Employment and Training Administration
Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications for
Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants Program
Announcement Type: Initial
Funding Opportunity Number: SGA/DFA PY-13-10
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 17.282
Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is [insert date XX days after date of publication of the one page notice in the Federal Register]. Applications must be received no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Addresses: Mailed applications must be addressed to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Grants Management, Attention: Steven A. Rietzke, Grant Officer, Reference SGA/DFA PY 13-10, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716, Washington, DC 20210. For complete application and submission information, including online application instructions, please refer to Section IV.
Executive Summary:
The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department), announces the availability of approximately $450 million in grant funds authorized for the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grant Program.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: This solicitation consists of nine sections:
Executive Summary
Funding Opportunity
Program Purpose
TAACCCT Core Elements
Core Element 1: Evidence-Based Design
Core Element 2: Career Pathways
Core Element 3: Advanced Online and Technology-Enabled Learning
Core Element 4: Strategic Alignment with the Workforce System and Other Stakeholders
Core Element 5: Alignment with Previously-Funded TAACCCT Projects
Core Element 6: Sector Strategies and Employer Engagement
Program Strategies
Single Institution Applicants
Consortium Applicants
Program Authority
Award Information
Award Type and Amount
Award for Institutions in Each State
Award Amount for Single Institution Applicants
Award Amount for Single Institution Applicants Seeking to Exceed the Funding Cap
Award Amount for Consortium Applicants
Award Amount for Consortium Applicants Seeking to Exceed the Funding Cap
Overview of Options for Exceeding the Funding Cap
Period of Performance
Eligibility Information
Eligible Applicants
Single Institution Applicants
Consortium Applicants
Allowable Activities for all Applicants
Cost Sharing or Matching
Other Information
Application and Submission Information
How to Obtain an Application Package
Content and Form of Application Submission
SF 424, Application for Federal Assistance
Project Budget
Project Narrative
Preparing Narrative
Attachments to the Project Narrative
Submission Date, Times, Processes, and Addresses
Intergovernmental Review
Funding Restrictions
Other submission Requirements
Application Review Information
Criteria for All Applicants
Evaluation of Supplementary Materials
Review and Selection Process
Program Evaluation
Award Administration Information
Award Notices
Administrative and National Policy Requirements
Reporting
Agency Contacts
Other Information
OMB Information Collection
In an increasingly competitive global economy, America’s economic strength depends on the education and skills of its workers. The nation needs workers with the education and skills to succeed in fast- growing, high-wage occupations. The TAACCCT program provides capacity-building grants to spur innovation and the development of model training programs at America’s community colleges and universities. TAACCCT-funded programs will prepare participants for employment in high-wage, high-skill occupations by using innovative and sophisticated strategies that address the unique needs of unemployed or under-employed adults. Throughout the first three rounds of TAACCCT, grantees have transformed the ways they design and deliver courses to adults through accelerated learning strategies, redesigned curricula, and technology-enhanced learning activities. These have included the incorporation of prior learning and knowledge, integrated occupational and academic learning, new educational technology, work-based learning opportunities, and online and distance learning opportunities.
The TAACCCT program seeks to increase the number of workers who attain certificates, degrees, and other industry-recognized credentials, helping to meet President Obama’s college graduation goal of increasing the percentage of adults with a post-secondary credential by 2020. The overarching goals of the program are to: (1) increase attainment of degrees, certifications, certificates, diplomas, and other industry-recognized credentials that match the skills needed by employers to better prepare workers eligible for training under the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers Program (“TAA-eligible workers”) of chapter 2 of title II of the Trade Act of 1974, 19 U.S.C. 2271-2323, and other adults for high-wage, high-skill employment or re-employment in growth industry sectors; (2) introduce or replicate innovative and effective methods for designing and delivering instruction that address specific industry needs and lead to improved learning, completion, and other outcomes for TAA-eligible workers and other adults; and (3) demonstrate improved employment outcomes.
The Department is implementing TAACCCT in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education. The two Departments believe that the TAACCCT program plays a major role in helping America’s community colleges and other higher education institutions drive changes in designing and delivering programs that provide career pathways to good jobs for adult workers and meet employer needs for highly skilled workers in growth industries.
With this final round of TAACCCT funding, the Department is focused on advancing innovative, sector-based system change in regional and statewide economies through grants to single eligible institutions and consortia of eligible institutions. These grant projects will create industry-driven strategies that are responsive to regional labor markets and state economies. Institutions within a consortium project will accomplish this by working across institutions within a local region or throughout a state while individual institutions will coordinate with other organizations within their local regional economy.
These sector strategies will target a specific industry or cluster of occupations and work to meet the workforce needs of employers in this sector while supporting TAA-eligible and other workers in attaining the necessary skills and credentials. Successful applicants will develop, expand or improve education and training programs suitable for TAA-eligible workers and other adults by developing and/or taking to scale successful sector-focused strategies based on the use of real-time labor market information.
Successful applicants will engage employers, regional industry organizations, national industry organizations (if applicable), State and local workforce boards, and educational and economic development entities. By fully engaging employers and industry organizations in activities such as project planning efforts, curriculum development, career pathway development, defining and mapping of competencies, credentials, and work-based training and hiring, the Department believes that TAACCCT can play a critical role in helping to build responsive and effective career pathways and training programs that align with current industry needs.
This round of funding also seeks to take successful approaches to scale and drive policy changes that will lead to changes within institutions, state community college systems, or across all community colleges in states where centralized systems do not exist to improve the delivery of needed training for TAA-eligible workers and other adults. To accomplish this, successful applicants will propose strategies that take to scale the adoption of policies, supported by evidence where it exists, that increase training retention, completion, and promote faster time to employment. Applicants are also encouraged to pursue strategies that lead to increased wages compared to prior employment of participants.
Additionally, successful consortia applicants will propose policy alignment across institutions to bring institutional changes to scale, such as the development of statewide systems of sector-focused career pathways, contextualizing and accelerating remedial education, adopting innovative approaches to accelerate credit accumulation and postsecondary credential attainment, and improving data collection, integration and use across state community college systems. These career pathway systems will provide adults a clear and aligned sequence of industry relevant coursework and stacked and latticed credentials that will enable them to attain and retain employment. All applicants may promote the defining and mapping of competencies, creation of industry-recognized credentials and assessments, and development of competency-based and accelerated education programs in high-growth, high-wage industries. Those applicants working with national industry or employer associations will have an opportunity to take to scale nationally recognized credentials and effective training programs to other economic regions.
Along with other programs appropriate for TAA-eligible workers and other adults, the Department hopes to foster creative and outcomes-based approaches that enhance entrepreneurship skills. Particularly in regions where economic recovery has been slow or where economic opportunities are limited, the Department encourages comprehensive entrepreneurship training programs tied to industry sectors identified in the proposal. Startup accelerators and incubators can give adult job-seekers the opportunity to turn their expertise and ideas into new businesses by providing common infrastructure, training, and intensive mentoring, or access to financing to an array of potential startups. Applicants that include entrepreneurship training are encouraged to focus on the actual experience of entrepreneurship rather than simply classroom instruction. In some instances, entrepreneurship incubators and accelerators are housed in four-year higher education institutions, but offer training, mentoring, and career counseling through community colleges. The Department encourages these types of partnerships between two-year and four-year educational institutions, in addition to other areas where these entities can collaborate cited throughout this SGA. The Department also encourages applicants to propose activities related to either “generalized” entrepreneurship training as a complement to skills-based credentials, or “customized” entrepreneurship training designed for specific career pathways.
TAACCCT represents a substantial investment in community colleges throughout the country. The Department is interested in leveraging this investment to build the capacity of community colleges and States to collect and report employment and completion data by program of study, so that TAA-eligible workers and other prospective students have easy access to information to decide whether a program is a good fit for them, can compare the outcomes of TAACCCT-funded programs with other educational opportunities in their area, and can better determine which programs and credentials have the potential to substantially increase their wages, and so colleges can monitor the success of their programs. The Department also believes that community colleges and other institutions of higher education should actively and extensively use labor market information to inform their course offerings.
Providing prospective students with access to data on program outcomes and incorporating the use of labor market information into college-wide decision-making regarding program development and course offerings is critical to building the capacity of community colleges and other institutions of higher education to respond to the needs of employers in the regional labor market. Successful consortia applicants will use local and regional labor market data to make decisions on course offerings and provide data to inform student choice about course participation.
TAACCCT also represents an investment in the next generation of open educational resources (OER) by continuing to require that all new intellectual property, including all digital content be openly licensed for free use, adaptation, and improvement by others. With the high quality OER produced in the first rounds of TAACCCT, TAA-eligible and other adult workers are better able to obtain affordable, high-quality training that will lead to careers in high-wage industries. Applicants will build upon and contribute to the body of OER and continue to create innovative, technology driven innovations in career training and education by openly licensing all work under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license. Applicants should search existing OER repositories for open learning objects and, where appropriate, re-use these learning objects instead of duplicating existing objects as components of their proposed programs. In cases where no existing OER is appropriate to the specific needs of proposed programs, applicants are encouraged to consider the most efficient and practical means of acquiring content, for example licensing or purchasing content or purchasing existing intellectual property, where the cost to do so is not substantially greater than licensing alone.
Successful consortia applicants will also provide information on their progress towards processes that track long-term student performance. Consortia applicants within a single state will be required to provide a plan to develop and implement a standard online scorecard. Although consortia applicants crossing state lines will not be required to implement these scorecards before the end of the grant, they will be required to submit a plan demonstrating how their members are working to make data available on student outcomes.
TAACCCT has a strong focus on evidence-based practice and evaluation. As a result, applicants are required to retain an independent, third-party evaluator to design and execute a rigorous evaluation of each funded project. The Department believes that successful projects can develop evidence on effective workforce education and training strategies to serve TAA-eligible and other adult workers that can be replicated broadly. In addition, the Department will conduct a national evaluation of the TAACCCT projects to inform workforce development policy and advance DOL’s mission to help the nation’s employers and workers.
To ensure that TAACCCT projects accomplish the goals stated above in Section I.A., the Department will fund applications that address all of the following six core elements in the proposal. Successful applicants will propose projects that address all of these core elements.
The Department is committed to funding programs that are likely to improve education and employment outcomes for program participants. Successful applicants will develop new strategies, or replicate or adapt existing evidence-based strategies, and will be committed to using data for continuous improvement of programs that provide workers with the education and skills to succeed in high-wage, high-skill occupations.
Grants awarded in the TAACCCT program will support the development of innovative program models that can be evaluated. An important goal of the TAACCCT program is to build knowledge about program models so that, in the future, institutions can replicate practices that are effective and identify and strengthen practices in need of improvement.
As specified in Section V.A.2.a, all applicants will base their program design on a level of evidence that is appropriate to the project proposed. Applicants will either replicate or adapt existing, evidence-based strategies or develop new, untested strategies. Applicants who propose to replicate or adapt existing, evidence-based strategies should cite strong or moderate evidence of effectiveness from prior research to support the proposed project design. For any adaptation of existing, evidence-based strategies, the applicant would need to fully explain how the cited study will support their proposed intervention. Alternatively, applicants who propose to develop new, untested strategies should cite preliminary research findings, related research findings, and/or strong theory to support the design of the project.
Refer to the Strength of Evidence Definitions in Appendix B for more information about the levels of evidence.
The Department is interested in assisting TAA-eligible and other unemployed adult workers in their transition from education into the workforce through the development of career pathway programs and systems. Career pathway programs offer a clear sequence of education coursework and/or training credentials aligned with employer-validated work readiness standards and competencies and integrate academic and occupational skills training. Career Pathways are focused on one or more industry sectors. For TAA-eligible workers and other adults, these components, integrated within a comprehensive workforce and education strategy, can provide opportunities to earn a variety of post-secondary credentials that have labor market value.
To meet the needs of adult workers to accelerate the time to degree completion and employment, individual components of career pathways developed through the TAACCCT program will include the following:
Integrated education and career-focused training programs that offer accelerated and contextualized remediation;
Comprehensive and personalized student support services and career guidance;
Credit for prior learning and prior learning assessments;
Competency-based assessments and training courses;
Modularized curriculum;
Stacked and latticed credentials; and
Online and technology-based learning strategies.
Refer to Appendix C for more information and resources on the strategies listed above.
Stacked and Latticed Credentials
Applicants will incorporate a variety of credit-bearing postsecondary credentials, including certificates, certifications, diplomas, and degrees, into the proposed program design. Successful applicants will design or adapt credentials that are competency-based, attest to the mastery of specific skills and knowledge learned by students, and are valued by employers. For certifications, applicants should actively engage employers and/or industry associations to identify any certifications that are either necessary for employment in the field of study or are widely used by employers for hiring and promotion purposes, and embed these into the career pathway training programs.
Each of these credentials can be earned in sequence and build on previously-learned content, or “stacked,” as students’ progress through their programs, allowing them to build a portfolio of credentials that can serve them well as they transition from learning to employment.
In addition to stacking certificates that lead toward an undergraduate degree, programs may allow the option to “lattice” these credentials. "Latticing," as the name implies, allows for side-to-side credentialing. As students progress through a degree plan, earning certificates along the way, they may get to a point where they want to add or shift to another related field of study. For example, a student may be pursuing an associate’s degree in nursing, but during the process decides to add an occupational therapy certificate as a related field of study.
Competency-Based Education
To provide a means for an accelerated path toward credential attainment, applicants will develop competency-based educational programs. Competency-based education is an outcomes-oriented approach that is not dependent on seat time measures of learning. Instead, student achievement of learning outcomes is assessed and certified through observational methods, such as task performance, exams, demonstrations, portfolios, or other direct measures of proficiency, and credentials are awarded based on successful demonstration of competence. The emphasis of this approach is on the mastery of specific competencies as demonstrated through performance-based assessments. Applicants are also encouraged to consider conducting a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) within a sector (which is described more fully in Core Element 6).
Applicants interested in qualifying new, competency-based training programs for Federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act through the Department of Education’s direct assessment authority will find more information and resources at http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN1310.html.
Successful applicants will conduct competency-based assessments that award credit for prior learning and experiences of TAA-eligible workers and other adults who enter their program(s), including adults who have served in the Armed Services or in Registered Apprenticeship programs. Many of these individuals will have prior experience in the form of academic credit, non-credit or professional development certificates, apprenticeship certificates, and/or work experience, and should be provided the opportunity to demonstrate competencies to earn credit or even complete certificates. Applicants are also encouraged to use simulations and other new tools to conduct assessments that identify prior learning experiences that transfer directly to credit toward credentials, degrees, and/or future employment.
Transferability and Articulation of Credit
The Department is interested in the transferability and articulation of academic credit that will facilitate progress along career pathways for TAA-eligible workers and other adults to further their education. This will be accomplished through increased cooperation among institutions within regions or state education systems, as well as through linkages with programs, such as postsecondary career and technical education, pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, and other programs that lead to credit-bearing coursework and employment. In the case of awarding credit for completion of apprenticeship programs, applicants are encouraged to work with the Registered Apprenticeship Community College Consortium to develop credit recommendations and articulation agreements. For more information, visit http://www.doleta.gov/OA/pdf/ra_cc.pdf.
All successful applicants will work with other two-year colleges and four-year institutions in their state to confirm transferability and develop articulation agreements for TAACCCT-funded courses and credentials, including building bridges from non-credit courses and programs to credit-bearing courses and programs within and between institutions.
For successful consortium applicants, consortium member institutions also will agree to accept all TAACCCT-funded courses and credentials (within the consortium) for transfer to their respective institutions, whenever feasible. To expand the reach and impact of TAACCCT-funded programs, consortia that receive funding under this SGA should work toward accepting relevant courses and certificates from programs previously-funded through TAACCCT SGA/DFA PY 10-03 (Round 1), SGA/DFA PY 11-08 (Round 2), and TAACCCT SGA/DFA PY 12-10 (Round 3) for transfer and articulation. See http://www.doleta.gov/taaccct for a list of previously-funded TAACCCT programs or http://www.dol.gov/dol/grants/ for the Department’s grant application and award database.
Successful applicants will incorporate online and/or technology-enabled learning strategies into their program design. Online and technology-enabled (including hybrid, or a blend of online and classroom instruction) learning strategies provide adults an opportunity to balance the competing demands of work and family with acquiring new knowledge and skills at a time, place, and/or pace that are convenient for them. Successful applicants will consider the use of technology to enable rolling and open enrollment processes, modularize content delivery, simulate assessments and training, and accelerate course delivery strategies.
In today’s world of advanced educational technology and the Internet, simply delivering a program online is no longer considered innovative. New and emergent strategies are now available to colleges and universities that can improve the quality of online instruction as well as contribute to the growing amount of research on various online design models. Applicants should consider a range of online and technology-enabled options in the development of their proposals. These could include interactive simulations, personalized and virtual instruction, educational gaming, digital tutors, and strategies for asynchronous and real-time collaboration among learners and instructors.
In addition, with the transition from traditional, face-to-face learning to online and blended learning, the Department believes applicants have an opportunity to contribute to the body of research on student learning and instruction using online tools that provide continuous feedback on student performance. Applicants are encouraged to propose new applications of technology that will effectively teach content to students, enable students to teach themselves, or learn from other students.
The Department is interested in a combination of technologies and approaches (predictive data analytics, feedback loops, visualization, A/B testing) that could include:
Delivery of personalized and adaptive instruction that builds on student interests, and prior knowledge. This is important for adult learners who re-enter educational institutions with a wide range of experience and backgrounds. A well designed system can explore each student’s strengths and weaknesses and shape the instructional experience to fill gaps and build on existing strengths.
Interactive tools that improve the ability of educators to predict whether students are at risk of dropping out or failing courses and to help provide early intervention.
Improvements in assessing student progress and mastery of subjects, such as simulation-based performance testing, that is more valuable to students and to future employers.
Development of educational software that is as effective as a personal tutor. Since many TAA-eligible and other adults will enter TAACCCT-funded programs with extensive workplace experience, a well-designed system that allows each individual to move through material at a rate tailored to one’s experience will allow students to master the material much more quickly than one could in a standard course. For example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Navy have supported the development of a digital tutor to train new Navy recruits to become Information Technology systems administrators, and the early results are very promising. After using the digital tutor for only seven weeks, Navy recruits are dramatically outperforming their peers with three years of experience who received traditional classroom-based instruction1.
Developing and sharing courses that are available at a reasonable cost, offered during the day, at night, on weekends, and virtually.
To further the goal of career training and education and to encourage innovation in the development of new curricula, applicants must publicly license all curricula and training materials created or developed with the support of the grant under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 License, except as provided in Section III.D.8.
Applicants will also incorporate existing Open Educational Resources (OER), including those resources developed in previous TAACCCT projects, into their programs, as appropriate to reduce program costs, including the cost of program development. This reduction in program costs could include savings to students for learning materials, textbooks, and other resources whether required or recommended for the program of study. Reduction in the cost of program development could include the costs to develop digital content and objects, such as open textbooks, 3-D modules, and simulations.
Successful applicants will demonstrate a clear understanding of issues relating to OER attribution and license compatibility. Additionally, these applicants will encourage the use and reuse of any OER created through their projects, such as through partnerships for distribution or adaptability for distribution on multiple platforms. Applicants are encouraged to create digital content that is learning management system agnostic and that can be shared using a common course cartridge.
All applicants should consider the development of “next generation” assessments for continuous formative assessments as well as capstone, program, and other high-stakes testing. Next generation assessments place students in engaging environments (such as simulators and virtual communities) and test their ability to respond to real world challenges and obstacles. These systems can be designed to move students to new challenges only when they have demonstrated mastery of needed skills, and they can ensure retention by presenting challenges that exercise existing skills as well as demonstrating new ones. The Department encourages applicants to work with employers and industry to develop assessments that can significantly strengthen the reliability of student learning outcome measures that are important to employers. Applicants are also encouraged to leverage existing high quality, industry-based assessments linked to certifications and certificates.
Capturing the opportunities presented by online and technology-enabled learning strategies requires innovation in the way courses are designed and in the way the courses are delivered. Successful applicants could hire content experts from several different disciplines, such as subject matter, pedagogy, software design, and data management. The Department recognizes that applicants may need to contract with other consortia, technology companies, learning scientists and other educational research professionals, and research universities, as necessary. In addition to developing courses and/or programs, applicants may propose technology-based infrastructure projects that aid the delivery of courses and programs and/or improve the effectiveness of the instruction they deliver.
Resources for open-source learning platforms and tools for developing accessible online and technology-enabled learning materials can be found at http://open4us.org/resources/. Appendix D also includes more information about other OER open-source learning platforms and tools for developing online and technology-enabled learning materials, including the U.S. Department of Energy's National Training and Education Resource (NTER) (http://energy.gov/eere/education/nter).
The Department expects to provide an open, online repository for storing and managing all OER content developed using grant funds, which will be available for use before the end of the grant period.
Successful applicants will demonstrate that they have performed outreach to, and gathered information on, relevant entities in the community(-ies) to be served by the project, including entities that can provide data on the characteristics and skill needs of workers receiving TAA benefits and services in the community. For purposes of the TAACCCT program, a “community” or “region” is a city, county, or other political subdivision of a State or a group of political subdivisions of a State or of adjacent states.
Applicants will also provide evidence of outreach to ensure leveraging of existing supports and services already available to participants in the region. This will help ensure that the project complements and does not duplicate existing programs in the region, and that plans to strategically leverage supports will further increase and ensure participant success in the classroom and the workplace.
Applicants will demonstrate whether the strategies proposed in the TAACCCT project are in alignment with both the Governor’s Economic Development plan and the Workforce Investment Act–Wagner Peyser Act (WIA-WP) integrated state workforce plan for each of the states targeted by the project. Applicants are also encouraged to identify alignment and collaboration with other federal and state initiatives designed to improve employment outcomes, such as Career and Technical Education and Vocational Rehabilitation.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to become aware of, and collaborate with, initiatives in the region funded by private sector and/or philanthropic entities that may align with the proposed project, as appropriate. Applicants are also encouraged to include deep and sustained partnerships with organizations whose mission is the welfare of the worker.
Applicants will coordinate their programs with at least three types of key stakeholders in each of the communities represented: (a) Governors; (b) the public workforce system; and (c) philanthropic organizations, business-related and other non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, and/or labor organizations.
Please note that these organizations and agencies are not eligible institutions, and therefore they cannot be grantees, members of a consortium, or a subrecipient under this grant, but can help develop education and training models and provide benefits not funded by these grants such as tuition assistance and wage subsidies. Alignment with employers and industry is discussed separately in Core Element 6, “Sector Strategies and Employer Engagement.”
Governors (Economic Development and WIA-WP Integrated State Workforce Plans)
All applicants will be required to review and identify specific goals and priorities of the Governor’s Economic Development and WIA-WP integrated state workforce plans and propose specific strategies that target the achievement of these goals and priorities.
Public Workforce System
Applicants will engage and collaborate with local workforce investment boards (WIBs), American Job Centers (AJC’s, also known as One-Stop Career Centers), and the State agency that administers the TAA for workers program, and are encouraged to also work with other potential workforce system partners as defined under Section 121(b)(1) of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Applicants must propose to partner with at least one Local WIB to support this project, and at least one Local WIB or AJC must be involved in the development and implementation of the project. The State agency that administers the TAA for workers program must be involved in the development and implementation of the grant project. Some other workforce system entities that could be involved in the project include adult education agencies, career and technical education agencies, state workforce education coordinating boards, and other post-secondary education agencies.
The public workforce system entity may provide a wide array of services and activities in support of the TAACCCT project, using both leveraged resources such as WIA funding as well as funding provided through the TAACCCT grant. Any TAACCCT funds provided to the workforce system must be in the form of a contract to provide services or activities tailored to the TAACCCT project.
Services and activities currently offered by the public workforce system using leveraged resources include the following:
Referring appropriate candidates to TAACCCT programs for education and training, including TAA-eligible workers;
Co-enrolling TAACCCT participants into WIA Title I programs, where appropriate;
Providing supportive services in a leveraged and coordinated manner with the community college, through WIA and TAA for workers programs, and other resources; and
Working with successful applicants for TAACCCT programs to ensure that proposed Programs of Study qualify for inclusion on appropriate eligible training provider lists.
Other customized services and activities to support the implementation of TAACCCT programs that may be provided through contracts with WIBs may include the following examples:
Helping facilitate employer engagement in the sector strategy, supporting their involvement in both required and encouraged roles in the TAACCCT partnership;
Creating and implementing a comprehensive strategy of determining the skills needs of employers and the suitability of individuals for training and the attainment of associated credentials.
Assisting grantee by providing comprehensive counseling and coaching to TAACCCT participants to help improve participant retention and completion of the TAACCCT program. Specific strategies could include intrusive counseling, expanded and extensive mentoring services, and technology-enabled advising not otherwise available at the AJC.
Customizing tracking and reporting outcomes data for all TAACCCT participants as they complete the program and enter the workforce, to improve reporting on TAACCCT programs;
Connecting TAACCCT participants with employer partners to assist them in recruiting and hiring individuals who complete the TAACCCT program and achieving the grant’s overall employment and retention goals.
Providing seamless coordination of college and AJC assessment, support, counseling, and other services for TAACCCT participants through Career Coaches, such as Workforce Navigators for the TAACCCT program.
Where appropriate, the services could be provided on the campus of the eligible institution in order to leverage campus-based services and provide greater ease of access for the TAA-eligible worker and other unemployed adults enrolled in training on campus. Alternatively, targeted student services related to the TAACCCT project that could create opportunities for broader community outreach to TAA-eligible and other unemployed workers could be provided in an AJC.
Applicants should note that any activities and services provided through contracts with WIBs or located at an AJC must be dedicated resources to the TAACCCT program and not already funded through other Federal funding programs.
Philanthropic Organizations, Business-related and Other Nonprofit Organizations, Community-based Organizations, and Labor Organizations
Philanthropic organizations, business-related and other non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, and labor organizations can be invaluable in aiding community colleges and other eligible institutions to support workers as they improve employment-related skills. Successful applicants should plan to leverage the work of these organizations in areas, including but not limited to: community outreach, recruitment and screening of program participants, career counseling, wrap-around support services, and employer engagement.
These types of organizations may also have critical relationships with employers and industry. Applicants are encouraged to work with non-profit and philanthropic organizations that have long-term relationships with employers, particularly non-profit organizations that have deep knowledge of particular sectors in which eligible intuitions are proposing training and education programs. In addition to responding to the needs of employers and improving their competiveness, these organizations may also be adept at working with employers to improve job quality and to create career ladders that lead to high-skill jobs. These organizations may also provide workers with a range of critical supportive and other services that are important to their labor market success, as noted above, often through existing initiatives. Applicants are encouraged to align with key stakeholders and leverage existing initiatives to address workers supportive service and other needs. Applicants that are a partner in a designated “Promise Zone” through the Department of Housing and Urban Development Promise Zone Initiative are encouraged to use their designation as evidence of alignment with key stakeholders involved in supporting workers across a range of outcomes, including increased economic security, increased public safety, and access to quality and affordable healthcare and housing.
To minimize duplication and to broaden the geographic reach of their projects, all applicants should coordinate efforts where possible with educational institutions funded through prior rounds of TAACCCT.
All applicants will conduct research on TAACCCT grantees that are developing and delivering content within the same targeted occupation or industry, or that have designed a technology infrastructure which enhances the teaching and learning experience. Since all instructional resources developed in previous rounds is openly licensed and freely used by all applicants, applicants can connect with previous grantees by incorporating existing OER into new curriculum. In addition, applicants can share program content or technological innovations, develop transferability and articulation agreements, cooperate on efforts to develop standardized credentials, and exchange best practices.
Applicants are encouraged to develop new programs that complement those already operating to build a network of programming across the state, region or country. It is the Department’s intent that applicants will not simply offer existing courses to more workers and other students.
To promote better coordination and to increase the likelihood that each state is represented by at least one fundable single institution application, the Department encourages applicants to share widely their intent to apply for TAACCCT funds by notifying their state higher education associations and/or governing boards. By reducing duplication, applicants will be making the best use of TAACCCT funds. Descriptions of funded projects from Rounds 1 through 3 can be found at www.doleta.gov/taaccct.
In this SGA, applicants are required to develop new and/or take to scale successful industry sector strategies. These sector strategies must focus on addressing employers’ workforce needs by expanding or improving applicants’ education and training programs based on the use of both traditional and real-time labor market information. Resources on sector strategies are provided in Appendix A.
Effective sector strategies hinge on deep partnerships with employers and regional industry representatives, and where appropriate national industry representatives. To that end, successful applicants will identify one or more specific industry sectors on which they will focus and involve at least two employers, and a regional industry representative, for each targeted sector in each site location served by the program. These employers would either be located in each site or would hire individuals from that region.
Employers and regional industry representatives, and national industry representatives if applicable, will be actively engaged in designing and implementing the sector strategy in five key areas: (1) serving on the project’s leadership team; (2) helping implement program strategies and goals; (3) identifying and mapping the necessary skills and competencies for the program(s); (4) assisting with curriculum development and designing the program; and (5) where appropriate, assisting with the design of an assessment or credential that will address industry skill needs. Relationships with employers and regional industry representatives will be sustained throughout the duration of the program and beyond.
Employers and regional industry representatives, and national industry representatives (if applicable) will also participate in the sector strategy in one or more of the following ways: developing industry-recognized credentials needed for targeted jobs; providing leveraged resources to support education/training (such as equipment, facilities, and instructors); and committing to hire, promote, and/or retain qualified TAACCCT participants, including TAA-eligible workers. In addition, the Department is interested in providing rigorous work-based training opportunities for program participants (such as internships, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training) as a component of any program, as appropriate.
Applicants are also encouraged to partner with Registered Apprenticeship Sponsors in their local and regional area, particularly in industry sectors and occupations with expected skill shortages. This partnership could be helpful in determining the skill needs of industry sectors and occupations so that programs developed are appropriate or to provide appropriate related instruction to apprenticeship sponsors.
Applicants are also encouraged to work with employers to determine one or more critical, complex tasks associated with the sector occupations they have chosen for their programs, or a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA). CTA is a set of techniques used to elicit from experts (through interviews and observations) the processes they use to complete complex tasks. A meta-analysis concluded that CTA can significantly increase the effectiveness of some forms of training2. Applicants interested in developing CTAs are encouraged to describe plans for conducting a CTA for each target sector identified, including a plan for incorporating the results of the analysis into the curriculum to improve learning outcomes and technical skills gained. Resources for conducting CTAs can be found in Appendix E.
Consortium applicants that have been designated part of a “Manufacturing Community” through the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) are encouraged to use their designation as evidence of a strong existing sector strategy in place for manufacturing and of significant efforts to integrate their sector strategy across key regional stakeholders, including employers.
Program Strategies
In addressing the six Core Elements identified in Section I.B, the Department encourages applicants to propose strategies that build their capacity to offer innovative educational programs that meet the needs of TAA-eligible workers and other adults, and employers.
All applicants may propose projects and programs of their choosing, but must address each of the six Core Elements described in Section I.B of this SGA according to the instructions for each applicant type below.
Single Institution Applicants
The scope of proposals from Single Institution Applicants should appropriately reflect the ability of the individual institution to implement this project. Applicants are encouraged to consider appropriate and necessary infrastructure and equipment costs that will enable them to build capacity and successfully deliver the proposed programs. The Department encourages single institution applicants to focus their proposed project on one specific project strategy that can be fully implemented within the grant period with a scope that appropriately reflects the size of the requested funding amount, as opposed to implementing a series of complex strategies that may be challenging to complete within the grant period.
Consortium Applicants (Single-State Consortium and Multi-State Consortium Applicants)
The Department encourages consortium applicants to consider systematic changes in education and workforce development that can be instituted as a result of the TAACCCT grant programs.
Program Authority
The authority for the TAACCCT program is found in sections 271 and 272 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 USC 2371 and 2372). The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-152, amended the Trade Act to expand the scope of the program and include the appropriation of $2 billion for Fiscal Years (FY) 2011 – 2014 ($500 million annually) for the TAACCCT grant program. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011, Pub. L. No. 112-240, by expanding the annual reporting requirement for grantees, required the Department to collect from grantees more data relating to program performance and participant outcomes, including the attainment of credentials. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-76) authorizes eligible institutions awarded grants under section 271 of the Trade Act to award subgrants to other eligible institutions, subject to the conditions applicable to such grants, and authorizes the expenditure of grant funds by the Department for evaluation and technical assistance.
Funding for all applicants will be provided in the form of a grant. Approximately $450 million is available, which the Department intends to award to single and consortium applicants, as specified in Sections II.A.1 and II.A.2 below. The Department reserves the right to adjust the distribution of funding, and in the event that additional funds become available, the Department reserves the right to use such funds to select additional grantees from applications submitted in response to this solicitation. While the Department was initially appropriated $500 million in TAACCCT funds for FY 2014, the total amount of funds available is $450 million as a result of the sequestration required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Pub. L. 99-177), as amended and TAACCCT evaluation and technical assistance funding authorized under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014.
Section 272(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 USC 2372(b)) specifies that not less than 0.5 percent of the amount appropriated for these grant awards will support eligible institutions in each State. In the case of an award to a consortium, the amount of funds allocated to each member in the application will be attributed to the state in which the consortium member institution is located. The Department will add the amounts awarded to consortium member institutions to the amounts awarded to any single institution applicants in the state to determine whether at least $2,250,400 in grant funds are awarded to eligible institutions in each State.
To ensure that at least one eligible institution from each of the 50 States, the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico (see Section 247(8) of the Trade Act of 1974, 19 USC 2319(8)) receives an award; the Grant Officer will first select fundable applications that represent as many States as possible. If the Grant Officer finds that a State is not represented by a fundable application, the Grant Officer will determine whether any non-fundable applications can be made fundable by placing conditions on the grant. If the Grant Officer determines that no applications can be made fundable by placing conditions on the grant, or if there are no timely and complete applications received from an eligible institution within a given State or represented by a consortium member institution applicant, DOL will contact the State agency responsible for colleges and universities to identify, and work with, an eligible institution to submit a single institution applicant proposal.
The Department intends to make grant awards to eligible single institution applicants in all states ranging from approximately $2,260,000 to $2,500,000, up to a total of approximately $150 million.
Single institution applicants may apply to exceed the maximum funding level of $2,500,000 by proposing a project that addresses regional capacity building activities, as discussed in Option 3, Create Nationally Recognized Competencies and Credentials, as described below. Single institution applicants proposing this option may seek up to an additional $750,000, for a total grant award of $3,250,000.
Under this SGA, DOL intends to make approximately 15 to 25 grant awards to consortia of eligible institutions, up to a total of approximately $300 million in grant awards to consortium applicants. The Department will provide two tiers of funding for consortium grant awards, based on the number of institutions in the consortium.
Tier 1: These are small consortia comprised of three to 10 consortium members. The awards for consortia of this size will be capped at $10 million.
Tier 2: These are medium to large consortia comprised of 11 or more consortium members. The award for consortia of this size will be capped at $15 million.
Consortium applicants may apply to exceed the maximum funding level for their tier by proposing to implement only one of the three types of regional or statewide capacity building activities: (1) Advance State Career Pathway Systems; (2) Improve Statewide Data Collection, Integration, and Use; or (3) Create Nationally Recognized Competencies and Credentials.
The maximum amount of funding that a consortium applicant seeking to exceed the cap may apply for is based on the number of members in the consortium:
Tier 1: Consortia with three to 10 members that meet the conditions below may request an additional level of funding of up to $2 million. The maximum award for consortium of this size is $12 million.
Tier 2: Consortia with 11 or more consortium members that meet the conditions below may request an additional level of funding of up to $5 million. The maximum award for consortium of this size is $20 million.
Single institution applicants may apply to exceed the maximum funding level by proposing a project to: Create Nationally Recognized Competencies and Credentials. Single applicants may focus their projects on creating nationally recognized competencies and credentials that address the needs of the region they serve. Consortium applicants may apply to exceed the maximum funding level for their tier by proposing to implement only one of the three types of regional or statewide capacity building activities: (1) Advance State Career Pathway Systems; (2) Improve Statewide Data Collection, Integration, and Use; or (3) Create Nationally Recognized Competencies and Credentials. All three activities are described in more detail below:
Advancing state career pathways and improving statewide data integration, and use will lead to sustained enhancements to community college programming across the state, and will continue to be implemented by colleges across the state after the grant ends. The Department encourages applicants to include as many community colleges in their state as possible in the project, and all community colleges if feasible. Creating nationally recognized competencies and credentials will result in new and improved credentials that are critical to regional economies, and can be shared nationally.
Consortium applicants seeking to exceed the cap for Options 1 and 2 will demonstrate the following:
Applicants will demonstrate the state college system’s commitment to adopt and promote the proposed activities statewide. Applicants will include a letter from the state office that organizes their community colleges that provides evidence of this commitment. This may be the state community college system office or a single state board that organizes all of their higher education institutions, depending on the state. For states without a centralized community college system, applicants will describe the specific steps that the consortium will complete to adopt and promote the proposed activities statewide.
Applicants will demonstrate that the proposed projects will lead to sustained enhancements to community college programming across the state. Applicants will describe how all consortium members and participating colleges that are not receiving funding will implement the proposed activities during the grant period. Applicants will also describe how they expect these colleges to institutionalize these activities into their overall, non-grant-funded education and training activities, enabling them to continue providing similar activities with non-grant resources when the grant ends. Applicants will describe the sustainability planning that participating colleges will complete throughout the grant period to help develop a strategy for the institutionalization of these activities.
For options 1 and 2, efforts to adopt and promote the proposed activities statewide will be considered in the evaluation of applications to exceed the consortium funding award ceiling. TAACCCT grant awards will provide applicants and their consortium members with a significant amount of funding to implement these statewide capacity building activities. The Department encourages applicants to include as many community colleges in their state as possible in the project, and include all community colleges if feasible. Based on the scope of the proposed activities and the number of colleges in some states, applicants may also involve other colleges in the project that are not receiving grant funds to implement the proposed project, and may seek to leverage non-grant resources to maximize the impact of the project. The Department encourages applicants to utilize leveraged resources to maximize the impact of the proposed activities, and help ensure their continued implementation after the end of the grant.
Single institution and consortium applicants seeking to exceed the cap for option 3 will demonstrate the following:
Commitment of a national industry or employer association or other national partner(s) to the successful implementation of the proposed competencies and credentials, as well as to helping implement the program at other colleges, and disseminating information about the new or enhanced program nationally. Applicants will include a letter from the national partner that defines its role and provides evidence of its commitment.
Evidence that the proposed projects will lead to sustained enhancements to community college programming in one or more regions. Applicants will describe how all consortium members (if applicable) and participating colleges that are not receiving funding will implement the competencies and credentials during the grant period. Applicants will also describe how colleges will institutionalize these activities into their overall, non-grant-funded education and training activities, enabling them to continue providing similar activities with non-grant resources when the grant ends. Applicants will describe the sustainability planning that participating colleges will complete throughout the grant period to help develop a strategy for the institutionalization of these activities.
All applicants wishing to exceed the funding caps must have a detailed plan and a well-justified budget that describes the costs of implementing one or more of the strategies below. The budget must be commensurate with the project’s scope, specific activity costs, and the likely importance and magnitude of its impact on student outcomes.
See Section V.B for more information on the additional requirements for applicants who wish to exceed the funding caps, including additional required attachments. See Section V.C for information on how the evaluation of supplementary materials for applications requesting funds above the amount of the award ceiling will be considered in the selection process.
Option 1: Advance State Career Pathway Systems
Consortium applicants will propose a plan to engage employers, educators and the workforce system in building policies and practices that will support the development or expansion of State career pathway systems with the goal of significantly increasing the number of TAA-eligible workers and other adults that enter into and complete credit-bearing certificate and degree training programs in high-wage, high-demand fields. In this context, state career pathways systems should include career pathways and programs developed through TAACCCT funds in addition to others.
Specific strategies consortium applicants could pursue include:
Create and expand linkages of TAACCCT to bridge programs within the career pathway to improve alignment of the Adult Basic Education (ABE) systems to increase critical foundational skills of adult students and improve transition rates into postsecondary education and occupational skills training, including providing increased opportunities for early credit accumulation for adult students. This strategy also should include accelerated and contextualized remediation as a key component. Provide more comprehensive and effective student advising and support services to improve adult student retention and completion rates for TAA-eligible workers and other TAACCCT participants. Specific strategies could include: career success coaching, intrusive counseling, comprehensive case management, expanded and extensive mentoring services, technology-enabled advising, etc.
Adopt innovative practices to accelerate credit accumulation and credential attainment for TAA-eligible workers and other TAACCCT participants, such as competency-based education (CBE), prior learning assessments (PLA), organizing courses into a limited number of structured certificate and degree pathways, and advanced training technologies for rapid feedback and adaptive learning.
Expand articulation agreements throughout a career pathway, to encompass bridge programs, career and technical training programs, and work-based training, across consortia members and with the State’s four-year public university system(s) to promote greater student mobility and faster completion of certifications and degrees awarded after completion of TAACCCT programs. Consortium members should also work to establish 2+2 degree partnerships with the State’s four-year public university system(s) to further the credential attainment of TAA-eligible workers and other TAACCCT participants.
Incorporate Registered Apprenticeship within the state career pathway system. This could include developing new or enhancing existing Registered Apprenticeship programs across the state that enables participants to gain both apprenticeship credentials and academic credits. This could also include developing articulation agreements between Registered Apprenticeship programs and community colleges and four year university systems statewide, enabling apprentices to acquire academic credits towards associates and bachelor’s degrees, respectively.
Option 2: Improve Statewide Data, Integration, and Use
Consortium applicants selecting this option will propose a plan to improve the integration and use of education and workforce system data. This could include a plan to integrate data systems that contain both employment and educational outcomes data through a single, unified data warehouse or data management system or a plan to create record linkages between separate data systems.
Integrated data systems or systems that allow matching of individual outcomes will enable staff to access current information on projected education and employment outcomes of participants in TAACCCT funded programs and other programs of study. In addition, statewide integrated systems could allow staff to better assess the progress of TAA-eligible and other unemployed adults that complete TAACCCT funded programs and other programs of study. Finally, integrated systems could allow job-seekers and others interested in education and training to access valuable information on programs and the educational institutions that offer these programs.
To create a system that will seamlessly integrate across state agencies, consortium applicants and consortium members must first establish a common student data reporting system within consortium member institutions and among a majority of the community colleges in their state.
Applicants should describe their ability to ensure that performance and outcomes for all students can be tracked comprehensively and consistently, and that student mobility and transitions among institutions within the state can be captured. This plan should describe institutional actions that will increase both individual student and institutional data collection and tracking, align metrics across institutions, and, as applicable, align student and institutional data tracking systems across institutions within the state public college system. For any plan that includes data systems updates, applicants should include a description of the technical capabilities of current systems and the technical requirements and/or specifications necessary to adapt and integrate existing systems. Applicants that do not have a common student data reporting system across their state or community college systems must first propose a plan to develop and adopt standard definitions for a common set of reporting elements, including student or institutional characteristics, measures required for federal program reporting, and performance measures. Where adopting a common set of elements is not possible, applicants should provide a plan to map reporting elements across institutions with the system.
All applicants should propose a plan that includes all of the following, as applicable:
Develop and adopt standard definitions for a common set of reporting elements for those students enrolled in non-credit and adult education courses that align with those elements collected for students enrolled in credit-bearing courses.
Integrate data on students in both credit and non-credit courses and programs into institutional and statewide data systems.
Integrate data on attainment of industry-recognized credentials into the common set of institution-wide reporting elements.
Adopt standard policies for complying with Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) requirements, such as policies for accessing student education records when connected with audit or evaluation of Federal or State programs and enforcement of or compliance with Federal legal requirements of those programs, standard practices or agreements for disclosing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) through written agreements, and other PII and records management practices.
Partner with state workforce agencies to obtain LMI from reported sources, including real-time LMI for state and regional labor markets. Train faculty and admissions counselors on effective use of LMI and other resources to assist prospective students in selecting programs that will result in training-related employment. Provide current and prospective students with extensive guidance on use of LMI resources to make program choices that lead to training-related employment.
Partner with the state agencies that administer the TAA for Workers and WIA programs and the State Unemployment Compensation (UC) agencies to develop a comprehensive data system that utilizes administrative data from these state systems. Since state law and regulations on disclosure differ individually across states, applicants should consult with their state UC agent to determine the appropriate course of action to gain access to confidential UC data on employment outcomes.
Partner with employers, industry, and the workforce system to supplement data currently available through state agencies that administer TAA for Workers and WIA programs and state UC agencies by enhancing or adding standard occupational codes for employment outcomes.
Partner with employers and industry to capture and incorporate company or industry data that identifies the credentials on which they have been most likely to hire as well as how individuals with specific credentials are performing in their companies.
For those states where sharing of data between state education and workforce agencies is limited, applicants partner with relevant state agencies to explore participation in the Wage Record Interchange System 2 (WRIS 2) data sharing agreement. States that are parties to WRIS 2 should explore partnership with the Performance Accountability and Customer Information Agency (PACIA) to expand the types and availability of reports on performance and evaluation of programs.
Applicants in states that have not yet developed a statewide longitudinal data system for post-secondary education could propose the development of a database that would include all the community colleges in the state, along with as many public four-year institutions and private institutions as possible to track common reporting elements and outcomes data.
A description of the extent to which the data could be made publically available.
The Departments of Education and Labor currently fund grant programs that encourage data integration within education and workforce systems. The Department of Education’s State Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) Grant Program has funded the design, development, implementation, and expansion of K12 and P-20W (early learning through the workforce) longitudinal data systems for educational entities in 47 states. The Department of Labor had funded the Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) to support the development or enhancement of longitudinal administrative workforce system databases that will allow the creation of linkages to the state education data systems. More information about the WDQI initiative can be found at http://www.doleta.gov/performance/workforcedatagrant09.cfm and information about the SLDS at https://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/.
Applicants that have received Federal funding under the WDQI or SLDS, either as a direct recipient, or as a part of a statewide grant must provide a brief description of their existing projects and a detailed explanation of how TAACCCT funds will be used to complete activities that are outside the scope of its existing grant, and not duplicate existing efforts. The activities to be performed with TAACCCT funds through this option are different from those that could be performed under WDQI if the state had received such a grant. Resources to assist state agencies with a variety of issues related to developing, implementing and effectively using longitudinal data systems are available from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education at: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/slds/resource_type.asp.
All applicants should note that TAACCCT grant funds are intended to serve adults. As such, they may not be used to develop or enhance reporting systems that exclusively or primarily serve the needs of youth, such as K-12 reporting systems.
Option 3: Create Nationally-Recognized Competencies and Credentials
Consortium and single institution applicants will present a strategy to develop their TAACCCT programs in coordination with national partners that will help scale these strategies to other regions of the country. Although all applicants will engage a comprehensive group of regional employers, applicants choosing this option will also engage relevant partners for the purpose of taking the strategy to scale. In many cases the natural partner would be a national industry association or another national employer association that may want to scale an effective training program to other regions where member businesses are looking to hire. In other cases, particularly where industry associations have been less active or have less capacity, these partners could be employer consortia (other than associations), so long as the competencies and credentials are built to be common across employers. These partners could also be philanthropic organizations or other non-profit organizations with strong relationships to businesses in the chosen sector.
These national industry partners or other organizations that will help scale the strategy should play an integral part in proposals submitted for this option. Applicants will:
(1) Develop or adapt and map industry competency frameworks for career pathways in high demand industries that are suited for TAA-eligible workers and other adults and that can be used to develop competency-based education programs within state and regional economies leading to an industry-recognized credential;
(2) Develop and coordinate outreach and educational materials for industry, labor organizations, and postsecondary education institutions about the value and benefits of the programs developed; and
(3) Demonstrate the adaptation and use of these competency-based frameworks and credentials beyond the applicant and any consortium members (if applicable)
Comprehensive plans will incorporate the following components:
Assess the current level of credential attainment for individuals in education and training programs within a career pathway in an industry showing significant demand across the state.
Assess the rate at which individuals in the training programs are being hired by businesses within the industry of interest. Business partners may help by using their own data to identify the credentials on which they have been most likely to hire as well as how individuals with specific credentials are performing in their companies. Applicants may also employ analyses of real-time labor market information to identify relevant credentials currently in demand in job postings and also information mined from resumes to identify patterns of previous jobs held and credentials earned by individuals currently working in occupations that are part of a targeted career pathway.
Conduct a study to examine and compare: (a) the competencies required for existing credentials; (b) competencies required by industry employers; and (c) competencies covered in current program coursework and curricula. The purpose of this analysis is to first ensure alignment with existing competencies and to avoid duplication of effort, and second, to identify potential need for a new industry-recognized credential to address currently unmet employer needs.
Identify several institutions within the state consortia (if applicable) that are committed to develop or modify a competency-based education and training program to improve TAA-eligible and other adult student outcomes or to address unmet industry requirements, and that is willing to collaborate to establish articulation agreements with the other institutions in the consortia. This may include the development of new assessment(s) or credential(s) as necessary and will include documentation of the approach used.
Test and refine the competency-based program with students drawn from the TAACCCT grants, particularly TAA-eligible or other unemployed adults, making adjustments as necessary, such as the need to incorporate contextualized remediation.
Once tested and refined, national industry representatives or other national partners will help to implement the competency based program(s) at other community colleges either within or outside of the state based on the needs of the college’s regional labor markets.
Make available the model approach, competency framework and competency-based program(s) including accompanying assessment tool(s) and credentials produced, and widely disseminate information on the uses and benefits of this approach throughout the trade and industry association(s), education and training network, public workforce system, and other credentialing bodies. Set up a faculty training program during the grant period to engage additional educational institutions over time.
See Section V.B for more information on the additional requirements for applicants who wish to exceed the funding caps, including additional required attachments.
The period of performance is 48 months, with an anticipated start date of October 1, 2014. This performance period includes all necessary implementation and start-up activities. Applicants must plan to fully expend grant funds during the period of performance while ensuring full transparency and accountability for all expenditures. Awards made under this announcement are subject to the availability of Federal funds.
All programs must be developed and offered within the first 36 months of the period of performance, with grant funds allocated for program development and delivery expended during that time. DOL expects that grantees will begin enrolling participants in education and training programs no later than 18 months after the date of grant award. The final 12 months of the period of performance is limited to gathering information and data for reporting outcome measures and completing the requirements for the third-party evaluation. During this timeframe grantees cannot incur costs for any other activities, including program development and instructor salaries.
For applicants receiving funding in excess of the funding cap in order to improve statewide data integration and use (Option 2, Section II.A), it is allowable to use grant funds to implement these additional activities for the entire 48 month period of performance.
Eligible institutions are institutions of higher education as defined in Section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002) which offer programs that can be completed in not more than two years. They include public, proprietary, or other nonprofit educational institutions. Generally, such institutions of higher education include two-year and four-year colleges and universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving Institutions, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving Institutions. Educational institutions in the U.S. territories are eligible if they offer programs that can be completed in not more than two years and are accredited by an agency or association recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. However, applications from institutions not located in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico may not be eligible for the full 10 points in Section V.A.1 because workers outside of these jurisdictions cannot be certified as TAA-eligible.
Eligible institutions previously funded under TAACCCT SGA/DFY PY 10-03 (Round 1) and TAACCCT SGA/DFY PY 11-08 (Round 2) may apply as a single institution or as a Lead or Member Institution in a consortium application under this SGA. Eligible institutions previously funded as a single institution or a Lead Institution under a consortium application under TAACCCT SGA/DFY PY 12-10 (Round 3) may not apply as a Lead Institution in a consortium application under this SGA, but may apply as a single institution or participate in a consortium application as a Member Institution.
Please note, for institutions funded under TAACCCT Round 1, 2, and 3, the Department does not intend that awards made through this solicitation will fund the continuation of their existing TAACCCT projects; however, TAACCCT Round 1, 2, and 3 Grantee Institutions and other eligible applicants can propose projects that expand or enhance previously-funded TAACCCT projects in a new way, such as: enhancing a classroom-based program of study for online or hybrid delivery; adding stackable education and/or training credentials to an existing program of study; and enhancing a program of study to be delivered in an accelerated format. For applicants that propose projects that expand or enhance previously-funded TAACCCT projects in a new way, a brief but detailed description of the expansion or enhancement of the activities of these projects must be included as part of the project description section of the abstract submitted with the application.
Applicants must identify their institution type in Section 9 of the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance. Eligible institutions must be accredited, as of the closing date of this SGA, by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association that has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants should submit documentation as an attachment verifying their status (and the status of each consortium member, if applying as a consortium) as an institution of higher education that is accredited by an agency that has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
To meet the needs of TAA-eligible and other unemployed adults, and to meet the President’s goal to make education more affordable, the Department is interested in encouraging applications by eligible institutions that are also participating in Title IV Federal student financial aid programs. Eligible applicants that are not participating in Title IV student aid programs are still eligible to apply for the TAACCCT grant program.
Eligible single institution applicants are eligible institutions of higher education as defined in Section III.A. The Department strongly encourages at least one eligible institution in each state to apply for TAACCCT funds to increase the likelihood that at least one eligible institution in each state files a fundable application.
Eligible consortium applicants are consortia of three or more eligible institutions of higher education as defined in Section III.A. The Department strongly encourages applicants to form consortia within a state (single-state consortia). The Department is also interested in consortium applicants with members that are located across state lines, but share a common labor market (regional multi-state consortia). National multi-state consortia comprised of community colleges that do not share a common labor market or regional industry sector are not eligible to apply under this Solicitation.
Consortium grants must identify a Lead Institution. The Lead Institution will be awarded the grant with consortium member institutions receiving funding as subgrantees. As the Lead Institution and prime grantee, the Lead Institution has additional responsibilities, as outlined below.
Consortium Applications
Eligible applicants who have come together as a consortium will submit one application package to the Department. The consortium application package will include the following: An SF-424 for the Lead Institution and a single integrated budget narrative for the consortium member(s) providing detail for each line of the SF-424A that corresponds with each member in the consortium as well as total amounts for each member in the consortium.
A consortium agreement, signed by all members of the consortium, indicating their commitment to participate in the project and acknowledging they will be subrecipients under the DOL award.
A single integrated Project Narrative that meets the requirements contained in this SGA for the consortium award.
Role of Lead Institution in Consortium
The Lead Institution is responsible for submitting the grant application on behalf of the consortium. The Lead Institution will receive the grant award and all members of the consortium will be subrecipients. Subrecipients must comply with 29 CFR 95.5. In addition to the requirements outlined in 29 CFR Part 95, including 29 CFR 95.51 (Monitoring and reporting program performance), the Lead Institution will be responsible for the following:
Communication
The Lead Institution will be the entity that communicates with ETA on behalf of the consortium award. Questions from Member Institutions will be transmitted to ETA via the Lead Institution.
To carry out the programmatic functions of the grant, the Lead Institution will communicate regularly with members of the consortium, and will share information and technical assistance provided by the Department or the Federal Project Officer (FPO) assigned by the Department to oversee the grant. It is important that all consortium member institutions receive information related to technical assistance or a change in policy. Consortia must develop a communication process that promotes effective and efficient communication between the Lead Institution and the Member Institutions.
Monitoring
The Lead Institution, as the prime grantee, will perform monitoring for consortium member subrecipients, as required in 29 CFR 95.51. The Lead Institution will track programmatic and fiscal progress against goals, and work to correct problems related to achievement of programmatic and fiscal goals of the consortium projects, in accordance with 29 CFR Part 95, and compile outcome measures and fiscal reports.
Reporting
Combined quarterly narrative programmatic and fiscal reports
As the prime recipient, the Lead will submit, on behalf of the consortium, a quarterly narrative programmatic report that compiles the activities of the consortium Member Institutions, to provide a holistic picture of the consortium award as well as progress of the individual member institution grants. The Lead Institution will also submit an Annual Performance Report on behalf of the consortium. Additionally, the Lead Institution must submit the quarterly financial reports using ETA Form 9130.
Prior approval requests
The Lead Institution will submit to the Grant Officer all requests under the consortium award, including those of consortium Member Institutions, to acquire equipment and capital expenditures as well as requests for approval of rearrangement (renovation) and alterations, as dictated by the cost principles located in OMB Circular A-21 at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_circulars.
Provision of Technical Assistance and Training
The Lead Institution will provide to consortium member institutions technical assistance and training related to programmatic, fiscal, and reporting requirements.
Project Evaluation
The Lead Institution will be responsible for procurement of a single project evaluator as described in Section V.D. Additionally, all associated evaluation costs should be reflected in the Lead Institution’s section of the integrated budget narrative.
Please note that the majority of the above activities (1) through (6) do NOT fall under administrative costs as defined under the TAACCCT grants (see Section IV.E.3). Most of these costs are considered programmatic in nature. Therefore, Lead Institutions may allocate additional programmatic funds to support implementation of these additional activities required of Lead Institutions.
Consortium members will function as subrecipients. Limitations and other requirements for awards, such as the administrative cost limitation, will apply to an individual consortium member grant award unless otherwise noted.
Applicants should note that there are specific submission instructions for consortium applications for the abstract (Section IV.B.4).
Role of Member Institutions in a Consortium
Member Institutions are those institutions who join together to become a consortium award under the TAACCCT program. Member Institutions must indicate their commitment to be part of the consortium by signing a consortium agreement to be submitted with the application. The consortium agreement does not have to be a formal MOU or other legal agreement between entities; but rather a letter of intent to participate. Upon award, member institutions must enter into subgrant agreements with the Lead Institution.
As subrecipients, Member Institutions must follow all the terms and conditions of their Grant Award, per 29 CFR 95.5. Member Institutions must submit programmatic and financial information to the Lead to facilitate submission of quarterly programmatic and fiscal reports by the Lead in compliance with 29 CFR Part 95.
Consortium Management
Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with other colleges and universities to build consortia, and to align (where appropriate) with institutions that have already received TAACCCT funding. This includes developing content across multiple institutions; developing content at one institution and allowing other institutions to use the content in their courses; and/or designating a home institution or institutions in the consortium to confer credential(s), while other institutions contribute to the program through course development and delivery. Applicants shall develop a collaboration model that reduces duplication of effort and resources where possible within the consortium.
The Department anticipates that the majority of applicants will include three specific types of allowable activities to support their work: a) hiring and/or training additional instructors or staff (including the costs of salaries and benefits) to assist in the development and/or delivery of new curricula, and in the establishment of internships, Registered Apprenticeship, or clinical/cooperative education programs at employer sites; b) purchasing or upgrading classroom supplies and equipment and/or educational technologies that will contribute to the instructional purpose in education and training courses supported by the grant; and c) costs associated with implementing changes in the time or scheduling of courses.
Other allowable activities may include, but are not limited to, implementing and/or enhancing the information technology infrastructure used to provide education and training and related activities; developing staff and infrastructure capacity to acquire, organize, and/or analyze program data for continuous improvement and program evaluation; expanding and improving the capacity of student services that directly support the goals of the grant (for example, career guidance programs); leasing space that is used for education and training and related activities; and altering or renovating facilities (in accordance with the Federal Cost Principles at OMB Circular A-21 located at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_circulars (formerly 2 CFR Part 220)) that are used for education and training and related activities (which could include ensuring that the facilities comply with Federal architectural accessibility obligations that require facilities to be readily accessible to and usable by qualified individuals with disabilities).
Applicants may also consider engaging private sector partners or employers to use non-grant funds to run incentive prize competitions to develop education and training tools, strategies and technologies. More information is available in Appendix F.
Capital
expenditures, such as equipment or capital improvements, are
allowable with prior approval from the Grant Officer. A capital
improvement is a type of capital expenditure as described in OMB
Circular A-21, App. A., J. 18(a)(1) located at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_circulars.
However, capital expenditures for improvements to land are not
allowable under these grants. Possible allowable capital
improvements include, but are not be limited to, improvements to
buildings or equipment that would materially increase their value or
useful life, including the cost to put the asset or improvement in
place. For buildings, this could include the cost of upgrading,
installing or retrofitting a building’s internal systems or
utilities, such as electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and communications to
accommodate training courses or equipment. This could also include
structural improvements or upgrades including the relocation,
modification, retrofitting or enhancement of interior load bearing
walls or interior floors to accommodate training courses or
equipment. Minor alterations, renovations, or rearrangements, if
specific to the project, are also allowable with prior approval from
the Grant Officer. Minor alterations, renovations, or rearrangements
may include activities and associated costs such as relocating,
modifying, replacing or adding items (such as switches and outlets)
related to internal environments (temperature, humidity, ventilation,
and acoustics), and installation of fixed equipment (including fume
hoods and audio/visual equipment).
Award of a grant under this SGA does not constitute prior approval. After grant awards are made, applicants will be required to obtain specific Grant Officer approval before acquiring equipment or proceeding with proposed capital expenditures, renovation, or alteration of facilities. The Grant Officer must determine that all proposed equipment, capital improvements, and/or alterations and renovation are: 1) allocable, necessary, and reasonable; 2) tied to specific grant-related deliverables and outcomes outlined in the grantee’s statement of work (SOW) (including capacity-building and/or training outcomes); and 3) consistent with the SGA. In their budget narrative, applicants proposing to spend grant funds on capital improvements and/or alterations and renovations as outlined in the SOW and budget narrative must demonstrate how these expenditures will support the expansion and improvement of the education and training programs that are the focus of their proposed project. Total combined costs of all capital improvements and other alterations and renovations cannot exceed 15 percent of the total grant award. For consortium applicants, the total cost for all capital improvements and other alterations and renovations by all consortium members combined cannot exceed 15 percent of the total grant award. All activities related to capital expenditures and other alterations must be completed no later than 18 months from the start of the period of performance.
Allowable costs also include the costs of program development such as using subject matter experts from industry, education, state workforce agency, labor market and economic research entities, and other areas to inform and assist in curriculum design. It is allowable to contract with WIBs, and their AJC for the provision of dedicated services directly related to the TAACCCT-funded project, including costs related to implementing data sharing agreements. Applicants should refer to Section VI of the SGA for a list of relevant Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars related to cost principles, administrative, and other requirements that apply to this Solicitation.
Cost sharing or matching funds are not required for this program. Please note that any other resources contributed to the project are considered leveraged resources and do not constitute cost sharing or matching funds. More information on leveraged resources may be found in Section IV.B.2. Applications that include any form of cost sharing or match will not receive additional consideration under the review. Cost sharing or match is not one of the application screening criteria.
Applications that contain any of the following deficiencies will be found non-responsive and will not be reviewed. The deficiencies are:
Failure to satisfy the deadline requirements referenced in Section IV.C.;
Applications that are less than $2,260,000 or exceed the ceiling amount for a single institution as identified in Section II.A.2 and II.A.3, or that exceed the amount permitted for Tier 1 and Tier 2 consortium applications, as identified in Sections II.A.4 and II.A.5;
The lack of accreditation of the applicant as referenced in Section III.A;
For consortium applicants, the lack of accreditation of any consortium member as referenced in Section III.A;
Failure to include: signed SF-424 including D-U-N-S® (DUNS) Number, a project budget including a SF-424A and budget narrative, and a project narrative referenced in Section IV.B;
Failure to register with SAM and maintain an active account referenced in Section IV.C;
Failure to include required information as an attachment referenced in Section IV.B; and
Failure to include required information as an attachment referenced in Section IV.B, including:
Abstract;
Documentation of Employer Commitment;
Documentation of Workforce System Commitment;
Program Evaluation Plan and Budget Narrative; and
Employment Results Scorecard Workplan (for Single State Consortium Applicants) or Employment Results Scorecard Continuous Improvement Workplan (for Regional Multi-State Consortium Applicants).
Eligible institutions may submit one application in response to this SGA, either as a single institution applicant or as the Lead Institution in a consortium application. However, eligible institutions may submit an application as a single institution applicant, and also serve as a member of a consortium in one or more consortium applications in which they do not serve as the Lead Institution.
Participants Eligible to Receive Training
There are no eligibility requirements for specific populations that are eligible to be served through the TAACCCT grants funded through this SGA. The intent of this SGA is to fund projects that expand and improve the ability of eligible institutions to provide education and training programs that are suitable for a diverse population of workers eligible for training under the TAA for Workers program, as well as a broad range of other adults, such as women or minorities, who may be underrepresented in high-demand fields. However, successful applicants must give priority of enrollment to workers eligible for training under the TAA for Workers program.
For example, in circumstances where a grant recipient must choose between two qualified candidates for enrollment, one of whom is a worker eligible for training under the TAA for Workers program, this priority of enrollment provision requires that the grant recipient give the worker eligible for training under the TAA for Workers program priority of enrollment by first providing him or her an opportunity to receive the training or educational opportunity funded through the grant. Applicants should note that veterans receive first priority of service, with TAA-eligible workers receiving second priority (refer to Section III.D.3.b Veterans Priority for Participants).
The Jobs for Veterans Act (Public Law 107-288) requires grantees to provide priority of service for veterans and spouses of certain veterans for the receipt of employment, training, and placement services in any job training program directly funded, in whole or in part, by DOL. The regulations implementing this priority of service can be found at 20 CFR Part 1010. In circumstances where a grant recipient must choose between two qualified candidates for a service, one of whom is a veteran or eligible spouse, the veterans priority of service provisions require that the grant recipient give the veteran or eligible spouse priority of service by first providing him or her that service. To obtain priority of service, a veteran or spouse must meet the program’s eligibility requirements. Grantees must comply with DOL guidance on veterans’ priority. ETA’s Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 10-09 (issued November 10, 2009) provides guidance on implementing priority of service for veterans and eligible spouses in all qualified job training programs funded in whole or in part by DOL. TEGL No. 10-09 is available at http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2816.
Grantees will be required to identify third-party subject matter experts to conduct reviews of the deliverables produced through the grant. Applicants should allot funds in their budgets for the independent review of their deliverables by appropriate subject matter experts. Subject matter experts are individuals with demonstrated experience in developing and/or implementing similar deliverables. These experts could include applicants’ peers, such as representatives from neighboring education and training providers. The applicant must provide the Department with the results of the review and the qualifications of the reviewer(s) at the time the deliverables are provided to the Department.
All online and technology-enabled content and courses developed under this SGA must incorporate the principles of universal design (see http://www.cast.org/udl/) in order to ensure that they are readily accessible to qualified individuals with disabilities. The content and courses must be in full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA (http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/) .
All digital assets within online and technology-enabled courses, including course components, tests, e-publications and applications used in course development under this SGA, should be produced to maximize interoperability, exchange, and reuse. In addition, all assessments and/or other content that result in a student score or grade must conform to industry-leading e-learning open standards and specifications for meta-data (LR [Learning Registry] and LRMI [Learning Resource Metadata Initiative]), packaging standards for aggregate level resources (AICC [Aviation Industry CBT Committee], IMS [IMS Global Learning Consortium], or SCORM [Sharable Content Object Reference Model]), and standards for data sharing (PESC [Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council]).
Applicants must identify the industry standard they will use in online course development. All digital assets must be licensed for free, attributed public use and distribution under the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license (as described in Section III.D.9). Additional information regarding the formats of digital assets is contained in Appendix G.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to leverage the knowledge and resources of public and private organizations that have expertise and experience in successfully developing, implementing, and evaluating projects in the core elements described in Section I.B, and are encouraged to leverage the expertise of content experts such as cognitive scientists, human-computer interaction experts, information technologists, program evaluation experts, and others as appropriate to the development and implementation of the project. Where appropriate, applicants are strongly encouraged to leverage the knowledge of authors, publishers, and providers of digital and online curricular materials and course modules, including Federally-funded program providers, community colleges, open licensed content providers, not-for-profit and commercial publishers, and other types of entities. These individuals, groups, and organizations can help the applicant determine if and to what extent such resources already exist and whether the applicant should adopt such existing resources rather than develop new, effectively duplicative materials, unless such adoptions would impose barriers to the free use or reuse of the materials by others. Consortium applicants are strongly encouraged to leverage expertise from content experts within the consortium in the development of online learning materials. In the implementation and adoption of materials developed under the grant, technology-based consortium projects may also connect with broad networks of education and training institutions to ensure widespread use and encourage continuous improvement of the courses and learning materials created by these projects.
Applicants may propose to procure from outside organizations or individuals goods or services that are ancillary or supportive of the applicant’s project workplan. These activities may be implemented through a contract, and must follow all procurement requirements. Please refer to procurement information in Section VI.B.3 for more information.
To ensure that the Federal investment of these funds has as broad an impact as possible and to encourage innovation in the development of new learning materials, as a condition of the receipt of a TAACCCT grant, the grantee will be required to license to the public all work (except for computer software source code, discussed below) created with the support of the grant under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY) license. Work that must be licensed under the CC BY includes both new content created with the grant funds and modifications made to pre-existing, grantee-owned content using grant funds.
This license allows subsequent users to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the copyrighted Work and requires such users to attribute the Work in the manner specified by the grantee. Notice of the license shall be affixed to the Work. For general information on CC BY, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Instructions for marking your work with CC BY can be found at http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Marking_your_work_with_a_CC_license. Questions about CC BY as it applies to specific TAACCCT grant applications should be submitted to DOL to the Grants Management Specialist specified in Section VII.
Only work that is developed by the grantee with the grant funds is required to be licensed under the CC BY license. Pre-existing copyrighted materials licensed to, or purchased by the grantee from third parties, including modifications of such materials, remains subject to the intellectual property rights the grantee receives under the terms of the particular license or purchase. In addition, works created by the grantee without grant funds do not fall under the CC BY license requirement.
The purpose of the CC BY licensing requirement is to ensure that materials developed with funds provided by these grants result in work that can be freely reused and improved by others. When purchasing or licensing consumable or reusable materials grantees are expected to respect all applicable Federal laws and regulations, including those pertaining to the copyright and accessibility provisions of the Federal Rehabilitation Act.
Further, the Department requires that all computer software source code developed or created with TAACCCT funds will be released under an intellectual property license that allows others to use and build upon them. Specifically, the grantee will release all new source code developed or created with TAACCCT grant funds under an open license acceptable to either the Free Software Foundation and/or the Open Source Initiative.
Separate from the CC BY license to the public, the Federal Government reserves a paid-up, nonexclusive and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and to authorize others to use for Federal purposes: the copyright in all products developed under the grant, including a purchases ownership under an award (including, but not limited to, curricula, training models, technical assistance products, and any related materials). Such uses include, but are not limited to, the right to modify and distribute such products worldwide by any means, electronically or otherwise. The grantee may not use Federal funds to pay any royalty or license fee for use of a copyrighted work, or the cost of acquiring by purchase a copyright in a work, where the Department has a license or rights of free use in such work. If revenues are generated through selling products developed with grant funds, including intellectual property, these revenues are program income. Program income is added to the grant and must be expended for allowable grant activities.
If applicable, the following needs to be on all products developed in whole or in part with grant funds, “This workforce product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The product was created by the grantee and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership.”
Grantees are required to participate in all ETA training activities related to grantee orientation, financial management and reporting, performance reporting, product dissemination, and other technical assistance training as appropriate during the grant period. These sessions may occur via conference calls, through virtual events such as webinars, and in-person meetings. The Lead Institution should encourage Member Institutions to be represented in all virtual sessions. Single Institution applicants and Lead Institution applicants should budget for at least two staff members to attend up to two in-person events in Washington, D.C. during the life of the grant. Consortium members may budget to attend any in-person events; however participation of consortium members at these events will be determined during the period of performance and will be dependent on conference capacity and other factors.
Applicants applying as single institutions or regional multi-state consortia shall not provide a response to this specific requirement.
Single-state consortium applicants are required to provide a plan to develop and implement an employment results scorecard during the grant performance period. The purpose of the employment results scorecard is to help TAA-eligible workers, other adult learners, and prospective students identify and choose programs by providing key information on the employment outcomes of graduates of these programs of study to determine whether these programs of study may be appropriate for their career goals. The same data on aggregate student outcomes by programs of study will help institutions improve their programming by ensuring that course offerings are aligned with labor market needs. In addition, in developing a scorecard, institutions begin to establish a sustainable system for tracking and reporting outcomes and using data for continuous improvement that extends beyond the period of performance of grant program.
Single-State Consortium applicants must submit a clearly labeled Employment Results Scorecard Workplan as an Attachment to the Project Narrative that addresses the four items below and describes a plan to implement this scorecard by the end of the grant period of performance.
Performance Metrics of the Scorecard
Applicants must propose and describe the performance metrics used in the employment results scorecard. The Department recognizes that state laws and regulations differ and may sometimes affect the availability of data in the states in which consortium applicants propose to serve participants. The Department also recognizes that many applicants already have a mechanism in place for collecting and sharing this data or are participating in other initiatives to create similar reports. As a result, the Department encourages applicants to propose metrics that complement and relate to existing reporting practices, such as student repayment rates or other institutional evaluation studies over varying lengths of time. Although the set of metrics proposed must include the five items listed below, the Department encourages applicants to propose metrics in addition to those listed below, where appropriate, and the appropriate length of time of measurement. Applicants should note that while the metrics below are similar to grantee reporting requirements as described in Section IV.C, these metrics are not intended to be a substitute for meeting those reporting requirements.
Annual graduation rate for all students enrolled by program;
Employment rate of program completers by program;
Employment retention rate of completers;
Average earnings of completers; and
Transfer rate for programs that have facilitating transfers as a substantial part of their mission.
Plan to Obtain and Share Data
Applicants must identify methods for obtaining the data necessary to create the employment results scorecard. This may include:
Working with relevant state agencies to explore the possibility of becoming party to the Wage Record Interchange System 2 (WRIS 2) agreement, if applicable;
Working with relevant state agencies to utilize state longitudinal data systems to calculate aggregate transfer rates and employment outcomes by program; and
Developing partnerships necessary to obtain outcomes data. This may include working with the State agencies that administer Unemployment Compensation (UC programs, TAA for Workers, WIA, SLDS, or WDQI grant program for data sharing and production of aggregate reports on outcomes and earnings by program.
Plan to use Data for Continuous Improvement
Applicants should describe how the data obtained for the employment results scorecard and other data will be used by consortium members to monitor program performance, improve programs, eliminate ineffective programs, and improve outcomes for underrepresented groups.
Estimated Costs
Costs for creation of the scorecard can be paid for with grant funds. Applicants should provide an estimate of the cost associated with this requirement. Please note that costs for this scorecard must be included together with the other grant activities on the SF-424 and SF-424A forms. The cost for this component of the grant must not exceed two percent of the total proposed budget for the grant.
Applicants applying as single institutions or single-state consortia shall not provide a response to this specific requirement.
Multi-state consortia are required to submit a plan that explains how consortium members will work toward developing an employment results scorecard. The Department recognizes the extra challenges of understanding and applying state laws across the various states to obtain and report data on employment outcomes. However, the Department believes that establishing a system to report on student outcomes, such as the employment results scorecard, will benefit TAA-eligible workers and other adult learners in the various states served by the consortium.
To meet this requirement, multi-state consortium applicants must submit a clearly labeled Employment Results Scorecard Continuous Improvement Workplan as an attachment to the Project Narrative that addresses the items below.
Survey of Data Systems
Applicants should provide brief results of a survey of the data systems in each state served by the grant. This survey should include, at a minimum, information about the agency responsible for administering the UC programs or employment data for each state; existing practices applicants use to collect data on student outcomes; and a summary of regulations and other barriers to sharing aggregate data publically. Applicants should also explore the possibility of aligning or joining an existing longitudinal data study or other existing data sharing initiatives in the various states served by the consortium.
Options for Obtaining and Sharing Data
Applicants should provide a discussion of options for obtaining data on student outcomes in all states served by all consortium members. This discussion should also include feasibility study for implementation of student consent protocols across each consortium institution, likelihood and costs for obtaining data from the state agency that administers unemployment insurance, and potential for participation in longitudinal data studies, as applicable.
Plan to Use Data for Continuous Improvement
Applicants should also discuss plans using an employment outcomes scorecard or other data analytics that will help consortium members monitor program performance at their institutions, improve current program offerings, and provide new programs that will provide students the skills necessary to obtain employment.
Estimated Costs
Applicants should provide an estimate of the costs of implementing the continuous improvement plan across all consortium members.
This SGA, found at www.Grants.gov and http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm, contains all of the information and links to forms needed to apply for grant funding.
Proposals submitted in response to this SGA must consist of four separate and distinct parts: (1) the SF-424 “Application for Federal Assistance;” (2) Project Budget; (3) Project Narrative; and (4) attachments to the Project Narrative. The proposal may include a fifth part, if consortium applicants seek to exceed the ceiling, as described in Section V.B. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the funding amount requested is consistent across all parts and sub-parts of the application.
Applicants must complete the SF-424,“Application for Federal Assistance” (available at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/sf-424-family.html ). The SF-424 must clearly identify the applicant and must be signed by an individual with authority to enter into a grant agreement. Upon confirmation of an award, the individual signing the SF-424 on behalf of the applicant shall be considered the authorized representative of the applicant. As stated in block 21 of the SF-424 form, signature of the authorized representative on the SF-424 certifies that the organization is in compliance with the Assurances and Certifications form SF-424B (available at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/sf-424-family.html ). The SF-424B is not required to be submitted with the application.
Applicants must complete the SF-424A Budget Information Form (available at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/forms/sf-424-family.html ). In preparing the Budget Information Form, the applicant must provide a concise narrative explanation to support the budget request, explained in detail below.
Budget Narrative: The budget narrative must provide a description of costs associated with each line item on the SF-424A. It should also include a description of leveraged resources provided (as applicable) to support grant activities.
Use the following guidance for preparing the budget narrative:
Personnel – List all staff positions by title. Give the annual salary of each person, the percentage of each person’s time devoted to the project, the amount of each person’s salary funded by the grant and the total personnel cost for the period of performance.
Fringe Benefits – Provide a breakdown of the amounts and percentages that comprise fringe benefit costs such as health insurance, FICA, retirement, etc.
Travel – Specify the purpose, mileage, per diem, estimated number of in-state and out-of-state trips and other costs for each type of travel.
Equipment – Identify each item of equipment to be purchased which has an estimated acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit and a useful lifetime of more than one year. List the quantity and unit cost per item. Items with a unit cost of less than $5,000 are supplies.
Supplies – Supplies include all tangible personal property other than “equipment.” The detailed budget should identify categories of supplies (e.g. office supplies). List the quantity and unit cost per item.
Contractual – Identify each proposed contract and specify its purpose and estimated cost. If applicable, identify any sub-recipient agreements, including purpose and estimated costs.
Construction – Construction costs are not allowed and this line must be left as zero. Minor alterations to adjust an existing space for grant activities (such as a classroom alteration) may be allowable. DOL does not consider this as construction and the costs must be shown on other appropriate lines such as Contractual.
Other – List each item in sufficient detail for DOL to determine whether the costs are reasonable or allowable. List any item, such as stipends or incentives, not covered elsewhere here.
Indirect Charges – If indirect charges are included in the budget, include the approved indirect cost rate with a copy of the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, a description of the base used to calculate indirect costs and total cost of the base, and the total indirect charges requested. See Section IV.B.4 and Section IV.E.2 for more information.
Note that the entire Federal grant amount requested (not just one year) must be included on the SF-424 and SF-424A and budget narrative. No leveraged resources should be shown on the SF-424 and SF-424A. Leveraged resources should be described in the budget narrative. The requested Federal grant amount listed on the SF-424, SF-424A and budget narrative must be the same. The funding amount included on the SF-424 will be considered the official funding amount requested if any inconsistencies are found.
The Project Narrative must demonstrate the applicant’s capability to implement the grant project in accordance with the provisions of this Solicitation. It provides a comprehensive framework and description of all aspects of the proposed project. It must be succinct, self-explanatory, and well-organized so that reviewers can understand the proposed project.
For single institution applicants, the Project Narrative is limited to 30 double-spaced, single-sided, 8.5x11 inch pages with 12 point text font and 1 inch margins. For consortium applicants, the Project Narrative is limited to 45 double-spaced, single-sided, 8.5x11 inch pages with 12 point text font and 1 inch margins. Any materials beyond the specified page limit will not be read or considered in the application review process. Applicants must number the Project Narrative, beginning with page number 1.
The following instructions provide all of the information needed to complete the Project Narrative. Applicants should carefully read and consider each section and include all required information. Consortium applicants must identify the member institution(s) (which may include the Lead Institution) responsible for each activity or deliverable. The Project Narrative will be evaluated using the evaluation criteria identified in Section V.A. Applicants should use the same section headers identified below for each section of their Project Narrative.
Statement of Need
The applicant must describe how the proposal will meet the need to expand and improve the ability of eligible institutions to deliver education and career training programs to TAA-eligible workers and other adults who enter their programs in the region(s) to be served.
Serving the Education and Training Needs of TAA-Eligible Workers
Applicants must provide detailed evidence of how they will serve the needs of TAA-eligible workers in the following areas:
Describe the impact of foreign trade. Identify one or more TAA Certification determinations (by providing the TAA for Workers (TA-W) Number, company name, and decision date) in the community (ies) to be served by the project, made on or after October 1, 2010 and a narrative that describes the threat to, or the loss of, jobs associated with the identified certification(s). TAA for Workers petition determinations may be accessed and searched electronically by company name, petition number, state or city name, determination or certification date, or NAICS code at: http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/taa/taa_search_form.cfm. Explain how the proposed programs will be made accessible to, and will serve, TAA-eligible workers. In communities in states that receive relatively high levels of funding under the TAA for Workers program, this should include an explanation of how the applicant will ensure that TAA-eligible workers are served by the program; in communities in states that receive relatively low levels of funding under the TAA for Workers program, applicants should propose technology-based solutions so that training can be made available to TAA-eligible workers in other states. See Appendix H for a data on funding under the TAA for Workers program.
Describe the education and training needs of the TAA-eligible workers in each community(-ies) to be served by the project, including: the industry and/or occupations in which the TAA-eligible workers are or were employed; the current level of skills and educational attainment of the TAA-eligible workers; and the additional barriers these TAA-eligible workers may face in seeking employment and how the project will be made accessible to, and will serve, TAA-eligible workers, including those in regions in states that receive relatively high levels of funding under the TAA for Workers program.
Describe partnerships with cooperating State agencies that operate the TAA for Workers program, including the State TAA Coordinator and entities in the public workforce system that deliver TAA benefits to TAA-eligible workers in each community in which the project is located. Contact information for these agencies is available electronically at: http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/contacts.cfm). Describe how these partnerships will be leveraged to ensure that the proposed project will effectively serve TAA-eligible workers and the role of the State TAA Coordinator in these partnerships.
Evidence of Job Opportunities in the Targeted Industries and Occupations
Applicants must identify the specific two-digit North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) Industry sector code(s) for the industries they are targeting and provide substantial and detailed evidence of current and future job opportunities for TAA-eligible workers and other adults in the targeted industries and specific occupations in the community/communities to be served. For the purposes of this SGA, an industry is defined as any of the 2-digit economic sectors identified by the NAICS code. For additional information on industries by NAICS code, see Appendix I of this SGA or visit http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics.
Evidence of Employer Demand for Targeted Industries and Occupations
Using accurate and timely labor-market, demographic, and economic information, describe how the targeted industries and specific occupations will yield opportunities in the community for TAA-eligible workers and other adults who enter the program to obtain employment in high wage, high skill jobs or advance in their careers, and identify specific employers that are expected to hire grant participants within the period of performance.
Provide data and analysis of both current and projected employment opportunities for each targeted industry and specific occupation. The geographic scope of the LMI data must match the geographic scope of the proposed project (such as state, regional, or national in the case of online learning). This must include data on current and expected job openings with at least two employers in the community in each targeted industry, and may include commitments from employers who expect to hire program participants.
Understanding of Skills Required in the Targeted Industries and Occupations
Describe the job knowledge, skills, abilities, and credentials required to work in the targeted industries and occupations, and provide a description of how the applicant will engage with employers in the community to obtain their feedback on any content developed and delivered during the grant period of performance.
Gap Analyses
Applicants must fully identify gaps in education and training for targeted industries and occupations, and demonstrate the need to develop or expand capacity of the institution(s) to offer training and educational opportunities. The data provided should support the need for the education and career training programs proposed by the applicant.
Describe the significant gaps in existing education and career training programs, including researching previously funded TAACCCT projects, and infrastructure in each community for TAA-eligible workers and other adults, based on data collected through the community outreach process (described in Section I.B.4 and Appendix J), as well as relevant data from the applicant institution’s own management information systems or other data sources. The geographic scope of the gap analysis must match the geographic scope of the proposed project (such as local, state, or regional).
Describe how the identified gaps impact the applicant’s ability to effectively serve TAA-eligible workers and other adults seeking education or career training. Information may include evidence of:
Limitations in the number of students successfully served or enrolled as a result of the inability of the applicant to meet demonstrated demand for education and training in the community;
Limitations in faculty expertise and facility infrastructure that serve as barriers to providing effective education and training programs in the community;
Limitations in the content and quality of available courses that negatively impact the ability of the applicant to meet the needs of employers and program participants;
Factors that contribute to program attrition, particularly among low-skilled students, and the need to address those factors to improve retention and completion rates; and
If applicable, the need for specialized equipment, including a description of why the equipment is needed and why any currently available equipment is not sufficient to provide effective training in the targeted industries and occupations.
Methodology and Workplan
The applicant must describe the proposed education and training strategies, including the research and evidence on which those strategies are based and how the proposed strategies incorporate the Core Elements described in Section I.B. Throughout this section, the applicant must demonstrate a cohesive, well-designed approach to implement the project.
Evidence-Based Design
Applicants must conduct a research review to support the proposed program design, clearly describe the evidence on which the proposed education and training strategies are based, and describe how the evidence influenced the design of the program to improve education and employment outcomes.
Review of Evidence for Program Design
Applicants that propose to replicate or adapt existing strategies must cite strong or moderate evidence of effectiveness. Alternatively, applicants who propose to develop new, untested strategies should cite preliminary or related research findings and/or a strong theory to support the design of the project.
Provide a description of the proposed education and training strategies and fully explain how the evidence cited in the Review of Evidence for Program Design influenced the design of the proposed program.
Applicants that cite strong, moderate, or preliminary evidence of effectiveness must describe how it meets the parameters outlined in Appendix B: Strength of Evidence Definitions.
Applicants who propose to develop new, untested strategies that will rely only on strong theory should clearly outline a strong theory to support the design of the project that meets the parameters outlined in Appendix B: Strength of Evidence Definitions.
All applicants must provide a description of the research findings, present the strongest evidence available for the particular program design, and discuss any existing evidence that is mixed or negative. All sources must be appropriately cited and each piece of evidence must be identified as strong, moderate, or promising (see Appendix B for a detailed description of the levels of evidence).
Use of Evidence in Program Design
Describe how the evidence will be incorporated into plans for program development and delivery.
Indicate if the project will replicate or adapt existing evidence-based design, development, and delivery strategies (citing strong or moderate evidence of effectiveness) or implement innovative or new strategies (supported by preliminary research findings indicating evidence of promise, related research findings, or strong theory).
Career Pathways
Applicants must develop career pathway programs and systems and incorporate a clear sequence of education coursework and/or training credentials aligned with employer-validated work readiness standards and competencies, and integrate academic and occupational skills training.
The career pathways programs and systems proposed must include accelerated and contextualized remediation; comprehensive and personalized student support services and career guidance; prior learning assessment; competency-based assessment; modularized curricula; stacked and latticed credentials; and online and technology-based learning strategies. The plan must include:
Identification of how education and career-focused training programs will enable students to accelerate completion of remedial coursework, while learning these basic skills in the context of specific knowledge and skills in demand by industry sector and occupations targeted by the project.
Identification of the specific services and career guidance that will be provided; applicant should also identify the specific barriers to program retention, completion, and employment that will be addressed through comprehensive and personalized student services and career guidance.
An explanation of how prior learning for adults entering the program will be assessed, identification of the types of assessments that will be used, such as competency-based learning, as well as simulations and other new tools, and an explanation of how credit for prior learning will be awarded and how the most effective and accelerated path toward credential attainment will be determined.
Identification of the specific programs that will be competency-based and the observational methods used for measuring the proficiency of program participants.
Identification of modularized curricula that will be developed or enhanced.
A plan to incorporate a series of interconnected credentials, including certificates, certifications, diplomas, and degrees, into the program design. List specific credentials that may be completed in two years or less that will apply to this program (both existing and planned), identify if these credentials are the same as those used more broadly within the state, region or industry and if not provide justification why the proposed credentials are more appropriate for this specific project, and the proposed process (who will be involved, who must approve, etc.) for developing and connecting these credentials.
Explanation of how employers and/or industry associations (including national industry associations, if appropriate) will be involved to identify clusters of courses and related credentials that can be recognized as credentials valuable to employers, including employers across a state or region, or credentials that are nationally portable.
A plan for supporting the transferability and articulation of non-credit courses and academic credit across programs and institutions that will create career pathways for TAA-eligible workers and other adults to further their education. This includes linking with programs such as postsecondary career and technical education, pre- apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship programs, and other programs that lead to credit-bearing coursework and employment. The applicant must provide the names of the institutions it plans to work with and explain efforts that will be undertaken with them to standardize credentials, and describe the steps and approvals necessary for transferability to become effective, including the anticipated time these steps will take.
For consortium applicants, a plan must be provided that describes the steps and approvals necessary for articulation of all TAACCCT-funded courses offered by all institutions in the consortium to become effective, including the anticipated time these steps will take.
Advanced Online and Technology-Enabled Learning
Applicants must incorporate online and/or technology-enabled learning strategies into their program design. Online and technology-enabled learning strategies provide adults with an opportunity to balance the competing demands of work and family with acquiring new knowledge and skills at a time, place, and or pace that is convenient for them.
Incorporation of Technology into Program Design and Delivery
Describe how technology is incorporated into the design of the career pathway program and system and how technology will be used in the delivery of education and training. Online and technology-enabled strategies should effectively support TAA-eligible workers and other program participants in developing new skills, and can enable practices such as rolling and open enrollment processes, modularized content delivery, simulated assessments and training, and accelerated course delivery strategies. Innovative and effective strategies related to the use of technology may include, but are not limited to:
Interactive simulations;
Personalized and virtual instruction;
Elements of game design;
Digital tutors;
Strategies for asynchronous and real-time collaboration among learners and instructors;
Interactive tools that help better assess and predict student performance; and
Developing and sharing courses at a reasonable cost and are available at non-traditional hours.
All applicants must describe how their plan builds on or furthers the innovation in technology-enabled learning that currently exists, such as by demonstrating plans to search and integrate existing OER into program design, as appropriate.
Strategic Alignment with the Workforce System and Other Stakeholders
Applicants must provide a complete and clear description of their alignment with their Governor’s Economic Development plan and the WIA-WP integrated state workforce plan, as well as their involvement with the public workforce system, and with philanthropic organizations, business-related and other non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, and/or labor organizations.
Coordination with Governor’s Economic Development and WIA-WP integrated state workforce plans
Demonstrate that the strategies in the proposed TAACCCT project are aligned with the goals and priorities of both the Governor’s Economic Development plan and WIA-WP integrated state workforce plan for the states targeted through its project, which includes targeting the specific industry sectors or clusters, and can include targeting the education and training strategies, and/or goals for credential attainment included in these plans. Identify specific goals and priorities of the Governor’s Economic Development and WIA-WP state workforce plans, and indicate how the specific strategies included in the proposed TAACCCT project support the achievement of these goals and priorities.
Coordination with the Public Workforce System
Provide a plan to engage and collaborate with local WIBs, AJCs, and the state agency that administers the TAA for workers program, and potentially other workforce system partners as defined under Section 121(b)(1) of WIA. Applicants must propose to partner with at least one Local WIB to support this project. At least one Local WIB or AJC must be involved, along with the state agency that administers the TAA for workers program, in the development and implementation of the project. Some other workforce system entities that could be involved in the project include adult education agencies, career and technical education agencies, vocational rehabilitation agencies, state workforce education coordinating boards, and other post-secondary education agencies.
Applicants must describe the role of the WIB(s) in the project. Applicants must provide evidence that the public workforce system entities are committed to be involved in the project. The public workforce system entity may provide a wide array of services and activities in support of the TAACCCT project, using both leveraged resources such as WIA funding as well as funding provided through the TAACCCT grant. Any TAACCCT funds provided to the workforce system must be in the form of a contract to provide services or activities tailored to the TAACCCT project that are not already funded by other grants. The leveraged and contract services and activities can include:
Referring appropriate candidates to TAACCCT programs for education and training including TAA-eligible workers;
Co-enrolling TAACCCT participants into WIA Title I programs, where appropriate;
Providing supportive services in a leveraged and coordinated manner with the community college, through WIA, TAA for workers programs, and other resources;
Helping facilitate employer engagement in the sector strategy, supporting their involvement in both required and encouraged roles in the TAACCCT partnership;
Creating and implementing a comprehensive strategy of determining the skills needs of employers and the suitability of individuals for training and the attainment of associated credentials;
Assisting grantee by providing comprehensive counseling and coaching to TAACCCT participants to help improve participant retention and completion of the TAACCCT program. Specific strategies could include intrusive counseling, expanded and extensive mentoring services, and technology-enabled advising not otherwise available at the AJC;
Customizing tracking and reporting outcomes data for all TAACCCT participants as they complete the program and enter the workforce, to improve reporting on TAACCCT programs;
Connecting TAACCCT participants with employer partners to assist them in recruiting and hiring individuals who complete the TAACCCT program and achieving the grant’s overall employment and retention goals;
Providing seamless coordination of college and AJC assessment, support, counseling, and other services for TAACCCT participants through Career Coaches, such as Workforce Navigators for the TAACCCT program; and
Working with successful applicants for TAACCCT programs to ensure that proposed Programs of Study qualify for inclusion on appropriate eligible training provider lists.
Coordination with Philanthropic Organizations, Business-related and Other Non-profit Organizations, Community-based Organizations, and Labor Organizations
Applicants must describe plans to collaborate with philanthropic organizations, business-related and other non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, and/or labor organizations, especially those engaged in sector strategies and those with demonstrated experience in improving employment-related skills and involvement in initiatives to help address workers barriers to employment, such as Promise Zones. Types of collaboration could include: leveraging comprehensive case management or other services to assist participants with barriers to employment; connecting program participants to work-based training opportunities; assisting with placement opportunities; and providing supportive services, where appropriate.
Alignment with Previously-Funded TAACCCT Projects
Applicants must provide a plan to reach out to grantees from Round 1, 2, or 3 to coordinate efforts, minimize duplication, share information, and expand the geographical reach of their program. Applicants must use free, existing instructional resources for their targeted programs of study, whenever those are available. Applicants must engage with grantees that are geographically nearby, and/or with grantees across the country. Applicants proposing to develop new instructional resources must demonstrate that they have researched resources currently freely available, and that resources for their proposed program of study are not available to meet their needs. Applicants must also identify planned activities for coordination with other institutions and consortia, such as:
Sharing information, such as lessons learned and promising practices;
Sharing course and program content;
Collaborating in the development and delivery of programs and courses;
Developing transferability and articulation agreements;
Working together to develop best practices in a particular area of training or education (such as a coalition effort to foster more entrepreneurs); and
Leveraging the work of philanthropic or non-profit organizations that support community colleges.
Sector Strategies and Employer Engagement
Applicants must identify or take to scale successful sector strategies. These sector strategies must focus on addressing employers’ workforce needs by expanding or improving applicants’ education and training programs based on the use of real-time labor market information.
Sector Identification
Applicants must identify one or more specific industry sectors on which they will focus. Applicants must involve at least two employers and a regional industry representative for each targeted sector in each region served by the program. The employers must either be located in that region or can hire individuals in that area. Employers identified must be consistent with employers and employer roles identified in the required documentation of employer commitment. If applicable, evidence of prior designation by a certifying Federal entity may be used by applicants as evidence for the strength of an existing sector strategy that integrates workforce development into a comprehensive regional development strategy. Designation as a “Manufacturing Community” by the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) is an example of an eligible prior designation for these purposes.
Employer and Industry Representative Engagement
Describe the specific role of employers and regional industry representatives (and national industry representatives, if applicable) involved in the project, including evidence that the employers and industry representatives are committed to being involved in the project through required documentation of commitment(s) (submitted as an attachment to the proposal). Employers and regional industry representatives (and national industry representatives, if applicable) must:
Serve on the project’s leadership team;
Help implement program strategies and goals;
Identify and map the necessary skills and competencies for the program;
Assist with development of national industry-recognized credentials if needed and appropriate, that map to curriculum development and courses, as applicable; and
Assist with curriculum development, program design, and subsequent implementation of program design.
Applicants must also describe how relationships with employers and regional industry representatives will be sustained throughout the duration of the program and beyond.
Additional Role(s) of Employers and Industry Representatives
Describe additional roles for employers and regional industry representatives, and national industry representatives (if applicable). Evidence of this additional commitment must also be demonstrated through documentation of commitment(s) submitted as an attachment to the proposal. Examples of some additional roles include providing work-based training opportunities for program participants (such as registered apprenticeships, internships, and on-the-job training), providing leveraged resources to support education/training (such as equipment, facilities, and, instructors), and committing to hire, promote, and/or retain qualified program participants.
Project Workplan
Applicants must present a comprehensive project work plan. A sample format can be found in Appendix K. For consortium applicants, the workplan must break out consortium member roles and responsibilities within each of the sections outlined below. The project workplan must demonstrate a cohesive, well-designed approach to implement the project. The applicant must also demonstrate the capacity of the single institution applicant, or Lead Institution for consortium applicants, to manage the project and the role employers will play in supporting these activities.
Feasible and Realistic Activities and Timeframes
Describe the activities, timeframes, deliverables, and key implementers required to implement the strategies described in this Methodology and Workplan section within the grant period of performance. Include timeframes for accomplishing all procurement and other necessary grant start-up activities immediately following the start of the grant period of performance.
Understanding of Costs Associated with Project Activities
Identify and describe costs associated with each major project activity in the proposed work plan, including staff costs, which must align with the proposed budget. Applicants do not need to include a cost per participant.
Identification of Project Deliverables
Identify and describe the new intellectual property (such as books, courses, modules, seminars, tutoring systems, simulations, etc.) that will be developed with grant funds, and/or describe which existing Open Educational Resources (OER) or other licensed intellectual property will be improved with grant funds. Quantify the number of deliverables provided and provide a brief description of them, such as “1 Licensed Practical Nursing curriculum.” Specify the expected date the deliverables will be delivered to the Department.
Outcomes and Outputs
Applicants must provide outcome projections, including an effective plan to track and report all outcome measures for all program participants, and an effective plan for the use of reported data to continuously assess the effectiveness of and to improve programming. The grantee’s performance in meeting outcome projections may impact the decision by the Department to award any future grants to the grantee.
Analysis of Outcome Projections
Grantees will be required to report data on a number of outcome measures on an annual basis, as specified in Section VI.B.4. For consortium applicants, the Lead Institution must provide aggregate outcome projections for the overall project. Applicants must provide projections in their applications for the following nine outcome measures regarding their program participants. For the purposes of reporting, a participant is defined as a student who enrolls in a grant-funded program of study leading to a degree or certificates, or a course that is part of such a program. Only students who enroll in these courses and programs leading to degrees or certificates can be reported in grant outcomes. Therefore, not every student eligible for participation or who receives grant-funded services may be reported in the standardized grant outcomes, and this should be taken into account when setting outcome targets.
Total unique participants served/enrolled;
Total number of participants who have completed a TAACCCT-funded program;
Total number of participants still retained in their program of study or another TAACCCT-funded program;
Total number of participants completing credit hours;
Total number of participants earning credentials;
Total number of participants enrolled in further education after grant-funded program of study completion;
Total number of participants employed after grant-funded program of study completion (non-incumbent workers only);
Total number of participants retained in employment after program of study completion (non-incumbent workers only); and
Total number of those participants employed at enrollment (for purposes of this reporting, “Incumbent Workers”) who receive a wage increase post-enrollment.
Outcome Projections
Provide numerical outcome projections for each of the nine outcome measures that reflect the project’s expected impact on participants (refer to Appendix L for the definitions of each of the outcomes and a sample format for providing these projections). Applicants must provide targets in raw numbers for each of the outcome measures; percentages, percent increases, or other types of data projections are not acceptable. The targets should be provided for each year of the grant as well as for the total grant period, and be provided in aggregate for all program participants, even if different educational disciplines or programs have distinct outcome projections. The outcomes must be included as a table in the Project Narrative.
Targets
Explain how the outcome projections are appropriate numerical targets for the program design by providing an explanation of how the targets were derived and how the targets fit into the overall timeline of grant implementation.
Balance of Deliverables and Outcomes
Provide an explanation for the mix of proposed outcomes (e.g., participants served/enrolled) versus deliverables (e.g., courses developed and technology infrastructure enhancements), including a justification of unusually high or low outcome projections for participants in the context of the entire program. The projected outcomes and deliverables should be well-balanced, in that a low number of students projected to complete programs may be offset by a large number of complex, original, and innovative planned deliverables.
System or Process for Tracking and Reporting Outcome Measures
Successful applicants will be required to track and report outcome measures for program participants, and must have appropriate systems in place to do so. For consortium applicants, Lead Institutions must have a system in place to receive and compile outcome measures of member institutions. Applicants should refer to Section VI.C for a description of the quarterly and annual reporting requirements for the grant. The specific outcomes and outcome definitions for all participants that will be reported are found in Appendix L.
Existing Tracking Procedures
Applicants must provide specific details about the procedures already in place for tracking student outcomes, including which outcomes are already captured through the process currently being used, and describe staffing, technology, computer applications, and other resources already available to accomplish this task. Consortium applicants must ensure they describe existing tracking procedures across consortium members.
Plan to Address Gaps in Tracking
Identify and explain any gaps between the information that is already collected and the specific outcomes on which reporting is required, and how these gaps will be bridged. Provide a specific plan for staffing, technology, partnerships, computer application purchases, or other resources that the applicant plans to procure in order to meet this requirement. Consortium applicants must ensure their plans address gaps in tracking across consortium members.
Applicants must describe how they are currently able to access state data systems to track student employment outcomes, or explain how access to state longitudinal data systems will be strengthened to track students’ employment outcomes after exit or completion. This may include working with the State Directory of New Hires, the state LMI or research entities (that supports the Census Bureau’s Local Employment Dynamic program), the State Workforce Agency (SWA) that is responsible for tracking and reporting outcomes on TAA for Workers program participants using the Trade Act Participant Record (http://www.doleta.gov/performance/pfdocs/12050392_TAPR_Handbook.pdf), or other federally-supported administrative record data collection efforts. This may also include working with the SWA to access employment data available in unemployment wage records. For example, if the applicant does not have an existing relationship with its state’s agency responsible for collecting wage record information to verify employment, then the process that will be used to obtain employment outcome information, which may include establishing data sharing agreement(s) to access administrative records containing this information, should be described.
Using Data for Continuous Improvement
The applicant must describe its approach for using the data it collects and reports on all program participants to continuously assess the effectiveness of and improve programming.
Plan for Formal Data Reviews
Describe the process or procedure that will be used to formally review the data within the structure of the applicant educational institution, working with partners and other key stakeholders as applicable. Include information on the frequency with which data reviews will occur; the staff members, including partners and other key stakeholders who will take part in the reviews and what each adds to the review process; how decisions will be made about adjustments or improvements; how progress or improvement in programming will be assessed; and how this information will be shared amongst consortium members, as applicable.
Sustainability Plan
Describe how data will be used to determine which strategies and activities were effective, and explain how the applicant will integrate these strategies and activities into their non-grant funded program(s) for continued success.
Organizational Profile
The applicant must fully describe its capacity (and if applicable, the capacity of its consortium members) to effectively manage the programmatic, fiscal, and administrative aspects of the project, as well as its plan for sustaining the proposed program(s).
Professional Qualifications of Project Staff
Describe the professional qualifications that will be required of the full-time project manager. Explain why these qualifications are sufficient to ensure that performance reporting, fiscal reporting, and procurement are conducted in accordance with grant requirements. Provide a reasonable timeframe for hiring the project manager if one is not already identified, and describe plans to assign an interim project manager if required. If planning to hire a project manager, provide a plan to appoint an interim project manager by October 1, 2014 who will serve until the new project manager is hired. Consortium applicants must identify how the Lead Institution will track the programmatic, fiscal, and administrative progress of consortium members, and provide them with technical assistance and training related to programmatic, fiscal, and reporting requirements. Consortium applicants must also describe the roles of consortium member institutions in managing their own programmatic, fiscal, and administrative aspects of the project, as applicable.
Describe the professional qualifications that will be required of the fiscal, administrative management, and marketing staff. Explain why these qualifications are sufficient to ensure proper performance reporting, fiscal reporting, procurement management, and marketing activities. Provide a reasonable timeframe for hiring these individuals if they are not already on staff. For consortium awards, the description must encompass the Lead Institution, as well as member institutions.
Management Structures
Describe a management structure that enables efficient and effective communication between project staff and organizations at all levels of the project including amongst consortium members as applicable. Provide an organizational chart that identifies all relevant leadership, program, administrative, and advisory positions (including positions, if applicable, within consortium member organizations). For consortium applicants, describe how consortium members will collaborate throughout the life of the project. The organizational chart must be included as an attachment as described in Section IV.B.4. This attachment does not count against the page limit for the Project Narrative.
Systems and Processes
The applicant must explain how the proposed project will use systems and processes that enable timely and accurate financial and performance reporting, and allow for expedient procurement procedures that comply with Federal, state (if applicable), and other relevant laws and requirements, including across consortium members, as applicable.
State whether reports (program and financial) for the most recent grant(s) from ETA or other sources have been submitted on time, and describe the grants management practices used to complete grant activities within the period of performance.
Describe the procurement processes, systems, and procedures of the applicant (and, if applicable, those of consortium members).
In addition to the Project Narrative, the applicant must submit attachments. All attachments must be clearly labeled as Attachments. Only those attachments listed below will be excluded from the page limit. Additional materials such as resumés or general letters of support must not be included. Applicants must submit their application in one package because documents received separately will be tracked separately and will not be attached to the application for review. Save all files with descriptive file names of 50 characters or less and be sure to only use standard characters in file names: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and underscore (_). File names may not include special characters (e.g. &,–,*,%,/,#), periods (.), blank spaces or accent marks, and must be unique (i.e., no other attachment may have the same file name). An underscore (example: my_Attached_File.pdf) may be used to separate a file name.
The following attachments must be submitted by all applicants, and applications that fail to include any of these attachments will be found non-responsive and will not be reviewed:
Applicant Name
Applicant City/State
Consortium Member(s) and Consortium Member State(s) (if applicable)
Areas Served by Grant (by city, county, and state)
Total Funding Level Requested
Sub-Total Requested Funding Amount by Consortium Member (if applicable)
Project Name
Project Description and List of Credentials to be Developed and Awarded
Populations to be Served
Targeted Industry(s)
Employer Partner(s)
Public Workforce System Partner(s)
Other Key Partner(s)
Public Contact Information
Percentage of OER Program Materials Developed vs. Percentage of Licensed or Purchased Program Materials
Data Tags
The Abstract is limited to two-page double-spaced single sided 8.5x11 inch pages with 12 point text font and 1 inch margins A recommended format for the Abstract can be found in Appendix M. If using grants.gov for submission, this document must be attached under the Mandatory Other Attachment section and labeled “Abstract.” Please note that applicants will be held to outcomes provided and failure to meet those outcomes may have a significant impact on future grants with ETA.
For consortium applicants, the abstract must clearly identify the total consortium award amount, as well as identify all consortium members and the sub-total requested funding amount of each consortium member.
Commitment from the state agency that administers the TAA for workers program;
Commitment from the local workforce system; and
Support of the state workforce system, as indicated by a letter(s) signed by the Governor for all the states included in the application, or his or her designee (which may be the Administrator of the state workforce agency).
Applicants can submit multiple individual letters to document this commitment, or can submit combined letters. For example, applicants may submit individual letters from the state agency that administers the TAA for workers program, the local workforce system, and the state workforce system(s). Applicants may also submit an individual letter from the local workforce system, and also submit one combined letter that documents the commitment of the state agency that administers the TAA for workers program and the state workforce system(s). If using grants.gov for submission, this document(s) must be attached under the Mandatory Other Attachment section and labeled “Documentation of Workforce System Commitment.”
Applicants must submit documentation from the WIBs that may be involved in the project. In cases where the applicant is proposing to procure activities and services from the workforce system and have completed procurement, applicants must submit documentation from the WIBs that will be involved indicating their interest and expected roles and responsibilities in the project. In cases where applicants are proposing to procure activities and services from the workforce system and have not finished procuring a specific WIB or WIB(s) when they submit their proposal, applicants must submit documentation from the WIBs that may be involved indicating their interest and expected roles and responsibilities in the project. This documentation does not eliminate the need to follow the procurement requirements specified at 29 CFR 95.40 – 48 where the parties enter into a contract for supplies or services.
Additional attachments that are required for all which may impact the scoring under Section V.A are:
The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is [insert date XX days after date of publication of the one page notice in the Federal Register]. Applications must be submitted either electronically on http://www.grants.gov or in hard copy by mail or in hard copy by hand delivery (including overnight delivery). Hard copy applications must be received at the address below no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date. Applications submitted on grants.gov must also be successfully submitted (as described below) no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date. Applicants are cautioned that applications should be submitted before the deadline to ensure that the risk of late receipt of the application is minimized. Applications sent by e-mail, telegram, or facsimile (FAX) will not be accepted.
Applicants submitting proposals in hard copy by mail or overnight delivery must submit an original signed application (including the SF-424) and one (1) ‘‘copy-ready’’ version free of bindings, staples or protruding tabs to ease in the reproduction of the proposal by DOL. Applicants submitting proposals in hard copy are also required to include in the hard copy submission an identical electronic copy of the proposal on compact disc (CD). If discrepancies between the hard copy submission and CD copy are identified, the application on the CD will be considered the official applicant submission for evaluation purposes. Failure to provide identical applications in hardcopy and CD format may have an impact on the overall evaluation.
If an application is physically submitted by both hard copy and through http://www.grants.gov, a letter must accompany the hard-copy application stating which application to review. If no letter accompanies the hard copy, we will review the copy submitted through http://www.grants.gov.
No exceptions to the mailing and delivery requirements set forth in this notice will be granted. Further, documents submitted separately from the application, before or after the deadline, will not be accepted as part of the application.
Mailed applications must be addressed to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Grants Management, Attention: Steve Rietzke, Grant Officer, Reference SGA/DFA PY 13-10, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4716, Washington, DC 20210. Applicants are advised that mail delivery in the Washington DC area may be delayed due to mail decontamination procedures. Hand-delivered proposals will be received at the above address. All overnight delivery submissions will be considered to be hand-delivered and must be received at the designated place by the specified closing date and time.
Applications that are submitted through Grants.gov must be successfully submitted at http://www.grants.gov no later than 4:00:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date and then subsequently validated by Grants.gov. The submission and validation process is described in more detail below. The process can be complicated and time-consuming. Applicants are strongly advised to initiate the process as soon as possible and to plan for time to resolve technical problems if necessary.
The Department strongly recommends that before applicants begin to write the proposal, they should immediately initiate and complete the “Get Registered” registration steps at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration.html Applicants should read through the registration process carefully before registering. These steps may take as much as four weeks to complete, and this time should be factored into plans for timely electronic submission in order to avoid unexpected delays that could result in the rejection of an application. The site also contains registration checklists to help applicants walk through the process. The Department strongly recommends that applicants download the “Organization Registration Checklist” at http://www.grants.gov/documents/19/18243/OrganizationRegChecklist.pdf/fc7e7c18-2497-4b08-8d9b-bfac399947a3 and prepare the information requested before beginning the registration process. Reviewing and assembling required information before beginning the registration process will alleviate last minute searches for required information and save time.
As described earlier in Section IV.B.1., applicants must have a DUNS Number and must register with the System for Award Management (SAM).
The next step in the registration process is creating a username and password with Grants.gov to become an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). AORs will need to know the DUNS Number of the organization for which they will be submitting applications to complete this process. To read more detailed instructions for creating a profile on Grants.gov visit: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-3-username-password.html.
After creating a profile on Grants.gov, the E-Biz point of Contact (E-Biz POC) - a representative from your organization who is the contact listed for SAM – will receive an email to grant the AOR permission to submit applications on behalf of their organization. The E-Biz POC will then log in to Grants.gov and approve an individual as the AOR, thereby giving him or her permission to submit applications. To learn more about AOR Authorization visit: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-4-aor-authorization.html or to track AOR status visit: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-5-track-aor-status.html .
An application submitted through Grants.gov constitutes a submission as an electronically signed application. The registration and account creation with Grants.gov, with E-Biz POC approval, establishes an AOR. When an application is submitted through Grants.gov, the name of the AOR on file will be inserted into the signature line of the application. Applicants must register the individual who is able to make legally binding commitments for the applicant organization as the AOR; this step is often missed and it is crucial for valid submissions.
When a registered applicant submits an application with Grants.gov, an electronic time stamp is generated within the system when the application is successfully received by Grants.gov. Within two business days of application submission, Grants.gov will send the applicant two email messages to provide the status of the application’s progress through the system. The first email, sent almost immediately, will contain a tracking number and will confirm receipt of the application by Grants.gov. The second email will indicate the application has either been successfully validated or has been rejected due to errors. Grants.gov will reject applications if the applicant’s registration in SAM is expired. Only applications that have been successfully submitted by the deadline and subsequently successfully validated will be considered. It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to ensure a timely submission. While it is not required that an application be successfully validated before the deadline for submission, it is prudent to reserve time before the deadline in case it is necessary to resubmit an application that has not been successfully validated. Therefore, sufficient time should be allotted for submission (two business days) and, if applicable, additional time to address errors and receive validation upon resubmission (an additional two business days for each ensuing submission). It is important to note that if sufficient time is not allotted and a rejection notice is received after the due date and time, the application will not be considered.
To ensure consideration, the components of the application must be saved as .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .rtf or .pdf files. If submitted in any other format, the applicant bears the risk that compatibility or other issues will prevent DOL from considering the application. DOL will attempt to open the document but will not take any additional measures in the event of problems with opening. In such cases, the non-conforming application will not be considered for funding.
We strongly advise applicants to use the various tools and documents, including FAQs, which are available on the “Applicant Resources” page at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/applicant-resources.html.
ETA encourages new prospective applicants to view the online tutorial, “Grant Applications 101: A Plain English Guide to ETA Competitive Grants,” available through Workforce3One at: http://www.workforce3one.org/page/grants_toolkit.
To receive updated information about critical issues, new tips for users and other time sensitive updates as information is available, applicants may subscribe to “Grants.gov Updates” at http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/manage-subscriptions.html. .
If applicants encounter a problem with Grants.gov and do not find an answer in any of the other resources, please contact Grants.gov Customer Service. For more information please visit http://www.grants.gov/documents/19/18249/CustomerServiceProcess.pdf/35f168e0-49ea-426f-be2b-5b772178326d or call 1-800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035 to speak to a Customer Support Representative or email “[email protected] ”. The Contact Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is closed on Federal holidays.
Late Applications: For applications submitted on Grants.gov, only applications that have been successfully submitted no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing date and then successfully validated will be considered. Applicants take a significant risk by waiting to the last day to submit through Grants.gov.
Any hard copy application received after the exact date and time specified for receipt at the office designated in this notice will not be considered, unless it is received before awards are made, it was properly addressed, and it was: (a) sent by U.S. Postal Service mail, postmarked not later than the fifth calendar day before the date specified for receipt of applications (e.g., an application required to be received by the 20th of the month must be postmarked by the 15th of that month); or (b) sent by professional overnight delivery service to the addressee not later than one working day before the date specified for receipt of applications. ‘‘Postmarked’’ means a printed, stamped or otherwise placed impression (exclusive of a postage meter machine impression) that is readily identifiable, without further action, as having been supplied or affixed on the date of mailing by an employee of the U.S. Postal Service. Therefore, applicants should request the postal clerk to place a legible hand cancellation ‘‘bull’s eye’’ postmark on both the receipt and the package. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be a basis for a determination that the application was not filed timely and will not be considered. Evidence of timely submission by a professional overnight delivery service must be demonstrated by equally reliable evidence created by the delivery service provider indicating the time and place of receipt.
This funding opportunity is not subject to Executive Order 12372, “Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.”
All proposed project costs must be necessary and reasonable and in accordance with Federal guidelines. Determinations of allowable costs will be made in accordance with the applicable Federal cost principles. Disallowed costs are those charges to a grant that the grantor agency or its representative determines not to be allowed in accordance with the applicable Federal cost principles or other conditions contained in the grant. Applicants, whether successful or not, will not be entitled to reimbursement of pre-award costs.
Unallowable activities include the use of grant funds to pay an individual student’s education and training costs, such as the cost of tuition (including scholarships), books, and academic fees. Unallowable academic fees include the testing and licensure fees required for individual students to receive an industry-recognized credential. Other unallowable activities include incentive payments for participants such as performance-based cash bonuses; WIA supportive services; wages of participants (including the wages of students participating in co-operative education programs, Registered Apprenticeship, on-the-job training, work-based training, or internships) and stipends for wage replacement of participants; the purchase of real property; and construction. Applicants should ensure they do not propose the unallowable activities listed above. Some of these activities may duplicate services and benefits provided to TAA-eligible workers. For example, TAA-eligible participants in TAACCCT-funded programs are entitled to TAA benefits, including tuition and related necessary and approved expenses such as books, tools, academic fees, travel or transportation expenses, and subsistence expenses.
Applicants may not use grant funds to supplant other funding sources they are currently using to fund existing activities.
As specified in OMB Circular Cost Principles, indirect costs are those that have been incurred for common or joint objectives and cannot be readily identified with a particular final cost objective. An indirect cost rate (ICR) is required when an organization operates under more than one grant or other activity, whether Federally-assisted or not. Organizations must use the ICR supplied by the Federal Cognizant Agency. If an organization requires a new ICR or has a pending ICR, the Grant Officer will award a temporary billing rate for 90 days until a provisional rate can be issued. This rate is based on the fact that an organization has not established an ICR agreement. Within this 90 day period, the organization must submit an acceptable indirect cost proposal to their Federal Cognizant Agency to obtain a provisional ICR. (See Section IV.B.4. for more information on ICR Agreement submission requirements.)
Under this SGA, an entity that receives a grant to carry out a project or program may not use more than 10 percent of the amount of the grant to pay administrative costs associated with the program or project. Administrative costs could be direct or indirect costs, and are defined at 20 CFR 667.220. Administrative costs do not need to be identified separately from program costs on the SF-424A Budget Information Form. However, they must be tracked through the grantee’s accounting system. To claim any administrative costs that are also indirect costs, the applicant must obtain an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement from its Federal Cognizant agency, as specified above.
None of the grant funds may be used by a recipient or sub-recipient of such funds to pay the salary and bonuses of an individual, either as direct costs or indirect costs, at a rate in excess of Executive Level II. This limitation does not apply to vendors providing goods and services as defined in OMB Circular A-133 (codified at 29 CFR Parts 96 and 99). See Public Laws 112-74 (Division F, Title I, section 105), 112-10 (Division B, Title I) and 111-117 (Division D, Title I, section 107), and Training and Employment Guidance Letter number 5-06 for further clarification: http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/corr_doc.cfm?DOCN=2262.
Eligible institutions Grant funds may be used to pay for the wages of participants. Further, the provision of stipends to training enrollees for the purposes of wage replacement is not an allowable cost under this SGA.
As provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 (Public Law No: 113-76), TAACCCT Round 4 grantees have authority to award subgrants only to other eligible institutions. As subrecipients, eligible institutions will carry out one or more major programmatic functions to directly meet the project’s goals. Subgrants may not be made to other entities (public or private), including WIBS and employers. However, grantees do have the authority to award contracts under this program to other entities that are not eligible for a subgrant. A grantee enters into a subcontract to procure goods and/or services that are ancillary or supportive to the grantee’s operation of the project. A subcontract is defined as an agreement, purchase order, or any legal instrument issued to a third party (the subcontractor) calling for the performance of a defined piece of work or production and/or delivery of specified goods and services. The determination of whether a grantee has entered into a vendor relationship or a subrecipient relationship with another entity is determined primarily with reference to the general purpose, programmatic functions, and responsibilities that the grantee gives to the other organization along with grant funds. These three elements should be closely examined, together with the usual characteristics (terms and performance standards, scope of work, etc.). As a reference tool in determining whether an agreement is a subgrant or a subcontract, see Appendix N. The table in Appendix N is for reference only and does not limit the Grant Officer’s right to review and disallow improper transactions. Additionally, applicants can review the definition of subrecipient and vendor in OMB Circular A-133.
Subcontracts must be awarded in accordance with 29 CFR 95.40-48 and are subject to audit, in accordance with the requirements of 29 CFR 95.26 (d). Grantees are responsible for ensuring that all subcontractors are eligible for participation in Federal assistance programs and all procurement requirements at 29 CFR 95.40-48 are met. Applicants under this solicitation should note that consortium members will function as subrecipients, not as vendors (contractors).
Withdrawal of Applications: Applications may be withdrawn by written notice to the Grant Officer at any time before an award is made.
Procedures for assessing the technical merit of applications have been instituted to provide for an objective review of applications and to assist the applicant in understanding the standards against which each application will be judged. The evaluation criteria are based on the information required in the application as described in Section I. and Section IV.B. The evaluation criteria are described below:
Criterion |
Points |
(See Section IV.B.3.a.(1). Statement of Need) |
20
|
(See Section IV.B.3.a.(2). Methodology and Workplan) |
55 |
(See Section IV.B.3. a.(3). Outcomes and Outputs) |
15 |
(See Section IV.B.3. a.(4). Organizational Profile) |
10 |
TOTAL |
100 |
Statement of Need (20 points)
Serving the Education and Training Needs of TAA-Eligible Workers (10 points)
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates the impact of foreign trade in at least one region to be served, and the extent to which the applicant demonstrates how these programs will be made accessible to and will serve TAA-eligible workers. (4 points);
The degree to which the applicant demonstrates a thorough understanding of the education and training needs of TAA-eligible workers in the region(s) to be served, including: the industry and/or occupations in which the TAA-eligible workers are or were employed; the current level of skills and educational attainment of the TAA-eligible workers and the additional barriers these TAA-eligible workers may face in seeking employment. (3 points); and
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates the strength of the partnerships with applicable cooperating State agencies that administer the TAA for Workers program in the regions to be served. (3 points).
Evidence Need of Job Opportunities in the Targeted industries and Occupations (5 points)
The extent to which the labor market information provided by the applicant is accurate and timely, matches the geographical scope of the project, and indicates a projected demand for job opportunities in each targeted industry and occupation in the region(s) to be served. (3 points); and
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates an understanding of skills, abilities, and credentials required in the targeted industries and occupations and how the applicant will engage with employers in the region to obtain feedback on any content developed and delivered during the life of the project, and are part of a sector strategy that demonstrates a strong understanding of sector skill needs across multiple employers. (2 points)
Gap Analysis (5 points)
The comprehensiveness of the gap analyses in existing education and career training programs (including researching previously funded TAACCCT projects) and infrastructure in each region to be served (2 points); and
The degree to which the applicant demonstrates how the lack of capacity impacts their ability to serve TAA-eligible and other adults seeking education or career training in the region(s) to be served. (3 points)
Methodology and Workplan (55 points)
Reviewers will award points based on the extent to which applicants demonstrate a complete and clear understanding of the proposed education and training strategies, including the research and evidence on which those strategies are based, as well as how the proposed strategies incorporate the Core Elements described in Section I.B. In addition, applicants must demonstrate a cohesive, well-designed approach to implement the project. Points for this section will be based on the following sub-criteria:
Evidence-based Design (8 points)
The strength and quality of the evidence cited for the specific strategies chosen by the applicant. (2 Points)
Applicants that cite and describe strong or moderate evidence will receive 2 points;
Applicants that cite and describe evidence of promise or a strong theory will receive 1 point; and
Applicants that do not cite and describe strong, moderate, or preliminary evidence will receive 0 points.
The extent to which the applicant provides appropriate evidence for the program design. (3 points); and
The extent to which the applicant provides a description of the proposed education and training strategies and fully demonstrates how the evidence will be embedded in the design and delivery of the program, including identifying if the project will replicate existing evidence-based design, development, or delivery strategies or implement innovative or new strategies. (3 points)
Career Pathways ( 12 points)
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates substantive plans to include contextualized, accelerated remedial coursework. ( 3 points);
The extent to which the applicant identifies specific services and career guidance that will be provided and that addresses the barriers to program retention and completion. (1 point);
The extent to which the applicant provides an explanation of how prior learning will be assessed, identifies the types of assessments that will be used, and how credit for prior learning will be awarded. (1 point);
The extent to which the applicant identifies the specific programs that will be competency-based and the methods used for measuring the proficiency of program participants. (1 point);
The extent to which the applicant identifies modularized curricula that will be developed or enhanced. (1 point);
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates feasible plans to develop interconnecting credentials that can be stacked and latticed and that are linked to career ladders. ( 2 points);
The extent to which the applicant provides plans to engage employers and/or regional or national industry associations to identify courses for new or existing credentials. (2 points); and
The strength of the plan for supporting the transferability and articulation of courses across programs and institutions that will create career pathways and the steps and approvals needed for these to become effective. (1 point)
Advanced Online And Technology Enabled Learning (5 points)
The degree to which the applicant incorporates advanced technology into the program design and delivery in innovative and effective ways, such as interactive simulations, digital tutors, and other promising technology interventions. (3 points); and
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates a plan to use technology strategies that furthers innovation in technology to positively impact program outcomes. (2 points)
Strategic Alignment with the Workforce System and Other Stakeholders (7 points)
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates that the strategies in the proposed TAACCCT project are aligned with the goals and priorities of both the Governor’s Economic Development plan and WIA-WP integrated state workforce plan for each of the states targeted through its project, including targeting the specific industry sectors or clusters in those plans. (1 point);
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates that the strategies in the proposed TAACCCT project include targeting the education and training strategies, and/or goals for credential attainment included in the Governor’s Economic Development and WIA-WP plans. (1 point)
The level of collaboration between the applicant and the public workforce system to develop and deliver programs, including the specific services and activities that the public workforce system partner(s) will provide in support of the project. This includes evidence that at least one local WIB or AJC and the State agency that administers the TAA for workers program are all involved in the development and implementation of the grant project. ( 2 points);
Evidence that the grant will fund a contract with at least one WIB or AJC to provide services or activities tailored to the TAACCCT project that are not already funded by other grants to support the development or implementation of the TAACCCT project. (1 point); and
The extent to which the applicant intends to collaborate with philanthropic organizations, business-related and other non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, and/or labor organizations that can have a positive impact on the project, especially those engaged in sector strategies and those with demonstrated experience in improving employment-related skills and involvement in initiatives to help address workers’ barriers to employment, such as Promise Zones. (2 points)
Alignment with Previously Funded TAACCCT Projects (4 points)
The extent to which the applicant’s project incorporates previously-funded TAACCCT projects, including the use of free, existing instructional resources, to help decrease duplication and extend the geographical reach of the TAACCCT program. The extent to which the applicant identifies research efforts of these projects, including outreach to grantees, in response to this criterion. The extent to which the applicant identifies planned activities for coordination with other institutions and consortia. (4 points)
Sector Strategies and Employer Engagement (10 points)
The extent to which the applicant identifies or plans to scale successful sector strategies by identifying one or more specific industry sectors on which they will focus and involving at least two employers for each targeted sector in each region served by the program, as well as a regional industry representative or through evidence of designation as a “Manufacturing Community” through the IMCP. The employers must either be located in that region or can hire individuals in that area. (3 points);
Evidence of a commitment to employer and regional industry representative (and national industry representative if applicable) involvement on the project’s leadership team, in helping implement program strategies and goals, in identifying and mapping the necessary skills and competencies for the program, and assisting with curriculum development, implementation of program design, the design of national industry-recognized credentials if needed and appropriate, and of their sustained involvement in the project throughout the duration of the program and beyond. (4 points); and
Level of commitment to additional involvement by employers and regional industry representatives, and national industry representatives (if applicable), supported by additional documentation. This involvement could include providing work-based training opportunities for the program such as registered apprenticeships, providing leveraged resources to support education/training including cash or in-kind support, and committing to hire, promote and/or retain qualified program participants. (3 points)
Project Workplan ( 9 points)
The comprehensiveness of the project work plan that includes feasible and realistic activities and timeframes, identifies key implementers (including specific consortium members if applicable), and clearly specifies the roles of employers, cooperating State agencies that administer the TAA for Workers program and other public workforce system entities, and individual consortium members, as applicable. (4 points);
The completeness with which the applicant identifies and describes the costs associated with all project activities, consistent with costs identified in the proposed budget. (3 points); and
The extent to which the applicant provides a complete accounting of expected project deliverables, including new intellectual property, and expected dates for delivery to the Department. Consortium applicants must break out the deliverables expected by consortium member. (2 points)
Outcomes and Outputs (15 points)
Reviewers will award points based on how well applicants demonstrate that the expected outcomes are appropriate for the strategic approach proposed. Applicants must also demonstrate their commitment to collect, report, and effectively use outcome data to continually improve and inform program design. For consortium applicants, this represents the aggregate outcomes for the project overall.
Analysis of Outcome Projections (5 points)
The extent to which the applicant provides numerical projections on an annual basis for each of the required nine outcome measures that reflect the program’s expected impact on participants. (2 points);
The degree to which the applicant provides a logical and realistic explanation of how the targets were derived and how they fit into the overall grant implementation timeline. (2 points); and
The degree to which the applicant demonstrates a reasonable mix of proposed outcomes for each of the required nine outcome measures versus deliverables. (1 point)
System or Process for Tracking and Reporting Outcome Measures (5 points)
The extent to which the applicant describes existing or planned tracking procedures and systems (including staffing, technology, computer applications, and other resources) that are sufficient to effectively track and report the required outcome metrics. (3 points); and
The comprehensiveness of the applicant’s plan to identify and address gaps in tracking procedures, as well as among consortium members as applicable, including how access to the state longitudinal system will be strengthened to track student’s employment outcomes after exit or completion. (2 points)
Using Data for Continuous Improvement (5 points)
The extent to which the applicant describes processes or procedures that will enable it to review participant and outcome data regularly, share data with partners, other key stakeholders, and consortium members (if applicable) in a timely fashion, and use data effectively to continuously improve programming. (3 points); and
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates a sustainability plan to use data to determine which strategies and activities were effective, including how strategies and activities will be integrated into their non-grant funded programs throughout the duration of the program and beyond (2 points).
Organizational Profile ( 12 points)
Qualifications (5 points)
The level to which the applicant demonstrates capacity to manage the project with qualified staff and a qualified project manager, including a reasonable timeframe for hiring the project manager if one is not already identified, and describes plans to assign an interim project manager if required. For consortium applicants, this includes the Lead as well as Member Institutions. Additionally, the consortium applicant will be rated on the extent to which the applicant demonstrates that the Lead Institution is prepared to effectively track the programmatic, fiscal, and administrative progress of consortium members. (5 points);
Communication (4 points)
The extent to which the applicant describes how efficient and effective communication will take place between staff at all levels of the project, including among consortium members as applicable. (4 points); and
Systems and Processes for Timely Reporting (3 points)
The extent to which the applicant demonstrates that it will use systems and processes that enable timely and accurate financial and performance reporting, identifies previous experience in submitting reports on time, and describes the procurement processes, systems, and procedures of the applicant (and, if applicable, those of the Lead Institution and consortium members). (3 points)
As specified in Section II.A.3, single institution grants may exceed the award amount ceiling by extending their proposed project to include option 3 below, and consortium grants may exceed the award amount ceiling by extending their proposed projects to include only one of the following options:
Advance State Career Pathway System
Improve Statewide Data Collection, Integration, and Use
Create Nationally Recognized Competencies and Credentials
Applicants must provide supplementary materials as required in Section V.B.1 of the SGA to be considered for funds above the award amount ceiling.
Regardless of whether an applicant requests funds above the award amount ceiling, a technical review panel will evaluate and score all applications based on the evaluation criteria in Section V.A. Applications with funding requests that exceed the award amount ceiling and focus on one of the three options above will be subject to an additional review a panel consisting of a mix of experts in education and training. The expert review panel will review the applicant’s proposal to exceed the cap as described below.
Applicants must provide the supplementary materials described in this section to be eligible to exceed the award amount ceiling of $2 million for Tier 1 consortium applicants and $5 million for Tier 2 consortium applicants and $750,000 for single institution applicants. These supplementary materials consist of three separate and distinct parts: (I) budget narrative; (II) factors for consideration; and (III) attachments to the supplementary materials. All supplementary materials must be included as separate documents, along with the other items that are submitted in the proposal. Applications that fail to adhere to the instructions in this section will not be eligible to exceed the award amount ceiling and will only be eligible for funding at their base-level funding request.
If using grants.gov for submission, these documents must be attached under the Mandatory Other Attachment section and labeled “Supplementary Materials for Requesting Additional Funding Budget Narrative,” “Supplementary Materials for Requesting Additional Funding Factors for Consideration,” and “Supplementary Materials for Requesting Additional Funding Attachments.” Please note that applicants will be held to outcomes provided and failure to meet those outcomes may have a significant impact on future grants with ETA.
Budget Narrative
The budget narrative must provide a description of the additional costs for addressing one of the options above. All costs included in the supplementary budget narrative must be reasonable and appropriate to the project timeline and deliverables. The budget narrative should not exceed 2 double-spaced, single-sided, 8.5 x 11 inch pages with 12 point text font and 1 inch margins
Factors for Consideration
The factors for consideration must demonstrate the applicant’s capability to implement one of the options described in detail in Section II.A.3. The factors for consideration are limited to 8 double-spaced, single-sided, 8.5 x 11 inch pages with 12 point text font and 1 inch margins. Any materials beyond this specified page limit will not be read.
All applicants seeking to exceed the ceiling must address factors (1) – (5) below. In addition, applicants addressing options 1 and 2 must also address factor (6); applicants addressing option 2 must also address factor (7), and applicants addressing option 3 must also address factor (8), as noted below:
The applicant has provided a complete, detailed description of the option which it will address, fully addressing the parameters outlined in Section II.A.3;
The applicant has provided a comprehensive workplan that outlines the key activities that will take place during the grant period, including the entities that will be responsible for those activities, a timeline for completing these activities, and when specific deliverables will be completed.
The applicant has included the key stakeholders needed to successfully complete this project, including employers, public workforce system partners, regional industry organizations, national industry organizations (if applicable), and other subject matter experts.
The applicant has identified the specific outcomes and deliverables that will be achieved if it receives this additional funding. For participant-related outcomes, applicants should identify the impact of additional funding on the nine outcome measures cited in section IV.B.3 and VI.B.4, including projected increases for each relevant outcome measure. For deliverables, applicant must identify each specific deliverable that it will complete with grant funds.
Applicants will demonstrate that the proposed projects will lead to sustained enhancements to college programming in one or more regions (for option 3) or across the state (for option 1 and 2). Applicants will describe how all consortium members (if applicable) and participating colleges that are not receiving funding will implement the proposed activities during the grant period. Applicants will also describe how these colleges will institutionalize these activities into their overall, non-grant funded education and training activities, enabling them to continue providing similar activities with non-grant resources when the grant ends. Applicants will describe the sustainability planning that participating colleges will complete throughout the grant period to help develop a strategy for the institutionalization of these activities.
Applicants addressing Option 1 or 2 must also address factor 6:
Applicants will demonstrate the state college system’s commitment to adopt and promote the proposed activities statewide. Applicants will include a letter from the state office that organizes their community colleges that provides evidence of this commitment. This may be the state community college system office or a single state board that organizes all of their higher education institutions, depending on the state. For states without a centralized community college system, applicants will describe the specific steps that the consortium will complete to adopt and promote the proposed activities statewide.
Applicants addressing Option 2 must also address factor 7:
The applicant demonstrates the technical feasibility of addressing this option, including the feasibility of enhancing and linking technologies and systems, as appropriate.
Applicants addressing Option 3 must also address factor 8:
Applicants will demonstrate the commitment of their national partner to the successful implementation of the proposed competencies and credentials, as well as to helping implement the program at other colleges, and disseminating information about the new or enhanced program nationally. Applicants will include a letter from the national partner that defines their roles and provides evidence of their commitment.
Attachments to the Supplementary Materials
Applicants proposing to replicate, at multiple sites or with multiple populations, strategies that have been shown by prior research to have strong or moderate evidence of a positive impact on education and/or employment outcomes must provide copies of the specific evidence (e.g., research and studies) cited in their proposal. Applicants that cite copyrighted work must follow appropriate laws for use of such materials.
Applications for grants under this Solicitation will be accepted after the publication of this announcement and until the specified time on the closing date. A technical review panel will carefully evaluate applications against the selection criteria. These criteria are based on the policy goals, priorities, and emphases set forth in this SGA. Up to 100 points may be awarded to an applicant, depending on the quality of the responses to the required information described in Section V.A. The ranked scores (which may include the mathematical normalization of review panels) will serve as the primary basis for selection of applications for funding, along with the legislative intent to fund grants in all States. In selecting applications for funding up to the award ceiling, the Grant Officer may also consider other factors such as prior receipt of a TAACCCT grant and findings from the expert review panel’s evaluation of supplementary materials for applications requesting funds above the amount of the award ceiling. In determining whether to approve or deny the request for funding beyond the award amount ceiling, the Grant Officer will consider findings from the expert review panel’s evaluation of supplementary materials for applications requesting funds above the award amount ceiling. The panel results are advisory in nature and not binding on the Grant Officer. The Grant Officer may consider any information that comes to his/her attention. The government may elect to award the grant(s) with or without discussions with the applicant. Should a grant be awarded without discussions, the award will be based on the applicant’s signature on the SF-424, including electronic signature via E-Authentication on http://www.grants.gov, which constitutes a binding offer by the applicant.
All applicants are required to procure a third-party evaluator who will design and implement an independent evaluation of grant-funded projects. For consortium applicants, there should be a single project evaluation of the project. Regardless of the design proposed, all evaluations must include two components: 1) impact or outcomes analysis of participants in grant-funded programs or activities, and 2) implementation analysis. Grant funds may be used to pay for the evaluation. Applicants must submit a Summary Evaluation Plan describing their proposed evaluation and an Evaluation Budget Narrative as separate attachments to the application, including all items described below. The Summary Evaluation Plan is limited to 5 double-spaced, single-sided pages with 12 point text font and 1x 1 inch margins. There is no page limit for the Evaluation Budget Narrative. These attachments do not count against the page limit for the Project Narrative.
In addition to a final evaluation report due at the end of the grant period of performance, successful applicants must submit a final evaluation design shortly after award (See V.C.1.) and preliminary or interim evaluation findings during the period of performance. The submission date of any interim reports should be determined by the applicant and clearly identified in the evaluation summary included in the application.
Separate from their individual, third-party evaluation, grantees must participate in a national evaluation that will be conducted by a contractor on behalf of the Department to inform workforce development policy and advance the Department’s mission to help the nation’s workers and employers. The national evaluation may include an implementation assessment across grantees as well as an impact and/or outcomes analysis of selected colleges within or across grantees. Conducting an impact analysis could involve random assignment of eligible participants into a treatment group (which would receive program services or enhanced program services) or control group(s) (that would receive no program services or un-enhanced program services). This is similar to conducting a lottery for class assignments when there is a waiting list. As a part of the national evaluation, grantees must agree to: (1) make records on participants, employers, and funding available; (2) provide access to program operating personnel and participants; and (3) follow evaluation procedures as specified by the national evaluator under the direction of DOL including after the grant period of performance.
The summary evaluation plan must include a description of the evaluation plan, proposed timeline including dates for submission of interim and final reports, and information about data collection and data sources to be used. All evaluation plans must include: 1) an analysis of participant impact or outcomes, and 2) a program implementation assessment as described below.
The Department encourages applicants to propose randomized control trials, however, non-experimental designs may be proposed if they meet certain evidence standards. Applicants proposing alternative methodologies must show that the proposed alternative design (e.g., quasi-experimental designs such as regression discontinuity) also allows causal inferences about the effect of the program to be drawn. Additional information on methodological designs is available in Appendix O.
The Department will review the Summary Evaluation Plan and provide feedback to successful applicants. Grantees will be required to submit a detailed evaluation design following award addressing this feedback in collaboration with their independent evaluator. The detailed evaluation plan must include the same elements required in the Summary Evaluation Plan as described below.
Analysis of Participant (Net) Impact or Outcomes
Applicants must describe a plan for rigorously evaluating the participant outcomes or impacts, including a complete description of the study methodology, outcome measures (including program completion, degrees or certificate obtained, subsequent employment and earnings), comparison or control groups that will be included, data collection methods (e.g., student information system data, earnings records, surveys), data source(s), and sample size.
Applicants must demonstrate that the selected methodology proposed is the most rigorous and appropriate approach for evaluating the proposed project, given the targeted participant outcomes or impacts of interest and the number of projected participants (including TAA-eligible workers). The applicant must also describe a plan for collecting follow-up data from participants and the control or comparison group. Depending on the proposed methodology, the applicant must provide the following explanations in the program evaluation plan:
For an experimental design/random assignment evaluation, the applicant must explain how the recruitment plan will yield a sufficient number of qualified applicants (both program and controls) to produce valid estimates of these key outcomes:
Program completion, credential attainment, placement into employment, employment retention, and average earnings for those who retain employment
The applicant must also describe how random assignment will be performed, such as procedures to ensure compliance with random assignment, and procedures to ensure the fidelity of implementation (i.e., that the features of the intervention occurred in the treatment condition as intended and did not occur in the control condition). Please note that TAA-eligible individuals and veterans may not be randomly assigned.
Applicants proposing a comparison group(s) (non-experimental) evaluation design must explain the source and size of the comparison group(s) and the method for selecting the comparison group. If matching across groups are used (e.g., demographics, pretest scores, level of education), the statistical techniques for matching should be described, including an explanation of how these techniques are appropriate for the sample size. Applicants should also discuss procedures to ensure the fidelity of implementation (i.e., that the features of the intervention occurred in the treatment condition as intended and did not occur in the comparison condition).
The analysis of individual (net) impacts or outcomes must be based on participant-level data. Applicants must indicate their ability to transmit personally identifiable data to their third-party evaluators, such as name, Social Security Number, and date of birth for program participants and individuals in the control or comparison groups, using a secure data system.
Program Implementation Analysis
Applicants must include a plan for analyzing the implementation of the grant activity and the program(s) on which the impact/outcome analysis will be based. The program evaluation plan must explain how the third-party evaluator will: 1) analyze the steps taken by the institution to create and run the training program, 2) assess the operational strengths and weaknesses of the project after the implementation, and 3) suggest how implementation might be strengthened within appropriate parameters that impact/outcomes analysis is not affected.
In addition, the evaluation plan summary should include strategies or approaches for addressing the following questions and identify the data source(s) that will be utilized:
How was the particular curriculum or activity selected, used, or created?
How were programs/program designs improved or expanded using grant funds? What delivery methods were offered? What was the program administrative structure? What support or other services were offered?
Are in-depth assessment of participant abilities, skills, and interests conducted to select or enroll individuals into the program being evaluated? What assessment tools and process were used? Who conducted the assessments? How were the assessment results used? Were the assessment results useful in determining the appropriate program and course sequence for participants? Was career guidance provided? If so, through what methods?
What contributions did each of the partners and other key stakeholders make towards: 1) program design, 2) curriculum development, 3) recruitment, 4) training, 5) placement, 6) program management, 7) leveraging of resources, and 8) commitment to program sustainability? What factors affected partner involvement or lack of involvement? Which contributions from partners were most critical to the success of the grant program? Which contributions from partners had less of an impact?
Selection of Third-Party Evaluator
All applicants should complete the procurement of their third-party evaluator expeditiously and early during the grant period of performance. The Department encourages applicants to identify the third-party evaluation contractor at the time of application and identify the contractor in the Summary Evaluation Plan.
For applicants that are not able to procure an evaluator at the time of application, the Summary Evaluation Plan should detail the process for selecting an evaluator that includes:
A plan for selecting and procuring the services of a third-party evaluator prior to enrolling participants into programs funded by the TAACCCT grant, if possible
The levels of capacity and expertise required of the selected organization(s) to conduct rigorous evaluations of the proposed strategy.
The target date for selection of the evaluation team.
The third-party evaluation team must have no financial interest in the outcome of the evaluation, may not have been involved in the development or delivery/distribution of the project, and must have the demonstrated ability to conduct evaluation studies. The third-party evaluator contracted by the grantee must have no affiliation with the development of the grant application or the implementation or management of the grant
The Evaluation Budget Narrative is a supplementary budget narrative, which is separate from the overall project budget narrative described in Section IV.B.2. The Evaluation Budget Narrative should provide a description of the costs associated with funding the proposed program evaluation component. Applicants should include travel costs for the third-party evaluator to attend at least one in-person conference in Washington, DC during the period of evaluation. The cost of the program evaluation must not exceed ten percent of the total proposed budget for the grant.
All costs included in this supplementary budget narrative should be reasonable and appropriate to the project timeline and deliverables and must be included together with the other grant activities on the appropriate lines of the SF-424 and SF-424A forms. For consortium applicants, all associated evaluation costs should be reflected in the budget for the Lead Institution.
All award notifications will be posted on the ETA Homepage (http://www.doleta.gov). Applicants selected for award will be contacted directly before the grant’s execution. Non-selected applicants will be notified by mail or email and may request a written debriefing on the significant weaknesses of their proposal.
Selection of an organization as a grantee does not constitute approval of the grant application as submitted. Before the actual grant is awarded, ETA may enter into negotiations about such items as program components, staffing and funding levels, and administrative systems in place to support grant implementation. If the negotiations do not result in a mutually acceptable submission, the Grant Officer reserves the right to terminate the negotiations and decline to fund the application. DOL reserves the right to not fund any application related to this SGA.
All grantees will be subject to all applicable Federal laws, regulations, and the applicable OMB Circulars. The grant(s) awarded under this SGA will be subject to the following administrative standards and provisions:
Non-Profit Organizations – OMB Circular A–122 (Cost Principles — See http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_circulars) and 29 CFR Part 95 (Administrative Requirements)
Educational Institutions – OMB Circular A–21 (Cost Principles – See http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_circulars) and 29 CFR Part 95 (Administrative Requirements).
State, Local and Indian Tribal Governments – OMB Circular A–87 (Cost Principles – See http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_circulars), and 29 CFR Part 97 (Administrative Requirements).
Profit Making Commercial Firms – Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) – 48 CFR part 31 (Cost Principles) and 29 CFR Part 95 (Administrative Requirements).
All entities must comply with 29 CFR Part 93 (New Restrictions on Lobbying), 29 CFR Part 94 (Government-wide Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Financial Assistance)), 29 CFR 95.13 and Part 98 (Government-wide Debarment and Suspension, and drug-free workplace requirements), and, where applicable, 29 CFR Part 96 (Audit Requirements for Grants, Contracts, and Other Agreements) and 29 CFR Part 99 (Audits of States, Local Governments and Non-Profit Organizations).
29 CFR Part 2, subpart D—Equal Treatment in Department of Labor Programs for Religious Organizations, Protection of Religious Liberty of Department of Labor Social Service Providers and Beneficiaries.
29 CFR Part 31—Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs of the Department of Labor—Effectuation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
29 CFR Part 32—Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Handicap in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance.
29 CFR Part 35— Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Age in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance from the Department of Labor.
29 CFR Part 36—Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance.
29 CFR Part 37 – Implementation of the Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity Provisions of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
29 CFR Parts 29 and 30—Labor Standards for the Registration of Apprenticeship Programs, and Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship and Training, as applicable.
The Department notes that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. Section 2000bb, applies to all Federal law and its implementation. If an applicant organization is a faith-based organization that makes hiring decisions on the basis of religious belief, it may be entitled to receive Federal financial assistance under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act and maintain that hiring practice even though Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act contains a general ban on religious discrimination in employment. If a faith-based organization is awarded a grant, the organization will be provided with information on how to request such an exemption.
In accordance with Section 18 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-65) (2 U.S.C. 1611), non-profit entities incorporated under Internal Revenue Service Code Section 501(c) (4) that engage in lobbying activities are not eligible to receive Federal funds and grants. No activity, including awareness-raising and advocacy activities, may include fundraising for, or lobbying of, U.S. Federal, State or Local Governments (see OMB Circular A-122).
Applicants must ensure that they have the necessary processes and systems in place to comply with the reporting requirements of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. Law 109-282, as amended by section 6202 of Pub. Law 110-252) (Transparency Act), as follows:
All applicants, except for those excepted from the Transparency Act under sub-paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 below, must ensure that they have the necessary processes and systems in place to comply with the subaward and executive total compensation reporting requirements of the Transparency Act, should they receive funding.
Upon award, applicants will receive detailed information on the reporting requirements of the Transparency Act, as described in 2 CFR Part 170, Appendix A, which can be found at the following website: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-22705.pdf
The following types of awards are not subject to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act:
Federal awards to individuals who apply for or receive Federal awards as natural persons (i.e., unrelated to any business or non-profit organization he or she may own or operate in his or her name);
Federal awards to entities that had a gross income, from all sources, of less than $300,000 in the entities' previous tax year; and
Federal awards, if the required reporting would disclose classified information.
Applicants submitting proposals in response to this SGA must recognize that confidentiality of PII and other sensitive data is of paramount importance to the Department of Labor and must be observed except where disclosure is allowed by the prior written approval of the Grant Officer or by court order. By submitting a proposal, Grantees are assuring that all data exchanges conducted through or during the course of performance of this grant will be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable Federal law and TEGL NO. 39-11 (issued June 28, 2012). All such activity conducted by ETA and/or Grantee/s will be performed in a manner consistent with applicable state and Federal laws.
By submitting a grant proposal, the applicant agrees to take all necessary steps to protect such confidentiality by complying with the following provisions that are applicable in governing their handling of confidential information:
To ensure that such PII is not transmitted to unauthorized users, all PII and other sensitive data transmitted via e-mail or stored on CDs, DVDs, thumb drives, etc., must be encrypted using a Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) validated cryptographic module. Grantees must not e-mail unencrypted sensitive PII to any entity, including ETA or contractors.
Grantees must take the steps necessary to ensure the privacy of all PII obtained from participants and/or other individuals and to protect such information from unauthorized disclosure. Grantees must maintain such PII in accordance with the ETA standards for information security described in this TEGL and any updates to such standards provided to the grantee by ETA. Grantees who wish to obtain more information on data security should contact their Federal Project Officer.
Grantees shall ensure that any PII used during the performance of their grant has been obtained in conformity with applicable Federal and state laws governing the confidentiality of information.
Grantees further acknowledge that all PII data obtained through their ETA grant shall be stored in an area that is physically safe from access by unauthorized persons at all times and the data will be processed using grantee issued equipment, managed information technology (IT) services, and designated locations approved by ETA. Accessing, processing, and storing of ETA grant PII data on personally owned equipment, at off-site locations e.g., employee’s home, and non-grantee managed IT services, e.g., Yahoo mail, is strictly prohibited unless approved by ETA.
Grantee employees and other personnel who will have access to sensitive/confidential/proprietary/private data must be advised of the confidential nature of the information, the safeguards required to protect the information, and that there are civil and criminal sanctions for noncompliance with such safeguards that are contained in Federal and state laws.
Grantees must have their policies and procedures in place under which grantee employees and other personnel, before being granted access to PII, acknowledge their understanding of the confidential nature of the data and the safeguards with which they must comply in their handling of such data as well as the fact that they may be liable to civil and criminal sanctions for improper disclosure.
Grantees must not extract information from data supplied by ETA for any purpose not stated in the grant agreement.
Access to any PII created by the ETA grant must be restricted to only those employees of the grant recipient who need it in their official capacity to perform duties in connection with the scope of work in the grant agreement.
All PII data must be processed in a manner that will protect the confidentiality of the records/documents and is designed to prevent unauthorized persons from retrieving such records by computer, remote terminal or any other means. Data may be downloaded to, or maintained on, mobile or portable devices only if the data are encrypted using NIST validated software products based on FIPS 140-2 encryption. In addition, wage data may only be accessed from secure locations.
PII data obtained by the grantee through a request from ETA must not be disclosed to anyone but the individual requestor except as permitted by the Grant Officer.
Grantees must permit ETA to make onsite inspections during regular business hours for the purpose of conducting audits and/or conducting other investigations to assure that the grantee is complying with the confidentiality requirements described above. In accordance with this responsibility, grantees must make records applicable to this Agreement available to authorized persons for the purpose of inspection, review, and/or audit.
Grantees must retain data received from ETA only for the period of time required to use it for assessment and other purposes, or to satisfy applicable Federal records retention requirements, if any. Thereafter, the grantee agrees that all data will be destroyed, including the degaussing of magnetic tape files and deletion of electronic data.
Applicants must be prepared to follow Federal guidelines on record retention, which require grantees to maintain all records pertaining to grant activities for a period of not less than three years from the time of final grant close-out.
Except as specifically provided in this SGA, DOL/ETA’s acceptance of a proposal and an award of Federal funds to sponsor any programs(s) does not provide a waiver of any grant requirements and/or procedures. For example, the OMB Circulars require that an entity’s procurement procedures must ensure that all procurement transactions are conducted, as much as practical, to provide open and free competition. If a proposal identifies a specific entity to provide services, the DOL’s award does not provide the justification or basis to sole source the procurement, i.e., avoid competition.
Grantees must agree to meet DOL reporting requirements. Quarterly financial reports, quarterly progress reports, and MIS data must be submitted by the grantee electronically. The grantee is required to provide the reports and documents listed below:
A Quarterly Financial Status Report (ETA 9130) is required until such time as all funds have been expended or the grant period has expired. Quarterly reports are due 45 days after the end of each calendar year quarter. Grantees must use DOL’s Online Electronic Reporting System and information and instructions will be provided to grantees. All TAACCCT grantees, including single institutions, consortium lead institutions, and consortium member institutions must submit individual quarterly financial reports.
The grantee must submit a quarterly progress report within 45 days after the end of each calendar year quarter. The report must include quarterly information regarding grant activities, such as capacity building, best practices, and key challenges and issues. The quarterly report will follow the format for grantees under the TAACCCT Grant Program, “Annual and Quarterly Program Reporting Forms & Instructions,” OMB Control Number 1205-0489, Expiration: 03/31/2015 (or a successor form).
For consortium grants, the Lead Institution will compile submissions from each Member Institution and submit the quarterly report on behalf of the consortium.
Every fourth quarterly progress report will also serve as an annual narrative summary. To meet the reporting requirements in 29 CFR 95.51, in consortium grants, for the fourth quarterly progress report/annual narrative summary, Member Institutions will submit their individual narrative summary report to the Lead for compilation as well as to their Federal Project Officer. The last quarterly progress report that grantees submit will serve as the grant’s Final Performance Report. This report must provide both quarterly and cumulative information on the grant activities. It must summarize project activities, employment outcomes and other deliverables, and related results of the project, and must thoroughly document the training or labor market information approaches used by the grantee. DOL will provide grantees with formal guidance about the data and other information that is required to be collected and reported on either a regular basis or special request basis. Additionally, DOL will conduct training related to these reporting requirements.
Every fourth quarter during the period of performance, within 45 days after the end of that calendar quarter, grantees must submit an annual performance report. The grantee must submit a quarterly progress report within 45 days after the end of each calendar year quarter. The report must include annual aggregate data regarding program participants. In addition, grantees must provide narrative information about the innovative achievements of their grant to date and services provided to TAA-eligible individuals.
The annual report will follow the format for grantees under the TAACCCT Grant Program, “Annual and Quarterly Program Reporting Forms & Instructions,” OMB Control Number 1205-0489, Expiration: 03/31/2015 (or a successor form).
For consortium grants, the Lead Institution will compile submissions from each Member Institution and submit the annual report on behalf of the consortium.
The last Annual Performance Report that grantees submit will serve as the grant’s Final Performance Report. This report should provide both annual and cumulative information on the grant’s activities.
Failure to report in a timely and accurate manner during the implementation period of any grant awarded may impact the decision by DOL/ETA to award any future grants to the grantee.
For further information about this SGA, please contact Melissa Abdullah, Grants Management Specialist, Office of Grants Management, at (202) 693-3346. Applicants should e-mail all technical questions to [email protected] and must specifically reference SGA/DFA PY 13-10, and along with question(s), include a contact name, fax and phone number. This announcement is being made available on the ETA Web site at http://www.doleta.gov/grants and at http://www.grants.gov.
Transparency
DOL is committed to conducting a transparent grant award process and publicizing information about program outcomes. Posting grant applications on public websites is a means of promoting and sharing innovative ideas. For all applications in this grant competition, we will publish the Abstracts required by Section IV.B.4., and selected information from the SF-424 for all applications on the Department’s public website or similar publicly accessible location. Additionally, we will publish a version of the Project Narrative required by Section IV.B.3 for all those applications that are awarded grants, on the Department’s website or a similar location. No other attachments to the application will be published. The Project Narratives and Abstracts will not be published until after the grants are announced. In addition, information about grant progress and results may also be made publicly available.
DOL recognizes that grant applications sometimes contain information that an applicant may consider proprietary or business confidential information, or may contain personally identifiable information (PII). Proprietary or business confidential information is information that is not usually disclosed outside your organization and disclosing this information is likely to cause you substantial competitive harm.
PII is any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, or biometric records, and any other information that is linked or linkable to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial, and employment information.
Abstracts will be published in the form originally submitted, without any redactions. Applicants should not include any proprietary or confidential business information or PII in this summary. In the event that an applicant submits proprietary or confidential business information or PII, DOL is not liable for the posting of this information contained in the Abstract. The submission of the grant application constitutes a waiver of the applicant’s objection to the posting of any proprietary or confidential business information contained in the Abstract. Additionally, the applicant is responsible for obtaining all authorizations from relevant parties for publishing all PII contained within the Abstract. In the event the Abstract contains proprietary or confidential business information or PII, the applicant is presumed to have obtained all necessary authorizations to provide this information and may be liable for any improper release of this information.
By submission of this grant application, the applicant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the United States, the U.S. Department of Labor, its officers, employees, and agents against any liability or for any loss or damages arising from this application. By such submission of this grant application, the applicant further acknowledges having the authority to execute this release of liability.
In order to ensure that proprietary or confidential business information or PII is properly protected from disclosure when DOL posts the winning Project Narratives, applicants whose Project Narratives will be posted will be asked to submit a second redacted version of their Project Narrative, with any proprietary, confidential commercial/business, and PII redacted. All non-public information about the applicant’s and consortium members’ staff (if applicable) should be removed as well.
The Department will contact the applicants whose Project Narratives will be published by letter or email, and provide further directions about how and when to submit the redacted version of the Project Narrative.
Submission of a redacted version of the Project Narrative will constitute permission by the applicant for DOL to make the redacted version publicly available. We will also assume that by submitting the redacted version of the Project Narrative, the applicant has obtained the agreement to the applicant’s decision about what material to redact of all persons and entities whose proprietary, confidential business information or PII is contained in the Project Narrative. If an applicant fails to provide a redacted version of the Project Narrative within 45 days of DOL’s request, DOL will publish the original Project Narrative in full, after redacting only PII. (Note that the original, unredacted version of the Project Narrative will remain part of the complete application package, including an applicant’s proprietary and confidential business information and any PII.)
Applicants are encouraged to maximize the grant application information that will be publicly disclosed, and to exercise restraint and redact only information that clearly is proprietary, confidential commercial/business information, or PII. The redaction of entire pages or sections of the Project Narrative is not appropriate, and will not be allowed, unless the entire portion merits such protection. Should a dispute arise about whether redactions are appropriate, DOL will follow the procedures outlined in the Department’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regulations (29 CFR Part 70).
Redacted information in grant applications will be protected by DOL from public disclosure in accordance with Federal law, including the Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. § 1905), FOIA, and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a). If DOL receives a FOIA request for your application, the procedures in DOL’s FOIA regulations for responding to requests for commercial/business information submitted to the government will be followed, as well as all FOIA exemptions and procedures. See 29 CFR § 70.26. Consequently, it is possible that application of FOIA rules may result in release of information in response to a FOIA request that an applicant redacted in its “redacted copy.”
Web-Based Resources
DOL maintains a number of web-based resources that may be of assistance to applicants. For example, the CareerOneStop portal (http://www.careeronestop.org), which provides national and state career information on occupations; the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) Online (http://online.onetcenter.org) which provides occupational competency profiles; and America's Service Locator (http://www.servicelocator.org), which provides a directory of our nation's AJCs.
Industry Competency Models and Career Clusters
ETA supports an Industry Competency Model Initiative to promote an understanding of the skill sets and competencies that are essential to an educated and skilled workforce. A competency model is a collection of competencies that, taken together, define successful performance in a particular work setting. Competency models serve as a starting point for the design and implementation of workforce and talent development programs. To learn about the industry-validated models visit the Competency Model Clearinghouse (CMC) at http://www.careeronestop.org/CompetencyModel. The CMC site also provides tools to build or customize industry models, as well as tools to build career ladders and career lattices for specific regional economies.
Career Clusters and Industry Competency Models both identify foundational and technical competencies, but their efforts are not duplicative. The Career Clusters link to specific career pathways in sixteen career cluster areas and place greater emphasis on elements needed for curriculum performance objectives; measurement criteria; scope and sequence of courses in a program of study; and development of assessments. Information about the sixteen career cluster areas can be found by accessing: http://www.careerclusters.org.
Workforce3One Resources
ETA encourages applicants to view the information gathered through the conference calls with Federal agency partners, industry stakeholders, educators, and local practitioners. The information on resources identified can be found on Workforce3One.org at: http://www.workforce3one.org/view/2001008333909172195/info.
ETA encourages applicants to view the online tutorial, “Grant Applications 101: A Plain English Guide to ETA Competitive Grants,” available through Workforce3One at: http://www.workforce3one.org/page/grants_toolkit.
ETA has created Workforce System Strategies to make it easier for the public workforce system and its partners to identify effective strategies and support improved customer outcomes. The collection highlights strategies informed by a wide range of evidence such as experimental studies and implementation evaluations, as well as supporting resources such as toolkits. ETA encourages applicants to review these resources by visiting http://strategies.workforce3one.org/.
ETA has created a technical assistance portal at https://etareporting.workforce3one.org/page/financial that contains online training and resources for fiscal and administrative issues. Online trainings available include but are not limited to Introduction to Grant Applications and Forms, indirect Costs, Federal Cost Principles, and accrual accounting.
Regional Educational Laboratories
Applicants are encouraged to contact the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) in their respective states to discuss needs related to research and evidence. The RELs may be able to assist with issues related to data analysis and research. RELs work largely in partnership with groups of stakeholders who share a common interest or concern. These groups are known as research alliances and RELs work with their alliances to provide assistance with data analysis, to plan research agendas, and to develop research projects. Interested applicants should talk with their REL about the possibility of forming a research alliance that could serve the needs of multiple institutions while building knowledge of use to the broader community. More information about the RELs can be found at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/.
OMB Information Collection No 1225-0086, Expires January 31, 2016.
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 20 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments about the burden estimated or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Labor, to the attention of the Departmental Clearance Officer, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N1301, Washington, DC 20210. Comments may also be emailed to [email protected]. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN THE COMPLETED APPLICATION TO THIS ADDRESS. SEND IT TO THE SPONSORING AGENCY AS SPECIFIED IN THIS SOLICITATION.
This information is being collected for the purpose of awarding a grant. The information collected through this “Solicitation for Grant Applications” will be used by the Department of Labor to ensure that grants are awarded to the applicants best suited to perform the functions of the grant. Submission of this information is required in order for the applicant to be considered for award of a grant.
Signed XXXXX, in Washington, D.C. by:
Steven A. Rietzke
Grant Officer, Employment and Training Administration
Appendix A: Resources on Sector Strategies
Introduction to the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program and First Year Implementation and Outcomes Practice Brief
Theresa Anderson, Jamie Hall, and Teresa Derrick-Mills
The Urban Institute and Abt Associates
2013
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/opre_report.pdf
State Sector Strategies Coming of Age: Implications for State Workforce Policymakers
Lindsey Woolsey, Garrett Groves, Larry Good, and Eric Seleznow
The Woolsey Group, National Governors Association, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, National Skills Coalition
2013
http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/2013/1301NGASSSReport.pdf
Sectoral Strategies for Low-Income Workers: Lessons from the Field
Maureen Conway, Amy Blair, Steve L. Dawson and Linda Dworak-Muñoz
Workforce Strategies Initiative: The Aspen Institute
2007
Training Policy in Brief: An Overview of Federal Workplace Development Policies
Kermit Kaleba and Rachel Gragg
National Skills Coalition
2011
http://www.nationalskillscoalition.org/assets/reports-/tpib_2011.pdf
Training Tomorrow’s Workforce: Community College and Apprenticeship as Collaborative Routes to Rewarding Careers
Robert Lerman
Center for American Progress
2009
Tuning into Local Labor Markets: Findings from the Sectoral Employment Impact Study
Sheila Maguire, Joshua Freely, Carol Clymer, Maureen Conway, and Deena Schwartz
Public/Private Ventures
2010
The Challenge of Repeating Success in a Changing World: Final Report on the Center for Employment Training Replication Sites
Cynthia Miller, Johannes M Bos, Kristin E. Porter, Fannie M. Tseng, and Yasuyo Abe
MDRC
2005
Evaluation of the Sectoral Employment Demonstration Program
Nancy M Pindus, Carolyn O’Brien, Maureen Conway, Conaway Haskins, and Ida Rademacher
The Urban Institute
2004
An Effective Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States
Debbie Reed, Albert Yung-Hsu Liu, Rebecca Kleinman, Annalisa Mastri, Davin Reed, Samina Sattar, and Jessica Ziegler 87
Mathematica Policy Research
2012
http://wdr.doleta.gov/research/FullText_Documents/ETAOP_2012_10.pdf
Benefits of a Sector-Based Approach
Sunny Schwartz and Johan Uvin
Research and Evaluation Brief 2, 3: 1-4
2004
Appendix B: Strength of Evidence Definitions
All applicants must base their project design on a level of evidence that is appropriate to the project proposed. The following strength of evidence definitions should be used when justifying the proposal:
Strong evidence of effectiveness means one of the following conditions is met:
There is at least one study of the effectiveness of the process, product, strategy, or practice being proposed that meets the What Works Clearinghouse Evidence Standards without reservations,[1] found a statistically significant favorable impact on a relevant outcome (with no statistically significant and overriding unfavorable impacts on that outcome for relevant populations in the study or in other studies of the intervention reviewed by and reported on by the What Works Clearinghouse), includes a sample that overlaps with the populations and settings proposed to receive the process, product, strategy, or practice, and includes a large sample and a multi-site sample (Note: multiple studies can cumulatively meet the large and multi-site sample requirements as long as each study meets the other requirements in this paragraph).
There are at least two studies of the effectiveness of the process, product, strategy, or practice being proposed, each of which: meets the What Works Clearinghouse Evidence Standards with reservations,[2] found a statistically significant favorable impact on a relevant outcome (with no statistically significant and overriding unfavorable impacts on that outcome for relevant populations in the studies or in other studies of the intervention reviewed by and reported on by the What Works Clearinghouse), includes a sample that overlaps with the populations and settings proposed to receive the process, product, strategy, or practice, and includes a large sample and a multi-site sample.
Moderate evidence of effectiveness means one of the following conditions is met:
There is at least one study of the effectiveness of the process, product, strategy, or practice being proposed that meets the What Works Clearinghouse Evidence Standards without reservations,[3] found a statistically significant favorable impact on a relevant outcome (with no statistically significant and overriding unfavorable impacts on that outcome for relevant populations in the study or in other studies of the intervention reviewed by and reported on by the What Works Clearinghouse), and includes a sample that overlaps with the populations or settings proposed to receive the process, product, strategy, or practice.
There is at least one study of the effectiveness of the process, product, strategy, or practice being proposed that meets the What Works Clearinghouse Evidence Standards with reservations,[4] found a statistically significant favorable impact on a relevant outcome (with no statistically significant and overriding unfavorable impacts on that outcome for relevant populations in the study or in other studies of the intervention reviewed by and reported on by the What Works Clearinghouse), includes a sample that overlaps with the populations or settings proposed to receive the process, product, strategy, or practice, and includes a large sample and a multi-site sample (Note: multiple studies can cumulatively meet the large and multi-site sample requirements as long as each study meets the other requirements in this paragraph).
Evidence of promise means there is empirical evidence to support the theoretical linkage(s) between at least one critical component and at least one relevant outcome presented in the logic model for the proposed process, product, strategy, or practice. Specifically, evidence of promise means the conditions in paragraphs (a) and (b) are met:
There is at least one study that is a--
The study referenced in paragraph (a) found a statistically significant or substantively important (defined as a difference of 0.25 standard deviations or larger), favorable association between at least one critical component and one relevant outcome presented in the logic model for the proposed process, product, strategy, or practice.
Strong theory means a rationale for the proposed process, product, strategy, or practice that includes a logic model.
Additional Evidence-Related Definitions
Large sample means an analytic sample of 350 or more students (or other single analysis units) who were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group or 50 or more groups (such as classrooms or schools) that contain 10 or more students (or other single analysis units) and that were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group.
Logic model (also referred to as theory of action) means a well-specified conceptual framework that identifies key components of the proposed process, product, strategy, or practice (i.e., the active “ingredients” that are hypothesized to be critical to achieving the relevant outcomes) and describes the relationships among the key components and outcomes, theoretically and operationally.
Multi-site sample means more than one site, where site can be defined as an LEA, locality, or State.
Relevant outcome means the student outcome(s) (or the ultimate outcome if not related to students) the proposed process, product, strategy, or practice is designed to improve; consistent with the specific goals of a program
Appendix C: Resources for Career Pathways Strategies
TEN 36-11 - Joint Letter on Career Pathways from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/ten_36_11_acc.pdf
TEN 39 – 11 – Release and Availability of Career Pathways Technical Assistance Resources http://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/ten2011/ten39-11.pdf
ETA Career Pathways Community of Practice (which houses all of ETA’s Career Pathways Resources noted in TEN 39 – 11)
https://www.learnwork.workforce3one.org
ETA-commissioned paper on Career Pathways, “The Promise of Career Pathways Systems Change and Initiatives,” written by Jobs for the Future https://learnwork.workforce3one.org/view/2001211552377142756/info - available for download
ETA Career Pathways Toolkit – This Toolkit offers a clear and user-friendly road map for administrators, practitioners, and policymakers developing career pathways systems at state, regional, or local levels. It outlines the Six Key Elements Framework, highlights promising practices and provides tools designed to support visioning and strategic planning.
https://learnwork.workforce3one.org/view/2001135442016073646/info - available for download
Career Pathways Six Key Elements – A graphic organizer of the six key steps needed to develop effective career pathways systems/programs. https://learnwork.workforce3one.org/view/2001134059875592620/info
Acceleration and Contextualization, Including Remedial Education Redesign
Enhancing GED Instruction to Prepare Students for College and Careers: Early Success in Laguardia Community College’s Bridge to Health and Business Program
Vanessa Martin and Joseph Broadus
MDRC, May 2013
http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/Enhancing_GED_Instruction_brief.pdf
Bringing Developmental Education to Scale: Lessons from the Developmental Education Initiative
Janet C. Quint, Shanna S. Jaggars, D. Crystal Byndloss, and Asya Magazinnik
MDRC, January 2013
http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/Bringing%20Developmental%20Education%20to%20Scale%20FR.pdf
Ahead of the Curve: State Success In The Developmental Education Initiative
Dave Altstadt
Jobs for the Future, December 2012
http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/publications/AheadOfTheCurve_120312.pdf
Core Principles for Transforming Remedial Education: A Joint Statement
Charles A. Dana Center, Complete College America, Education Commission of the States, and Jobs for the Future, December 2012
http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/publications/RemediationJointStatement-121312update.pdf
The Developmental Education Initiative: State Policy Framework and Strategy
Jobs for the Future, December 2012
http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/publications/DEI_State_Policy_Framework.pdf
Models of Contextualization in Developmental and Adult Basic Education
Education Development Center, July 2012
Facilitating Student Learning Through Contextualization
Dolores Perin
Community College Research Center, July 2011
Unlocking the Gate: What We Know About Improving Developmental Education
Elizabeth Zachry Rutschow, and Emily Schneider
MDRC, June 2011
http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_595.pdf
Personalized Student Support Services and Career Guidance
What We Know About Nonacademic Student Supports
Community College Research Center, September 2013
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/what-we-know-about-nonacademic-student-supports.pdf
Entering a Program: Helping Students Make Academic and Career Decisions
Melinda Mechur Karp
Community College Research Center, May 2013
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/entering-a-program.pdf
Helping Adult Learners Navigate Community College and the Labor Market
Workforce Strategies Initiative
The Aspen Institute, February 2013
http://www.aspenwsi.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/update_cte_march2013.pdf
Student Support Services at Community Colleges: A Strategy for Increasing Student Persistence and Attainment
Michelle Cooper
Institute of Higher Education Policy
White House Summit on Community Colleges, October 2010
http://www2.ed.gov/PDFDocs/college-completion/04-student-support-services-at-community-colleges.pdf
Prior Learning Assessments
State Policy Approaches to Support Prior Learning Assessment
The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
2012
http://www.cael.org/pdfs/College-Productivity-Resource-Guide2012
Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success: A 48-Institution Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcomes
The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
March 2010
http://www.cael.org/pdfs/PLA_Fueling-the-Race.pdf
Competency-Based Education and Cognitive Task Analysis
Industry Competency Models
Employment and Training Administration
U.S. Department of Education
https://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/pyramid.aspx
Cracking the Credit Hour
Amy Laitinen
New America Foundation, September 2012
Competency-Based Degree Programs in the U.S.: Postsecondary Credentials for Measurable Student Learning and Performance
Rebecca Klein-Collins
The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, 2012
http://www.cael.org/pdfs/2012_CompetencyBasedPrograms
Stacked and Latticed Credentials
Ohio Stackable Certificates: Models for Success
Community Research Partners
February 2008
Online and Technology-Based Learning
NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Preview
NMC Horizon Project, February 2014
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2014-horizon-he-preview.pdf
Ruminations on Research on Open Educational Resources
Marshall S. Smith
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
December 2013
The Potential for Online Learning: Promises and Pitfalls
William G. Bowen
EDUCASE Review, October 2013
https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM1351.pdf
Next Generation Learning: The Pathway to Possibility
Andrew Calkins and Kristen Vogt
Next Generation Learning Challenges, April 2013
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/NGW1301.pdf
Current Status of Research on Online Learning in Postsecondary Education
Kelly A. Lack
Ithaka S+R, March 2013
Interactive Learning Online at Public Universities: Evidence from Randomized Trials
William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos, Kelly A. Lack, and Thomas I. Nygren
Ithaka S+R, May 2012
Why Openness in Education?
David Wiley and Cable Green
Chapter 6 in: Game Changers: Education and Information Technologies, Edited by Diana G. Oblinger, Educause, April 2012
Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration as Indicators of Learning in OER Communities
Lisa Petrides, Cynthia Jimes, and Carol Hedgspeth
Chapter 3 in: Collaborative Learning 2.0: Open Educational Resources. Milton Keynes: Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University UK, March 2012
Open Textbook Adoption and Use: Implications for Teachers and Learners
Lisa Petrides, Cynthia Jimes, Clare Middleton-Detzner, Julie Walling, J. and Shenandoah Weiss
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning
January 2011
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680513.2011.538563#.Uw-EyeNdV-U
Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies
U.S. Department of Education, September 2010
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf
The Open Learning Initiative: Measuring the Effectiveness of the OLI Statistics Course in Accelerating Student Learning
Marsha Lovett, Oded Meyer and Candace Thille
Journal of Interactive Media in Education, May 2008
Additional Career Pathways Resources
Alliance for Quality Career Pathways
Center for Law and Social Policy
http://www.clasp.org/issues/postsecondary/pages/alliance-for-quality-career-pathways
Health Profession Opportunity Grants: Year Two Annual Report (2011-2012)
Theresa Anderson, Pamela J. Loprest, Teresa Derrick-Mills, Lauren Eyster, Elaine Morley, and Alan Werner
Urban Institute, February 2014
http://www.urban.org/publications/1001714.html
Working for Adults: State Policies and Community College Practices to Better Serve Adult Learners at Community Colleges During the Great Recession and Beyond
Michelle Van Noy and Maria Heidkamp
NTAR Leadership Center, June 2013
http://www.dol.gov/odep/pdf/WorkingForAdults.pdf
Adult College Completion Tool Kit
U.S. Department of Education, August 2012
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/resource/adult-college-completion-tool-kit.pdf
Changing Course: A Guide to Increasing Student Completion in Community Colleges
Thad Nodine, Andrea Venezia and Kathy Bracco
WestED, October 2011
http://knowledgecenter.completionbydesign.org/sites/default/files/changing_course_V1_fb_10032011.pdf
Career Pathways Toolkit: Six Key Elements for Success
U.S. Department of Labor, September 2011
http://www.workforceinfodb.org/PDF/CareerPathwaysToolkit2011.pdf
Appendix D: Resources for Open-Source Learning Platforms and Tools
Online and Technology-Enabled Learning Resources
NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Preview
NMC Horizon Project, February 2014
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2014-horizon-he-preview.pdf
Ruminations on Research on Open Educational Resources
Marshall S. Smith
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, December 2013
The Potential for Online Learning: Promises and Pitfalls
William G. Bowen
EDUCASE Review, October 2013
https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM1351.pdf
Next Generation Learning: The Pathway to Possibility
Andrew Calkins and Kristen Vogt
Next Generation Learning Challenges, April 2013
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/NGW1301.pdf
Current Status of Research on Online Learning in Postsecondary Education
Kelly A. Lack
Ithaka S+R, March 2013
Interactive Learning Online at Public Universities: Evidence from Randomized Trials
William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos, Kelly A. Lack, and Thomas I. Nygren
Ithaka S+R, May 2012
Why Openness in Education?
David Wiley and Cable Green
Chapter 6 in: Game Changers: Education and Information Technologies, Edited by Diana G. Oblinger, Educause, April 2012
Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration as Indicators of Learning in OER Communities
Lisa Petrides, Cynthia Jimes, and Carol Hedgspeth
Chapter 3 in: Collaborative Learning 2.0: Open Educational Resources. Milton Keynes: Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University UK, March 2012
Open Textbook Adoption and Use: Implications for Teachers and Learners
Lisa Petrides, Cynthia Jimes, Clare Middleton-Detzner, Julie Walling, J. and Shenandoah Weiss
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, January 2011
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680513.2011.538563#.Uw-EyeNdV-U
Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies
U.S. Department of Education, September 2010
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf
The Open Learning Initiative: Measuring the Effectiveness of the OLI Statistics Course in Accelerating Student Learning
Marsha Lovett, Oded Meyer and Candace Thille
Journal of Interactive Media in Education, May 2008
The National Training & Education Resource (NTER)
NTER is an open source suite of browser-based software solutions built to help institutions develop, deploy and manage educational and training courses for audiences of any type. This system was built with the capability to securely share content across all institutions and with the public. As an open source project, the NTER platform is free and has no licensing fees, allowing end users to free up resources for improved content development and customizations. The costs associated with running your own NTER node are largely dependent on the number of users, number of courses and institutional IT experience to provide installation and maintenance support.
How do I get NTER?
Email [email protected] and visit www.NTERlearning.org so you can get started with installing your node and creating content. There are three main parts to the NTER platform:
The open source learning and content management system for deploying courses.
The course catalogue that allows users to search within and outside of institutions for courses and content.
The
content development system and tools.
The three are designed to be used together to maximize the platform’s effectiveness for sharing innovative content across organizations. Upon installing the NTER platform, each institution or end user can modify and brand its node to reflect its institution’s needs and services. For example, the node at www.NTERlearning.org was first designed to deliver workforce training content and courses in weatherization training, and now delivers a number of courses dealing with predominantly energy sector workforce training.
NTER is an open source learning and content management system
At the heart of the NTER platform is the onboard e-learning and content management system, built upon the open source web-based learning management system, ILIAS. This allows instructors to create online courses using:
PowerPoint files
Movies or videos
Pictures
Tests/Quizzes
Knowledge Checks
3D Multimedia
Course content is packaged as a Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) file. The NTER learning and content management system was built to enable the utilization of a number of web-based content, including 2D and 3D simulations. Since all of this is web-based, NTER courses and content are editable and playable wherever there is access to a web browser.
NTER can be used to deliver content within, across, and outside of your institution
The key component built into the NTER platform is the course catalogue feature that allows for content sharing across and outside of institutions through the integrated open source content management web portal. The web portal also allows for a customizable web presence and branding by institutions. Designed with connectivity and sharing in mind, the portal creates a secure network of institutions and courses that are searchable, dramatically increasing the visibility of content. NTER also encourages instructors to build content using Creative Commons, so that content can be re-used and shared openly. This can reduce costs for course development and increase availability of the courses to substantially larger audiences.
NTER Open Source License and Creative Commons
NTER was designed as a secure, open source software project built to Department of Energy security standards. The platform (code) itself is licensed under the General Pubic License, version 2 (GPL-v2.0), enabling end-users to further develop, modify and distribute the software. This open source licensing also assures that there is never a licensing fee associated with NTER’s use. NTER’s software source code is available on the google code project page (https://code.google.com/p/nter/) and supporting technical documentation on NTER’s Sourceforge site (https://sourceforge.net/projects/nter/). The NTER learning and content management system was built to share creative commons licensed content and courses easily through both backend and frontend features. Creative commons content is easy to create and use on the NTER platform. For example, unless otherwise noted, all content on www.NTERlearning.org is licensed under the creative commons by attribution 3.0 license (CCBY 3.0) and as such is free to share and modify with attribution. Of course, the option to use whatever creative commons licensing or non-open licensing is dependent on each institution’s needs, and the NTER platform has the capacity to choose a multitude of different options, including an embedded marketplace feature to sell courses and contents. Like a number of open source projects, an open source support community has formed around NTER, www.Ntercom.org. At NTERcom are a number of useful resources and FAQs for those interested in learning more about the NTER platform.
What are the technical requirements for NTER?
NTER is designed to work with Internet Explorer 8+, Firefox 3.5+, Safari, and Chrome. The 3D worlds will require the O3D plug-in or a WebGL compatible browser. Some content may require Flash for viewing.
Contact Information
For more information on the system or to learn more about collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy through open source, please contact: [email protected]
Appendix E: Resources for Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA)
Working Minds: A Practitioner’s Guide to Cognitive Task Analysis
Crandall, Klein, and Hoffman
Bradford Books, 2006
Cognitive Task Analysis
Richard E.Clark, David F. Feldon, Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer, Kenneth Yates and Sean Early
October 14, 2006
http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/clark_etal_cognitive_task_analysis_chapter.pdf
Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (Acta): A Practitioner’s Toolkit For Understanding Cognitive Task Demands
Laura G. Militello and Robert J. B. Hutton, 1998
Cognitive Task Analysis
WBI Evaluation Group, 2007
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/WBI/Resources/213798-1194538727144/3Final-Cog_Task_Analysis.pdf
Appendix F: Non-Grant Funded Incentive Prize Competitions
Applicants may consider engaging private sector partners or employers to use non-grant funds to run incentive prize competitions to develop education and training tools, strategies and technologies. In incentive prize competitions, the prize purse is only paid by the prize administrator upon proof of improved learning outcomes. Well-designed incentive prize competition can yield a high return on the dollar by increasing the opportunities for innovation and expanding the number of people and organizations devoted to developing solutions for key issues.
For more information on incentive prizes, see “And the winner is…”, McKinsey & Co. For examples of incentive prizes created by the Federal government, see this report to Congress from December 2013: Implementation of Federal Prize Authority. In addition to incentive prizes, a broader list of “pay for success” approaches is available in this 2012 OMB Memorandum and in this Request for Information and related Summary of Pull Mechanisms.
Applicants may also consider engaging philanthropists, private-sector partners, or employers to use non-grant funds for funding incentive prize purses or administrative activities. Grant funds may not be used to administer or award prizes.
Appendix G: Recommended Formats for Digital Assets
Digital
file formats
To enable others to easily access and work with all TAACCCT-funded, CCBY-licensed content, content should be made available in a file format that allows anyone to natively and directly edit the content. Content may be made available in multiple formats, but at least one of these formats must be openly editable by providing the original file format used to create the content. The type of file format varies by type of media:
For documents: Openly editable formats include original Microsoft Office files (e.g., doc, .docx., .ppt, etc) and other editable document files. An example of a closed document format is a PDF, since files with the .pdf extension do not allow edits.
For images: Source files should be shared for images (e.g. Adobe Photoshop), video clips, or Flash (such as FLA).
For video: Common video formats include MP4 (H.264), MOV, OGM, WEBM, FLV, and AVI
For audio: Common audio formats include MP3, OGG, FLAC, and WAV, Theora and MP4. For audio-only files, exporting to OGG Vorbis and MP3 is recommended. Include high-resolution versions of videos where possible.
Packaging formats for course level resources
Many TAACCCT grantees will deploy courses through a Learning Management System. To maximize interoperability of courses between different learning systems, grantees should submit course package files to the Department (including all assessments and/or other content that result in a student score or grade) in conformity with industry-leading e-learning open standards and specifications (for example, LR [Learning Registry], AICC [Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee], LRMI [Learning Resource Metadata Initiative], IMS [Information Management Standard], PESC [Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council], or SCORM [Shareable Content Object Reference Model]).
Meta data for describing the resource
Meta data are "tags" attached to digital resources that make it easier to publish, discover and reuse educational content. These tags allow learning systems to accurately generate data on how resources are used by educators in diverse learning environments across the Web. TAACCCT grantees may tag their resources using the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI).
Appendix H: 2012 State TAA Program Statistics
(Data as of January 2, 2013)
|
Full Year FY 2012 |
|||
State |
Petitions |
Certifications* |
Workers* |
Training Fund Allocation |
AK |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$120,542 |
AL |
14 |
8 |
978 |
$14,238,341 |
AR |
25 |
19 |
4,192 |
$12,056,185 |
AZ |
9 |
8 |
626 |
$3,908,143 |
CA |
124 |
102 |
7,214 |
$18,022,391 |
CO |
42 |
37 |
1,234 |
$4,394,744 |
CT |
36 |
32 |
1,160 |
$9,858,402 |
DC |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
DE |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$397,375 |
FL |
46 |
40 |
3,557 |
$5,386,360 |
GA |
39 |
39 |
1,735 |
$11,683,176 |
HI |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$135,954 |
IA |
13 |
12 |
664 |
$12,013,610 |
ID |
13 |
13 |
443 |
$4,138,354 |
IL |
51 |
36 |
1,628 |
$17,692,959 |
IN |
31 |
26 |
1,828 |
$19,862,483 |
KS |
7 |
6 |
634 |
$5,915,245 |
KY |
21 |
15 |
2,178 |
$16,626,315 |
LA |
35 |
20 |
2,777 |
$2,239,541 |
MA |
57 |
48 |
3,375 |
$10,546,587 |
MD |
26 |
13 |
444 |
$2,938,502 |
ME |
12 |
11 |
352 |
$6,691,950 |
MI |
47 |
27 |
1,655 |
$64,368,072 |
MN |
25 |
18 |
1,928 |
$16,883,328 |
MO |
25 |
20 |
1,080 |
$11,986,481 |
MS |
10 |
9 |
236 |
$1,792,923 |
MT |
1 |
1 |
1 |
$3,938,858 |
NC |
70 |
60 |
3,168 |
$35,189,720 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$620,022 |
NE |
2 |
1 |
67 |
$2,063,669 |
NH |
10 |
8 |
513 |
$1,993,370 |
NJ |
33 |
26 |
1,591 |
$5,817,519 |
NM |
7 |
6 |
349 |
$5,213,218 |
NV |
5 |
4 |
570 |
$873,106 |
NY |
76 |
64 |
4,262 |
$21,804,574 |
OH |
70 |
53 |
7,082 |
$35,511,249 |
OK |
12 |
9 |
462 |
$3,019,327 |
OR |
38 |
32 |
2,146 |
$17,551,988 |
PA |
85 |
64 |
4,013 |
$34,657,117 |
PR |
1 |
1 |
196 |
$627,075 |
RI |
6 |
5 |
389 |
$3,318,670 |
SC |
37 |
27 |
1,832 |
$14,372,309 |
SD |
4 |
2 |
86 |
$1,352,925 |
TN |
37 |
31 |
3,026 |
$19,062,718 |
TX |
80 |
59 |
4,204 |
$24,528,327 |
UT |
10 |
8 |
334 |
$3,666,560 |
VA |
40 |
34 |
1,357 |
$12,739,034 |
VI |
1 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
VT |
2 |
2 |
48 |
$661,332 |
WA |
44 |
30 |
3,115 |
$16,186,918 |
WI |
43 |
30 |
2,083 |
$29,560,009 |
WV |
17 |
18 |
698 |
$6,772,423 |
WY |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
TOTAL US |
1,439 |
1,134 |
81,510 |
$575,000,000 |
Appendix I: North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) 2-digit Economic Sectors
Sector |
Description |
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting |
|
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction |
|
Utilities |
|
Construction |
|
Manufacturing |
|
Wholesale Trade |
|
Retail Trade |
|
Transportation and Warehousing |
|
Information |
|
Finance and Insurance |
|
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing |
|
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services |
|
Management of Companies and Enterprises |
|
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services |
|
Educational Services |
|
Health Care and Social Assistance |
|
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation |
|
Accommodation and Food Services |
|
Other Services (except Public Administration) |
|
Public Administration |
NAICS is a 2- through 6-digit hierarchical classification system, offering five levels of detail. Each digit in the code is part of a series of progressively narrower categories, and the more digits in the code signify greater classification detail.
The first two digits designate the economic sector, the third digit designates the subsector, the fourth digit designates the industry group, the fifth digit designates the NAICS industry, and the sixth digit designates the national industry. The 5-digit NAICS code is the level at which there is comparability in code and definitions for most of the NAICS sectors across the three countries participating in NAICS (the United States, Canada, and Mexico). The 6-digit level allows for the United States, Canada, and Mexico each to have country-specific detail. A complete and valid NAICS code contains six digits.
Appendix J: Outreach Organizations
In collecting the information described above in Sections I.B.5 and V.A.1.iii, applicants must reach out to and use data from the following organizations, to the extent appropriate to the program being proposed:
Employers and industry associations, including small- and medium-sized firms, and if applicable, representing emerging industries;
Local, county, and/or State government agencies, including the State workforce agency that administers the TAA for Workers program;
Local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) established under Section 117 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2832);
Labor organizations, including State and local labor federations and labor-management initiatives, representing workers in the community;
Local educational agencies, and other relevant educational entities, such as career and technical education and adult education programs serving the community;
Applicants are strongly encouraged to reach out to and use data from the following organizations:
Community-based organizations that may provide supportive services and play a role in outreach to ensure the diversity of the targeted population;
Sponsors of Registered Apprenticeship programs;
State workforce agency labor market information and/or economic research entities;
Economic development agencies;
Small business development organizations; and
Existing federally- or state-funded consortia, such as regional cluster consortia, that are organized by related sector or regional focus and that may inform the applicant’s activities.
In addition, applicants should consider aligning with other Federal investments such as:
Department of Health and Human Services Health Professions Opportunity Grants http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/programs/hpog and Innovative Strategies to Increasing Self Sufficiency;
National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education grants (http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5464); and
Department of Housing and Urban Development Promise Zone Designation or Membership (http://www.hud.gov/promisezones).
Finally, applicants should consider alignment with systems of higher education, workforce development, career technical education, adult education, and Registered Apprenticeship in an effort to support the development of sustainable career pathways.
Appendix K: Sample Project Work Plan Format |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAM OF STUDY or OTHER ACTIVITY: |
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Implementer(s) |
Costs |
|
Time |
|
|
Activity #1 |
|
|
Strategy Total: |
$ |
Start Date: |
|
|
|
|
|
Equipment: |
$ |
End Date: |
|
|
|
|
|
Year 1: |
$ |
Milestones: |
|
|
|
|
|
Year 2: |
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3: |
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 4: |
$ |
|
|
|
Deliverable #1 |
|
|
Strategy Total: |
$ |
Start Date: |
|
|
|
|
|
Equipment: |
$ |
End Date: |
|
|
|
|
|
Year 1: |
$ |
Milestones: |
|
|
|
|
|
Year 2: |
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 3: |
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year 4: |
$ |
|
|
|
Please Note:
Applicants may replicate this chart in order to submit information on all activities and deliverables proposed during the period of performance.
Applicants should provide the name of the institution engaged in each activity or producing each deliverable, including any partner organizations or institutions and consortium members, if applicable.
Appendix L: Sample Outcomes Measures Table
|
Outcome Measure |
Targets for all Participants |
|
1 |
Total Unique Participants Served Cumulative total number of individuals entering any of the grant-funded programs offered
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: |
Total: |
2 |
Total Number of Participants Completing a TAACCCT-Funded Program of Study Number of unique participants having earned all of the credit hours (formal award units) needed for the award of a degree or certificate in any grant-funded program
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: |
Total: |
3 |
Total Number of Participants Still Retained in Their Program of Study or Other TAACCCT-Funded Program Number of unique participants enrolled who did not complete and are still enrolled in a grant-funded program of study
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: |
Total: |
4 |
Total Number of Participants Completing Credit Hours Total number of students enrolled that have completed any number of credit hours to date
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: |
Total: |
5 |
Total Number of Participants Earning Credentials Aggregate number of degrees and certificates completed by participants in grant-funded programs of study
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: |
Total: |
6 |
Total Number of Participants Enrolled in Further Education After TAACCCT-funded Program of Study Completion Total number of students who complete a grant-funded program of study and enter another program of study
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: |
Total: |
7 |
Total Number of Participants Employed After TAACCCT-funded Program of Study Completion Total number of students (non-incumbent workers only) who completed a grant-funded program of study entering employment in the quarter after the quarter of program exit
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: Year 4 (follow-up only): |
Total: |
8 |
Total Number of Participants Retained in Employment After Program of Study Completion Total number of students (non-incumbent workers only) who completed a grant-funded program of study and who entered employment in the quarter after the quarter of program exit who retain employment in the second and third quarters after program exit
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: Year 4 (follow-up only): |
Total: |
9 |
Total Number of Those Participants Employed at Enrollment Who Received a Wage Increase Post-Enrollment Total number of students who are incumbent workers and who enrolled in a grant-funded program of study who received an increase in wages after enrollment
|
Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: Year 4 (follow-up only): |
Total: |
Please Note:
Applicants should provide targets in raw numbers; percentages or other types of data projections are not acceptable.
Applicants should provide targets for each year of the grant and for the total grant period. The figure provided for the total should equal the sum of the projections for each year.
A participant is any individual who 1) meets the criteria that grantees used to identify who “participants” are in their statements of work (SOW); and 2) who enters or enrolls in a “grant-funded” program that was developed, delivered, offered, or improved in whole or in part by grant funds, or a course that is part of such a program, and who attends the program or course more than once. Students that try out a course during the “add/drop period” at the beginning of a semester and don’t remain enrolled after the “add/drop” period is over would not be counted as participants.
A program of study is broadly defined as an educational program for which a degree or certificate is granted.
Appendix M: Sample Abstract Recommended Format
Project Abstract
1. Applicant Name: Anytown USA Community College (consortium applicant)
2. Applicant City/State: Anytown, Any State
3. Consortium Member(s) and Consortium Member State(s):
Jane Doe Community College; Differentown, Different State
John Doe University; Anothertown, Another State
4. Areas Served by Grant (by city, county, and state):
State: Any State. Counties: Any County, Any Other County, and Yet Another County. Cities: Anytown, The Town Next Door, The Town Up the Road.
State: Different Sate. Counties: Different County, Same County. Cities: Differentown, Othertown.
State: Another State. Counties: Another County. Cities: Anothertown.
5. Total Funding Level Requested: $8,999,999
6. Sub-Total Requested Funding Amount by Consortium Member (i applicable):
Anytown USA Community College: $4,000,000
Jane Doe Community College: $2,999,999
John Doe University: $2,000,000
7. Project Name: Partnership for TACTical Engagement (PTE)
8. Project Description and List of Credentials to be Developed and Awarded:
9. Populations to be Served: TAA-eligible workers and long-term unemployed
10. Targeted Industry(s): Information Technology
11. Employer Partner(s): Anytown IT Solutions, Inc.; YourSpace Online; Joe’s IT Shop; and National Health Centers.
12.
Public Workforce System Partner(s):
Anytown Workforce Investment Board, Anothertown One-Stop Career
Center, and Differentown Adult Education Center.
13.
Other Key Partner(s):
Round 1 TAACCCT Grantee
14. Public Contact Information: Steven Baird, Director of Grant Programs, Anytown USA Community College, (800)555-1234, [email protected].
15. Percentage of OER Program Materials Developed vs. Percentage of Licensed or Purchased Program Materials: Approximately 90% of program materials will be developed as open educational resources, and the remaining 10% will be licensed or purchased.
16. Data Tags (up to 25, see table below): accelerated learning, certificate attainment, game design, job placement, on-the-job training, open educational resources, stackable credentials, and web-based training.
Standard Keywords/Data Tags
|
|
|
|
Note: In the event none of the above are a sufficiently precise descriptor applicants should include alternate keyword/tags of their own choosing, not to exceed three words per tag and 28 characters for each keyword/tag.
Appendix N: Definitions and Usual Characteristics of Sub-grants vs. Subcontracts
DEFINITIONS |
Sub-grants |
Subcontracts |
General Purpose* |
An agreement that provides for the transfer of money or property to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation through the grant, as authorized under statute. |
Legal contract in which the purpose is to provide supplies and/or services. |
Focus* |
Carries out one or more major programmatic functions in support of the goals of the grant. |
Does not support the goals of the grant directly; instead the subcontractor provides supplies and/or services that are ancillary or supportive to the operation of the grant. |
Recipient Responsibility* |
Has responsibility for programmatic decision making, adherence to applicable Federal program compliance requirements, and is able to determine which participants are eligible to receive Federal financial assistance. |
Provides supplies and/or services for use by the prime grantee that are supportive to the operation of the grant. Subcontractor is subject to procurement regulations, but not programmatic compliance requirements and does not have decision-making authority pertaining to the grant. |
USUAL CHARACTERISTICS |
Sub-grants |
Subcontracts |
Terms and Performance Standards |
Less rigorous to their terms and conditions than contracts. Performance is measures against whether the objectives of the Federal grant are met. |
More rigorous to their terms and conditions. Performance is measures against the delivery of goods and services. The terms will define the deliverables and indicate when they are due. |
Monitoring |
Less regulated. If the task is not accomplished, there may be fewer legal and financial ramifications. |
More heavily regulated and more likely to carry substantial legal or financial risk. |
Scope of work |
Scope of work, deliverables, and delivery schedule are more flexible and easier to amend when changes are necessary. |
Scope of work may be less flexible and more difficult to amend. Firm delivery schedule with deliverables subject to rigorous inspection. |
Payment Schedule |
Fund usually drawn down by recipient or paid in lump sum. Payments are based on budgeted amounts rather than the unit cost of services. |
Payment is usually made by invoice only after goods are delivered and services rendered. Advances are made under specific, limited circumstances. Payment is related to goods delivered or services rendered. |
*The distinction between sub-grants vs. subcontracts should be made primarily based on these three definitions. Even if an agreement has some or many of the “usual characteristics” of a sub-grant, project managers and auditors should closely examine its purpose, focus, and recipient responsibilities (using the definitions provided above) before determining whether it meets the definition of a sub-grant or subcontract.
Appendix O: Framework of Evaluation Methodologies
Please use the chart below to help determine the type of evaluation you should plan and for which you should submit a proposal and justify your selection on the basis of the characteristics below. It is not possible to compile a complete table of evaluation options and recommendations for each possible combination of circumstances that can arise, however, the chart below should be used as an outline of what DOL considers an appropriate level of evaluation given various proposed project characteristics.
Evaluation Type/Method |
Recommended or Ideal Method Used for TAACCCT Project Characteristics |
Outcome/Impact evaluation: Random-assignment
An analysis of the labor market outcomes (levels and changes) of participants that assesses the impacts of the training once participants complete it. In random-assignment, participants are assigned randomly either to receive the grant-funded training or to receive different training or no training.
|
|
Outcome/impact evaluation: Comparison Cohort
A quasi-experimental analysis of the labor market outcomes (levels and changes) of participants that assesses the impacts of the training once participants complete it. Participants in grant-funded training are compared to participants receiving different training on the basis of one or more characteristics, but participants are not randomly-assigned.
|
|
Information for this chart is derived in part from the publication Improving the Evaluation of DOLETA Pilot and Demonstration Projects - A Guide for Practitioners by Stephen Bell (2001, The Urban Institute).
1 Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics – An Issue Brief. U.S. Department of Education, October 2012.
2 Colby Tofel-Grehl and David F. Feldon, “Cognitive Task Analysis–Based Training: A Meta-Analysis of Studies” Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making September 2013 7: 293-304, first published on January 29, 2013 doi:10.1177/1555343412474821
[1][1] What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 2.1, September 2011), which can currently be found at the following link: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/DocumentSum.aspx?sid=19.
[2][2] What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 2.1, September 2011), which can currently be found at the following link: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/DocumentSum.aspx?sid=19.
[3][3] What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 2.1, September 2011), which can currently be found at the following link: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/DocumentSum.aspx?sid=19.
[4][4] What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 2.1, September 2011), which can currently be found at the following link: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/DocumentSum.aspx?sid=19.
[5][5] What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 2.1, September 2011), which can currently be found at the following link: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/DocumentSum.aspx?sid=19.
[6][6] What Works Clearinghouse Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 2.1, September 2011), which can currently be found at the following link: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/DocumentSum.aspx?sid=19.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | DEPARTMENT OF LABOR |
| Author | frugoli.pam |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-30 |