Perkins Innovation & Modernization Grant Program: Pro-Application WebinarApril 25, 2019 | 2:00 P.M. EDT

Slide 1:

[Robin]: Welcome to the Pre-application Webinar for the Perkins Innovation and Modernization Grant Program. I am Robin Utz, and I am going to serve as your moderator today. And in the room with me today is our assistant secretary Scott Stump of the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. We have Laura Messenger and Corinne Sari, and Corinne and Laura are both strong subject-matter experts. Laura is also serving as our competition manager for this program.

[Robin]: Thank you for joining us today. We encourage you to get comfortable because we have 49 slides with important information that unpacks the requirements of this grant opportunity. In our time together, we hope to address the questions through the chats or the Q&A function of the Webinar, so we're hoping to find time for that. And then another thing that occurs for your convenience, is we do have the PowerPoint that's available in the chat room right now. We're doing an event chat, as this platform calls it, so you can copy that address, put that in your browser, and then you can download the PowerPoint if that's easier for you to watch. And do keep in mind this will be posted to cte.ed.gov - that's our Website - again cte.ed.gov along with the transcript and the recording. So, with that, because we do have a lot of information to unpack, Laura Messenger is going to provide the details. Thanks, Laura.

[Laura]: Good afternoon! I want to let everyone know that this presentation is provided for informational purposes only. The notice inviting applications published in the Federal Register on April 15 details all of the requirements for submitting an application, how applications will be evaluated, applications will be evaluated, and how grants will be awarded. The application package on grants.gov provides specific instructions on what to include in an application.

Slide 2 (2:12):

[Laura]: I'm going to be referencing both the April 15 Federal Register notice and the application package during this webinar. If you don't already have them, you're going to want to download these two documents immediately following the Webinar. There's a link to each of them on the CTE.ED.gov home page under Quick Links. Please note that all applications must be submitted via grants.gov.

Slide 3 (2:40):

[Laura]: So, these are the things we're going to cover today. Everything on this list is included in the Federal Register notice in writing applications or in the application package.

Slide 4 (2:56):

[Laura]: But before I start marching through the list of topics to be covered, I want to explain where this new program comes from, particularly for participants who may not be as familiar with Career and Technical Education. For the rest of you, if you could just hang in there with me for the next couple of slides, I would appreciate it. So, in July of last year our Federal Legislation for Career and Technical Education was reauthorized. The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, or Perkins IV, as we called it, was amended by the strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, which, for simplicity's sake, we are calling Perkins V.

Slide 5 (3:44 - first quote up):

[Laura]: The new law was passed with strong bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. Both the president and education secretary DeVos have lauded the passage of the new law as a means of meeting both growing employers demand for skilled workers and expanding educational pathways and opportunities for students to prepare them for a global economy. Perkins V authorizes this innovation and modernization grant program

Slide 5 (4:13 - second quote up):

[Laura}: In Section 114(E) under national activities. I'm going to be mentioning section 114(E) throughout this...

Slide 6 (4:21):

[Laura]: ...webinar. As you can see on that slide, section 114(E) is written with great specificity. It includes eleven statutory requirements for this program. As a department, we're bound by those requirements. Section 114(E) establishes program eligibility, a funding cap for this program of not more than 20% of funds appropriated for national activities, a required 50% match from non-federal sources. It sets the period of performance for these grants, the allowable uses of funds. It requires innovations to be evidence-based and field initiated. And it requires grant recipients to conduct a rigorous independent evaluation. Section 114(E) establishes performance measurements for this program; those are the section 113 performance indicators from [inaudible]. It establishes a priority to predominantly serve students from low-income families. It requires geographic diversity and the award of grants by stating that no less than 25% of funds must be awarded to projects that serve rural districts. And it also has very specific ideas as to what each application [inaudible]. We'll address these requirements during this webinar in a slightly different order, but I really want you to keep in mind where they come from.

Slide 7 (6:01):

[Laura]: So why are you interested in learning more about this program? Hopefully, it's because you're eager to implement and evaluate evidence-based, innovative strategies and activities that will improve and modernize your CTE programs and allowing workforce skills with labor market needs in your CTE program. So that's the purpose of this program?

Slide 8 (6:30):

[Laura]: This slide provides important information about this grant competition. You can find this information on pages one five two zero zero and one five two zero one of the April 15 Federal Register Notice. These are competitive grants. Our available funds are approximately 2.8 million dollars. The required 20 percent funding cap on funds appropriated for national activities amounts to approximately 1.4 million dollars. We're able to double that amount to approximately 2.8 million dollars for this competition because we're awarding funds from two different years. We estimate that we'll award up to six grants based on our available funds. And you'll note from this slide that the department isn't bound by any of these estimates, nor are we setting a maximum award amount with these estimates. Initial awards will be for one 36-month project period as required from Section 114(E)6 of Perkins V. The estimated average award size that you see in this slide and in the Federal Register notice is for the full initial 36-month project period. It is not for each year of the 3-year project period. Contingent upon the availability of funds and each grant use demonstration to the secretary that is achieving its program objective, the Secretary may make continuation awards for up to an additional 24 months. This, too, comes from section 114(E)6. I mentioned on an earlier slide that one of the things section 114(E) calls for is geographic diversity in the awarded grants. Section 114(E)5 states that in awarding grants under the Perkins Innovation and Modernization Grant Program, the secretary shall award no less than 25 percent of the total funds available [inaudible] the project that serves rural districts. This is contingent upon receipt of a sufficient number of applications of sufficient quality. Page one five two zero one of the Federal Register Notice provides more information about this, so if you planned through rural districts in your proposed Perkins I&M project, you'll want to read page one five two zero one carefully.

Slide 9 (9:19):

[Laura]: The application deadline is 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 14th, 2019. That's one second before midnight on June 14th, and they really mean it. If you plan to submit an application, it would be really helpful to us if you could shoot us an email indicating your intent to apply by May 15th. This is completely optional but having some idea of the number of grant applications to expect helps us prepare for the review of grant applications. That doesn't have to be a long email. You can simply send an email to PerkinsIandMgrants@ed.gov. Write "Intent to Apply" in the subject line and include the name of the applicant.

Slide 10 (10:17):

[Laura]: Okay we're going to talk about eligibility. Eligible applicants under the Perkins I & M Grant Program are an eligible entity, an eligible institution, or an eligible recipient. As set forth in Section 114(E)1 of Perkins [inaudible]. Each of these terms is defined in section 3 of Perkins V and in the NIA on page one five one nine eight. An eligible entity is a new type of applicant. Now when you look at the definition, you'll see that it's a consortium. It's important to note that an eligible agency isn't listed here. That's because an eligible agency is not an eligible applicant under the new Perkins [inaudible] grant program. However, if the eligible agency in your state is the state educational agency, the state educational agency could decide to submit an application as part of an eligible entity and even serve as

the fiscal agent on behalf of the consortium, as long as the consortium includes the required number and type of representatives set forth in the eligible entity definition. Please know also that an eligible entity must comply with the regulations and 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129, which address group applications. If the eligible agency in your state is a State Workforce Board or a State Board Region, or a State Community College system or board, it cannot submit an application as part of an eligible entity because workforce boards and boards of regents, boards of regents, community college boards, are listed under the eligible entity definition. An eligible applicant could in its application choose to partner with the state's eligible agency on the design and implementation of its proposed Perkins I&M project, but an eligible agency that isn't an SEA can't submit an application.

Slide 11 (12:48):

[Laura] Any parties that are interested in applying as an eligible entity will want to read these as their regulations that apply to group applications and pay particular attention to the group agreement requirements.

Slide 12 (13:12):

[Laura] Starting now we're going to talk about priorities for this competition. There is one absolute priority for this competition you'll find it on page one five one nine four of the Federal Register Notice. This is very important because your application must meet the absolute priority in order to be considered for funding. The absolute priority is plan for evidence-based steals initiated innovations which is based on the requirement in Section 1147 of Perkins V. To meet this priority applicants must submit a plan to create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale evidence-based field initiated innovations, modernize and to improve effectiveness and alignment of CTE with labor market needs and to improve student outcomes in CTE. Perkins V defines evidence-based the same way the every student succeeds Act defines it, and you'll find the definition on page one five one nine eight of the Federal Register note.

Slide 13 (14:40):

[Laura] Under the absolute priority the plan must include the following information: a description of how the proposed project will carry out one or more of the allowable activities under Section 114e7 of Perkins V as a detailed and program requirement to use of funds, and how the proposed project is designed to create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale evidence-based field initiated innovations, modernize and improve effectiveness and alignment of CPE with labor market needs improve student outcomes. It must include a detailed description of the key goals, the activities to be undertaken, the rationale for selecting those activities, the timeline, and the parties responsible for implementing the activities. It must include a description of how the proposed project demonstrates the rationale, including the corresponding logic model. We say more about this in the background section of the Federal Register notice on pages one five one nine three and one five one nine four. Please note also that these are defined terms, so you'll want to review those definitions in the definitions section of the Federal Register note.

Slide 14 (16:10):

[Laura] This competition also has three competitive preference priorities that offer applicants an opportunity to earn additional points depending on how well the applicant meets a competitive preference priority.

They are presented on page one five one nine five of the Federal Register notice. We'll go over each of these, but the thing to remember here is that unlike the absolute priority which applicants must address applicants are not required to address any of these competitive preference priorities. Rather, applicants can choose to respond to one or more of these priorities in an effort to earn additional points. Competitive preference priority one promoting STEM education and computer science education is one of the Secretary's priorities. It’s worth five points. Competitive preference priority to serving students from low-income families comes directly from section 114e4 of Perkins V. It's worth three points. Competitive preference priority three, serving students and qualified Opportunity Zones is one of the administration's priorities. It's worth two points.

Slide 15 (17:30):

[Laura] Okay, preference priority one promoting STEM education has two parts to it. An applicant may address competitive preference priority 1a, so here on your screen, for both competitive preference priority 1a and competitive preference priority 1b which you'll see on your screen in a minute. Part 1a focuses on promoting STEM education. We will award an additional three points to an applicant that needs competitive preference priority 1a. To be considered for the extra three points a project must address one or more of these three priority areas that you see on your screen. Increasing access to stem coursework and hands-on learning opportunities such as through expanded course offering, dual enrollment, high quality online coursework, or other innovative delivery mechanism. The second one: creating or expanding partnerships between schools, local educational agencies, state educational agencies, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, or institutions of higher ed to give students access to internships, apprenticeships, or other work-based learning experiences in STEM fields. And the third option: supporting programs that lead to recognized post-secondary credential that's also a design term or it skills that aligns to the skill needs of industries in the state or regional economy for careers in STEM fields.

Slide 16 (19:20):

[Laura] Part one focuses on promoting computer science education. We will award an additional two points to an application that needs competitive preference priority 1b. Your project must address one or more of these three priority areas. Increasing access to computer courts works and hands-on computer science learning opportunities, such as true expanded course offering, dual enrollment, high quality online coursework, or other innovative delivery mechanisms. Creating our expanding partnerships between schools, local educational agencies, State Education agencies, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, or institutions of higher ed to give students access to computer science internships, apprenticeships, or other work-based learning experiences in computer science fields. For supporting programs that lead to computer science, recognized post-secondary credentials, or skills that aligns to the skill needs of industry in the state or regional economy for careers in computer science.

Slide 17 (20:40):

[Laura] Competitive preference priority two serving students from low-income families is for projects designed to predominantly serve students from low-income families. It comes directly from section 114-c 4 of Perkins V. We will award up to an additional 3 points to an application that meets competitive preference priority 2. To meet this priority applicants must submit a plan in which the students the applicant proposes to serve are predominantly for low-income families. This screen shows you what must be included in the plan. The plan must include the specific activities the applicant proposes to ensure that the project will predominantly serve students from low-income families. The rationale for how the proposed activities will result in projects in which the students to be served are predominantly students from low-income families. The timeline for implementing the activities, the parties responsible for implementing the activities, and the key data sources and measures demonstrating that the project is designed to dominantly serve students from low-income. To know on page one five nine five of the Federal Register notice includes potential data sources that applicants may wish to explore.

Slide 18 (22:13):

[Laura] Competitive preference priority three: serving students and qualified Opportunity Zones, is for projects designed to promote economic mobility by serving students residing in or attending CTE programs in qualified are between the new zones. We will award an additional two points to an application that meets competitive preference priority three. To meet this priority, each eligible applicant must submit documentation that identifies at least one designated, qualified opportunity zone by census tract number, as well as by the country and state county. Excuse me, as well as by the county in the states, and describe how the project will promote economic mobility by serving students who reside or who will attend CTE programs, and the designated qualified opportunity zone or zone identified under paragraph A. You can learn more about qualified Opportunity Zones at the Internal Revenue website shown on this slide.

Slide 19 (23:33):

[Laura] We also have an invitational priority for this grant competition which can be found on page one five one nine five and one five one nine six of the April 15 Federal Register notice. However, please note that no extra points are given to applicants who choose to respond to this priority and no preference is given to applicants that choose to respond to this priority. The Invitational priority is for spurning and assessment in CTE from qualified opportunity funds. Under this priority, an applicant will provide evidence in its application that it has received or will receive financial assistance from a qualified Opportunity Fund under Section 1400Z2 of the internal revenue code, as amended by the tax cuts and Jobs Act for a purpose directly related to a proposed project, especially for property, including needed equipment and technology. In addressing this priority, an applicant would identify the qualified opportunity fund from which it has received or will receive financial assistance. The Federal Register notes that financial assistance from a qualified Opportunity Fund could allow an eligible applicant to meet the cost-sharing or cost-for-matching requirements in whole or in part.

Slide 20 (25:13):

[Laura] This competition has eight application requirements that explain what applicants must include in their grant applications. These eight requirements come from section 114e3 of Perkins V. Applicants must meet these application requirements in order to be considered for funding. Applicants will want to read these carefully and pay attention to how we present these requirements in the Federal Register

notice on page 15196. We have included some notes on that page that clarifies some of the requirements. I want to draw your attention to application requirement B, here are on the screen, because it addresses the required matching fund. Remember, there is a 50% required match under this program to cash or in-kind contributions, and from non-federal sources. As stated in Section 114e2A of Perkins V. We’ll talk about the match more when we talk about the budget.

[Skips Slide 21]

Slide 22 (26:33):

[Laura] This program also has two program requirements. You'll find them on pages one five one nine six nine seven of the April 15 Federal Register notice. Program requirement one evaluation comes directly from section 114e8 of Perkins V. A grantee must conduct an independent evaluations of the activities carried out under the grant. A grantee must submit to the secretary an annual report that includes: a description of how the grant funds were used the performance of the project with respect to at a minimum, the performance indicators described under section 113 of Perkins's, as applicable, and disaggregated by subgroups of students described in section 1111C2B of the ESEA special populations, and, as appropriate, each CTE program of study. And, a quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of the project. The term independent evaluation is a defined term. You will want to review the definition, which you'll find on page one five one nine eight of the Federal Register notice.

Slide 23 (28:00):

[Laura] Program requirement 2: use of funds, comes directly from section 114E7 of Perkins V. The next five slides are a cut and paste from the Federal Register notice, which is a cut and paste from section 114e7. You'll find these use the funds on pages one five one nine six and nine seven of the Federal Register notice, and because I'm sure you don't want me to read the next five slides to you, I'll simply say you will want to read these carefully. Some are very specific, others are written more broadly. 12 major activities are listed, but some have sub parts as you can see on this slide.

[Skips slide 24]

Slides 25-28 (28:50):

[Laura] The Federal Register notice states that a grantee must use Perkins innovation and modernization grant funds for one or more of the listed activities. This means your proposed project must align with at least one or more of these activities, your application will identify the activity or activities that your project will fund.

Slide 29 (29:335):

[Laura] All right, these are the selection criteria that will be used to evaluate applications submitted for the Perkins IMM grant program. They are included in the Federal Register notice on page one five two zero two. Here's how it works: after applications are submitted through grants.gov before the deadline, octa will review each application to make sure it was submitted by an eligible applicant, and to make sure it meets the absolute priority. After applications are deemed eligible, they are evaluated by a review panel that will review the applications using these exact same selection criteria that you'll see on these slides and that were published in the Federal Register. As you can see, each of these criteria has an assigned point value. Each sub criterion has an assigned point value also. You will want to pay close

attention to the point values because peer reviewers will use the point values when scoring the application. Also in addressing these criteria, applicants are encouraged to make explicit connections to the priorities and requirements that we just discussed. The maximum scores for the four criteria is 100 points. Note that there is no criterion for the quality of the personnel. Applicants should address proposed personnel for the project in the management plan under selection criterion B, and in the budget under selection criterion C.

Slide 30 (31:23):

[Laura] Criterion A addresses the significance of the proposed project. It's worth 20 points. Note that the two sub criteria are each worth 10 points. In determining the significance of the project the secretary considers the extent to which the proposed project involves the development or demonstration of promising new strategies build on or our alternatives to existing strategies. The second sub criterion reads the likelihood that the proposed project will result in systems change, or improvements.

Slide 31 (32:08):

[Laura] Criterion B addresses the quality of the project design and management plans, and it's worth 35 points. Note that the first sub criterion is worth 15 points, and the other two sub criteria are each worth 10 points. In determining the quality of the proposed project design and management plan, the secretary considers the extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable. The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives of the proposed project on time, and within budget, including clearly defined responsibilities, fine lines, and milestones for accomplishing project tasks. And the potential and planning for the incorporation of project purposes, activities, or benefits into the ongoing work of the applicant beyond the end of the grant.

Slide 32 (33:17)

[Laura] Criterion C addresses the adequacy of resources for the proposed project, and its worth 25 points. Note that the first sub criterion is worth 15 points and the second sub criterion is worth 10. In determining the adequacy of resources for the proposed project, the secretary considers the extent to which the budget is adequate to support the proposed project. We’ll say more about the budget in a minute. The secretary also considers so relevant and demonstrates commitment both to each partner in the proposed project to the implementation and success of the project.

Slide 33 (34:04)

[Laura] Criterion D addresses the quality of the project evaluation and it's worth 20 points. The first two sub criteria are each worth 5 points and the third sub criterion is worth 10 points. In determining the quality of the project evaluation to be conducted, the secretary considers the extent to which the methods of evaluation includes the use of objective performance measures that are clearly related to the intended outcome of the project, and will produce quantitative and qualitative data to the extent possible. The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide performance feedback and permit periodic assessments of progress toward achieving intended outcome. And, the extent to which the evaluation will provide guidance about effective strategies suitable for replication or testing in other settings. As the Federal Register notice phase the maximum score for these four criteria is 100 points. Depending on the goals, objectives, and design of the proposed project, applicants may elect to also

respond to one or more of the competitive preference priorities established for this competition that we went over a few minutes ago in an effort to earn additional points. You will find those competitive preference priorities again on page one five one nine five of the April 15th Federal Register notice.

Slide 34 (35:48):

[Laura] As with every Department program we have established performance measures for this program. You'll find them on pages 15203 and 15204 of the Federal Register notice: they fall into two categories. The Perkins V section 113 core indicators of performance, as required under Section 114e8b, of Perkins V, and project-specific performance measures and performance targets. Applicants will want to think about these performance measures and thinking through the required independence evaluation for the proposed project.

Slide 35-37 (36:36):

[Laura] We won't go over the Perkins V section 113 core indicators but we include them here on the next few slides for your reference. They’re also in the Federal Register. If you're not familiar with them you'll want to become familiar with them, if you're familiar with the section 113 core indicators in Perkins IV, note that they have changed in Perkins V.

Slide 38 (37:05):

[Laura] In designing the independent evaluation for the proposed projects applicants may want to contact the district or institutions Perkins coordinator and/or data of person to discuss how data could be collected and reported on the core indicator. There are nine secondary core indicators on the next three slides. There are also three more secondary core indicators, as you'll see on this slide. Again, applicants may want to reach out to district, or institutions’ Perkins coordinators, or accountability data people to discuss performance measurements when thinking through the program evaluation.

Slide 39 (37:56):

[Laura] Applicants must also propose project specific performance measures and performance targets consistent with the objectives of the proposed project. Bear in mind that these are defined terms, so applicants will want to read these definitions in the definitions section on pages one five one nine seven through one five two zero zero of the Federal Register notice. Applicants should provide the following information for these measures: for the project specific performance measures how each performance would accurately measure the performance of the project and how the proposed performance measures would be consistent with the performance measures established for this program. For baseline data: why each base proposed baseline is valid or if the applicant has determined that there are no established baseline data for a particular performance measure, an explanation of why there is no established baseline, and of how and when during the project period the applicant would establish a valid baseline for the performance measure.

Slide 40 (39:09):

[Laura] For performance targets: why each proposed performance target is ambitious yet achievable compared to the baseline for the performance measure, and when, during the project period, the applicant would meet the performance targets. And for data collection and reporting the data collection and reporting methods the applicant would use and why those methods are likely to yield reliable, valid,

and meaningful performance data and the applicants of capacity to collect and report reliable, valid, and meaningful performance data as evidenced by high-quality data collection, analysis, and reporting in other projects for research. Again, these are things to think about when thinking through the independence evaluation.

Slide 41 (40:07):

[Laura] Ok, let's talk about the application itself and the documents you will need in order to develop and submit an application. I've been referencing the April 15th Federal Register notice throughout this webinar. If you haven't downloaded and printed it you'll want to do that today, and if you haven't already you'll want to go to grants.gov today and download the application and instructions under CFDA 804051f. That's your very important next step after downloading and reading the federal notice. You definitely will want to read the grants.gov submission procedures and tips for applicants on pages five through eight of the application packet.

Slide 42 (40:55):

[Laura] All applications must be submitted via grants.gov. If you've applied for other discretionary grants you may already be familiar with grants.gov. If you haven't submitted via grants.gov in a while, you'll want to familiarize yourself with any changes. If you think your entity is already registered on grants.gov, you will want to verify that now and check the date of your registration. The federal system for award management or Sam, as we like to call it, now requires you to update your registration annually. If your entity has never submitted an application via grants.gov, you will want to get started now on the application process. That means registering through Sam and no one has ever reported that that's a quick and easy process. Grants.gov encourages all applicants to register early, submit early, and verify your submission. As you said on the last slide, you'll want to read the grants.gov submission procedures and tips for applicants. It has information on registration, browser support, and information about the type of PDF files that must be uploaded: this is all important. If you have the ground forces summoning your grants officer may be able to submit the application on your behalf. If not, you'll have to identify one or two people who will register and become familiar with the grants.gov system. It's important to identify someone now who will submit the application from the time comes which, according to the tip sheet, could be a day or two before the deadline. We also suggest you identify a knowledgeable backup person in case something happens, and your primary person is unable or unavailable.

Slide 43 (42:55):

[Laura] The electronic application has several components as you can see from this slide. Applications should be organized in the order presented in this optional application checklist that you'll find at the end of the application package. The application and instructions that you will download from grants.gov repeats a good deal of information from the April 15th Federal Register notice, but it also includes important instructions about what should be included in each part of the application. For instance, it gives instructions on what to include in the project abstract, the project narrative, the budget, and the budget narrative. As you can see here, we also list several documents that should be included in the appendices. Please note that some of these documents may not be applicable to you. For example, if you're not applying as an eligible entity for other consortium, and you're not submitting a good absolute application, you would not include a science consortium agreement with your application as listed here in Appendix A. Similarly, if you're not proposing to serve rural districts, you wouldn't include

documentation of rural eligibility and a list of rural locale codes as listed here in appendix D. You would, however, want to submit resumes and letters of commitments from your project partners if you have them, and your logic model and explanation, your assurance, excuse me, your assurance regarding application requirement G, as required in Section 114e3 of Perkins V, and your current and direct cost rate agreement. In the Federal Register notice please note the suggested 35-page limits set forth in the Federal Register for the project narrative: this is a suggestion only. Now also the recommendation that you organize your project narrative according to the selection criteria and make explicit connections to the priorities and requirements.

Slide 44 (45:22):

[Laura] Now I want to talk about the budget for a few minutes. Applicants must use the department's budget summary forms. Applicants should also include an annual budget for all five years of the proposed project. The budget summary form has two parts. Part A: where you'll include all requested Perkins IM, grant funds, and Part B: where you'll include any non-federal funds including in-kind resources that will be used to provide the required 50% match. Regarding the 50% match: applicants must provide evidence of their matching contributions for the first year of the grant in the grant application. In addition to including the matching contribution in Part B of the budget forms, applicants should also include a letter committing to the match from an individual who has the authority to make legally binding commitments on behalf of the applicant. You'll find this on page 15201 of the Federal Register Note. Note that Perkins V has a prohibition against supplanting. Which means applicants under the Perkins innovation and modernization grant program are required to use a restricted indirect cost rate. For more information on restricted rates, applicants should go to the department's website at the link provided on page 33 of the application.

Slide 45 (47:09):

[Laura] The budget narrative explains the ED budget summary form. It's important to provide enough information in the budget narrative to explain and justify your proposed budget. Both parts A & B. This slide shows that the budget narrative should include: an itemized budget breakdown for each year of the proposed project, they should show the basis for estimating cost of these various categories, show the relationship between the requested funds and project activities and outcomes, show the total amounts it will be expended, show the amount and source of matching funds, and enable reviewers and project staff to understand how the requested funds in the ED 5:24 form will be used. The application package instructions for the budget narrative includes several specific instructions to assist applicants as you work through your budget including instructions for explaining personnel cost. Remember that peer reviewers will review and evaluate the budget information you provide when they review and score your application in response to the adequacy of resources selection criterion. As you can see from this slide: if as a result of the peer review of applications your application is recommended for funding, Department staff also will review your budgets. Will perform a cost analysis to ensure costs relate to the activities and objectives of the project and in to ensure costs are reasonable and allowable and eligible. We may delete for reduced costs from the proposed budget during this review.

Slide 46 (49:06):

[Laura] Again the April 15th Federal Register notice and application packaging instructions are important documents that applicants will need in order to submit an application. We also suggest you go to our

ED.gov website to download the instructions for the required CD forms. The bullets on this slide are hyperlinked. Sometimes grants.gov includes the instructions for some forms but not for others, you'll find the instructions for the required ED forms at this bullet ED form construction. The application package also includes program specific instructions for completing the form.

Slide 47 (49:57):

[Laura] And here's one final reminder: applications must be submitted via grants.gov. Applications must be submitted before the deadline which is 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on June 14.

Slide 48 (50:16):

[Laura] As you work your way through the Federal Register notice application package and instructions, you may have some additional questions. If you do, please email your questions to the Perkins Innovation and Modernization Grant program website. That PerkinsIandMGrants@ed.gov. You may also contact me directly: Laura messenger. I am the program contact for this program, and I think we now have time for questions.

[Robin] Yes, we do. Laura, thank you. Thank you so much for going through the PowerPoint. We have captured questions that we're seeking responses to from Chora - from Cory and Laura. What we're going to do is we're going to toggle between as a Q&A section and the chat, because there are questions there were content questions about the grant in both of those sections on that platform on the webinar. So without any further wait time, let's talk about the questions. What we're going to do is we're going to go in the order that they were received, so that can put us back to the beginning. From the first question to the most recent. The other cases that I think as I was watching on people joining later that will feel some of the questions will be probably address and those prior early slides, those questions that came later can be found there, but we'll figure that as we go. So, one of the questions early on in the Q&A section was asked: I'm going to read it verbally and then we will respond.

Approximately how much would be awarded during the two-year extension period? And the questioner goes on to say: I asked because the grant competition requires applicants to submit a budget narrative for all five years. So again the question is approximately how much would be awarded during the two-year extension period?

[Laura] I think - this is Laura - I think that will depend on the, first of all, what the national activities appropriation would be. That we have available at that time. I think it would also depend - we would still have to abide by the 20% cap - so if one just uses the current appropriation as a planning guide we would have 1.4 million, or possibly more, if we're able to combine funding from different fiscal years again. Again, and that would some of that would be based on what these requested amounts are, also from the projects. How many would have shown satisfactory progress in the first three years of the grant so that they would be eligible to receive a continuation award, and also what the appropriated funds are that we would have available.

[Cory] And also in Section 114(E) in the law it does outline what the national activities add those amounts in the law so, again as Laura alluded to the 20% cap, that can help the reader kind of estimate the amount of funds that could be made available.

[Robin] Oh right so next question again, still from the Q&A, is what is the exact definition of field initiated?

[Cory] So that is not a defined term in our notice. I mean Congress did not define that term in the legislation. Perkins did not to find that term. We did not decide to add a definition for that term. So, I mean I think generally when you talk about field initiated research: it's research this generated by the project itself, by investigators, and practitioners who are interested in particular study question or study methods.

[Robin] Great thanks Cory. I'm going to play leapfrog to one question that happens to be, I think, a follow-up to our response just now about the two-year funding, and the question is, what is the maximum amount an applicant can request for a five-year period in the Federal Register? The estimated range for three years is 400,000 to 500,000.

[Cory] So, as the Federal Register notes - you may have known as Federal Register notice is not, as Laura mentioned, we do not set a maximum grant award in this notice. However, we do have the 400 to 500 thousand sort-of estimated range for awards for a 36 months classic period. So, what you might want to consider doing is sort of extrapolate what that annual cost might be and consider that for that additional 24-month period.

[Robin] So next question in the Q&A. To confirm, a nonprofit organization cannot lead an applicant as an eligible entity? So that's a question, and such an organization would need to fall under a consortium but could not be the fiscal agent, and so those are again, those are questions are seeking for clarification.

[Laura] They’re going to want to look at that definition of eligible entity, which states that only one of the parties under column A, if you will, can serve as the fiscal agent for the consortium. Those are in LEA or consortium of such agencies and educational service agency serving secondary school students, and area CTE school, or a consortium of such schools, an Indian tribe tribal organization, or a tribal educational agency, an institution of higher education whose most common degree awarded is an associate's degree for a consortium of such entities, are in IHE whose most common degree awarded is the bachelor's, or a higher degree for a consortium of such institutions. A nonprofit organization is not listed there and therefore based on the definition of an eligible entity and Perkins V they could not lead the grant as the fiscal agent. But cannot submit on behalf of the eligible entity.

[Robin] Thanks Laura. Now I'm going to go to the chat. Again trying to do that in the order it was received. So in the chat box it asks: will this proposal be submitted or managed on the fed system on Sam? And will we have to include our Duns number?

[Laura] Yes you must include your Duns number, for sure. The proposal is not managed on Sam. I think you register for grants.gov via Sam, but you will submit the application via grants.gov.

[Robin] So again in chat and if we think about when we were talking about these issues: Are award sizes listed per year, or totals for a three-year period?

[Laura] So that was on an earlier slide and so you'll want to want to get the PowerPoint for this if you start, if you joined late. The estimated size of award is for the full initial three-year project period.

[Robin] Is there a way to toggle through the PowerPoint, is that too obnoxious?

[Cory] The pages off hand. It shouldn’t be a problem.

[Robin] Okay. Close your eyes, don’t look at the screen right now.

[Laughter]

[Robin] Alright, so I'm still in the chat, we've still got other questions to get through. Our Community College District serves those urban and rural areas, can we qualify under the rule category? Again, it's a Community College. Community College District there's both urban and rural.

[Laura] What you want to do is look at the requirement into section 114(E)5 of Perkins V. It says in the Federal Register at one page five two zero one. So, the purpose of this competition we will consider an applicant as rural if the applicant meets the qualifications for rural applicants established in section 114(E)5A of Perkins V, and the applicant certifies that it meets those qualifications in its application. In implementing the statutory provision and program requirements the department may fund high-quality applications for rural applicants. We say we have information in - okay there's a geographic diversity definition on page –

[Cory] Nope, so this is from the legislation. So, if you - I'm sorry - so it isn't actually on the Federal Register notice, I'll pull it up there so it's easy to look it up. If you go to page one five one nine eight - I'm sorry – 15 – I’m sorry - letting my eyeballs find this right now.

[Robin] They are looking through Federal Register notices in Perkins V Law. As a reminder, this will be transcripted and so we'll be able to grab the information

[Laura] Via graphics diversity section in the legislation 114(E)5 maps out that, simply said it has to be an institution of higher education primarily serving one or more areas served by such a local education agent. So then it goes back to those urban center’s district. I think you probably want to look at that section regarding whether or not your institution primarily serves one or more areas, certified those codes.

[Cory] Right, the onus would be on the applicant to demonstrate that it is primarily at the institution of higher ed primarily served one or more of those urban centric districts which means Burrell.

[Robin] Very thorough response. So we're - we're going to follow up again with eligibility and that was again out order of questions, but we're getting follow-up questions and I don't know if we can find that slide in particular, but the inner conversation that we just had with eligibility: it says – they’re asking why are nonprofits ineligible? And, in fact did we in fact say that not for profits are ineligible for this ramp?

[Laura] The eligible applicants were determined by section 114(E) of our federal statutes. Which we are calling Perkins V. And Congress, in its wisdom, saw fit to determine that the eligible applicants under this program are an eligible entity, an eligible institution, or an eligible recipient, so a nonprofit organization could not submit an application under the Perkin’s Innovation and Modernization Grant Program. An eligible applicant could choose to partner with a nonprofit organization in the design and implementation of its proposed project if the eligible applicant thought that that would be important in the design and implementation of their project. But a nonprofit organization may not submit an application.

[Robin] Thanks for the clarification Laura. Early on one of the questions was what's the definition of entity institution and recipient?

Okay we're pulling up the Federal Register notice.

[Cory] Okay. So going back to the rural set aside that we have for rural and applicants in this project on page one five two zero one nonprofits are eligible if you look at the consortium part of the definition for a rural applicant. So an applicant must meet at least one of the following requirements: the applicants can be an LEA from one of these urban centric locales are actually rural account, an IAT primarily serving one or more areas certified in LEA with referral code, a consortium of such LEAs or IATs, an educational service agency or a nonprofit organization in partnership since LEA or an IAT. So that's the place where every scene unprofitability comes, but it would have to be a partner sharing and the nonprofit organization do not because it doesn't.

[Robin] So you know - so if you can’t follow along, which is understandable, then you can always ask your questions through PerkinsIandMgrants@ed.gov so by all means email this question for clarification as well.

[Cory] And again if we unpackage this Federal Register notice.

[Laura] And nonprofit organizations out there you need to read section 114(E)5 of Perkins V. That section is written rather oddly, because if you read it one way it sounds like a partnership to be an applicant. If you read it another way it sounds like funds would be awarded to eligible entities, eligible institutions, or eligible recipients. Again those are the three applicants for under this program, proposing to fund CTE activities that serve, and it lists in LEA and IHE of consortium or a partnership they would serve. So it sounds like the nonprofit organization and educational service agency partnership would be a recipient of services provided by the eligible applications. They would not be the eligible applicants. Nonprofit organizations I think you're sort of bits. If you're choosing - if you're looking for a program where you could be the applicant and the grantee - this is not the program for you.

[Robin] Thanks. We're going to go to the priorities, certainly computer science, so and this was in the chat. So questions about the particular competitive priority, again, computer science. If the evidence base is similar to ESSA, what level of evidence is required to count “well” if in computer science education interventions are not really in the what works clearing out. So that's the question. So, again, computer science - if the evidence payments in order to ESSA, what level of evidence is required?

[Cory] So you'll want to look at our absolute priority for this one even though it's about the computer science question. We require projects to demonstrate the rationale so that is our level of evidence that we're requiring for this.

[Robin] Good. Thanks Corey for toggling through the PowerPoint with that and putting that on the screen where that's at. Is computer science coursework defined somewhere? And that was in the Q&A

[Cory] I believe the answer is no. That we do not define computer science.

[Laura] Yes, we do.

[Laughter]

[Laura] You know I'm glad this has come up, because one of the things I meant to say is if you have not yet read the Federal Register notice, or if you have, you will see that there are three or four pages full of definitions and that's because Perkins V includes a lot of new terms, it also changes the definitions for several existing terms that you would have found in Perkins IV, and this gem of a section -- Section 114(E) lists a gazillion of those terms. So we felt that in order to help people and keep people from having to go from one thing to the other, we would just put them all in this notice. So if you look at page one five one nine seven you will see a definition of computer science.

[Robin] Thanks, I’m going to keep moving through the questions and speaking of definitions is there a definition for low-income families?

[Laura] Hold that thought.

[Robin] Alright.

[Cory] So that is not a defined term and we do not set a threshold for what is a low if a student is a low-income family. The place to look for - some potential places where you might want to look for data to support your - to support the priorities that on page one five one nine five of the Federal Register Notice. We basically list some data sources and measures that you may wish to include when you're addressing this priority. So, there are like, for example, children aged five through seventeen in poverty account for the most recent census data, more students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch under the school lunch act, there's a number of different possibilities you could talk about. Students who are served by Pell grants in your project or students or eligible for SNAP, for example. So there's some ideas on data sources that you might wish to use to make a case for a CCP for competitive preference priority 2 in terms of how your project would serve.

[Robin] Thanks Cory. One of the questions we had, which I think was before we got to the answer, is do in-kind contributions count?

[Laura] Yes, they do.

[Robin] And then another one that was in the chat on page 15198 of the Federal Register notice, under eligible institution H, an Education Service Agency, where is that term defined?

[Laura] The term educational service agency has the meaning given the term in Section eight one zero one of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. That's one that we –

[Robin] Does a consortium of two public community colleges meet the definition of an eligible institution? A consortium of two public community colleges, does that meet the definition of an eligible institution?

[Laura] So let's look at the definition of an eligible institution: it means A: a consortium or two or more of the entities described in subparagraph B through F, now we get to B: a public or nonprofit private IHE that offers and will use funds provided under this title in support of CTE courses that lead to a technical skill proficiency or recognized post-secondary credentials including industry-recognized credentials for certificate or an associate's degree. So, if your community college or those two community colleges will use funds in support of CTE courses that lead to technical skills proficiency, an industry-recognized credential, a certificate, or an Associated technical associate's degree, then the answer would be yes.

[Robin] Could you provide an example of what would be classified as innovative under this grant?

[Laura] Nope.

[Cory] I think you know, as Laura, said that we she introduced this that is very prescribed and so all of those actions in that are listed as Career and Technical Education or what the grant is about innovation and modernization that’s what they are defining.

[Laura] And answering that question I would probably create an applicant to program requirements 2. Congress has mapped out what it believes are allowable uses of funds for Perkins innovation and modernization so I think these are sort of – these are the innovative processes that this project is looking for, or this program is looking for.

[Cory] As an applicant you would need to identify under which of these uses of funds you are submitting your application. I mean what will your proposed project do? I think another reason why Congress wrote these this way say is because what’s standard practice in one state or one community might be innovative in another depending on where ones starting point. Again, the onus, I believe, would be on the applicant after it has identified where we're addressing this you know this use of funds for this project and you would need to want to show how your program is innovative and you would want to look at your selection criteria to see how strong a case you could make for that. Certain selection criteria are more focused on that than others. The significance of the project for example and then others ones in terms of replication.

[Robin] Alright. Great, thanks. Independent evaluation, so that's what this question - is an independent evaluation that has been completed before the start of the grant period besides for purposes of the independent evaluation?

[Cory] No.

[Laura] No.

[Cory] So if you look at program requirement one: a grantee must conduct an independent evaluation of the activities that are carried out under the grant. So something that has already taken place would not suffice for this project.

[Robin] So we need some clarity here. The question is about the budget. After the budget is submitted for a three-year or five-year time period. So again looking at, are we submitting a three-year or five-year budget?

[Laura] So you would be submitting a five-year budget. Clearly we would assume that you would have a lot figured out in terms of that initial 3-year project period for what you're trying to accomplish, and your estimated budget for the second project period - which would be a two-year project period - would be based on what you see your project doing the final two years. Now we would not make the award for five years clearly, we would make the awards for the initial three-year period, and at the end of the three-year period we would be looking to make continuation Awards, and at that time we would be revisiting the budget possibly with grantees at that time.

[Robin] So speaking of budget, one of the questions that came in to the QA asks and if the 10% - indirect rate will be used if we've never had an indirect cost rate?

[Laura] So frankly you're really going to want to go to that website on the ED.gov website which talks about how you would calculate your restricted indirect cost rate. There are different rules for different types of entities, and I think there are some examples there.

[Robin] Great, thanks for that advice. I think we may have covered this in the eligible entities section. So there's a couple of more questions about eligibility. So reviewing page 150198: please clarify that a single IHAE may apply as an eligible institution?

[Laura] That is correct. Under B under the eligible institutions definitions under subpart B: a public or nonprofit private IHE that offers and will use funds provided under this title and supporting CTE courses that lead to technical skill proficiency or a recognized post-secondary credential including an industry-recognized credential, a certificate, or an associate's degree.

[Robin] And so we've got another question along the lines of eligible entity of school districts. Can a school district alone not - right so let me double check – a school district alone is not an eligible entity? That's the question.

[Laura] Yes school district is, if you look under the eligible recipient definition, under Part A. An LEA, local educational agencies, including a public charter school that operates as a LEA, an area CTE school, an educational service agency in Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal educational agency, or consortium eligible to receive assistance under Section 131 that would be an LEA. I think some of these questions are pointing out the fact that, remember I said, that some of the definitions from Perkins IV have been tweaked for Perkins V. I think it's requiring all of us to look at these things carefully and if you're in doubt send us the question to PerkinsIandMgrant@ed.gov.

[Robin] Right. One of the questions we got later on: is this going to be an ongoing grant competition?

[Laura] Well I think maybe that's anyone's guess. I think that if you recall our funding cap we are proposing to use 2-years-worth of that funding for the first three years of these grants. If we then make continuation Awards for another two-year period that would tie up a future appropriation and funding cap for these grants. But I think after that, as long as anyone’s guess, that would be what five years from now? I believe that’s the expectation of our current leadership and I think that was the expectation of Congress says this would be a continuing program, it was written into the statute.

[Robin] Right, codified in the law. So, 18 minutes ago in the chat it was back to the eligibility. I think we resolved a little bit of confusion about the reason for excluding nonprofits and we figured through that. That in fact nonprofits, again, can you clarify nonprofits and where they said for eligibility?

[Laura] Nonprofit organizations would not be considered an eligible applicant under this program because they do not meet the definition of an eligible entity, eligible institution, or eligible recipient. Those are the only three types of eligible applicants.

[Robin] And the question is what was Congress's rationality? We can't answer that when we write our answer.

[Laura] We don't have an answer.

[Robin] So will the presentation be made available - oh here's one I can answer! Yes, this presentation will be made available. We will post the PowerPoint, the transcript, and the recording on CTE.ED.gov

that’s CTE.ED.gov just as soon as we are able to after this webinar today. So yes it will be made available. Is there a pre-recorded webinar or video or of these sources available on Perkins V? is the question. Absolutely, yes, there is. We are working on videos as we speak that speak to Perkins V and those will be available at state.gov as well under the Perkins V tab under that website. So we have a couple of videos that talk about levers of opportunity, what this law means for us, how we can rethink Career and Technical Education, so again ongoing videos will be added to that website. Thanks for the questions. I'm still going to stay in the chat and then I promise we'll get to the Q&A. You know we're doing well I know it's 3:27 p.m. oh that's our time, such as Eastern time.

So next question: does the STEM definition includes all Sciences?

We’re looking for an operation. We’re just trying to get back to the slide. I just scroll down and then go to sometimes –

[Laura] We do not have the definition

[Cory] I do not believe the secretary rarity's I sent define them. I think computer science is the only –

[Robin] It's almost like that's when we call out. But yet there are others we think extended abroad so it's not excluding

[Laura] It's not excluding health science. I think this is a situation where the onus would be on the applicant again to say that if you're working in health science and you view this as a stem field explaining why what you're doing aligns with STEM.

[Robin] Great, thanks. Indirect cost what indirect cost rates will be allowed?

[Laura] Only a restricted indirect cost rate will be allowed. So if you're an entity that has a negotiated indirect cost rate with a cognizant agency - and I hardly know what I'm saying and using these words - you should look to see if there is an approved negotiating restrictive indirect cost rate as part of that agreement. If there is not, then I believe there is some information on the website that talks about depending on what kind of an entity you are where you can use a de minimis rate for your restricted indirect cost rate, but you'll want to go to that link on the power point where we - it's a link that it actually in the application package that tells you where to go for more information about restricted indirect cost rates and how to calculate one.

[Robin] Okay I'm trying to find my way to the Q&A now from the chat. I appreciate everyone thanking us for our responses and letting us know that. Okay I want to make sure that I get down to the most from it. I think we've resolved the email address - there it is PerkinsIandMgrants@ed.gov and then I typed in the website also as well. A lot has happened since I've looked in the Q&A, but we'll get there. I don’t want to miss anything. Alright, here we are so.

I'm at the Q&A if you are looking online at 2:56 am, so we're talking about allowable expenses now that's what this question is. And I took a peek at the questions as I've scrolling down and I promise you they're from on topic, so here we go. Allow the link census include equipment and furniture and that is a question. So do our equipment and furniture one of the allowable expenses?

[Laura] I would say yes. I think one has to remember the onus, again, is on the applicant to explain why these costs are reasonable and how they would be necessary for the implementation of the Perkins Innovation and Modernization Project that the applicant is proposing.

[Cory] And then just additional guidance if you go to grants.gov and download the application package there for eighty four point zero five one F, you will find a PDF document and on page 31 about application package instructions there is a lot of information. Well really it starts on page thirty, but there's a lot of information about the level of information we would expect an applicant to provide around equipment and supplies, and so those are the two sections when you're devising your budget that I would really recommend you look.

[Robin] That’s true, great response. So let's talk about eligibility again with the Community College. This was about 30 minutes ago, so keep that in mind that this question came in, does this mean that community colleges would be eligible to be a consortium lead?

[Laura] Okay, so many colleges have a couple of options. Okay? Community colleges that would use the funds to support CTE courses that lead to recognize post-secondary credentials and technical at such speeds etc. could apply as a sole applicant under eligible institution, they could apply as a consortium under an eligible institution, and those different entities are listed there, or they could they could apply as an eligible entity, and could serve as the fiscal agent if they wanted to on behalf of the eligible entity consortium because they are listed under Part A, under five and IHE whose most common degree awarded is an associate degree or a consortium of such institutions. However, if the Community College applies as eligible entity, it needs to remember that it has to include all of the required representatives called for under an eligible entity.

[Robin] So thank you. An ESA that is nonprofit as long as it is recognized in state law would be eligible as an eligible entity?

[Laura] Can you read that again?

[Robin] Yes, an ESA –

[Laura] Oh, an Educational Service Agency that is nonprofit as long as it is recognized in state law would be eligible as an eligible entity?

[Cory] I think we need to look at the definition of an ESA and if it meets that definition then I think we would be okay.

[Robin] Right and that may be an email - so would be appropriate for an email because, again, we're going to look at multiple laws to help answer that. So here's one for you: can a new faculty member be hired when's the grant funds to implement the proposed program with the idea that they would, you know, maintain or be sustained after the grant ends.

[Laura] I don't think there's anything that would preclude an applicant from making that a part of their project or their budget. You would want to look at the information in the application package that talks about where you would provide information under personnel. It would include the title and duties of each position to be compensated and the importance of each position to the success of the project, the salary, the amount of time, the basis for cost estimates, and computations. I think that I don't see anything in the notice that would say that an applicant could not make that request in their budget.

[Robin] Great, thanks. This may be redundancy, but again, can you qualify these terms as under eligible section for the grant? An educational service center serving secondary students and, in this area CTE school.

[Laura] Okay so we need to go back to those all-important definitions and I'm assuming people out there have been reading along, but we just want confirmation. So let's see. An education service center. If you look, I guess it would depend on how the state defines the education service centers. The definitions here talk about educational service agencies, and if in your state an Education Service Center meets the definition of an educational service agency then it would be able to apply either as an LEA or possibly as an eligible institution depending on who you're serving. So an educational service agency serving secondary school students or an area of CTE school would be covered under the eligible recipient’s definition under A: they're considered a local educational agency. Right? An LEA parens including a public charter school that operates as an LEA, an area CTE school, an educational service agency, and then it goes on to an Indian tribe tribal organization, or a tribal educational agency, or consortium are eligible to receive assistance under Section 131. So as long as the educational service agency and the area CTE school considered eligible to receive assistance under Section 131 then you'd be eligible to submit an application as an eligible recipient under A.

[Cory] Right and again it's under that section 131, so each depending on the state or depending on where you're from education service agencies can be defined differently. So that's what you're going to want to verify. That's section 131 and that’s as in Perkins V law. So speaking of eligibility again I think we did this but just for clarification so an IHE and a LEA would need to partner with the department the business and industry - excuse me - with a business or stakeholder in order to be an eligible entity and then a good one if they can IHE be eligible by itself. We answered that earlier.

[Laura] So this is fun, okay. So if you were to come in as an eligible entity, okay. Then under A, under eligible entity, you can have the IHE and the LEA that you have to have at least two from column A, right that rich tile, that's how I think of it so you need at least two from A and you've got them there with the IAT and the LEA. And yes to be an eligible entity you would also have to partner with one from column B that’s a business and at least one from column C, that’s a stakeholder. But in IHE the ineligible institution by itself. I guess that would depend on whether your IHAE meets the requirements in of B under eligible institution. Which talks about a credential, or certificate, or an associates’ degree. If you're an IHE that does not award a recognized post –

[Robin] This is another a good example or a good question to ask via email.

[Laura] This is a good question to ask because the definition of recognized post-secondary credentials as is the meaning the Perkins V has the meaning - isn't this fun gang - had some meaning in WIOA. So if you look at page one five two zero zero of the Federal Register notice it says recognized post-secondary credential means a credential consisting of an industry-recognized certificate or certification, a certificate of completion of apprenticeship, a license recognized by the state or federal government, or an associate or baccalaureate degree. So let's rewind what I have said about an eligible institution. An IAT that'd be an eligible institution by itself and the answer would be yes under the definition of eligible institution Part B or F if you were a post-secondary educational institution controlled by the Bureau of Indian education, are operated by or on behalf of an Indian tribe that is eligible to contract with the Secretary of the Interior for the administration of programs under the Indian self-determination educate. So the answer to that is yes.

[Robin] Alright we're sticking with eligibility. The next question asks would or regional originally licensed career school or college be eligible to submit an application for this grant?

[Cory] Alright don't know specifically what that means, but I would guess that it may fit that definition of eligible recipient and I would encourage you to reach out to us directly so we can talk through some of the things you'd want to take a look at. So you'd want to look at the definition for eligible recipient, which has several elements to it but the one that I'm thinking about is A and LEA including a public charter school that operates as an LEA or an area charter, I'm sorry area CTE schools and educational service agency and in tract tribal organization, or tribal educational agency, or a consortium. As long as you're eligible to receive assistance under Section 131.

[Robin] Right and to go on with that is the question also with a state license where school. So same question would originally licensed career school or college be able to submit? Also how about a state license charter school.

[Cory] I believe that's section 132 eligibility question. So I would suggest that if you have questions about your specific eligibility, we're happy to talk to you. Could send an email with PerkinsIandMgrants@ed.gov and we're happy to email or schedule time to talk through specific questions about eligibility.

[Robin] Sure, absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about the budget again. Approximately how much would be awarded during the two-year extension period?

[Laura] So we already talked about that.

[Cory] It's a little bit tricky for us answer that question just because we don't have a maximum award size. I mean we're saying we're estimating a four to five hundred thousand dollar initial three-year award, so if you extrapolate what that amount might be per year it’d give you a ballpark for what we would estimate for those. You know for what a per year amount could be for that additional two-year period, but again there is not a maximum award. Where it's competitive this grand competition, so it's really just an estimate. This is a new law and a new competition.

[Robin] So this is about the low-income levels and the person is wondering how this changed. So it states Perkins should be using the US Department of Education low income levels published each year, when that change?

[Cory] I'm not clear on what the question is really referring to. There's several different data sources which Department uses for establishing poverty for students from low-income families across different programs so that's not something that's uniform across the department.

[Robin] Thanks Cory. So the question is talking about performance outcomes right now. So, all of your outcomes should be attained by the end of the three years, so you'd have something to report before you find out the last two-year dollars. So it’s talking about the progress outcomes.

[Cory] Right so let's take a look at the program requirement 1, which is the evaluation. Annually you will be required to submit a report to the secretary and that's going to include a description of how your funds were used, performance of your projects, and which with respect to the different performance measures. So yes, we'll make a determination after those three years, but we will have three years of

reported data as part of your independent evaluation. Take a look at, it won't just be that one shot in year three it'll be the sort of full picture of what's going on and with full three years of your project.

[Laura] In addition we'll also be looking at the project specific performance measures that you would be - you would have included in your application and that you would be reporting on. So we'd be looking across all the data and see what kind of progress is being made.

[Robin] Where, again, exactly is the eligibility entity eligible institution algebra recipient – where is that defined?

[Cory] So look at the Federal Register notice on page one five one nine eight and you'll find the different definitions for eligible agency, eligible recipient, eligible institution.

[Laura] And again those are cut and pasted precisely from section 3 of Perkins V. Because each of those terms is defined in Perkins V.

[Robin] Oh and then talk about writing and even the use of words. Right, so the question is do you want to write the proposal like you're only getting three years of funding, or would you write it as you're getting the five years?

[Cory] So you'll - again I would direct you to the - we do require you to submit a budget request that covers all sixty months, so it's a 5-year budget but you'll be submitting. We will be awarding the first three years of that grant with the idea being that final two-year amount of your five-year grantee would be awarded after year three so your whole budget will be on a 60-month budget, you won’t be writing a 36-month budget. So again I would look at the application package instructions, I think it starts on page 30. It gives you lots of information. That's the document that you'll download from grants.gov. It'll give you lots of information about how to create an itemized budget breakdown and how to estimate your cost by category.

[Laura] And if you're talking in terms of writing your narrative then I think if you're doing a budget for five years you would want to look at a five year period for what it is you're trying to accomplish, bearing in mind that you're going to be looking at those selection criteria that reviewers will use to determine the quality of your application. And also recognizing that there is a point at the end of year three where we're stopping and taking a look and saying, you know, what's been done thus far? What's been accomplished? And that language comes directly from the section 114(E) of Perkins V also, that says the secretary may extend the first grants - secretary says is the first a three year project period but the secretary may extend such grants for not more than one additional two year period if the grantee demonstrates to the secretary that the grantee is achieving the grantees program objectives and, as applicable, has improved educational outcomes for CTE students including special populations. So by the end of year three, we're going to want to see that grantees are achieving their project objectives.

[Robin] So let's talk about the budget real quick with speaking of the 36 months and the 5 years. So the award ceiling is 500,000 with 6 sectioned Awards over 36 months, that's the question, so we want to clarify that because that's that needs some clarifications.

[Laura] It is not a ceiling, we say in the Federal Register notice that the Department of Ed is not bound by these estimates, nor does it set of maximum award. So that would be a ceiling: we are not setting a ceiling for these grants that's our estimate.

[Cory] So that means that you are awarded $500,000 you are no longer eligible for any of the remaining awards? So I think that question is if you request $500,000 in your first 3 years would you not be eligible for an extension because you would be hitting a cap? And again there is no cap.

[Robin] Alright, in the Federal Register definitions it's an eligible institution you need to consortium of two or more of the interviews described in some paragraphs, does this change your answer up if an IHE is eligible to apply.

[Laura] Now if you look at the this section wasn't - it's missing an all-important for after e, ok, if you can come in under A) as a consortium of two or more; you could come in under B) as a single applicant, a single institution; you could come in under C) as an eligible institution if you're an LEA and providing education at the post-secondary level; you could come in under D) as an area CTE school that provides education at the post-secondary level; you could come in under E) as an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal entities education agency that operates a school or maybe president, then you could come under F) at the post-secondary educational institution control size or are operated by or on behalf of Indian tribes etc., etc. So A is one option, B is another option as an applicant, and C is another option.

[Robin] Thanks, let's talk a little bit about the funding again. What your - okay we did this one - I'm sorry. So, one more about funding. If awarded a grant, will the money be received as one lump sum at the beginning or will the initial money be distributed in three disbursements?

[Laura] Okay so it will be one lump sum that remains here in our coffers and that grantees then draw down as needed.

[Robin] Good question, good response. I'm thinking this might be the last one. So I say that cuz there's an opportunity to get your questions in, and so here's this that's on evaluation: so it sounds like the evaluation takes place after three years of implementation, which then fuels the possibility of a two-year extension?

[Laura] No. If you’ll look at the independent evaluation it says that the grantee must conduct program requirement one, the grantee must conduct an independent evaluation of the activities carried out under the grant and submit to the secretary and annual report. So it's the expectation that this would be an ongoing evaluation, you also would want to look at the evaluation selection criterion which talks about the methods of the evaluation and under Part B the extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward achieving intended outcomes. So those are two things you need to look at to see that the evaluation is not done at the end.

[Cory] And it is a program requirement so it's something that would be a part of your project not just something that - it's an ongoing requirement of the project, really.

[Robin] So there's a point of clarification on the information on grants.gov that uses the following is incorrect and it goes back to the estimated total program funding at 800,000, the award ceiling at 500,000, what these are again is our estimates and they're just guidelines or not even guidelines they're just what we have estimated to do up to six awards for the two million eight hundred thousand. And unfortunately grants.gov is sort of required template that it uses and we noticed that Awards ceiling also and thought that that might cause some confusion of we're not at all certain that we can get them to

remove that, I think that's just their standard practice. But we have not established an award ceiling for this program.

[Robin] And should be budgets the same amount each year like title three or trio or should they be different?

[Laura] I would say that is up to the applicant based on their proposed project design and timeline to determine a budget that is most in alignment with that project design and timeline so it doesn't have to be the same amount for each year, but again the onus is on the applicant to provide a solid budget narrative that explains why they're budgeting.

[Robin] Great, thanks. You guys have been a great audience and we have one more question coming in and this is a good evaluation. So what are the guidelines for the evaluation budget? What is a good range or a percentage of a grant award to allocate to the evaluation?

[Laura] So we don't provide those kinds of guidelines but in the Federal Register notice under program requirements there's interment there were some resources including the Federal Register no we do points – hang on, I’m looking.

[Cory] I'm trying to find where it is that we point folks to the what works Clearinghouse. Okay, here it is. There is some technical assistance that's provided on page one five two zero two and it is right after we talk about the selection criteria on project evaluation the resources available to you from what works Clearinghouse and different parts of IES that talk about what an evaluation might look like. I don't believe when I reviewed these resources that there is budgeting guidance, but there may be some. I think it's more about how to design a study, but I would encourage you to take a look at that. We don't provide guidance or information about what makes sense in terms of how much to budget for your evaluation.

[Robin] Are they able to write in a planning period as part of those grants? Can some be used for planning grant versus implementation?

[Laura] Well I want to include a word of caution there. I guess it depends on what do you think makes the most sense for what you're proposing. I think it depends on what your timeline would be. I think all applicants should be - keep in mind the requirements that are here for the evaluation that will show the results and for that three-year, end of the 3-year project period, where we look and see what kind of progress applicants are making. So I think the onus would definitely be on the applicant to explain why a planning period is necessary, one reason why we have a 60-day period for submitting an application is because we were hoping that applicants would use that time to put as much in place as they can in order to submit a competitive application.

[Cory] And while we might not – while we might be sounding like we're discouraging something that is a formal planning period just in part because of this, you know you are going to be held accountable for outcomes and results of this project in order to be able to continue with the two-year extension. The thing that I'm thinking about is…

[Laura] Well that's the question because we're toast. So with that, again, thank you for sticking with us. I know there was a lot of participants they're going to read it, or they will look at it in writing instead of me saying it.

[Laura] We typically see applications that come in the sort of a ramp-up period, so we wouldn't necessarily anticipate that you're like ready to go, chomping at the bit, the minute you get your grant award notification you're ready to walk out the door, and you're going to see you know, so I think typically we do see increase in grant awards in years two and three, and you know in a lower amount winds up being allocated for year one. That's perfectly fine, and we wouldn't we wouldn't want to discourage you from budgeting in that way if that's what makes most sense for your specific project.

[Robin] Sounds great I think we are through with the questions, we're a little past the top of the hour, Laura. Again you guys have been a great audience

[Laura] And you've been so quiet.

[Robin] But we do appreciate your thank-yous too, so that's giving us energy and power to get to answer all the questions. So again, appreciate your time, we hope you found this helpful. This will be posting this to our website just as soon as we are able cte.ed.gov again with the PowerPoint, a recording, a transcript and again that email is PerkinsIandMgrants@ed.gov and we are standing by to answer any other questions and we look forward to continue conversations. Take care, happy day.

[Cory] thank you

[Laura] thank you