Feds Release Draft of What States Must Do To Win Challenge Grants

The Obama Administration released details today on the proposed design of the competition for its new Early Learning Challenge , a $500-million state competition that aims to improve the quality and coordination of early learning programs. Officials stress that it will be highly competitive and focus on school readiness, including the use of assessments to determine if children are prepared for kindergarten.

A draft of the requirements shows that states would have a chance to compete for relatively large four-year grants: up to $50 million for states with the smallest populations of high-need children and up to $100 million for the states with the largest, with some gradation for the in-between states. The program received funding this spring as part of the Race to the Top education reform program. It is being called RTT-ELC for short. (UPDATE: The proposed requirements are now available here .)

“As with the first two rounds of Race to the Top, the bar to receive an RTT-ELC grant will be set high,” the draft document says. 

There is no word of exactly how many grants would be awarded, or whether the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, who are jointly administering the program, are aiming for a specific number of winners.

Officials at the departments will be collecting public feedback on the draft over the next week. (For more information on deadlines and how to comment, see our accompanying post .)

To simply be eligible to apply for a grant, states would need to have an operational State Advisory Council on Early Childhood. Last year, the vast majority of states received federal grants to build those councils. (The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has more information on how these councils are set up.)

To win, according to the draft guidelines, states must show a commitment to two priorities. First, they must show that they are using early learning standards (which list expectations of what children should know and be able to do at various ages) and assessments that determine a child’s readiness to start kindergarten.  Second, they must use, or show a commitment to developing, a “Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System,” known in the field as a QRIS. Approximately two dozen states have such systems in place so far. These systems apply a rating – such as one star, two stars, and on up – to publicly funded programs like childcare centers and pre-k programs to indicate whether the programs are of high quality.

Learning How To Write Grants - News


Feds Release Draft of What States Must Do To Win Challenge Grants

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What Education Really Needs: Open Data
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Non Profit Fundraising | Start a Non Profit | How to Start a ...

Non Profit fundraising is an essential part of learning how to start a non profit organization and run one successfully.  Since a non profit functions off of donations, without proper funding, a non profit will not have the monetary resources to accomplish its mission and programs.  Fundraising is one of the essential elements those starting a non profit must become efficient at to be successful. However, many who start a non profit organization ignore the need that raising funds should to start simultaneously while starting a nonprofit.  Read on and I will explain the important elements of non profit fundraising. There are a multitude of non profit funding sources which include: individual donors, corporate donations, grants, and fundraising activities.  Each of these sources of fundraising require a different approach and skill set to successfully engage them.  Fundraising from any of these sources is not hard, but requires dedicated time and energy to gain success that is substantial enough to fund an aggressive non profit poised to change the world. Individual donors are anyone that have the ability to donate to a non profit from their personal finances.  This can be family, friends, business acquaintances, and probably more than anyone else, individuals that learn about the nonprofit from the web, literature or fundraisers.  Individual donations can be the easiest and most stable form of donations.  The key to fundraising from individuals is to educate them with good, concise information about the nonprofit, then keep them up-to-date, allowing them to be a part of the team.  You can never have too many volunteers involved in a non profit; keeping them involved and motivated keeps them a giving part of your stable fundraising. Corporations world-wide give to non profit causes.  Many times, a corporation is more interested in a geographically local nonprofit organizations.  Exposure is an important attractor for many corporations.  The more publicity a corporation can get while giving to a non profit cause, the better.  Usually there is a fair amount of competition for a corporation’s non profit giving, so keeping them well informed and involved is key to their continual giving.  Gifts-in-kind is another way corporations give to non profits.  Many times, a corporation can easily give gifts of products they manufacture or distribute that the non profit needs, which reduces the expenses of the non profit.


Learning How To Write Grants - Bookshelf

The ISLLC standards in action, a principal's handbook

The ISLLC standards in action, a principal's handbook

Learn to Write Grants Goals § Supplement school monies for projects focusing on student achievement. § Spread the word to the larger community that the ...

The complete book of grant writing, learn to write grants like a professional

The complete book of grant writing, learn to write grants like a professional

Provides readers with detailed information on how to find grants, where to apply for them, and step-by-step instructions on how to successfully write grants to ...

Write grants, get money

Write grants, get money

You are really learning the donor's rules and regulations as you read and reread ... Getting Ready to Write As you prepare to write a draft of your grant ...

The documentary film makers handbook

The documentary film makers handbook

... beginning to build a base of both contacts and learning that you can work off of. ... you don't want to spend a lot of time learning how to write grants ...

Public Sociology, Research, Action, and Change

Public Sociology, Research, Action, and Change

Since so much of community work is grant-funded, learning how to write grants is extremely valuable. Look for grant-writing workshop opportunities, ...

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