  the Equitable and effective use of assistive   and instructional technology by students with  disabilities and their families improve outcomes   in Equitable and effective use of assistive  and instructional technology by students with   disabilities and their families and indicate the  likely magnitude or importance of the improvements and the quality of project Services the  proposed project must describe how it   will ensure equal access and treatment  for members of groups that have been   traditionally underrepresented based on race  color national origin gender age or disability   must also demonstrate how it will achieve  its goals objectives and intended outcomes   which are measurable and attach  a logic model in the appendix A other project service requirements to include is  how the proposed project will use a conceptual   framework to develop project plans and activities  describing any underlying Concepts assumptions   expectations beliefs or theories as well as  the presumed relationships or linkages among   these variables and any empirical support for  this framework must also be based on current   research and make use of evidence-based assistive  and instructional technology tools and practices the fifth requirement in the project  Services section is a description on   how the proposed project will develop products  and provide services that are of high quality   and sufficient intensity and duration to  achieve the intended outcomes of the proposed   project increase the capacity of providers and  decision makers to use the framework in LEAs   provide Universal technical assistance that  includes dissemination of the framework   provide targeted specialized technical assistance  to a minimum of eight LEAs and provide intensive   sustained technical assistance to a minimum  of two LEAs and please note the different   levels of universal targeted and intensive  technical assistance are defined in the notice. The last two elements of project  Services require the applicant   to develop products and Implement services  that maximize efficiency such as technology   collaboration and non-project resources  or initiatives to reach projects outcomes   and develop a dissemination plan that describes  how the applicant will systematically distribute   information products and services to varied  intended audiences using a variety of   dissemination strategies to promote awareness  and use of the center's products and services the proposed project must also include  an evaluation plan that articulates both   the formative and summative evaluation  questions including important processes   and outcome evaluation questions to  refine the framework and continuously   improve the Project's products and services  It must describe how progress in fidelity of   implementation as well as project outcomes will  be measured to answer the evaluation questions in addition the evaluation plan must also  describe strategies for analyzing data and   how data collected as part of this plan will  be used to inform and improve Service delivery   over the course of the project and to refine the  proposed logic model and evaluation plan including   subsequent data collection provide a timeline  for conducting the evaluation and include staff   assignments for completing the plan dedicate  sufficient funds in each budget year to cover   the cost of developing or refining the evaluation  plan in consultation with a third party evaluator.

In the section for the adequacy of resources  the applicant must demonstrate how it will   encourage applicants from for employment from  persons who are members of groups that have   traditionally been underrepresented based on race  color national origin gender age or disability as   appropriate key project Personnel consultants  and subcontractors have the qualifications and   experience to carry out the proposed activities  to achieve the Project's intended outcomes the proposed project must also demonstrate  how the applicant and any key Partners have   adequate resources to carry  out the proposed activities   and the proposed costs are reasonable in  relation to the anticipated results and benefits here are the requirements for the management plan   the proposed management plan will ensure that the  Project's intended outcomes will be achieved on   time and within budget to address this requirement  the applicant must describe the clearly defined   responsibilities for key project Personnel  consultants and subcontractors as applicable   and timelines and milestones for accomplishing  the project tasks the plan is to also address   how key project personnel and any consultants  and subcontractors will be allocated and how   these allocations are appropriate and adequate  to achieve the Project's intended outcomes two additional requirements are that the  proposed management plan will ensure that   the products and services provided are of high  quality relevant and useful to recipients and the   proposed project will benefit from A diversity of  perspectives including those of families Educators   TA providers researchers and policy makers  among others in its development and operation furthermore the management plan must also include  documentation of the following Personnel loading   charts and timelines as applicable to illustrate  the management plan described in the narrative   and in the budget attendance at the following a  one and one half day kickoff meeting in Washington   DC or virtually after receipt of the award a two  and one half day project directors conference in   Washington DC or a virtual conference  during each year of the project period   one annual two-day trip to attend Department  briefings Department sponsored conferences and   other meetings as requested by OSEP now one  day intensive OSEP review meeting during the   last half of the second year of the grant project  period and also set aside a budget of five percent   per year to support emerging needs that are  identified with OSEP after the award is received there are two general requirements that applicants  must make positive effort to employ advance in   the employment of qualified individuals with  disabilities in the project activities and   they must involve individuals with disabilities  or parents of individuals with disabilities   ages birth through 26 in the planning  implementing and evaluating of the projects those that are eligible for  this competition are SEAs,   LEAs, including public charter schools  that operate as LEAs under state law,   IHEs other public agencies private non-profit  organizations freely Associated States and   outlying areas Indian tribes or tribal  organizations and for-profit organizations the maximum award for this notice is  seven hundred thousand dollars for a   single budget period of 12 months  we estimate making one award for   up to 60 months and applicants must  provide a budget for all five years please note the formatting  and Page limit recommendations   a page is eight and a half by Eleven on one side  only with one inch margins double space all of   the text in the application narrative including  titles headings footnotes quotations reference   citations and captions as well as all text in  charts tables figures crafts and screenshots   use a font that is 12 point or larger either in  Times New Roman Courier Courier new or Arial as   they are recommended we also recommend that you  limit the application narrative to no more than   70 Pages this limit does not apply to some of  the additional attachments so you can refer to   the notice of inviting applications  in the package for more information as part of the process of making funding funding  recommendations external reviewers will judge the   quality of the application using these five  selection criteria for each section of the   narrative each application can receive up to  a total of 100 points with significance and   quality of management plan can receive 15 points  each quality of project Services up to 30 points   quality of project evaluation and adequacy of  resources and quality of project Personnel can   get up to 20 points each and then the application  package contains the information on the sub   criteria within each selection and applicants  are strongly encouraged to read those when   carefully preparing the application narrative  I'm going to briefly go over them as well   so the secretary considers significance when it  is a problem or issue is addressed the likelihood   that the proposed project will result in system  change or Improvement the extent to which the   proposed project is likely to build local capacity  to provide improve or expand services that   address the needs of the target population and the  potential replicability of the proposed project or   strategies including as appropriate the potential  for implementation in a variety of settings the secretary considers the quality of project  Services of the proposed project being quality   and sufficiency of strategies for ensuring  equal access and treatment for eligible project   participants who are members of groups that have  traditionally been underrepresented based on race   color national origin gender age or disability  the extent to which the services to be provided   or appropriate to the needs of the intended  recipients or beneficiaries of those services   the extent to which the services  will be provided reflect up-to-date   Knowledge from research and effective  practice the impact of services to be   provided on the intended recipients and  the intended recipients of those services. The secretary considers quality of project services   for the proposed project by the extent to which  the training or professional development services   be provided by the proposed project are also  sufficient quality intensity and duration to   lead to improvements in practice among the  recipients of those services the extent to   which the services to be provided by the proposed  project involve the collaboration of appropriate   partners for maximizing the effectiveness  of project services and extent to which   the TA services to be provided by the proposed  project involved the use of effective strategies   including the use of Technology as appropriate  and the leveraging of non-project resources the quality of project evaluation is considered  by the extent to which the methods of evaluation   are thorough feasible and appropriate to  the goals objectives and outcomes of the   proposed project the extent to which the  methods of evaluation include the use of   performance measures that are clearly related  to the intended outcomes of the project and   will produce qualitative and quantitative data  to the extent possible the extent to which the   methods of evaluation provide for examining the  effectiveness of project implementation strategies   the extent to which the methods of evaluation  will provide performance feedback and permit   periodic assessment of progress toward achieving  intended outcomes and extent to which the proposed   project plan includes sufficient resources  to conduct the project evaluation effectively the secretary considers the adequacy  of resources and quality of project   Personnel of the proposed project to the  extent which the applicant encourages   applications for employment from persons  who are members of groups that have been   traditionally underrepresented based on race  color national origin gender age or disability   the qualifications including relevant training  and experience of key project Personnel project   Consultants or subcontractors adequacy  of support including facilities equipment   supplies and other resources from the applicant  organization or the lead applicant organization   relevance and demonstrated commitment of  each partner in the proposed project to the   implementation and success of the project and  the extent to which the costs are reasonable   in relation to the objectives design and  potential significance of the proposed project and the secretary considers the quality of  management plan of the proposed project with   these four bullets adequacy of the management  plan to achieve the objectives of the proposed   project on time and within budget including  clearly defined responsibilities timelines   and milestones for accomplishing project tasks  extent to which the time commitments of the   Project Director and principal investigator and  other key project Personnel are appropriate and   adequate to meet the objectives of the proposed  project how the applicant will ensure that a  diversity of perspectives are brought to bear in  the operation of the proposed project including   those of parents teachers the business Community  a variety of disciplinary and professional Fields   recipients or beneficiaries of services or others  as appropriate and adequacy of procedures for   ensuring feedback and continuous Improvement  in the operation of the proposed project for more information you can reach  me at anita.vermeer ed.gov so that   is spelled a-n-i-t-a dot v e r m  e e r ed.gov or my phone number is

202-987-0155 if you need help with the online  system grants.gov has a support desk and their   email is support at grants.gov spell it s-u-p-p-o-r-t  at grants.gov and their phone number is 1-800-518-4726 and they do have a grants.gov  a training available so if you were to  

um the website for that is listed in the webinar  and on the PowerPoint https and it's grants   hyphenportal Dot psc.gov welcome and there are also some other links and information  such as the ed.gov oser Slash osep and   um we have a Twitter Youtube and blog channels  for more information thank you everyone

2023-01-25

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