Request for Application (RFA) Release Date: Friday, Aug. 16, 2019 (12 p.m.)
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is soliciting grant applications for the District of Columbia Early Literacy Intervention Grant, as defined in the “Early Literacy Grant Program Amendment Act of 2015,” effective Oct. 22, 2015 (DC Law 21-36; DC Code 38-2602(b)(24)), as amended. The purpose of this grant is to implement research-based early literacy interventions to increase proficiency of District students in the early grades. The overall goal of the Early Literacy Intervention Grant is to provide resources that will enable the grantee to partner with local education agencies (LEAs) in which they would provide direct, developmentally appropriate, research-based reading programs.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria: OSSE will make these grants available through a competitive process. An eligible entity must be a nonprofit community based organization that provides early literacy services. Applicants must be able to provide a full continuum of early literacy intervention services, through professionally coached interventionists, for all grades pre-K through grade 3 consisting of developmentally appropriate components for each grade. Eligible applicants must also use a comprehensive evidence-based intervention model and must provide a rationale for the intervention based on data that demonstrates need. This funding is intended to build capacity and may not be used to supplant existing services. In addition, eligible applicants will be expected to demonstrate prior effectiveness through a rigorous program evaluation and will be expected to include an evaluation plan as a component of its application. Finally, eligible applicants must be able to provide direct services each day that school is in session and collect data on student progress monthly.
LEAs are not eligible for this funding, however eligible applicants must secure partnerships with the LEAs with which they intend to work and will be required to verify these partnerships.
Applications will be scored on the following selection criteria: Program Features, Program Implementation and Monitoring, and Financial Management and Sustainability.
Length of Award: The grant award period is two years, subject to continued availability of funding and compliance with the grant requirements. Applicants must re-apply for the second year of funding.
Available Funding for Award: The range of funding available for this award period is between $1,600,000 and $2,100,000 per grant year, subject to continued availability of funding. Each applicant may apply for up to $1,600,000, per year. Grants shall only be used to support activities authorized by the RFA, relevant statutes, and included in the applicant’s submission.
Application Process: An external review panel or panels will be convened to review, score, and rank each application. The review panel(s) will be composed of neutral, qualified, professional individuals selected for their expertise, knowledge or related experiences. The application will be scored against a rubric and each application will have multiple reviewers to ensure accurate scoring. Upon completion of its review, the panel(s) shall make recommendations for awards based on the scoring rubric(s). OSSE’s Division of Teaching and Learning will make all final award decisions. Applications must be submitted no later than Sept. 30, 2019 at 3 p.m. OSSE anticipates that it will award grants by Oct. 11, 2019; however, this date may change.
There will be a mandatory pre-application webinar Friday, Aug. 30, 2019 10 – 11 a.m.
For additional information regarding this grant competition, please contact:
La’ Shawndra Scroggins, PhD
Deputy Assistant Superintendent
Division of Teaching and Learning
Office of the State Superintendent of Education
1050 First St. NE, Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 741-0264
[email protected]
The RFA and applications will be available in OSSE’s Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS) at grants.osse.dc.gov.
Related Content: Early Literacy Grant
