May 8, 2015
Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced the 2015, First in the
World (FITW) grant competition, an evidence-based grant program in higher
education designed to support the development and testing of innovative
approaches and strategies to improve postsecondary attainment. This year, FITW
will award $60 million in grants, including a $16 million set-aside for
minority-serving institutions. A press
release can be found here:: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-60-million-available-first-world-grant-competition
Listed below are the series of pre-application webinars the Office of
Postsecondary Education will host:
- May 14, 2015 - 3:00pm, EST - FITW-Development Grants
- May 15, 2015 - 3:00pm, EST - FITW- Validation Grants
- May 19, 2015 - 3:00pm, EST - FITW - Evidence & Evaluation Requirements
To learn more about this grant opportunity or to register for a webinar, please visit the First in the World home page on the Office of Postsecondary Education’s website. Applications will be accepted from May 11th, 2015 – June 26, 2015.
We appreciate your support in sharing this opportunity widely with your networks, members and affiliates.
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The Institute for Educational Sciences (IES)recently released the Request for
Applications (RFA) for the Research
Network on Scalable Strategies to Support College Completion. Through
this competition, IES plans to fund up to four research teams to develop and
evaluate the impact and cost of interventions designed to increase the number
of students who earn college degrees in open- or broad-access
institutions. IES is particularly interested in strategies that are operating
at scale in a postsecondary system or group of institutions. The Network
will be coordinated by a lead organization that is responsible for bringing
researchers together to share ideas, adopt common measures, and collaborate on
dissemination. Here is a link to the RFA:
http://ies.ed.gov/funding/ncer_rfas/networks.asp
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The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training
Administration recently released the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
(WIOA) Quick Start Action
Planner (QSAP), a new technical
assistance tool for implementing the WIOA. According to its website, the QSAP “is an interactive,
self-paced assessment tool designed to help leaders at all levels of the public
workforce system plan for this transformation and prepare for implementation of
WIOA.” The QSAP was designed to help entities identify the strengths and
weaknesses in their workforce systems. It will also help connect workforce
leaders to targeted resources to help them prepare and plan effectively for WIOA
implementation.
The tool is intended for both local and state
public workforce system leaders. Accessing and completing the QSAP and holding
results discussions “will help states and local areas develop a common
understanding of their readiness to implement WIOA and jointly develop a plan
to address opportunities for action.”
For more information on the QSAP, public workforce
leaders and other interested parties are encouraged to review the WIOA QSAP User Guide.
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“At the heart
of the American story is the simple truth that all children should have a fair
chance at success, no matter who they are or where they come from.” These
were President Obama’s words as he proclaimed May 2015 as National Foster Care Month. The designation
was made in order to highlight the importance of foster care services and to
recognize those families who provide these valuable services to children in
need. As the president said in his proclamation, “During National Foster
Care Month, we recommit to caring for all our Nation’s daughters and sons, and
we reaffirm our basic belief: In America, there is a place for everyone
and no young person should feel like they are on their own.”
The demand for
foster care is significant, especially among African-American and
Native-American youths. While progress has been made within the last
decade in reducing the number of youths in foster care, currently over 400,000
boys and girls are in the foster care system, with more than 100,000 awaiting
adoption. Many—about 23,000 per year—age out of the foster care system
without ever having been placed in permanent, adoptive homes.
Placing
children in stable, caring foster families is a very important intermediate
step toward getting them permanent, adoptive families. It is crucial to
the success of the foster care system—i.e., attending to the needs of children
facing often unimaginable challenges—that these families are given the
assistance they need.
The resolve of
foster children to meet their challenges, according to the proclamation,
“reminds us that we have obligations to them and to one another, and that we
all share in the responsibility of lifting up our Nation’s youth(s).” In
this respect, last year, the administration took steps to help protect the
financial security of foster youths, expand their opportunities for education
and employment, and prevent them from entering into the justice system.
As the
president stated, “Let us each recognize the large and small ways we can
brighten the future of a foster care child this month and every month, and
together let us reach for the day when everyone knows the love and safety of a
permanent home.”
The next issue of OCTAE Connection will provide a more in-depth look at the U.S. foster
care system.
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In September 2012, the U.S. Department of
Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) awarded funding for a
five-year research center for adult literacy, the Center for the Study of Adult
Literacy (CSAL). The CSAL is dedicated to studying
adults with reading levels between the third and eighth grades.
The center invites you to join them
for an update on their activities in a free webinar. Presenter Daphne
Greenberg, Georgia State University professor in the Department of Educational
Psychology, Communication Disorders, and Special Education, will discuss CSAL’s
exploration of the underlying cognitive and motivational processes that
contribute to or impede reading development. She will also discuss the center’s
development of a multi-component instructional program designed to help
learners improve their reading and comprehension skills.
Registration for the event is
limited. To register, please visit the following link, https://air-license.webex.com/air-license/onstage/g.php?MTID=e270a99cb4a52f31288921b6fb6fe0678 .
(If the link does not work, please
copy and paste the entire URL into your browser.)
For questions or assistance, please email
Edison Wolf at ewolf2@gsu.edu
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