The Employment and Training Administration has released Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 16-17, Change 1.
The guidance provides states with revised allotment levels for WIOA Adult and DW FY 2019 funds, which became available to states in October 2018. This Change 1 to Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) 16-17 restores the set-aside for evaluations to the funding available to states in October 2018
Department of Education Publishes Sixty-Day PRA Notice for the EDFacts Data Collection; Expansion to Include State Postsecondary Data for the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V)
EDFacts is a U.S. Department of Education initiative, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), to collect, analyze, report on, and promote the use of high-quality, pre-kindergarten through grade 12 (pre-K-12) performance data and state level postsecondary data for Perkins V for use in education planning, policymaking, and management and budget decision making to improve outcomes for students.
By centralizing data provided by state education agencies about state level data, local education agencies, and schools, NCES uses the EDFacts data to report on students, schools, staff, services, and education outcomes at the state, district, and school levels. The centralized approach provides ED users with the ability to efficiently analyze and report on submitted data and has reduced the reporting burden for state and local data producers through the use of streamlined data collection, analysis, and reporting tools.
EDFacts collects information on behalf of ED grant and program offices for approximately 150 data groups for all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and seven outlying areas and freely associated states (American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Palau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).
The Department has published the sixty-day PRA notice regarding its intent to collect EDFacts data for the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 school years and to expand the EDFacts data collection to include state level postsecondary data for the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V).
Comments are due by January 7, 2019.
See: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-11-06/pdf/2018-24264.pdf
Career Pathways Secondary Data Analysis Grants: HHS/ACF to Release Solicitation in April 2019
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services intends to fund Career Pathways Secondary Data Analysis Grants to support secondary analysis of data collected to rigorously evaluate a collection of career pathways programs.
Career pathways programs provide post-secondary education and training organized as a series of manageable steps leading to successively higher credentials and employment opportunities in growing occupations. Programs also provide financial, academic, and non-academic support to help primarily low-income, non-traditional students enroll and persist in education.
HHS/ACF's Office of Policy and Research oversees a robust research portfolio evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of career pathways programs including the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) Evaluation and the rigorous evaluation of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program (more information is available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/research/project/career-pathways-research-portfolio and www.career-pathways.org .
Data from PACE, the HPOG National Implementation Evaluation (NIE), and the HPOG Impact Study will be archived at a data repository and available for secondary analysis in early 2019. OPRE expects the archived data will be available as restricted-use files. These grants would support rigorous, policy-relevant secondary analysis of the core data sets to add to the body of knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of the implementation and effectiveness of career pathways programs.
ACF has published a "forecast notice" on www.grants.gov with the expectation that the solicitation will be published on April 1 with a submission deadline of May 31. ACF has identified $375,000 for investment with the expectation of five awards. ACF also notes: "Award funding depends on availability and continued interest of the government." See: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=310094
SBA to Establish a National Information Clearinghouse for Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs
The Small Business Administration has announced its intent to establish a National Information Clearinghouse for the Small Business Development Centers. The Clearinghouse will serve as a centralized information resource within the SBDC network as well as a library and distribution center for information, media, marketing materials and technology for access by any SBDC service center. The Clearinghouse provides business related informational support for the SBDCs and facilitates ever greater exchange of information between SBDCs employing its collection and accessing its business data. Under its stewardship responsibilities, the Clearinghouse will maintain materials which "should focus, at minimum, on the small business sector with an emphasis on home-based businesses, startups, rural small business, veterans, and manufacturers on issues such as energy efficiency, international trade, legal considerations, business plans, marketing plans/data, science and technology, electronic commerce and website design."
SBA has identified $300,000 for investment in the Clearinghouse. In FY 2019, the grant will run from December 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019, with four option years. Thereafter, each option year will run from October 1 through September 30. In FY 2019, the grant amount will be prorated to reflect the 10-month period of performance.
Applications are due November 30. The application field is limited to an accredited SBDC under §21(k)(2) of the Small Business Act that is currently funded as an SBDC Lead Center by SBA.
The Clearinghouse must serve as the SBDC network's "Tech Forward" flagship by gathering advancements in the use of technology (technological innovations) developed throughout the network and enabling the transfer, duplication or deployment of those innovations. To accomplish this, the recipient of the Clearinghouse grant must:
- report quarterly on new or ongoing technology initiatives, via website
- create and maintain the SBDC Network's National Blog
- organize and facilitate an SBDC Clearinghouse workshop at the Association of Small Business Development Centers' (ASBDC) Annual conference showcasing the best technology accomplishments
- maintain a presence on the ASBDC committees related to technology and/or research and development
- conduct an Annual Needs Assessment
https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=310028