**U.S. Department of Education**

**2004 Community Technology Centers (CTC) Program Bidders' Conference**

# *Los Angeles, California*

*April 28, 2004*

**KAREN HOLLIDAY:** Good afternoon. My name is Karen Holliday, and I
serve as the Team Leader with the Community Technologies Center Program,
with the Office of Vocational and Adult Education in the U.S. Department
of Education. I'm delighted to see so many of you in attendance and at
our first of two scheduled veterans' conferences, and would like to
thank you for taking the time to join us.

My task today is to provide you with an overview of the CTC Program. At
the end of my presentation, I will entertain any questions you may have.

To begin with, the department has been funding the CTC Program since
1999. From that time, until Fiscal Year 2002, the focus is on serving
adult and family literacy activities. In Fiscal Year 2003, the focus
shifted to serving students in grades 9 through 12. This brings me to
the p purpose of the CTC Program.

The purpose of the CTC Program is to assist eligible applicants to
create or expand Community Technology Centers that will provide
disadvantaged residents of economically-distressed urban and rural
communities with access to Information Technology and related trainings.
Essentially, this means that funds may be used to provide services and
activities that incorporate technology to improve academic achievement.
It should be noted that no funds may be used for construction, food,
stipends, childcare, or security personnel.

In terms of eligibility, and eligible applicant may be an entity such a
foundation, museum, library, for-profit business, public or private
non-profit organization or community-based organization, including
faith-based organizations. Or it may be an institution of higher
education‑a state educational agency, a local educational agency, a
private school or consortium of such entities, institutions, or
agencies.

In the event you are wondering whether there are any other eligibility
requirements, there are. To be eligible, an applicant must also have the
capacity to significantly expand access to computers and related
services for disadvantaged residents of economically-distressed urban
and rural communities who would otherwise be denied such access.

If I could pause here just to shed some light on a question that is
commonly asked, and that is 'What is meant by the term, "economically
distressed?" The term economically distressed" is based on census data.
For specific information, you would need to consult the census web site
to determine whether your community *would* fit into this category.
However, economically distressed communities are those, typically, as
defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in which a significant percentage---at
least half---of the residents have an annual income that is *at* or
*below* the poverty level. Again, if you are unsure whether your
community meets this definition, you should visit the U.S. Census Bureau
web site, or contact your local Chamber of Commerce.

Other data you could use might be any data obtained from your state,
county, or local government regarding welfare recipients, unemployment
rates, graduation rates from the school district, including any data on
levels of student achievement such as MEAN Test scores or any
standardized tests that your state may provide.

You might also look at labor market indicators and the types of
entry-level jobs that are in demand in your area. This type of data
and/or statistics should be available from your local government.
Include such information in your application.

With respect to the targeted audience, unlike Fiscal Year 2003, where
we've had two competitions---one for novice applicants and the other for
non-novice applicants---for Fiscal Year 2004, one combined competition
will be conducted for both non-novice, and novice, applicants. The
department will rank and fund the two groups separately. At least 75
percent of the funds will be set aside for non-novice applicants, and up
to 25 percent will be set aside for novice applicants.

For the purpose of clarification, a 'novice' applicant is one who has
never received a grant or sub-grant under the Community Technologies
Centers Program, or has never been a member of a group application that
received a grant under the Community Technologies Centers Program, and,
last, has not had an active discretionary grant from the federal
government in the five years before the deadline date of applications of
the competition. And in this case, June 1, 2004. As you begin to prepare
your application---that is, should you decide to apply---please be
mindful of other key requirements that you *must* address, and,
essentially, there are five elements. The first is matching funds.
Second, page limits. Third, page standards. Fourth, selection criteria.
And last, reporting.

With respect to matching funds, to receive a grant award under the CTC
competition, each applicant must furnish, from non-federal sources, at
least 50 percent of its total project costs---that's dollar-for-dollar
match. Applicants may satisfy this requirement in cash or in-kind,
\[inaudible\] evaluator, including services. An example of an allowable
match would be a situation in which an applicant requested \$250,000 in
federal funds, which is the mandatory minimum request. In that
situation, the applicant would be required to furnish \$250,000 in cash
or in-kind from non-federal funds, \[inaudible\] evaluator, resulting in
a total project cost of \$500,000.

The second key requirement is page limits. The program narrative of the
application must not exceed the equivalent of 25 pages. For your
information, the abstract and table of contents pages will not count
against the 25 page limit. Second, budget information must not exceed
five pages. Budget information consists of one page of the Department
Form ED524, and four pages of the narrative. Last, the appendices must
be limited to 15 pages.

The third key requirement is page standards. A page is 8.5x11 on
one-side only, with 1-inch margins on the top, bottom, and both sides.
Be sure to double-space all text in the application narrative. Use a
12-point font, and number all pages. Page numbering for non*--*novice
applicants should begin with your response to the first priority.
Conversely, page numbering for *novice* applicants should begin with
your response to the second priority. If you do not adhere to the
standards as indicated, we will reject your application. Further
guidance regarding the page limits and standards are discussed in detail
beginning on page 14 of the application package.

Additionally, in the narrative of your application, the following
selection criteria must be addressed. And they are 1) need for the
project, 2) quality of the project design, 3) quality of the management
plan, 4) adequacy of resources, and 5) quality of the evaluation. Each
element has a point value assigned. You may review, at your leisure, the
discussion for the selection criteria, beginning on page 11 in the
application package.

With regard to need for the project, in your narrative of your
application, clearly illustrate and discuss how your project will serve
students from low-income families. You may want to provide information
that will demonstrate that the students to be served are from low-income
families. Be mindful that your proposed project must serve students
entering or enrolled in secondary schools that are among the secondary
schools in the state that have the highest numbers or percentages of
students who have not achieved proficiency on the state academic
assessments, as required by Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, or who have academic skills of Reading or Language Arts
or Mathematics that are, significantly, below grade level.

Also in your narrative, discuss how your proposed project will serve
students who have the greatest need for supplementary instruction, as
indicated by their scores on state or local standardized assessments in
Reading or Language Arts, or Mathematics, or some other local measure of
performance in Reading or Language Arts, or Mathematics. And also
discuss how your proposed project will create or expand access to
Information Technology and related training for disadvantaged residents
of distressed urban or rural communities.

Second, quality of the project design. In this section, you must discuss
how your proposed project first provide instructional services that will
be of sufficient size, scope, and intensity to improve the academic
performance of participating students. Second, incorporate strategies
that have proven effective for improving the academic performance of
low-achieving students.

Third, you must also discuss in your proposed project how you will
implement strategies in recruiting and retaining students that have
proven effective.

Fourth, in your narrative, discuss how your project will provide
instruction that is in line with the high school curricula of the
schools in which the students to be served by the grant are entering, or
enrolled.

And, last, provide high quality, sustained, and intensive professional
development for personnel who provide instruction to the students.

Third, the quality of the management plan. In the narrative of your
application, you should be sure to outline specific, measurable goals,
objectives, and outcomes to be achieved. Be sure to assign realistic
tasks for project personnel, and realistic timelines for them to
accomplish the project tasks.

Next in your narrative be sure that the time commitments of the project
director and other key personnel to achieve the objectives of the
proposed project are appropriate and adequate.

Finally, in order for your proposed project to be successfully
implemented, you must include key project personnel who possess the
appropriate qualifications, relevant training, and experience.

Adequacy of resources. In determining the adequacy of resources, the
following factors will be considered. One, the adequacy of support,
including facilities, equipment, supplies and other resources from the
applicant. Two, the extent to which a preponderance of resources will be
used for activities designed to improve the academic performance of
low-achieving students in grades 9--12, in Reading and/or Mathematics.
Third, the extent to which the budget is adequate, and costs are
reasonable in relation to the objectives and design of the proposed
project. And, four, the potential for continued support of the project
after federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated
commitment of appropriate entities to such support.

In terms of the quality of the evaluation, does your proposed project
include a plan that utilizes evaluation methods that are feasible and
appropriate to the goals and objectives of the project? Will it include
a regular examination of the progress and outcomes of participating
students on a range appropriate performance measures and have a plan for
utilizing such information to improve project activities and
instruction? Will your proposed project use an independent external
evaluator with the necessary background and technical expertise to
assess the performance of the project? And, last, will your proposed
project effectively demonstrate that the applicant has adopted a
rigorous evaluation design?

In an effort to allow us to promote the accountability of projects
funded under this program, grantees are required to submit to the
secretary a final performance report that 1) summarizes project
progress, with respect to the specific, measurable goals, objectives and
outcomes proposed in the management plan; 2) summarizes project impact,
with respect to the achievement of participants, as measured by
standardized state or local assessments; 3) identifies barriers to
progress, as well as solutions; and 4) provides information about the
project's success in identifying funding to sustain operations after the
life of the grant.

Additionally, applicants must identify in their applications specific
goals and performance objectives that will be measured in their
projects. For more information regarding the performance measures, I
direct your attention to page 13 of the application package.

To be eligible for the award of a CTC grant, please be mindful that
there is a specific amount an applicant *must* request. For Fiscal Year
2004, the minimum award amount is \$250,000, and the maximum award
amount is \$500,000 for the 12-month project period. No grant
application will be considered for funding if it requests an award
outside the funding range of \$250,000--\$500,000.

Other points of interest include priorities for this Fiscal Year of 2004
and information on the notice. With respect to the priorities, Absolute
Priority Number One is applicable to non-novice applicants only. This
priority supports projects by eligible applicants that include a
partnership with a community-based organization on the one hand, and a
local educational agency, or a public school, or a private school on the
other hand. To meet this priority, an applicant must clearly identify
the partnering agencies and include a detailed plan of their working
relationship, including a project budget that reflects fund
disbursements to the various partnering agencies.

Absolute Priority Number Two is applicable to both non-novice and novice
applicants. Applicants in this program must state whether they are
proposing a local or state project. A local project must include one or
more CTC's. In addition, the project must be coordinated with one or
more local educational agencies, or a public school or a private school
that provides supplementary instruction in the core academic subjects of
Reading or Language Arts, or Mathematics to low-achieving high school
students. In addition, projects must serve students who are entering or
enrolled in grades 9--12 and who 1) have academic skills significantly
below grade level, or who have not attained proficiency on state
academic assessments, as mandates under Title 1 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act. Supplementary instruction may be delivered
before or after school, or at other times when school is not in session.
Instruction may also be provided while a school is in session, provided
that it increases the amount of time students receive instruction in
core academic subjects and does not require their removal from class.

Finally, the instructional strategies must be used, based on practices
that have proven effective for improving the academic performance of
low-achieving students. If these services are not provided directly by a
local educational agency or school, they must be provided in
coordination with a local educational agency or school. Each applicant
must demonstrate how their project's proposed academic approach is
aligned with the secondary school curricula of a school, or schools, in
which the students to be served by the grant are entering or enrolled.

As I prepare to conclude my presentation, I would like to share with you
that the notice of proposed priorities appeared in Federal Register on
February 2, 2004, inviting comments from the public. The period for
public comment closed on March 3, 2004. The notice of final priorities
appeared in the Federal Register on April 16, 2004, which includes the
Department's responses to the public comments received.

With that said, the competition opened on April 16, 2004, and the
deadline for submitting an application for the CTC Program for Fiscal
Year 2004 is Tuesday, June 1, 2004.

To access an application or learn more about the CTC Program, please
visit our web site at http://www.ed.gov and so forth.

As you begin to prepare or complete your application and you have
questions, questions can be directed, via e-mail, to
contact.centers@ed.gov. Are there any questions? Okay. \[background
noise\] No, it is not.

As we move forward, I just want to remind you of a couple of dates
coming up. It's our aim to make the award, again, the application closes
for submitting applications on the first of June. Applicants are
required to submit them, electronically, through the Department's web
site. The information is listed in the application package.

You should also be reminded that there are certain times when the
application control center will not be available \[background noise\]
The system goes down, or shuts down at certain periods for maintenance.
There is technical assistance that can be provided, Monday through
Friday, from 8AM to 6PM. And I also wanted just to emphasize that the
closing date, applications must be received on June 1, by 4:30 PM, and
that is Eastern time. That's very important.

**MAN:** I have a question.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Just one second. Ma'am?

**WOMAN:** I hear you keep saying, \[inaudible phrase\]. But on the
E-application, when you go in for information, it says funds may be used
to provide services and activities that use technology \[inaudible
phrase\] achievement, such as academic enrichment activities for
children, youth, \[inaudible phrase\] development, adult education. So
does it just have to be 9th through 12th, or can it be the whole
community youth *and* us?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Very good question.

**WOMAN:** Karen, can you summarize the questions so that we get them on
the tape?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Sure. The question was, in the notice there's an
indication that our emphasis is on serving students in grades 9 through
12. There's also a reference that activities can be developed or
instructed for, or delivered to individuals within the community. That
is accurate. Our emphasis on serving students in grades 9 through 12,
but we're also interested in serving members of the entire community.
Yes?

**WOMAN:** \[inaudible\] applications that are targeting to serve grades
9 through 12 \[inaudible phrase\] be given higher priority than those
applications are to serving the entire community?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** The question was whether or not applications will
receive a higher

Point value if they are only serving students in grades 9 through 12. Is
that correct? No. That's the absolute priority. There's no additional
point value that will be assessed. I'm sorry, sir. You had a question?

**MAN:** I had a couple \[overlapping voices\]. I understand it to you
as you mentioned \[inaudible\] points \[inaudible phrase\]. Does that
also apply to art work?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Does it apply to art work?

**MAN:** Yeah.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Well, the application is going to be a narrative, so
why would you be submitting art work?

**MAN:** You might want to show how you're organized, the structure of
your organization. A lot of ways you can use art \[inaudible phrase\].

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Okay. Organizational charts?

**MAN:** Well, it could be anything. \[overlapping voices\] It could be
a process diagram. \[overlapping voices\].

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Okay. Well, the standard is, yes, it must be in twelve
point.

**MAN:** Even for art?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Mm hm.

**MAN:** Okay. On your evaluation, \[inaudible phrase\] evaluations,
there's a statement. It's in the document, and you stated also that the
\[inaudible phrase\] effectively demonstrate that a applicant has
adopted a rigorous evaluation design. Can you kind of expand on that a
little bit? I believe I'm the only one who doesn't quite understand
\[inaudible phrase\].

**K. HOLLIDAY:** On our web site, and also through the technical
assistance provided by American Connects, there are certain strategies,
or certain evaluation methods that have been proven effective in the
past. So I would just direct you to utilize one of those.

**MAN:** I can understand \[inaudible phrase\] application strategies.
But I'm trying to see if evaluation effectively demonstrates the
*applicant* has adopted. So the applicant has adopted a rigorous
evaluation?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Correct. With the evaluation aspect of it, you are
required to have an independent evaluator. So based on that assessment
of the evaluator, they will be using some tactic, or some evaluation
framework that has been proven effective in the past.

**MAN:** Shows that the applicant has actually responded to your
strategy. Is that what it means?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Right.

**MAN:** Okay. All right. Thank you.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Any other questions? Yes.

**MAN:** I represent a school district which has schools in a, the grade
organization is not the typical organization of a 9--12 high school. We
have grades 7 through 9, junior highs. And the high school is grades 10
through 12. Are we required to provide the same services in the grade 9
in the junior high, as for the high school grades? Or can we provide
those services differently to 9^th^ grade?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** They would be the same. They would be the same because
there are students who are currently, or presently, enrolled in the
9^th^ grade. Correct?

**MAN:** Yes.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Okay.

**MAN:** Ninth grade students don't attend the high school. They attend
junior high school. Then they start high school in grade ten. And we're
planning to create a center, which is based in the high school. The
junior high schools are beyond walking distance, so we were planning to
provide services to the 9^th^ grade, but they would be provided in a
different manner than in the high school because there wouldn't be a
physical center in the junior highs. That would cost too much for the
budget to sustain.

We're one large high school and two junior highs. And the funding will
permit us to have one center in the high school, and then to provide
some services to the junior high students. But we could not set up three
centers. It would cost too much.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** That would be, depending on how you define that in your
application, you can certainly serve that one particular grade level, or
you can serve both of them. But for the reasons you just outlined, I
understand that there's a cost factor. So that would really be clearly
up to you whether you plan to serve one or both groups.

Yes?

**WOMAN:** Even if the \[inaudible phrase\] and in grades 9 through 12,
is there an obligation \[inaudible\] that any member of the community
would like to use the center \[overlapping voices\]?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Well, there is a reference there that you may serve the
community as a whole.

**WOMAN:** Right. But is that an obligation that if somebody comes in
and needs \[overlapping voices\]

**K. HOLLIDAY:** No, you're not required.

**WOMAN:** We're not required.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Correct. I'm sorry, the lady in the far back had a
question.

**WOMAN:** \[inaudible phrase\] cover sheet there's a little \[inaudible
phrase\] each \[inaudible phrase\] application. And you have only six
spaces. What if you have more partners. Do you fill out another cover
page?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Yes.

**WOMAN:** Okay, but any partnership that you mention in your narrative
should be listed?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Yes, absolutely.

**WOMAN:** Okay. Since this \[inaudible phrase\] a word document, are we
allowed to just extend the table?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** I don't think it will allow you to, so you will have to
use that additional sheet of paper. Okay? Yes?

**MAN:** The definition of community. We would like to serve some
Indians in the area, Arizona. Most of them, however, are attending
schools as a group, or as a community. If you can define your community
as an *Indian* community in that area, then we could serve them. But
some of them are located in high-income areas where all the rest of the
students are doing pretty well. Can we define our community *only*
geographically? Or can we define it by the population that we intend to
serve?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** The population you intend to serve. I'm not sure who
have their had up first. Yes?

**WOMAN:** Yes, I'm working with a faith-based, private school that
feeds into other faith-based middle schools and public schools. I'm
wondering if the program that we're designing will be a computer-type
programming? It sounds like we need to cater it towards our particular
faith-based organization, as well as the community, to service the
middle school and high school and adult ed. Is that what I'm hearing?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Correct.

**WOMAN:** Okay.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Yes. Sir? I'm sorry.

**MAN:** The definition of targeted population. Is this the same as the
Department of Labor guidelines for \[inaudible phrase\] and---

**K. HOLLIDAY:** That can be a source that you decide to use, or
statistics from the Census Bureau. Yes. Sir?

**MAN:** What's the duration of the grant? Is it just a 1-year grant?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** It's just a 1-year grant. I'm sorry, I neglected to say
that. Yes. Yes?

**WOMAN:** I came a little late. This is matching the grant, matching
funds, right?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Correct. Dollar-for-dollar match. For instance, if you
arrange a minimum, our range of awards if from \$250,000 to \$500,000.
If you make a request for \$300,000 from federal funds, you would have
to dollar-for-dollar, from *non-federal* funds, match that with
\$300,000.

**WOMAN:** What kind of documentation are you requesting from us to
prove that? \[inaudible phrase\]

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Letters of commitments. Your partnerships, and so
forth. Yes?

**WOMAN:** This is a follow-up to that question. I represent a
consortium of CEO's that are working with a school district. And some of
us will be using our own community technology centers, and some will be
using the school district's center. Can we count--as our match---the
value of the equipment that we already have purchased?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Yes. Yes.

**WOMAN:** Karen, can you repeat the questions so people in the back can
hear them and we can get them \[overlapping voices\]

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Okay, the question with the community-based
organization was whether or not using existing funds, or existing
equipment, can be included as part of your match. And the answer is yes.
I thought I saw another hand over hear. Yes?

**MAN:** If \[inaudible phrase\] priorities to \[inaudible phrase\]
local project must be one or more CTC's? And the state project there
must be two or more CTC's?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Yes. Correct.

**MAN:** Is that already *existing* CTC's, or is that *new* CTC's?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** It can be. It depends on whether you're applying for,
it can be either or. I'm sorry, the lady in the back had a question.

**WOMAN:** \[inaudible phrase\] relates to faith-based organizations.
And can that match be made with in-kind donations?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** In-kind donations? Yes.

**WOMAN:** Karen?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

**WOMAN:** We have a microphone in the center of the room, but you'd all
have to get up and go to it in order to ask the questions. And we'd all
like to support Karen fulfill her requirement \[inaudible phrase\]
repeats \[inaudible phrase\].

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Would you mind coming to the microphone, please?
\[laughter\] Thank you. Yes, I'm sorry. Thank you.

\[background conversation\]

**MAN:** There's just one quick question about the criteria from last
year's RFP. Is there any specific change \[inaudible phrase\]?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** No, we're using the similar priorities this year, as in
last year.

**WOMAN:** The question was are there any differences between last
year's RFP and this year's RFP, in terms of the requirement.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** There are no differences, in terms of the priorities.
However, the difference is in the *range* of awards. Last year, our
range of awards were from \$300,000--\$500,000. Recognizing that that
was difficult for some applicants, we lowered the range to
\$250,000--\$500,000. Yes? Could you all come to the microphone, please?
Thank you.

\[background conversation\]

**WOMAN:** My question is about the federal and direct cost rate for
university. We're a faith-based. We partner with the university. Is that
49.5 percent---which is our federal indirect cost rate---is that
acceptable for this grant included in the match?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Yes.

**WOMAN:** And the other question I have---'cause other people might
have the same question---in other grants that I've written, volunteer
time can be used as a match, 'cause it's worth so much an hour. The
federal government has figured out how much a volunteer is worth. Are we
allowed to use that in a match, if we can document volunteer time?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** If you can document it, okay?

**WOMAN:** Okay. And one other question. I'm sorry.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** I think if you can document that. You may need to send
me an e-mail. I may have to research that further, but, okay.

**WOMAN:** Okay. Okay. And then the other question was for the match,
what do you do if your grant period---reporting period and financial
year---does not coincide with your foundation? So say we're using a
foundation, and they fund from July 1, and you're working off October.
How do you do that when the funds are then broken down? Like half of, by
October, that's almost six months into our foundation year, so we have
used say half of the foundation grant. How do we use the *whole* grant
as a match? Or can we only use the amount that's left?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** That would be, you would just have to show evidence
that you have the match. How you use it over the year period is
\[overlapping voices\]

**WOMAN:** Okay. So we could still include it?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Exactly.

**WOMAN:** Okay. Thanks.

**WOMAN:** Any other questions?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Could you come, please. Only because it's being
recorded. Thank you!

**MAN:** I saw one of the prerequisites related to the VISTA Volunteers.
Is that a mandate that you have those persons on staff?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** No, it's not.

If you can make your way to the mike, that would be great.

**WOMAN:** I came late, so the question may have been answered. And I
haven't had a chance to really look at the full application. But the
curriculum that we're offering at the CTC, is it important that it be in
alignment with California State Standards?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Absolutely. Yes.

**WOMAN:** You mentioned that the RFP really didn't change from last
year to this year. The target population extends beyond the 9--12
grades. And then last year we were really focusing on academic literacy
advancement, or benchmarks. So what would be---and I'm probing your
insight on this---what would be the benchmarks that we should focus on,
in regards to that population that *is* out of school, that we may now
want to incorporate? Is that technology-oriented? Maybe their access to
technologies, use of technologies, computer technology training? And
does it *only* focus on academic literacy this year, as well as other
areas?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** The emphasis is on improving information technology, in
alignment with the state academic, in terms of supplementing
instructions of core subjects---Reading, Language Arts or Mathematics.
So however you define that will be up to you how you will describe that
in your application.

**WOMAN:** Even for those *out, beyond* the 9--12 grades?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Correct.

**WOMAN:** Can you explain the parameters of an existing CTC? What role
they might take in a new application?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** That would be up to you, what role that you would want
them to take, because \[overlapping voices\]

**WOMAN:** So for instance, a funded CTC who was going to participate in
a new application could actually be a sub-contractor?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Yeah, a joint applicant.

**WOMAN:** Okay. So there are no restrictions?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** No.

**WOMAN:** And if they are in two different zones, two different sites,
cities within California, for instance?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Two different sites? And they're filing jointly?

**WOMAN:** Well, my question regards replication of a program, an
existing program.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** I mean, you could make a joint application. That is
allowable. I don't know how well that would work, considering, I mean,
you have to really be truthful and figure out how well that will work.

**WOMAN:** Right. Okay, just thinking about the possibilities here.
Thank you.

**K. HOLLIDAY:** You're welcome.

At this time, Laura, I'd like to turn it over to you.

**LAURA BREEDEN:** My name is Laura Breeden, and I'm the Director of the
America Connects Consortium, which is housed at Education Development
Center, in Massachusetts. Since 2000, we've been working as technical
assistants, providers to the community technology centers grantees. We
also do some evaluation activities for the department, and some
research. We make grants, small grants to people in the field,
supplemental grants, and research grants. And some of you, I know, have
applied for those, and some of you may have received them in the past.
So we provide a range of services. I'm going to talk more about that at
the end of today's program, but I want to do a couple of housekeeping
things, first.

Obviously, we have a very full room. A bit more full than we were
anticipating, so I've asked the hotel to turn up the air conditioning.
They knew that the numbers were not exactly certain, 'cause we didn't
require registration. They will bring more sodas, and more cookies, and
fruit and all that sort of thing if we need them. And we will take a
break in about ten minutes, at which point you'll be hearing from David
Downey, after the break, from the Department's Office of Faith and
Community-Based Initiatives.

Did everybody sign in when they got here? Yes? So if you didn't sign in,
when we have our break, out on the table there are some sign in sheets.
We also have some handouts for you. There's a page of resources. There's
a FACT Sheet on the grant program. There's an agenda for today's
meeting.

For those of you who came in later, the reason that there's all this AV
equipment in the room is that this entire session is being tapes for Web
Casting. So on May 7, it will be up on the World Wide Web, and we'll
make sure that everyone has the web address. The PowerPoint slides,
resource information, video of this session, and a transcript of the
remarks here will all be available. So if you didn't get everything down
in your notes, don't worry about it because we are going to make that
available to you, as the department has requested.

If you have any concerns about appearing, briefly, in the video of this
Web Cast, you should see me during the break and let me know that. I
don't think the stakes are too high, here. It's not American Idol or
anything like that. Fear Factor. There may be a little Fear Factor in
here, but if you do have any concerns about that, please come and see
me, and we can talk about it.

This is a great opportunity for you to sort of get to know who's in the
room. So I'm going to ask you---and this is a little bit aerobic, and I
know it's warm in here, so sort of get ready---if you have had a grant
from this program *before*, that is, you've had an active grant in the
past five years, or you have one now, please stand up. Okay. Those are
the old-timers. You might want to check with them during the break.
Okay, old-timers sit down.

If you're a novice organization, meaning you've never had a grant from
this program, you haven't been a sub-contractor in a grant from this
program, and you haven't had a discretionary federal grant in the last
five years, stand up. All right! Look at those novices. Now, all of you
probably saw somebody who is more experienced stand up, right? So you
can go talk to them during the break.

Okay, if you're from California. Well, California is more than one
state, right? I lived here for five years, so I've heard all the jokes.
It's at least two states, and maybe more. Northern California. And I'm
not going to define that. You can define that for yourselves, 'cause
this is California. If you're from Northern California, stand up. See?
They won't even *come* to Los Angeles. All right. If you're from the
Central Valley or Southern California, stand up. Great! Okay. Now, I
happen to know that there's someone in the room from Ohio. Would that
person please stand up? Gary. Anybody come from farther away than Ohio?
Where'd you come from? All right! \[laughter\] How dedicated is that?
\[background conversation\] Okay, here's someone, where did you leave
from at six this morning? From Dallas? I know we have Oklahoma. Nevada.
Other states? Arizona. Did I hear New Orleans? Oregon! Okay, so this is
a very dedicated crowd. I know you have a lot of interests in common. It
would take, I think, kind of a long time for us to say all of the names
and where you're from, so I think we'll forego that. But I hope you will
take an opportunity during the break to talk to some of the people who
are here, because there is a lot of good experience, and good ideas in
the room.

Are there any questions? We'll break a little bit early so we can work
on some of the logistical things. We're also going to get a live
Internet connection in here. Any questions before we break? \[24.8\] No
questions? Yes? One question.

**MAN:** The \[inaudible phrase\]

**L. BREEDEN:** Yes.

**MAN:** \[inaudible phrase\] give us \[inaudible phrase\]

**L. BREEDEN:** We don't have the URL yet, but we will. Okay? And we
have your e-mail addresses, right? When you signed in, you gave us your
e-mail addresses, so we'll be sure that you get that. Okay. So why don't
we take a 15-minute break now, and have some refreshments, and come back
here a little after two o'clock. Thank you.

\[background conversation\]

\[conference break\]

**DAVID DOWNEY:** Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Good afternoon.
We're going to start up in just a couple of minutes. So if you can get
to your seats, that would be greatly appreciated. We're going to start
in just a couple of minutes. We're going to go for another 30-second
warning, so if you could just get back to your seats, we're going to
start back up to make sure we maximize our time. I've got about an hour
for my portion, and we'll certainly do our best to answer your
questions. I will promise to also make sure to give some information. So
if you have questions after today when you get back to your home or
office, feel free to contact me or Karen Holliday to help you on your
way here.

Yes, there are plenty of seats up here near the front rows, so feel free
to grab one of those if you'd like. Three up here in the front. Two up
here. A couple more in the front row.

**D. DOWNEY:** Ladies and gentlemen, my name is David Downey. I'm with
the U.S. Department of Education's Grants, Policy, and Oversight staff.
I'm on special assignment as the Associate Director of Training and
Development for the department's Center for Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives. That lengthy explanation of my title is just a way of
saying that my job is to go across the country and to speak to
perspective applicants, such as yourselves, about how to navigate the
grants process, and how to put together a quality grant proposal. Now, I
use the words 'quality grant proposal' over 'winning grant proposal' for
a very important reason. I know we saw a lot of hands go up about those
in the audience here that are *novice* applicants. And I know for those
that will be watching this Web Cast, we'll have *many* individuals who
are watching that are novice, as well. This presentation is designed to
assist both the experienced grantee *and* the novice applicant in
navigating the process, and putting together a quality proposal.

The reason, again, I say that it is a *quality* grant proposal, and not,
necessarily, a winning grant proposal, is because you need to know the
realities of the grants process. It's very competitive. Tenths of a
point will separate those that are successful in receiving a grant
application against those that are *unsuccessful* and will have to wait
another year or so to reapply.

Some of those, many of those applicants that are unsuccessful have
wonderful programs, have *great* applications, have *great* proposals
put together. But with only a limited number of dollars, there are only
so many projects that we're going to be able to fund.

Now, this year Karen has already informed us 18--25 grants will be made
this year. Eighteen to 25, a minimum award amount \$250,000, maximum
\$500,000, dollar-for-dollar match. Twenty-five page limit on the
narrative. Five page limit on the budget narrative. Fifteen pages for
the appendices.

What I want to share with you today are some specific tips on the look
of your applications, things that you should keep in mind as you're
putting these applications together. And some *specific* examples and
comments to get you going *on* the selection criteria itself.

The first thing I'd like to share with you, ladies and gentlemen, is
that *your* applications are really a 25-page letter to the peer
reviewers, the grant reviewers. Now, these will be 3 to 5 individuals,
from all across the country, that we have put into these panels to
review anywhere between 8 to 15 grants in about a week's period of time.
This is *your* 25-page letter to *those* individuals to inform them, but
also to persuade them that if they could only fund one application, only
one, that it is *yours* that they should fund. That is what we want you
to say to these folks. Imagine yourself in the position of an attorney,
giving his or her closing remarks to a jury. It is that same type of
*persuasiveness* that I want you to bring to the table here.

These applications, these letters to the reviewers, need to have that
kind of feel to them. You're going to be persuading folks, not through
emotion, or rhetoric---which is great for a *public* setting---but
through facts and a clear vision of what you want your community
technology center grants to look like at the *beginning* of this
12-month grant period to the *end* of this 12-month grant period. We
have twelve months to make a significant, meaningful impact in the lives
of the target population, *predominantly,* these 9^th^ through 12^th^
grade students. So I want you, as we talk about this being a letter, as
I mentioned, this is sort of your way to speak to a jury because these
are the primary individuals who are going to determine whether or not
you *are* successful in funding.

We need to also look at your applications, as a road map, as a monetary
road map from the beginning of your grants to the end of the grant
project. Well, what do you mean this should look like a road map? Well,
it should read just like a road map. It should be clear, concise, and
detailed.

If you were to get in your cars---and for those of you who are watching
this Web Cast, it's approximately two o'clock in the afternoon here, so
we're just about right before rush hour, so if you're going to get in
your cars, this is the time to do it if you're going to get onto the
highways here---you get in your cars, and you're going to drive from Los
Angeles. I think we said we've got some folks here in the audience that
are from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You're going to make a nice
cross-country road trip. L. A. to Pittsburgh. Now, in this journey, if
the road sign said you were miscellaneous miles away from the next exit
that you need to take, or miscellaneous miles away from the destination,
how helpful would the highway system be? Not helpful at all. Not helpful
at all. And think of yourself, too, you're driving along, and you're on
this little trip, and you start to notice that the gas gauge starts to
go down to the E, and you know that you need to get gas, and you're
miscellaneous miles from the next gas station. What kind of a sense
would that give you? A sense of anxiety, maybe? Maybe a sense of stress,
getting stranded out on the highways? Put yourself, then, in the
point-of-view of the reviewer, who is looking at an application looking
for a total project of, potentially, a million dollars---\$250,000 from
the federal, \$250,000 you're going to be bringing to the table in cash,
equipment, supplies, facilities---and they don't see how you can get
from your starting point to your destination. You've raised more
questions than you've answered. Your plan of attack has been vague.
Clarity. Conciseness. We have 25 pages to show them where we're starting
from, and where we're going to be in this 12-month period of time. And
it's that kind of specific, attention to detail that we're looking for.
You're taking them by the hand, and you're taking them on this journey
with you of how you're going to meet the needs in your community.

Now, with that, let's look *specifically,* then, at the selection
criteria. Now, regardless of whether or not you're going to be applying
for Priority 1 or Priority 2---the Priority 2 focusing on the *novice*
candidates---the selection criteria is the same. We see a breakdown.
Need for the project, which is worth ten points. The quality of the
project's design, which is worth 35 points. The quality of the
management plan, which is, I believe, worth 15 points. The adequacy of
resources and the evaluation, each worth 20 points. And I should take a
moment right now, ladies and gentlemen, to say that as your applications
are going to be a road map on your journey of implementing this grant,
your road map for the purposes of applying for the CTC program will be
the application package, the Federal Register Announcement that was
published on April 16 in the Federal Register. So one of the first
things you want to do is---if you don't already have it---make sure that
you access that from the CTC web site.

And I should say to those that are watching on the Web Cast, especially,
and to you in the audience, that you can access the application notice
and sample proposals from the Department of Education's Center for
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at ed.gov/faithandcommunity, faith
and community all spelled out as the one word. But the application
package is going to serve as *your* road map, through the completion of
these grants. And so you *must* look at that very carefully. Karen has
given a very wonderful overview as to the specifics that you need to
address. But *read* that, mark that up, highlight that so you know
exactly all the different pieces that you *have* to include. And listen
closely to the specific points. Just as a road map is going to give you
guidance, the application package is giving you guidance. It's giving
you specific tips as to make sure what you address and what you include
in your narratives and through as an entire application package.

Let's first look at the needs section, and let's think about what we
need to do. And, again, show of hands to those of you who are current
grantees. Raise your hand if you're a current grantee. So we have a
handful of those folks in the room who've done this before.

When we look at the Needs statement, we look at the criteria for the
population. It's 10 points. Every point, every tenth of a point is
crucial. And the Needs statements really sets the tone. If you can't
convince the reviewers that you have a need, why do you need a grant?
You could have a wonderful plan, have a wonderful evaluation tool. But
if you don't have a *need* that must be addressed, then you've really
not put yourself in a good position to compete. This sets the tone. And
in my opinion, while every point matters, your applications are going to
be won or lost, right here, in this particular category. Again, if you
can't show the need, you're not going to be successful. With that said,
what do we need to do? For those watching the Web Cast, and especially
for those of you who are novice here and are new to this process, we
need to do a Needs Assessment of our community. We need to look and see,
specifically, we need to be able to look and see the number of students
that would be eligible to receive the project services.

We're looking at 9^th^ through 12^th^ grade students, and the first
point we notice that the students that are served from low-income
families. So we need to look and see what statistics that we can find
which show us that these students are from low-income families. One of
the first places to look for, you're working in Priority 1, as we've
heard, you have to have a very formal partnership with the local
education agencies, or the private schools or what have you. The schools
in such a partnership---or if you're just working closely with them as a
Priority 2 would show---could give you some guidance as to the number of
students that are on the reduced-lunch program. That's one starting
point. So that's one way to be able to help us in determining the
low-income students.

Little bit of a tricky problem here, especially with the 9^th^ through
12^th^ grade high school students. And I hear this, I know this because
I speak to folks out there who are working with this population,
particularly, the high-school-age students. And they say at that grade
level, there starts to be some peer pressure, internally, to not let
people know that you're on the reduced-lunch program. So students that
would be eligible to *receive* this are not taking advantage of this
opportunity because of the negative kind of view that they're getting.
And, in short, ladies and gentlemen, they say it's not cool to be on
this. So while the statistics are there, they're not, necessarily, as
conclusive as we'd like them to be. So that's one thing to note. But you
should, still, look to see what kind of statistics you have, based on
what the school's can share with you.

The next source that I would encourage you to look for is through the
U.S. Census Bureau. The American Fact Finder. That's www.census.gov. And
the American Fact Finder is a wonderful tool that'll give you specific
statistics on population, on income, on levels of education, on
disabilities, primary languages that are spoken in the community, down
to the zip codes. Down to the zip codes to help you.

And, especially, in areas where you've got an area, let's just say
they're very blessed, they're very fortunate, they're doing well,
financially. Certain areas are going to be, those good numbers could
skew the very serious element, the serious pockets of need in a
community. The Census Bureau has teams all across the country, in
various regions, that are here, ready, and willing to assist you in
deciphering what these statistics mean so that to bring meaning to them.

And I want to point something out, too. It's not just enough just to
take the statistics, you've got'em and take them and phumph! shoop! and
then put'em into the application. We've got to *weave* them into the
narrative. We've got to make these figures come to life. Don't just use
emotion and rhetoric when we describe the Needs Statements. That's not
enough. And if you point to just one or two folks, or you see some
language and you think 'well, you know, this is a great way if I was
making a speech and asking for contributions from the community', or
making a pitch to a foundation, you know, where you'd say, you know,
'you can hear the anguish of the students crying in the night because of
the lack of opportunities.' That might sound really good in a setting
like this. It's not going to be effective with the reviewers.

Hard, specific statistics. They're looking for that. And we're training
them, when we get them, to look at stats because someone who has some
very flowery language and emotion, and it pulls at your heartstrings.
But if it doesn't give us facts and figures, they're not going to be
competitive. We've got to bring those statistics to life and make
meaning, show that there's a meaning in that. And if you're living in a
population where there are those that are very blessed, and they have
good opportunities, and there still is a great *pocket* of need, say
that. Show that when you say, 'when you look at our, on average,
initially, the statistics would say that, you know, we're an area that
*doesn't* have a great need. **BUT** when you look at specific areas
here, when you can see the increase, let's say an increase in the number
of limited-English-proficient speakers in the community. When you can
look at specific areas where their unemployment rate is higher in
comparison to others in the community, then you can bring those figures
to life. If at any time you think that the figures are not going to be
persuasive, take a moment as if you're saying to the reviewers, 'I know
it might not look as bad as some areas, but that's because of those that
are blessed. We've got some real problems here when you look at it and
hear those statistics that would back that up.' Take a moment and speak
to them in that voice, and be convincing and persuasive.

There's a lot of factors that you're competing against. We're only
looking at 18 to 25 successful applications that are going to be funded.
And I think we said in this room alone, for those of you watching on the
Web Cast, we have probably close to 100 people right here. So we'd have
all of'em, I mean, almost to say 'sorry, it's too late 'cause we've got
all our grantees.' And I say that so that you know just how competitive
this is. And I don't want that to discourage you. You need to look and
see what is in *your* best interest, *your* organization, how best to
spend *your* time and efforts and resources in leveraging these federal
dollars. But don't be discouraged by the competitiveness. Let that
motivate you to bring out your best. It's going to take your best
effort. Your goal is 100 points. Someone might say that on a foundation
grant or maybe some other type of grant, you could get a grant and score
a 70. Your goal is 100 points here. A hundred. And that's what you want
to shoot for. I don't know what the cut-off score will be. No one does
because we haven't even had the competition finalized, yet. We don't
have the applications in hand. There's been no review. But your goal is
100. And what are you saying to the reviewers? You're saying that *your*
application, more so than any others, should be funded.

We also need to make sure that we're addressing the high schools that
have a great need, in terms of meeting those states' content standards.
One of the things we need to do an assessment and compare *your* target
area to the other schools in your state, and to see how competitive and
how great the need is in that community, compared to everywhere else.
You need to look and see about that.

You also need to start---as you're doing this Needs Assessment---looking
to see what the biggest issues are, whether it is the Reading, the
Language Arts---which I would include---Public Speaking and Writing and
various things like that, as *well* as the Mathematics.

**\[END OF SIDE A\]**

**D. DOWNEY:** ...assessment for the community. Let's look and see what
the high schools are that are of greatest need. And from there, start to
really put together your Needs Statements.

Now I should also point out, too, even though Priority 2, which is for
the novices, where we're talking about not so much as a formal
partnership, but where the services are going to be closely aligned, and
coordinated with the schools---I think that's the language that's coming
from the application package---it's a great idea, even with that to look
and see how you would put together a formal partnership. Depending on
how your efforts are coordinated---the expectations and the things that
they're asking in Priority 1 about clear role of responsibilities and
expectations for who does what, and how dollars are distributed, it's a
good practice---any kind of partnership you're going to have---to put
those kind of things in writing. And I say this, especially, to the
novice. Not only for this competition, but for any other they're looking
for. You need to have that clearly defined so as once you *are*
successful---and as tough as a process it is, we want you to feel like
it's not a matter of *if* but *when*---when you are successful,
everyone's going to have a clear understanding of what they need to do
when the grant comes so you can get started and be ready to go. It's
*essential* that you have those expectations, and roles and
responsibilities clearly defined. One of the worst things you can do is
get into a partnership and says, 'Yeah, I'm for this. And I'll do this,
and I'll do that, and we'll get all the specifics. We'll agree to that
later.' And then there starts to become some tension and problems. Have
all of that worked out *right now.* Right now to do that.

Let's move onto the next portion of the Needs Statement.

We want make sure that we're looking to serve students who have the
greatest need for the supplementary instruction for additional work in
the core curriculum. So working with the schools, whether it's in a
formal partnership where you're closely aligned, you want to make sure
that you're working with them to *identify* those students greatest at
risk, and look to see about addressing their needs. They've got the
services. They're in the schools. They've got the counselors. They've
got teachers who are working with them, and they can help kind of point
you to the students who are greatest at risk.

Now, you might say, 'Well, we've got a huge need here. How many students
can we serve?' Well, how big is your vision? Are you going to have just
a local or a state project? You're going to need to make those
determinations. And based on that, that's going to kind of help you
determine how many students you can serve. We want you to serve as many
as you *can,* but we need to make sure that we're able to have a
*meaningful* impact in their educational improvement. You can't serve
everybody, more than likely. If you've got a, you know, unfortunately,
and there are some schools with such a need, you could, potentially,
every high school student could be of need. But you're not going to be
able to work with all of them, because if you did, the services would be
*so* watered down, it's not going to be effective. So you need to look
at *what* you can do.

There are some sample proposals that you can look at and kind of get an
idea as to what others have done before. Maybe if you talk to a few of
those that are experienced grantees---and this more, not so much for the
Web Cast folks, but for those in the live audience---just kind of corner
them and ask them, 'well, how many students are you serving? And how
many staff do you have?' And that's an important issue. We're kind of
going into some of the other selection criteria. We're going to go. But
you *need* to have a good balance, and you can't have a project that
looks to try and do *too* much because it's going to get watered down,
and you're not going to be effective. So you need to look and see about
what you can do. And look at those sample proposals and see what's been
doing.

Now, we know, based on those in attendance at this session, we have a
handful of current grantees. And we have a large number of folks that
are looking into applying for this grant as a novice, or just not a
grantee in this program, a great number of them.

How many of you though, in the room---and certainly asking this question
to you who may be watching this via the Web Cast---how many of you have
some type of tutoring service, or a program that provides access to
technology? Raise your hands if you've got something like that, already.
So a lot of you already are doing some things. Let me tell you
something. The majority of you are novices, based on what you're saying
the federal grants process. But you're not a novice, maybe in the needs
of your community. You're not novice in looking to put out a hand to
help people, help them up and give them an opportunity to succeed.
Remember that. Gain some confidence on the fact of what you *are* doing.
Let's build on that.

Let me say something else, too. It's emphasized in the language in the
application package. But we did a workshop similar to this, in this
area, a few months ago. We talked about specifics. I asked people, 'What
are some sample goals or objectives you would like?' And some folks
said, 'Well, one of the biggest things is just the need in the
community's access.' Just putting the computer technology in the
environment. Access alone is not enough. Access alone is not enough.
You've got to do more. It's not enough just to put the computers in the
rooms. You've got to make sure that we're using these as a meaningful
tool. We're working, primarily, with the 9^th^ through 12^th^ grade
students. I think it's point four in the Needs Statements, talking about
the use for these materials as a tool for the general community. The
majority of everything has to be focused on the high school students.
But, regardless, *access* to the technology is not enough. It's a great
starting point. It's the baseline. But if that's all you want to do,
you're not going to be successful. You're not going to be successful to
this.

Let's move on to the quality of the project design. Now this section
we've noted is worth 35 points. It is clearly the most important
category of all the categories of the selection criteria. And here is
where we really need you to put some time and effort into outlining what
you want to do. Most of you raised your hands when I said, 'How many of
you have some kind of tutoring service, or access to technology?' We're
looking for you to combine the two, if you haven't done that, already.
And we're really looking at you to have a strong plan of attack. We're
running you to convey to the reviewers that you've got a clear plan of
where you're starting from, and where you're going to finish in a
12-month period. And at 12 months is very important.

Some of our grants are 3 to 5 years. We have 12 months to be able to
make a *meaningful* difference in the lives of these students. And in
those 12 months, we're going to have to have specific goals and
objectives to address. Now, make sure here we're looking provide
instructional services that'll be of sufficient size and scope,
intensity to improve the academic performance of the participating
students. Improvement in the GPAs is critical. So part of your project
design, if you haven't already done something like this---and I'll say
those to you who raised your hands---it's not enough just to do the job.
It's not enough just to do it. We have to document it. We have to
document our effectiveness. We have to document our methods. We have to
be able to show that we know what's been done before across the country
and what has been successful. And we're going to *implement* that into
*our* activities in meeting the needs of this community. So we've done a
thorough Needs Statement. We know what the schools are that have the
needs. We know the students that have the need. We know what those needs
are, academically. We know all that, and we're making a plan to address
that need. It's got to address the need. If you've got a great plan but
it doesn't meet the need, if it's not connected, it's not going to be
successful. So we need to make sure we've got the right instructional
strategies, we've got the right plan. We need to look and incorporate
strategies, notes that have proven effective for improving the academic
performance of low-achieving students. And on a personal note, let's get
in a position where in the end of the 12-month grant cycle here where we
can say, 'We don't have low-achieving students. We've got students who
need some more work, but they're not low-achieving.' We need to be able
to show a *documented* improvement in their performance. Some aspects of
that is going to building their self-esteem and character, things we
can't measure. We've *got* to make sure that we're focusing on improving
those numbers.

Implement the strategies in recruiting and training the students for the
life of this project. It's important for us to make sure that we've got
a plan for bringing them in. Certainly, the connection with the schools
is *absolutely* critical. And we've got the retention strategies. We've
got to find a way to make this project meaningful to them. Now I said
'meaningful,' not fun. But don't be afraid to find ways to make a
connection and get them to *like* learning. If we can increase the joy
of learning, we've got a better chance of having some successful
participants. So we're looking for the strategies that work. We need to
include and incorporate a retention and recruiting strategy of these
participants. We need to make sure of that. Let's go to the next slide
please.

We need to make sure, now this is also something, it should be
especially with the academic component, and you can get a lot of this
done as you're doing your Needs Assessment. Your projects have to be
closely aligned to the curriculum that the schools have implemented. So
it doesn't need to be just a repeat, but it needs to be closely aligned
with it. and for the purpose of making sure that we can address their
needs and help these students improve their scores on the state
standardized test. That we're connected with that so that we're working
in tandem with the teachers so that we can demonstrate this improvement.

Your projects are going to be about a lot more than numbers. We're
really talking about starting, planting a seed because I don't think you
can, we can't work miracles overnight. It's only 12 months, but we're
planting a seed that's going to grow into something special in this
12-month period. But we *need* to be able to show that there is an
improvement in the academic achievement core curriculum.

We need pre- and post-tests. And we're going to talk a little bit about
the evaluation now, as well as the end, because it's important that you
make sure that you are *regularly* reviewing and evaluating the student
performance, that you've got a way to measure that. Even if we're
waiting for the test to come back and so forth, you need to make sure
you've got some way of---I would say, this is a 12-month grant, I keep
saying that because it's going to go by in a heartbeat, and we've got a
lot to do in 12 months. It goes by quickly.

We need to make sure, that I'd say, before the grading periods, when I
was in school, we received our report cards every nine weeks. So I'm
thinking you're going to need to have something quicker than that. I
would say probably every four weeks. Maybe on a monthly basis. Take some
time and evaluate just where you are, and based on that, where are you,
in terms of being, are you near your goals and objectives? Are you
meeting those, based on that right now by the end of the 12-month
period? Regular evaluations of the performance. And I'll say this now,
too, since I'm mentioning this, don't be afraid to get some participant
feedback. Are *you* getting what you need out of this project? Are *you*
getting what you need from this? Make sure you address that. Include
that in here.

And also provide high-quality sustained and intensive professional
development for all of your staff. When you break down the No Child Left
Behind legislation, which, very honestly, I will say is the most noble
and probably most challenging that this nation has established for
itself as a goal since we put a man on the moon. And I say it with that
kind of expectations. It's even *more* important than that because we're
not just wanting to leave this earth and plant a flag on another
heavenly body, we're wanting---in this case, I'll speak to it---we're
wanting 9^th^ graders to read at a 9^th^ grade level. We're wanting
12^th^ graders to do their math at a 12^th^ grade level. ALL students.
ALL students. Never in the history of humanity has a nation said that
*all* of our children, *all* of our students, *all* of our citizens
should have that kind of educational strength. It's a challenging task.
You've got a lot of challenges ahead of you. You know, people sometimes
they say grants are free money. It's not free. It is not free at all.
You work hard to get them. And as Secretary Page spoke to some folks in
Pittsburgh, then the hard work *really* begins! So it's a lot of work.
But it is such a noble goal to strive for. And in effort of that, the
academic component improving the performance of the students, we're
going to focus on that.

But another real piece of this that's regularly coming back from the No
Child Left Behind legislation is the continued support and growth of our
educators. Everyone that is working on these programs needs to have a
regular opportunity to grow, professionally, to better work with these
students. We need to help them, make them aware of the training tips,
the methods of instruction, the new software, the new materials that are
out there so *they* can do their job to the best of their ability. So
having some type, and this would be bringing in the staff, and maybe,
you know, again, maybe on a monthly, or every two months, having some of
those kind of professional development opportunities. I say those as
examples, monthly, or every two months. Incorporate into your projects
how you want to do this. But *know* that it's important to show the
readers that we've got opportunities to make our staff grow,
professionally, and be able to perform their jobs better as we go along.

Let's go to the next slide. Quality of the management plan. This is
worth 15 points. We'll note the bullets here. But let me tell you one of
the things that I think you should do. And when we look at applications,
when we look at grant applications, we know that you've got 25 pages, in
this particular instance, to write your narrative. Sometimes a picture
will convey a message in a more, in a quicker way, in a stronger way
than a paragraph, or two paragraphs, will. Management plan. One of the
things that we recommend all of you to include with your management plan
is, along with a narrative that could explain some components, you want
to put together a table. You want to put together a table. And on that
table, and I'm thinking here from the left-hand side, you want to list
your goals. List your goals. List the objectives that go for each of
those goals. Under that, or to the side of it as we're going through,
you want to list the activities. You're going to need to list the
activities that you are going to implement that's going to lead to you
meeting your goals and objectives. And remember, your goals and
objectives must go back to addressing the need. Everything goes back to
that. You're going to list out the activities for the goals and
objectives. You're going to list out the staff person, the position
that's responsible. If you don't have the person, that's okay. Go by job
title, and it'll be clearer if you put, you know, Jim, or Sue, or
whoever. Make sure it's the specific position title identify.

You want to have a timeframe for when these goals and objectives are
going to be accomplished. Some will be ongoing, when these activities
will be continued. And some of these will be ongoing trainings, and so
forth. But here you've got an opportunity to plan out your grant from
the first day of the first month, to the last day of the last month of
this 12-month grant. What are you going to do during that lifetime? In
the management plan, putting it into a table is going to be very
helpful. And, again, the specific notes here outline the specific
measurable goals, objectives. Make sure that you're assigning the
responsibilities to the specific individuals, and provide timelines for
the accomplishment. You put together that good table, you're addressing
that 15 points on the management plan. Make sure that it's *realistic,*
but also make sure that you've thought it out for the 12-month period. I
saw a hand up. We'll take a question real quick. Yes, ma'am?

**WOMAN:** As a grant reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education,
OJJDP, I've learned that a lot of people do not know how to write
specific, measurable goals, or specific, measurable objectives in the
general goals.

**D. DOWNEY:** That's a very good point. And for those who heard this,
then it's very important for you. The question was, as a
reviewer---someone who's been a reviewer, and thank you for your service
in this role---we find that people, a weakness or a shortcoming in their
applications is that people don't write effective *goals* or
*objectives.* And that's one of the things that I would encourage you to
look at one, through the sample proposals---I'd certainly encourage you
to look there. But also make sure that you also look at some different
resources that would help you along. We have a resource handout of
different materials and so forth that can help you. I think we've noted
this for some other sites. We'll make sure to include this for you, as
well, through NASA. Actually, they have a great document that talks
about writing out goals and objectives.

Goals and objectives---the goals need to be big. Big picture. The
objectives need to be very specific things that are *measurable*.
Everything has to be measurable on an annual basis. They have to be
measurable, so we have to have some thresh holds that we're meeting,
some percentages that we're meeting. And, again, we need to be able to,
periodically, evaluate this. We can't end 'til the end of the 12 months
to see how successful we've been. And we need to make sure that they are
ambitious, but attainable. That is truly the tightrope to walk. You want
to raise the bar high for yourself, but you don't want to push it so far
out that you can't possibly meet it. You also want to make sure that
it's realistic. You don't want to paint yourself into a corner, and you
don't want to convey to the reviewers that your goals or objectives are
not really worthy of this application, or not worthy of the competition
to be funded, I should say.

I'd also say that you need to make sure that they are appropriate,
again, for the need that you've identified, and that if, in fact, you
think that, you know, you've got an area that has great need, and you
don't think that the numbers are going to look, are really that high.
Let's say you're going to be working with 100 students, 100
participants, 80 of your high school students are at an elementary
school grade level. What can you do, even though you're going to have
intensive effort, what can you do with these students to raise their
grade levels at the appropriate amount of time? You need to look and see
what percentages, you know, where they're starting. And if we're talking
about some small improvements, 40 percent will improve or something like
that, don't be discouraged by it because if that's ambitious for your
area based on the needs and the problems that the students have had,
it's going to be okay.

Now, let me ask you, ma'am, because the statement came from someone who
*has* experience as a reviewer. Along with what I've said, do you have
some guidance or some suggestions that could be of help to everyone? And
as you say this, I'll quickly repeat that so that we capture that for
the Web Cast and the audience.

**WOMAN:** Actually, what I was pointing out is the fact that they do
not specify their objectives. They're not specific, like you said. They
don't have any percentage \[targets\], or any particular grade level
goal or whatever it is that they're going to try to attain, and that's
very important.

**D. DOWNEY:** So the important thing's in making sure that I've
captured what you said for everyone is that they need to be specific, we
need to look at percentages of an area that we're going to strive for,
we need to measure it with timetables, as I've said, and just making
sure that we show that there's a connection with the need, then.

**WOMAN:** And sometimes you can even show the percentage of students in
the group that show that amount of increase, because you and I know that
all students are not going to show an increase. They may stay the same,
so you might say 80 percent of my students will improve.

**D. DOWNEY:** Right. And so knowing that not 100 percent of your
students. And remember this, 100 percent, well that's our goal, and
that's what we want to strive for. When you're writing these grants, you
want to shoot for that. But when you're writing your grants, you want to
set a bar a little lower than that, but is still ambitious. So let's
say, for example---and the reviewer noted---let's say, 80 percent of the
participants will improve their GPA by X, or 80 percent will get into
good academic standing, and we'll have defined what 'good academic
standing' is. In most cases, it's like a 2.0 or something, and to know
in the 12 months' time. Thank you very much for your comments.

We mentioned this about the timelines. We've included that. The
management plan requires appropriate and adequate time commitments of
the project director and other key personnel. So also in the management
plan, we're needing to make sure that we've designated the time and
effort that it's going to take for the different staff positions. And
you need to look, depending on the number of students you're serving,
whether you're going to have a local or a state project, you could have
a huge staff. I say huge, you could have maybe 15 or 20 people that
could be working on this full-time or part-time. Let's think of some
positions that you might need. And, again, 15 is just an example. You
could have fewer than that, you could have more than that. It just
depends on how you've set this up. You'll need a project director.
You're going to need a number of tutors. Counselors. You're going to
need someone to serve. If you're going to have multiple sites, you'll
probably need a project director assistant, or an acting kind of team
leader at different sites. You're going to need someone who's going to
be a support person to maybe kind of run the office, an office manager.
You're going to have to have---even if this is someone that is not,
necessarily, on the grant, but could be working for the interest of the
grant---someone in the accounting or business office that is going to be
processing your expenditures, and the salaries and so forth. But you
need to make sure that you've got the appropriate time and effort, the
appropriate qualifications for the individuals to do this.

Now, there was a question, earlier, that came up about volunteers and
the match. And you want to look if you have some questions about how to
measure that for the match, then I would say, 'what is the person
doing?' If they're a technology expert and they're working on the grant,
and maybe they're not receiving any money, but they have an expertise in
running a computer lab, then we can look and see what that kind of a
salary would do on an hourly basis in that particular area. And I should
point out, especially for novice, a great way to put together, one of
the things I think will be *essential* for you in putting together a
great proposal is to have an understand it's really going to take. It's
not going to be pie in the sky if you knew how much money we're really
looking at here. And even though there's a lot of money that you're
going to have to bring to the table because of the dollar-for-dollar
match, there's a lot of dollars and in-kind that you're going to have
access to, which is wonderful. But look and see. One of the best ways to
measure the effectiveness or the actual cost if you don't know, the
Department of Labor's web site has salaries based on positions for
different regions in the country. The average salary of a counselor
based on experience and background and so forth in California, could be
very different from someone in Ohio, or New York, or maybe Alaska, where
there is a significantly smaller population, and the demand for that
level of expertise could be higher. So you need to look and see where
that would go, and definitely look at the Department of Labor's web site
for statistics on this. Yes, ma'am?

**WOMAN:** I would also recommend a public relations person, and also
thinking about insurance for the \[inaudible\]

**D. DOWNEY:** Those are two very good points. Make sure that everyone
heard:A public relations person, and a public relations \[inaudible\] is
someone who can get the word out in the community as part of your
recruiting plan. I would think that's a very good idea. You *definitely*
need to find a way to get the word out, and part of your recruiting or
marketing strategy---we don't use the term 'marketing' in the
application package, but that's something that could be helpful. And you
note the issue of insurance, which is something that we'll need to look
at, as well, which, depending on the type of organization you are, might
even be in the indirect cost. I don't know, but we'd have to look at
that. Question or a comment in the back?

**WOMAN:** Another factor that is really important is the cost of
performing background checks on volunteers working with children. In our
state, we have requirements that we screen people who volunteer. And it
really does add up.

**D. DOWNEY:** That's a very good point here. The cost of the clearances
\[inaudible phrase\] background checks for the individuals that are
going to be working with students. And if you're brand new to this, or
you've just been working with folks, and you've got your heart in the
right place and you want to meet a need in the community, and you're
thinking, well, these volunteers, they've got their hearts in the right
place, you're working with students. You're working with minors. We have
to make sure that no harm comes to them, so the background checks and a
serious follow through on all aspects of their relationship, their
history, you need to have that. That might be an opportunity to get some
support from the community. The local law enforcement agencies might be
of assistance. Other organizations that do this on a regular basis could
be of help, too. Follow up.

**WOMAN:** The other thing is when you work with children and use
volunteers, you need to make sure that there are two adults with the
children at all times, a volunteer and a staff member.

**D. DOWNEY:** And here's a suggestion, or example. We make sure that
there has to be two adults in the room, working with the students at all
times. And this comment comes from a *current* grantee. So this is one
of the implementation procedures that they see as of absolute
importance, and that they need to have. It's something that you might
consider for your projects, too. It sounds like a good rule of thumb to
go by. Had a question from you, sir?

**MAN:** Okay. I'm not certain it fits in here, but I'm not certain that
my questions, comments will fit in anywhere, so I'm going to insert it
here. I'm concerned about the equity in the allocation of funds for
novice versus non-novice applicants. The information we were given is
that up to 25 percent of the funds are being set aside for *novice*
applicants. But based on what I see in the room, the vast majority of us
are *novices*, and it seems as though if that formula is adhered to, it
will work *against* novice applicants rather than if what I assumed was
intended to be a little boost.

**D. DOWNEY:** Well, first, very quickly, let me thank you for your
question. The reason that we have the set aside of up to 25 percent---up
to a quarter of the grant---*for* the novice applicants is because for
so long---and this goes back, really, back to almost the Department of
Education's inception, so we're talking almost a quarter of a century,
at this point, during the Carter administration---the idea to balance
the playing field and to give organizations that have not had access to
federal dollars in the past, we've looked at that. We've looked at
finding ways to meet those pockets of need that have not been there
before. We just, in October of 2001, put together a regulation that
*encouraged* and *emphasized* the opportunity of novice applicants to
participate in the process, either through a set aside, or an additional
set of bonus points. The fact that we are *looking* to, specifically,
give up to a quarter of the dollars to novice applicants, I would say,
is a great statement of our commitment to really balance the field. In
this particular audience, there are a great number of novice over the
current grantees, or experienced grantees. But based on the size of the
program where we're only going to have 25 projects *overall,* then the
great number of those that are applying that don't have a grant,
currently, is certainly going to outweigh the number that does. It's one
effort to balance the field. We would encourage you, during
opportunities for public comment in the Federal Register notices, to
share your thoughts about other ways to improve and encourage novice
participants. Thank you.

Let me go through just a little bit more. One more question, and we've
got to move on.

**WOMAN:** Okay. In the guidelines, it points out that 20 percent of
students have deficits in Reading, 30 percent in Math, and 40 percent in
Science, which is certainly the area of need. And yet when it gets to
the points, Science is left out.

**D. DOWNEY:** Let me make sure. Could you repeat this because I want to
make sure we capture that for the audience. Twenty percent of the
students, the guidelines say 20 percent below grade level in Reading, 30
percent below grade level in Math, 40 percent below grade level in the
Sciences. Based on this, my experience is right now, the focus is on the
Math and the Language Arts. By 2006, we're going to be looking at
improving and pointing towards the Science grades. We're doing some
things, incrementally. First, we're focused on addressing those Language
Arts and Math scores, 'cause that's where the look is. In your projects,
you're able---and certainly Math, especially the high school levels,
Math is going to be a component of the Sciences. Chemistry, for example,
would be one. So right now we're focusing on the Language Arts and the
Math. By 2006, No Child Left Behind will be looking and having schools
really evaluate the Sciences and the Social Studies, as well. So that's
kind of why the emphasis is on those two categories, as opposed to
others.

So if we could, let's just finish up on the adequacy of resources. With
this category, it's worth 20 points. We're looking for adequacy of
support, including facilities, equipment, supplies, other resources from
the applicant, including time and effort of staff, certainly, would be
part of that. The *extent,* I love this phrase, the extent to which a
*preponderance* of the project resources are going to be dedicated to
improving the academic achievement of the 9^th^ through the 12^th^
graders. Here is where we're really saying to the readers the majority
of what we're doing is working with those 9^th^ through 12^th^ grade
students, working with that element of the community. Based on the need,
you can address other members of the community, but the *focus,* the
*focus* has to be on those 9^th^ through 12^th^ grade students.

And with that said, we need to show---let's go the next slide,
please---with the adequacy of resources, the extent to which the budget
is adequate and the costs are reasonable. So we need to make sure that
we're maximizing our dollars. And while the minimum award level is the
\$250,000 that you can request, if you decide to ask for more than that,
if you're bumping it up to \$275,000 or \$300,000, the dollars are going
to be stretched, and we've only got so many we can spread around. So if
you ask for \$300,000, you might not get \$300,000. Be aware of that.
The minimums are the \$250,000. If you ask for more than that, you might
need to be in a position to be flexible and to revise your project,
based on that kind of reduction if you're asking for more than the
\$300,000. But you need to make sure that you're using the public
dollars wisely, and that you're looking to bring the opportunities to
sustain the project *beyond* the life of the grant. This is a start-up
of a grant. It's only a 12-month grant. You have the opportunity, as
folks do, to reapply. But we need to make sure that you are looking to
building a community buy-in, and that you're using the funds so as to
have your projects continue without the federal dollars, in the future,
potentially. Question or comment?

**WOMAN:** \[inaudible phrase\] I'd like to make a comment. One of the
things that we weren't aware of, but we are aware of now, is you can't
use the funds to buy snacks. In an afternoon program, we have the
resources to buy our snacks, but we've talked to some other programs
where that's a really big issue. The kids are hungry after school.

**D. DOWNEY:** That's a point, and that's one of the things, it is an
unallowable cost. You can't use the money *for* this.

**WOMAN:** Can you repeat what we're talking about?

**D. DOWNEY:** The question is, or the comment was, to remember that you
*cannot* use the grant funds for this particular project to purchase
snacks, or food items. Food is an *unallowable* cost with the CTC grant.
Now, obviously, you're thinking an after-school program, kids are
hungry. And the reality is, when you look at statistics, you see the
hunger issues in this country, it's awful hard to concentrate on your
Reading and your Math when your tummy's growling. And you're not sure
whether or not you're going to get any food, and if it is food, it's
because you're getting some tomato soup that was made from the different
ketchup packets that someone picked up for you, and heated up. And
you've seen that, and there is a reality. That has a direct emphasis.
That is a direct connection to learning, the fact that kids don't have
the nourishment to be concentrating and ready to go. One source you
can't use *these* grant dollars to address that need, but you *can* use
resources from the Department of Agriculture, the Food and Nutrition
Service, fns.gov has snack and meal programs. That's fns.gov, and you
can get to that from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's web site. Or
as another resource, especially---and I know we're going to be doing
some partnering with faith-based and community organizations---the White
House's web site, fbci.gov, has access to many programs that could be a
good complement to your community technology centers. And look at that.
Now, obviously, federal dollars can't be used for a match, but you could
find some programs that are wonderful complements to what you're doing
with this program. And the Food and Nutrition Service would be one such
example. So I, definitely, recommend that you look at that as a
potential resource. And, again, looking and finding ways to bring in
community buy-in and support, very essential.

Let's move on. Let's close up with the evaluation component. The quality
of the evaluation. We need to be able to show, and this is, again, like
the adequacy of resources, worth 20 points. Include a plan that utilizes
the evaluation that is feasible and appropriate to the goals and
objectives and outcome of the project. It has to go back to meeting the
need, and it has to be able to measure the effectiveness of our grants,
based on those goals and objectives.

We need to be thinking about the evaluation, and it's always the last
criteria that's identified, it's always the last one that's listed. And
it's the last one that you should include in your narratives. You should
follow the outline of how the selection criteria is placed, exactly that
way. *But*, you need to be thinking about your evaluation at the very
beginning. This is the way to know whether or not your road map got you
to your destination. So you need to be looking at that, focusing on
that, periodically, evaluating your performance throughout. Again, it
notes that it's asking you to regularly examine the student progress, so
there's pre- and post-tests. You might even include meetings with the
teachers, meetings with the *parents* of the students to make sure that
everyone feels like we're moving on target. It's certainly something
that would be a positive option. Let's go the next slide please.

And, last, we'll use an independent, external evaluator. We need someone
who's objective to look at this, come in and evaluate the successfulness
of your projects. And it needs to really measure it, accurately. And,
certainly, on the reporting side, that you'll be required to do with
this grant, it's important that we get a true understanding, a meaning
behind those statistics. The goals and objectives and how you report to
them should be very clear. They should not need to be deciphered by
someone. It should be very open and up front so that we can understand
what you're looking for. The external evaluators and some of you might
have different experiences with this. You can probably get a good
evaluator from anywhere between \$3,000--\$5,000 for this particular
kind of program. If someone has calling or a commitment to meeting the
needs, and thinks that this is such an invaluable tool, they might cut
you a break. My experience in talking to folks has been about \$3,000
and \$5,000, maybe more for more the research grants. But that would be
*about* the kind of money you could expect at this source. I would
encourage you to look. And if you don't have it, if someone could play
the role of evaluator right now, certainly someone at the schools could.
The LEAs or the private schools could recommend someone, as well as
someone, perhaps, at one of the colleges or universities that are nearby
could maybe serve in the role of an evaluator.

The last part here I want to note is effectively demonstrates that the
applicant has adopted a rigorous evaluation design. We need to make sure
that it is truly effective and truly measures just what you've done. And
it's important to be able to do that. It's important that we can see how
successful you've been, and to be up front, and to know well, we tried
our best and you came up short. That's okay. We want you to succeed. We
want you to surpass those numbers. But if you came up a little short,
you said 80 percent, let's say you got 75, that's okay. Be honest. And
let's look at how to make these projects work better and improve
yourself, down the road.

Now, what I would close with, last thoughts. Do your research now. We've
got a June 1 deadline. Start looking and finding the methods of
instruction to incorporate into your plans. *Know, know* those state
content standards for 9^th^ and 12^th^ grades. And based on the schools
you're going to be working with, communicate with those schools, and
look to address and target those students greatest at risk. Access the
census data. I should also say, along with the schools and the census
date, your congressional offices will have statistics that would be of
help, as well as, potentially, your state legislature, and your city
governments. Leave no stone unturned when getting the information to
document your need. Make a plan of the positions you're going to need,
and really make an idea as to where you're starting, and where you want
to finish. Where is your destination?

I would say make sure, whether you're successful or you're unsuccessful
this time around, implement the reader comments. First, you need to ask
for the reader comments. At the federal level, everyone is entitled to
see the peer reviewer or the grant reviewer's comments. Make sure that
you look at those. If you're successful, take a moment, pat yourself on
the back, but look to see if they've said *anything* that could help you
improve the quality of services. Don't rest on your laurels. Look to see
how you can better yourself. If you're unsuccessful---and I know it's
hard, you put a lot of yourself into these it hurts---but look and see
if they have shared anything. And, objectively, look at it. Objectively
look at it. Don't try and fight it when you read it. But look to see
what you can do to make yourself a better grant writer, and in the
future, make yourself a better grant administrator. You can do it. And
keep applying. Apply, apply, apply. It might sound cliché, or rah, rah,
but it's the truth. The seeds of our success are planted in our
failures. The more you get into this process, the more you look to it,
you understand what the reviewers are looking for, and the language that
we're needing to see from you, you're going to be successful. I wish all
of you here in the audience the best of luck. And I wish all of those
who are watching this as a Web Cast, the very best of luck, as well.

Do we have more time for questions? Let's take a couple of questions,
and then...

**\[END OF SIDE B\]**

**WOMAN:** ...we found out that they considered \[students with
proficiencies of\] 30 percent *and less* to be kids who needed extra
attention. And we're thinking, if they scored less than 40 percent,
don't they still need help? So we said, 'refer us the kids that scored
40, 50 percent .

**D. DOWNEY:** And that's a very good point. And let's see this. One of
the things that you need to do as you're conducting your needs
assessment, looking at the schools and the students to work with is look
at how the schools are defining their success. And it's important
because it's possible that their benchmarks for success---again, under
No Child Left Behind, we're looking for 100 percent proficiency at grade
level---right now the students that they might be sending your way,
there might not be as many, based on their numbers, as if you looked at
something a little bit larger, and so you could bring in more students.
So look to see, talk to them about how they define success, what they
are considering are the students greatest at risk, and the number of
students that are greatest at risk. And look and see how many students
can you, adequately, serve? And if you can bring in a few more that are
of need and are eligible, then go ahead and do so. The key thing is make
sure that you don't water down your services by trying to work with too
many because you're not going to be successful. You're not going to help
those kids out, and your projects are not going to be as successful as
they need to be. I saw a question up front?

**WOMAN:** I have a comment. And it's because you raised the question of
the nobility of the goals. I think that needs to be balanced with the
shamefulness of the idea that you're only funding 25 programs across the
entire country.

**D. DOWNEY:** I thank you, and I appreciate your comments. It's valid.
\[laughter\] For those who are watching the Web Cast, she asked how the
weather was in D.C. \[laughter\] No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding. It is a valid question. It's a valid point. If you
have comments on the program and the direction it's heading, different
factors of it, there is a period of time where a notice of proposed
priorities is published, and comments from the public---ALL of the
public, not just scholarly associations, but individuals such as
yourselves are encouraged. And we read and listen to every comment, and
do our best to address those comments and put a plan together. If enough
people say something, then we'll look and see about doing it. So, again,
thank you for your comments, and your thoughts. A question, sir?

**MAN:** Yes, I have a question concerning the timeline. As I understand
it, the start date for these projects if October 1, 2004. In my
experience, applicants find out that they *won* a grant in late
September. Very hard to start a project on a dime. What do you expect,
in terms of rapid start? What would be acceptable?

**D. DOWNEY:** Well, that's a very important point. And Karen, also, one
of the things with *this* program, we've got a deadline June 1, of
submitting the grants. We're looking at notifying successful applicants
by the beginning of July. And the start date, then, is what date, Karen?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** We are aiming to make the awards by June 30, 2004 and
projects can begin after that time once grantees have been notified.

**D. DOWNEY:** So this is something, and \[overlapping voices\] we're
looking at July 1 as a start date for this program. Now this is an
example of where the public has said to us, 'Hey, the school year starts
in August or September, your grants'---because the federal government's
fiscal year goes from October 1 to September 30---and many times, those
of us who've been a part of this process making those awards and getting
stuff mailed out, we, literally, are there right at 11:59 PM, on
September 30, getting those out, and getting those postmarked. Some fun
nights, I tell you. That's just a wonderful experience. But we've heard
your concerns, your comments, and when and where possible, we're looking
to have those earlier start dates to better accommodate the students, as
well as the grantees. So there's an example of where we're *hearing*
your comments, and looking to implement them. And I should say, this is
only a 12-month grant, so we need you to start, be ready to go as
quickly as possible. There's going to be some need to get staff put in
place. We understand this. But it's only a 12-month grant, and every
moment is truly precious. Your question, ma'am?

**WOMAN:** I have two questions. One of the things I believe they said
in the RFP was that it's supposed to be done during school hours. This
is supposed to augment. Now, at the same time, if we want to provide an
open lab to schools to access computers and have a hands-on learning
experience to support learning in the classroom, is that acceptable? And
if the teachers find \[?\] when they come to the lab, can we consider
that a match?

**D. DOWNEY:** There are a couple of questions there. The first part of
that question is, so long as---and, again, Karen, help me with the
language---in the application package, the work *can* be done *during,*
it can be done *during* the school day, so long as it doesn't take the
students out of the classroom. So that's the language. I mean, the
majority of what you're going to be doing, especially because of the
intensity of the services and so forth, are going to be done outside of
school hours. But it doesn't *have* to just be that, based on the
language of the application package. And I encourage you to read that,
and mark that up, thoroughly.

Now, in terms of a match, I, honestly, would like to talk to you more
one-on-one, just because I want to make sure that I can capture your
whole question on that. But for everyone, certainly those with the Web
Cast, and those in the audience, you *can* work with the schools during
school hours, so long as it doesn't take students *out of the class
time,* so it doesn't negate those issues. You had a second part of your
question?

**WOMAN:** It's actually just a really short question. We've been
funded, federally, multiple times, and we do have discretionary grants.
Now, if it isn't from the Department of Ed., are we considered a novice?
Or are we considered?

**D. DOWNEY:** This is a very good question to clarify for everyone.
Again, what constitutes a novice? The first criteria is you could never
have had a grant for the program you're applying for. So that's the
first stop, if you've had a CTC grant before, you're no longer a novice.
If you have had a discretionary, if you had *administered* a
discretionary, federal grant in the last five years---at the Department
of Ed., at HHS, Health and Human Services, Labor, HUD---then you are
*not* a novice. If you've participated as a partner in those kind of
grants, you're not a novice. So it goes beyond *just* the Department of
Education. Thank you for that clarifying point. I saw you, ma'am, and
then I'll take you in the back. Yes?

**WOMAN:** Just to re-visit my Science question, because in Texas, if
students don't pass *all* the competency tests, they don't graduate. So
given that, could we also include Science and not be penalized if we
address the other two categories, as well?

**D. DOWNEY:** Well, the focus is on the Math and the Language Arts, so
long as it doesn't take away. And, again, the Math, certainly the
Language Arts, you look at a holistic approach, if you're helping them
with the Science, you're helping with them with the Language Arts
because you're going to be reading the problems and so forth. There is,
with certain Science courses, Math is an essential component of that.
Certainly, you look at Chemistry, and to a lesser extent, Biology and
Physics. I mean, those Science courses, Math is a huge part. If you
can't do Math, you're not going to be able to function in the others. So
in the context of that, you could assist them with those other elements.
But the *key* point here is you *must*, we *must* be able to demonstrate
an improvement in the core curricula in Reading, the Language Arts, and
Math. So that's where the focus is. So, yes, but it needs to be in
context to helping them raise those scores on those categories because
that's what we're really measuring right now. By 2006, under No Child
Left Behind, we're going to be looking at Science and the Social
Studies, as well, much closer. But small steps. But, yes, I don't think
that would be a problem. And, Karen, if I say anything that's out of
line, you grab me and tell me because I want to make sure that the
audience gets *exactly* what they need. I know there's a hand in the
back, and I want to make sure I get my peripheral vision, I'll get you.
But, ma'am, in the back, yes?

**WOMAN:** I found the answer in the RFP.

**D. DOWNEY:** Excellent! Thank you! See? You don't need me to talk to
you. You've got the application thing right in there. Let's take a
question here.

**WOMAN:** I have a question related to considerations for granting of
urban and rural communities. Are there any, is there a percentage, or a
factor for considerations because, obviously, in rural areas, the
\[population\] numbers aren't higher, but the percentages of
non-performance may be higher.

**D. DOWNEY:** For those in the audience and those watching our Web
Cast, the question is 'In comparison, how---and let me make sure I
capture this---how competitive, or how strong does an application that's
focusing on a *rural* area have in comparison to an urban setting, or an
area that is not as isolated and has a larger population?' When we're
talking about *quantity* of numbers to help, certainly there's a factor.
But I would encourage all of those applicants here to focus on *quality*
over quantity. If your community has a need, it needs to be met. And if
we're truly to address, we're believing and support No Child Left
Behind, small areas that have *proportionally* a smaller number of
students to be served, they're just as worthy, and need to be served as
the larger areas. If you've got a strong quality plan of attack, that is
where we need to focus. Quality over quantity. *And* if you think it
looks like it's a small number in comparison, like we're here---and I'll
mention a place near where I grew up---we're near Rineyville, Kentucky,
and we have a small number of students---how competitive will you be
with those students, working in, say, Los Angeles Unified Schools?
Again, goes back to *quality* of services, and not quantity. If you
think that your numbers are going to look a little small to the readers,
then note that. But note that and look at it as the *proportion*. The
*proportion* of our area is a great, or greater, need than an area with
more students. Look at it from that perspective. That's what I would
recommend.

Now, I think there was a question here, and then I'll take you, ma'am.
Yes, sir?

**MAN:** Maybe somebody could give me an example of students who are not
taken out of the classroom during school, other than lunch?

**D. DOWNEY:** Well, it depends on where the facility is. It could be a
study hall hour. The question was, 'Give an example of how you could
operate this project *during* the school hours, and *not* taking kids
out of their normal school patterns?' It is quite possible that these
students could be---and, again, it's after-school in many cases---you
*could* do this *during* the school if students have like a study hall
time, where it's their time to address the specific, whatever, homework
or core classes that they need to address. You don't *have* to do this
*during* school hours. And it might not be a good fit for you, during
school hours. So that's one thing. Now, I saw her hand, and then I will
take you, sir, and then I'll go to the back.

**WOMAN:** I'd like to know how does your department monitor and/or
evaluate throughout the grant period?

**D. DOWNEY:** The question is, 'How does the Department of Education
monitor and evaluate the grantees?' We do this in a number of ways.
First and foremost, we have our GAPS System---our Grant, Award, and
Payment System. And this allows us to monitor and track your
expenditures. So we can track and see where you are, in terms of
addressing your goals and objectives, through the GAPS System, the
financial monitoring. That's one component.

Another component would be---and a, fairly, more common component is for
the program officer assigned to the grant, you know, periodically, we're
e-mailing, we're calling our grantees, talking to them about the status
of their projects. Depending on the program officer's schedule,
depending on the number of applicants they have, depending on the
oversight strategy that the office has, they might be focusing on
extensive phone calls, or conference calls with the grantees, during the
grants. We also conduct site visits, where we will travel to your site
and spend anywhere between two or three days, or potentially, a week,
and one or two of us would go out and tour the facility, watch you
conduct your programs. We also, of course, evaluate your annual and
final performance reports. And we encourage, this is a partnership, and
I want to say to all of you and to those that are watching that when you
receive a grant from the Department of Education, you're really joining
a partnership. We're working hand-in-hand to help you help your students
succeed in the classroom and beyond. So with that said, there are many
ways that we're looking to work with you. And we encourage the project
director, who is our liaison to the organization, to communicate with us
on a regular basis. Ask us questions. Some people will say, you know,
'I'm told *not* to ask the government any questions because what they
don't know won't hurt us. We don't want to open up Pandora's box.' I'm
here to tell you, if you've got Pandora's box on your door step, it's
going to open itself up. Better to open it up now, than later. And I say
that if you think there's even a *potential* problem, let us know so we
can help you address the situation, correct it so it doesn't have
long-term repercussions on your standing as a grantee. A quick follow-up
to that?

**WOMAN:** Yes, the second part to my question is how is the money
awarded? Is it awarded in a lump sum? Is it awarded quarterly?

**D. DOWNEY:** How are the grant dollars awarded, or how do you access
those? The grantee, once the applicant has been determined to be
successful---and we let you know that we are going to award you the
grant---you will receive information as to how to draw down those funds.
There will be an account set up where you can access those funds, and
you will draw them down as you need them. And this goes into more on the
administrative side, but we ask that you draw down the funds as you
need, and pay them out roughly, but within 72 hours. It's not a law or a
regulation on that from our end, but it's a rule of thumb that we want
you to draw it down and pay it out as quickly as possible. A *key*
thing---especially since we have so many novice that are here, and,
potentially, watching---it's important that you draw it down, and then
pay it out quickly so as not to accrue any interest. You can *not*
accrue interest on these federal dollars. You'll wind up having to give
that back to us, and that is a financial problem, so we don't want that
to occur. We will be doing---and for all of you who are
interested---there will be a Web Cast that the Department of Education's
Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will be conducting *on*
grant administration, addressing that very topic. And we'll be putting
that together some time in the summer, and I'd encourage you to look
back and visit our site to see about that. So I do want to hold it if we
could *not* focus on those questions, so much as, specifically, on the
CTC. But I do thank you. We'll go to her, and then we'll go right back
to you, sir. Comment on that one?

**WOMAN:** Well, I have a question related to this gentleman's question
about \[delivering services\] in schools. What if the student'steacher
comes to you and says we have an inclusive child from the special ed.
students? Can they all go together during their Math class and use the
CTC for Math? Is that allowable?

**D. DOWNEY:** The question was if the school comes to you and says we
have an entire class---in this particular example, a special education
class---that over the same period of time wants to come and use your
equipment, or facilities. Is that allowable? I think they are doing this
as a class. And this is, my sense is, based on the intent of the
regulations, that this would be allowable, based on, you know, A, it's
the school that's asking you to do this. I don't, if you came and asked
the school if you could do this, that would be inappropriate because we
don't want to take *away* from the traditional class time setting. But
if the school says 'hey, as a class, we'd like to do this, we'd like to
implement this activity as a class activity,' I don't think there would
be a problem with that. If there are any specific examples---I'm not
just trying to pass the buck---but when you've got examples, specific
scenarios like that, don't be afraid to contact the program office. And,
certainly, Karen Holliday is the contact. We'll be glad to facilitate
and answer your questions, as well. But, as you go through this and
you're looking at your project design, contact Karen Holliday, and
she'll give some specific examples and some guidance on your question.
And, yes, sir? You've been very patient.

**MAN:** Based on his question, too, I have a couple of examples that
come to mind for the schools. \[overlapping voices\]

**D. DOWNEY:** Wait. I'm sorry. And these are examples as to how you
could implement the activities during the normal school day without -
taking instructional time away. Go ahead.

**MAN:** I'm not saying to do it, necessarily, during the day. But it is
possible to do it during the day. On the year-round schools, there's
usually a period where they're out, and they go on and off tracks. So
*off* track, you can have them during the day. And on the traditional
school, where they're off summers, you can do your programs year-round.
But in the summer programs can be more intensive.

**D. DOWNEY:** And this was an example of how, based on the tracking of
the students and what their activities are during the school year, you
could do certain things \[during the school day\]?

**MAN:** Well, they're off track and then it is possible.

**D. DOWNEY:** And that, certainly, is an example of something that,
potentially, could work. And you need to look and see what is going to
be the best fit for your projects, what is going to be the best fits for
your communities, and what works well. Whether you're in a formal
partnership, such as in the Priority 1, or you're aligned with the
schools, you're coordinating with the schools, you want to make sure
it's going to be a best fit so that *all* the parties involved here feel
good about how this project is helping their students.

**MAN:** And then I actually have just a quick question.

**D. DOWNEY:** Okay. Quick question.

**MAN:** Are you doing anything to help coordinate us coming together
into collaborative projects?

**D. DOWNEY:** The question is 'Are we---being we, the Department of
Education---doing anything to help facilitate perspective applicants
coming together to coordinate?' The quick answer is aside from a meeting
such as this, no, we are not. What we want to do is because if we *did,*
that, potentially could look like a conflict of interest, and maybe even
a sense of bias towards one organization, or a set of applicants, over
others. And that wouldn't be appropriate. We want to give just a
balanced training and opportunity for folks to hear what these programs
are, and how to apply, and a few grant-writing tips. But we wouldn't
want to do anything that would kind of show any sense of bias, because
the great thing about the discretionary process is the people who are
giving the comments and so forth, they're not going to have any
connection with anyone associated with the grants they're writing.
They're not going to be from the states from where the applications are
being submitted. It's going to be, as best as possible, folks that are
free of bias. And we're looking at the quality of the projects, and
nothing else, which I really love about the process. I think it's one of
the most democratic examples of how our government works. I'll take your
question, how are we doing on this, by the way?

**WOMAN:** There's going to be two more questions.

**D. DOWNEY:** Two more questions, and I'll make the answers short, I
promise.

**WOMAN:** That's okay. Are most of the projects being done on the
school campuses? Or are most of the people applying from small CBO's,
and doing the projects in their own facility?

**D. DOWNEY:** Are most of the projects, currently funded, are they
housed, or operating on the school grounds? Or are they at the
community-based organizations? This is a grant that does *not* have to
be housed at the schools. It can be at your community-based
organization. I'd have to look and see what the breakdown is on numbers.
Karen, do you have any sense to that?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** There's a combination.

**D. DOWNEY:** And it really, so we don't have any specific numbers, off
hand. It's just going to vary on how the applicants put this together.
There's no right or wrong answer. It's just what's best---in many cases,
having it off of school grounds could be in everyone's best interests.

**Laura Breeden:** I would say most of them are off the school grounds.

**D. DOWNEY:** Most of them are off school grounds? So, certainly, if
you get the school, you *can* do it there, but, certainly, there's no
problem in it being off site. Last question.

**MAN:** Would we have access to the e-mail addresses of the
participants at this meeting?

**Laura Breeden:** Yes.

**D. DOWNEY:** You will have access to those that were in attendance
here, for networking and communication purposes, based on what the
contractor's saying. I encourage you all to share and talk before you
leave, too, if you want to look to build those kinds of relationships.
And it could be a great opportunity for you. And to those who are
watching as a Web Cast, look to find or build partnerships and
collaborations with those in your area, whether it's other CBO's, or
other local schools, charter schools, private schools. Potentially, in
addition to those that are eligible for the partnership and those
priorities, look to building relationships with your local governments,
with businesses in the community to help support this great project.
Thank you for your time. I'm going to hand it over. Appreciate it.

**L. BREEDEN:** Thank you so much, David. \[applause\]

\[background conversation\]

This is going to be very quick. We didn't actually have the text of
David's remarks before he came to the meeting, so there are a couple of
things in here that are a little redundant, and I'll run through them
really quickly.

I think the most important information you'll get out of here is that
there are some resources that can help you write better proposals, and
think about partnerships and evaluation, and some of the other important
evaluation criteria, here. So if you'll do the next slide.

I'm not going to reiterate this, but I will say that I used to direct a
grant program in the federal government. And I was telling Karen that
one of the things that we concluded after the first two years of the
program was that people don't read. So you have to read the entire
application, all the way through, and respond to all the things that are
in there.

I won't go over the rest of these. I think you've heard them before. But
it is *tremendously* important, in part, because of the fatigue factor
that hits the reviewers. They're not going to be kindly disposed to your
proposal if it's hard for them to try and understand what it is you're
asking for, and why you think your project is worth supporting. They'll
be doing this in a very short window, in the month of June. They'll
probably be a little cranky about it, also. Just bear that in mind as
you're writing your proposal. Next one.

Again, you've heard about goals and outcomes. It's important to be
really clear. And a trick that you can use to test whether your proposal
and your ideas are clear is give the proposal to somebody--and not on
the day that it's due, or the day before, a little earlier than
that---to somebody who's not involved in the project. Somebody who knows
your community, who maybe knows the field, who's an intelligent person,
somebody who doesn't have any skin in the game, so to speak, and get
their feedback on it.

Projects need to be flexible. And the Department of Education has been
really terrific at realizing that you can't anticipate *everything* that
might happen in your community, or with your kids, in advance in
submitting the application. So once you get that grant, there is some
room for you to be flexible, and to adjust to what's really happening in
your community. So I think it's important for you to know that. Your
project will reflect your local strengths, your local needs, and your
local culture, and that's fine. You don't want your project to look and
sound like every other project.

And, finally, you've heard a lot about partnerships. I \[inaudible
phrase\] like to have a conversation, early on, in partnerships---and
our project is very much based on them---in which we both say what we
expect to get out of it. Because, usually, partners are in there because
they want to get something out of it, to fit with their mission, or they
want another staff position, or they want more visibility in the
community, or they want to learn more about some aspect, or this is the
part of their program that needs beefing up, and they think working with
you will help them become stronger. So it's good if you can get that out
on the table, early on.

Once the money shows up in your community, you'll have all the partners
that you could ever wish for, and then some. So if you're clear going in
about what that's about for you, you'll be in a much stronger position
than to say how those relationships are going to work. Next one.

Evaluation is built in from the beginning. You involve your
stakeholders. The youth, especially, I would say. I would listen to
their voices and see what they're interested in doing, and learning, and
what motivates them, and what they would find rewarding about being in a
project like the one that you're considering. And be creative. Next
slide.

Okay, this is the important part. This is not the only federal grant
program, or other source of funding for this type of project. So there
is a terrific web site that the federal government operates that's sort
of an omnibus locator of federal funding. It's searchable. The URL is in
this slide, and it's on the resource handout that we gave you. And I
pulled together a few ideas about where you can get additional funding,
or resources. The 21^st^ Century Community Learning Centers are
after-school funds that are administered by your state. Technology
Opportunities Program is another small, sort of very intense program
that is designed to support innovative technology demonstrations. There
are supplemental education service grants. These are organizations that
provide academic services, tutoring, and so forth to students that are
in low-performing schools. Some CTC's and other community-based
organizations are starting to become certified as SES providers. The
Workforce Investment Act has funds for youth job training, and it
doesn't have to lead, immediately, to a job for the youth. But I know a
lot of you have a work component, or a vocational component in your
programs. On our web site, we actually have a lot of information about
how a community-based organization can work *with* the Workforce
Investment Act, including some case studies from Community Technology
Centers that have done that. Yes? You had a question?

**WOMAN:** Can you say \[inaudible phrase\]?

**L. BREEDEN:** It's W-W-W dot AmericaConnects, all one word, dot n-e-t.
And I think we put that on the end. I hope we put that on the end.
Anybody in here *had* Workforce Investment Act money to work with youth?
Yes? Were you pretty satisfied? Not satisfied? There are some
restrictions around it because they're very interested in certain kinds
of outcomes. But I know of a number of organizations who, once they've
sort of gotten on the track---and those funds, again, are administered
at the state level, or at the local level---it can be a really good
place to be.

And, finally, the Corporation for National Service provides volunteers
who are very cost-effective, and very committed, often, to working with
youth. So they can be an excellent support of lower-cost staff. Anybody
else have suggestions about funding sources? And let's be really quick
because I know it's hot in here. Yes?

**MAN:** The National Science Foundation \[inaudible phrase\] specific
\[inaudible phrase\].

**L. BREEDEN:** National Science Foundation. They are particularly
interested---this is N-S-F dot g-o-v---in getting more minority and
disadvantaged youth and more *girls* involved in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics programs. So they have an informal Science
education track, and some other ones, and yeah, that would be a great
place for you to look at. Gary?

**GARY:** \[inaudible phrase\] Most NSF projects are 3-year programs.

**L. BREEDEN:** Right. Longer term. No matching. Sort of a different,
but, again, it's got to be Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math.

**WOMAN:** \[inaudible phrase\] volunteer programs \[overlapping
voices\] hirees. And, just quickly, a couple of your slides made me
think, \[inaudible phrase\] the novices, to be careful not to take a
grant that was written for one of these, and just try to doctor it to
match this program, because that's one of the things that happens a lot.

**L. BREEDEN:** Right. The suggestion is don't just recycle your
proposal for the CTC program into one of these others, without looking
at what they're doing. I put them up there because I know most of your
programs are quite multi-faceted. So there may be some aspect of what
you're doing that would be a fit with one of these other funding
sources. Remember, too, that your federal match---if you got a grant,
say, from the National Science Foundation, that's federal money. It
can't be used to match federal money. Your match has to be non-federal.

**WOMAN:** \[inaudible phrase\] to the \[inaudible\] for the next two
years \[inaudible phrase\] Reading component, they have to be reading
tutors in the program \[overlapping voices\]

**L. BREEDEN:** Okay, great. The comment was that America Corps Vista
Volunteers, over the next two years, have to be reading tutors. So that
might be, particularly, appropriate. And they are young people,
typically, who have some familiarity with technology. And we, actually,
have people working in our office who are Vista Volunteers who are doing
a year with us as part of their program. I saw another hand. Did I see
another hand? No. Okay. Next?

Most of the funding for these projects actually comes from state and
local sources. So don't neglect that. I mean, the federal programs get a
lot of visibility and attention, but the bulk of the funding, and the
support comes right out of your community. So there's corporate giving,
talk to the businesses in your community. If you have any big
corporations that have facilities or offices, particularly, high-tech
companies, they like to fund this kind of thing. Telecom
companies---Comcast, cable companies, people like that.

There are foundations, some very large that restrict their giving to
particular states or localities. A great way to search for those is to
go to the web site of the FoundationCenter (www.foundationcenter.org),
and to start browsing for the local foundations, the community
foundations, the ones that operate in your state. It's gotten really,
much more easy to search for this kind of funds since the advent of the
Internet and the web, because it's all online.

And another thing to think about is partnerships. For instance, you
might have the computer facilities, but you might need some teaching
staff, and there might be another organization that has funds from, say,
the school system to provide teachers or tutors, but they don't have the
computer facilities. So those kinds of things can be a win/win for both
organizations. Next.

Discounted software. In one of our program enhancement grant
applications, we just got, one of the grantees asked for, I don't know,
a large number of Microsoft Office licenses, or it was a very common
piece of software. All of many of the common titles that you would be
interested in are available at very, deep discounts from this terrific
web site called TechSoup dot org slash stock. They have financial, they
have Microsoft Office, they have Cisco, they have Macromedia, they have
hundreds of titles. And they're heavily discounted, both for schools,
and for nonprofit organizations. So I encourage you to go and check that
out before you start buying software off the shelf, at the full
commercial price. And I think we're at the end. Go ahead.

So this is us. We've been doing the technical assistance and evaluation
for the grantees since 2000. We have lots of publications about Best
Practices, and Evaluation, and Partnership. We're running an online
panel right now on how to motivate, retain, and recruit students, that
we've got people all over the country writing in on. And you can tune
into that. It's e-mail messages that are archived on the web.

We work with the Community Technology Center's Network and the National
Institute on Out of School Time to help deepen the program services that
we provide. Unfortunately, we're not staffed to provide direct
assistance for applicants in this grant round, so we can't really help
you too much with your proposal. But we do encourage you to look at the
resources that are on the web site, and the resources that are on the
sheet that we distributed.

If there are any questions, I'd be happy to take them. And if not, yes?

**WOMAN:** If an organization has been approved for \[inaudible\]
funding, does that make them, does that still qualify them to be a
novice?

**L. BREEDEN:** That's a really good question. If an organization has
been approved for WIA funding, which is federal funding that's
administered by the state, or the locality, can they still be a novice?
It's not a discretionary federal grant. But it is federal funding. We'll
have to look into that. That's one of these, one of the things I learned
when I was working in the government was that money sometimes changes
its character as it dribbles down through the system, so it,
mysteriously, becomes non-federal after awhile.

**WOMAN:** So we need to e-mail questions to <commtech.centers@ed.gov>

**L. BREEDEN:** Commtech dot centers at ed dot gov. Yes?

**MAN:** One of the presenters, I don't remember who, mentioned that
previous winning proposals from previous rounds are available for us to
review. How do we access them?

**L. BREEDEN:** Those are on the Department of Education web site. And
if you go to the CTC grants page, you can download one. It's from Fast
Forward Community Technology Center, in Columbia, South Carolina. David
was also mentioning that the Office of Faith and Community-Based
Initiatives also has examples of successful proposals. The TOP Program,
which is at Department of Commerce, also has examples of successful
proposals. That's in a different program, though. The one that's,
specifically, for this program is on the Department CTC Grants web page.
Gary?

**GARY:** What \[inaudible phrase\]. First of all, if you're a small
faith-based organization or community-based organization, there might be
an organization somewhere under the CCF grants, in a different
department, that may help you write this grant. \[background noise\]
\[inaudible phrase\]

**L. BREEDEN:** Okay. What's a CCF grant, Gary?

**GARY:** That is a Compassion Capital Funds grant.

**L. BREEDEN:** Okay, so Gary's comment was that there is funding called
the Compassion Capital Fund for grants to small faith and
community-based organizations. If they've gotten this funding, then they
may be able to help you. So, network in your community. Did I see one
other? Yes?

**WOMAN:** I just wondered if there's been any thought to creating a
listserv during this time for people who ask questions and can talk to
each other \[overlapping voices\]

**L. BREEDEN:** Karen, the question is has there been any thought given
to creating a listserv so that people that are applying can dialogue
with each other. I don't think there has been, but I know, are you doing
questions and answers online?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** \[inaudible phrase\] make this information available,
in terms of \[inaudible phrase\]. \[inaudible phrase\] individuals
\[inaudible phrase\] \[background conversation\]

**L. BREEDEN:** Right. Maybe, Karen, we could discuss doing a sort of,
'cause I know you're getting lots of e-mails every day about this. Maybe
there's a few questions that we can put into a Frequently Asked
Questions document?

**K. HOLLIDAY:** Absolutely.

**L. BREEDEN:** Okay.

**WOMAN:** When you prepared the list of people that attend these, is
there a way to notate which is a current grantee so that those of us
that are novices know who to contact, 'cause I wouldn't know who to
call, despite sitting in a group \[overlapping voices\]

**L. BREEDEN:** I think, probably, that our staff know who the current
grantees are, so we will try to do that. The question was, on the list
of registrations for this meeting, can we identify those of you who
already have a grant so you can become appropriate targets? \[laughter\]
Thank you, all. \[applause\] Bye bye.