FY15 SLDS Grants: Eligibility, Deadlines, and Priorities

U . S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N U . S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N S t a t e w i d e L o n g i t u d i n a l D a t a S y s t e m s G r a n t P r o g r a m Nancy Sharkey, Program Officer Charles McGrew, Program Officer Kristen King, Program Officer http://nces.ed.gov/programs/SLDS

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N FY15 Grant Round

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Focus on Data Use Over the past decade, States have made a great deal of progress in developing Statewide longitudinal data systems, most of them with the assistance of SLDS Program funds. This competition will focus on enhancing States' capacity to use those systems to identify problems and drive improvement efforts. (emphasis added)

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N What is the deadline for FY15 SLDS applications? The FY15 submission deadline is June 10, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. EST. The National Center for Education Statistics strongly suggests State education agencies submit their applications at least 2 days prior to the June 10th deadline to address any needed issues. Late submissions will NOT be accepted. Technical issues experienced on the applicant s side are not an acceptable reason for submitting a late application.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Who is eligible to apply for FY15 SLDS Grants? State educational agencies of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are eligible.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Award Information Cooperative Agreement States may apply for up to two priority areas Estimated Range of Awards: $1,000,000 to $7,000,000; up to $3,500,000 per priority Project period: 48 months

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N What are the priorities of the FY15 SLDS competition? Six Priority Data Use Areas Financial Equity and Return on Investment Educator Talent Management Early Learning College and Career Evaluation and Research Instructional Support Grants will not be made available to support ongoing maintenance of data systems.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Financial Equity and Return on Investment Applicants seeking funding under this Priority should describe how they would use school- level finance data to better understand how resources are allocated among schools and the relationship between resource allocations and student outcomes.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Educator Talent Management Applicants seeking funding under this Priority should describe how they would use human capital information to inform more effective preparation, certification, professional development, and compensation for teachers and principals.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Early Learning Applicants seeking funding under this Priority must describe how they would use grant funds to link early childhood data to K12 student data in order to better understand the characteristics and quality of early learning services provided in the state, access to and use of these services by particular children and families, and the relationship between participation in early learning programs and subsequent student outcomes. Applicants must describe how these analyses would enable them to direct investments in early learning more effectively to improve child outcomes.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N College and Career Applicants seeking funding under this priority must describe how they would use the SLDS to assess students college and career readiness in order to improve their postsecondary education and workforce outcomes. States are encouraged to rely on their own postsecondary data linkages and not simply purchase this data from an organization external to the agencies partnering under this application.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Evaluation and Research Applicants seeking funding under this priority must describe how they would improve the ability of the SEA and local educational agencies within the State to conduct research and evaluations to inform efforts to improve outcomes in pre-school, K12, and post- secondary systems.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Instructional Support Applicants seeking funding under this priority must describe how they would use data portals and other instructional supports to enable educators to access information from the SLDS more quickly and easily to support and improve instruction for students, particularly for high needs students.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Letter of Intent The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) asks all applicants to submit a letter of intent by 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on April 13, 2015. IES encourages all interested applicants to submit a letter of intent, even if they might later decide not to submit an application. The letter of intent is not binding and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application. The information in the letters of intent enable Institute staff to identify the expertise needed for the scientific peer review panels and secure sufficient reviewers to handle the anticipated number of applications, and to help plan technical assistance for the coming year. *Submission information can be found on the FY15 FAQs document on our website. Late Letters of Intent will still be welcomed and accepted.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Application and Submission Information March 12, 2015: The RFA was published and available at http://ies.ed.gov/funding and http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/ March 19, 2015: The application package was posted to http://grants.gov April 13, 2015: Letter of Intent (optional) due June 10, 2015: Applications due

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Institutional Review Board Approval The U.S. Department of Education does not require certification of Institutional Review Board approval at the time you submit your application. However, your application is recommended/selected for funding, the designated U.S. Department of Education official will request that you obtain and send the certification of the Institutional Review Board approval to the Department within 30 days after the formal request

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Application Technical Assistance Webinars The SLDS team will host a second informational webinar to provide technical assistance to support the RFA. Both Webinars will be posted to SLDS site http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/ http://ies.ed.gov/funding FAQs A FAQs document also will be posted to SLDS site http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/ http://ies.ed.gov/funding

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Application Technical Assistance (Continued) The SLDS team will also: Provide sample templates of the major application sections for states to reference Continue to provide technical assistance resources on topics like project management and governance that are necessary to a strong SLDS application *Successful applications from previous grant rounds are available on the Grantee States section of the SLDS website.

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Questions?

U .S. D EPAR T M EN T O F ED U C AT I O N Contact Information SLDS Website: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/SLDS IES Grant information: http://ies.ed.gov/funding NCES Staff: Nancy Sharkey Program Officer, SLDS Grant Program Nancy.Sharkey@ed.gov, (202) 502-7494 Charles McGrew Program Officer, SLDS Grant Program Charles.McGrew@ed.gov Kristen King Program Officer, SLDS Grant Program Kristen.King@ed.gov