Search the grant forecast for fiscal year (FY) 2022 funding opportunities and information from the Department of Education.

Wishing everyone a great back to school season!

Happy September! This month, we are focusing on rural education, one of many areas we support here in OESE through the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program and the Rural and Low-Income Schools (RLIS) program. Why rural education this month? Twenty-eight percent of all public schools are located in a rural area, rural schools enroll about 19% of all public school students, and about 10% of all public school students are served through either SRSA or RLIS.

I share these data to highlight that a significant portion of our nation’s students attend schools in rural areas. And we know that these schools face different challenges than those in urban and suburban locales. Last month, James Lane and I held a listening session with members of the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (NAESPA) on different challenges they were facing. Two big issues that came up for rural education were hiring support staff and retaining teachers. In general, these aren’t unique challenges, but the rural aspect of the school and number of students being served can mean the approach to these challenges varies from other schools. We here in OESE are committed to doing what we can to support the needs of rural school  administrators, educators, and students. In this newsletter, you will see us highlight the Rural Partner Network and resources to support our rural communities.

Speaking of the listening session, it was much broader than rural education. We heard so much great feedback on both crosscutting education issues and program specific concerns from state administrators. We take your feedback very seriously and will be using it as we move forward to FY 2023. A specific challenge we are hearing everywhere we go is the ongoing and heightened need around recruiting and retaining teachers. 

We also appreciate that everyone is recognizing the mental health needs of both students and school personnel. Be on the lookout for two discretionary grant opportunities to support increasing the number of mental health providers in schools; the School-based Mental Health Providers and Mental Health Services Professionals Demonstration grant programs will be open for applications in October. We’re excited to offer these opportunities!    

I hope your new school year is off to a great start!

Ruth Ryder

Swati Adarkar, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning, has taken the lead on early learning policy, strategy, and direction. In this role, Swati will provide executive oversight and leadership for the Department’s efforts and advocacy for this key segment of the education continuum of learning. She was most recently the National Policy Director for Start Early, and led its federal early learning policy, practice, and advocacy. Swati is renowned, though, for her work as the co-founder, president/CEO, and executive director at Children’s Institute, Oregon’s premier statewide early childhood development and policy organization, leading its practice and advocacy efforts for many years. She is also noted for her accomplishments in statewide and federal early childhood leadership, through organizations such as Children First for Oregon and Children Now (California). Swati is a graduate of both UCLA and Harvard University.

Adam Schott, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs, is our new policy lead in OESE, and is also providing executive oversight for the Office of State and Grantee Relations, led by Senior Advisor and Program Director, Laura Jimenez.  Before joining the Department, Adam most recently served as special assistant to Pennsylvania’s secretary of education, where he led efforts to redesign the state’s accountability system, strengthen oversight of the state’s virtual school sector, and implement the nation’s first commissioned research on school reopening to include modeling on disease transmission. He previously led the policy research arm of Philadelphia-based Research for Action and served as executive director of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.  Adam is a graduate of both Penn State and Harvard University. 

The Rural Partners Network (RPN or Network), led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development team, is an alliance of 20 federal agencies and regional commissions (including the U.S. Department of Education) working to expand rural prosperity through job creation, infrastructure development, and community improvement. RPN aims to transform how the federal government supports rural communities, collaborates with local people, and amplifies rural priorities, with the goal of inclusive, sustainable economic growth at the forefront of its mission.

Earlier in 2022, RPN selected its pilot cohort of 11 community networks located across five states: Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and three Tribal Nations in Arizona. Community networks in these states are receiving “boots-on-the-ground” support from full-time, federal staff who will provide place-based, community economic development guidance in navigating federal programs and other resources, building relationships, and identifying community-driven solutions.

This spring, RPN announced the expansion of the program to Alaska, Nevada, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The Network is currently working with stakeholders to identify two or three community networks in each state where networks of local people are engaged and collaborating and where additional support has significant potential to advance locally identified priorities and projects.

The Network is curating a set of resources to help rural communities navigate programs, elevate rural needs, and access information on what is working in rural communities across the nation. Interested stakeholders and community members may visit Rural.gov for a comprehensive look at the Network, including program goals, affiliated partners, and activities in pilot communities, with additional resources to come. One of the most notable resources that has been made available by RPN is the Rural Playbook. Dubbed the roadmap for delivering opportunity and investments in rural America, the Rural Playbook identifies programs and funding sources set aside for rural communities under the law and provides an overview of key flexibilities and other benefits available to rural communities, such as waivers for matching requirements. For additional information, visit Rural.gov to subscribe to receive the latest RPN updates or reach out directly by emailing RuralPartnersNetwork@usda.gov.

Featured team: Rural Strategy and Action Team

As part of the Department’s commitment to the work and mission of RPN, described above, the Rural Strategy and Action Team (RSAT) identifies rural-specific policies and program issues to raise to the RPN as well as senior leadership at the Department. RSAT, comprised of Department employees from nine program offices, meets on a monthly basis to discuss rural needs, opportunities, resources, and best practices. Members of RSAT also respond to and redirect education-related inquiries and issues arising from RPN as well as develop new resources that support rural education and the community networks operating in geographically isolated areas. Another aim of RSAT is to identify and elevate opportunities that advance both Secretary Cardona’s and the Biden-Harris administration’s goals and objectives as they relate to rural education issues.

Meet Department staff member, Alexis Kedo

Learn more about Alexis Kedo, an education program specialist, who works with Rural, Insular and Native Achievement Programs.

How long have you been at the Department?

• I’ve been at the Department for a little over two years. As a member of the Rural, Insular, and Native Achievement Programs division, I support the small but mighty team overseeing the Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native Education programs.

What do you most enjoy about working at the Department?

• I most enjoy hearing from grantees about their success stories or strategies they’ve found that work especially well in the field. Our project directors are really inspiring! The past two years have been so tough, and practitioners have found very creative solutions so that they can continue to deliver services to learners, despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic. 

What is one thing you’d like to see happen for this program in the next year?

• We recently introduced a new Annual Performance Reporting system. We aim to make this process more efficient for our grantees and allow our team to use the data we do collect in a more strategic way. I’m very excited to dig deeper into this data, which I hope will lead to even more sharing of best practices.

Updated report: Operational guidance for K-12 schools

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an updated report, Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning, on Aug. 11. This update is part of CDC’s efforts to simplify and streamline existing guidance. The main updates include: 

1. Removing prior recommendations for cohorting, quarantine, and test to stay procedures.
2. Limiting recommendations for screening testing to certain high-risk situations when the COVID-19 community level is high or in response to an outbreak.

These updates make it easier for schools to assess their risk and take necessary actions to protect students and staff.

Tailoring supports for rural and Tribal youth

In a session titled Tailoring Supports for Rural and Tribal Youth hosted by the Comprehensive Center Network, presenters discussed out-of-school time programming in rural and Tribal areas, including the provision of enrichment experiences, meals, and wraparound services to students and families. Learn how the Boys & Girls Clubs of America has been helping youth on Native lands achieve academic success through after-school homework help, summer learning activities, and technological supports during the COVID-19 pandemic. View the session summary.

Supporting LGBTQ+ Students in Rural Schools: A Professional Development Facilitator Manual for Educators

This Equity Tool by the Region III Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center provides explicit guidance and resources for the facilitation of a professional learning experience to educate staff in schools about LGBTQ+ students in rural communities.

Count Us In: Advancing Equity in Rural Schools and Communities

This special edition in the Exploring Equity Issues series, titled Count Us In: Advancing Equity in Rural Schools and Communities, from the Region I Equity Assistance Center, Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, focuses on strategies and perspectives for educators on advancing equity for rural schools and communities.

Cross-sector collaborations for equity in rural communities

When planning educational improvements, rural communities have unique assets to draw from and also face special challenges, often including limited resources. View this webinar from the National Comprehensive Center on Cross-sector Collaborations for Equity in Rural Communities to learn about the types of partnerships that have been successful in some rural sites to address inequities and transform schooling. What catalyzes new partnerships in rural areas and sustains working relationships? What role can higher education institutions play? These and other questions are addressed by panelists. Click here for more details and the session summary.

Implementing Trauma-informed Practices in Rural Schools

This brief, Implementing Trauma-informed Practices in Rural Schools, was developed by the National Comprehensive Center and Region 6 Comprehensive Center. Section I provides an overview of the research on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the effects of trauma on learning and development. Section II provides an overview of trauma-informed approaches and critical components. Section III highlights ACEs and trauma-related issues experienced in rural school communities, offers strategies to implement the key elements of TI approaches, and addresses some of the potential challenges.

Portfolio of Choice: School Choice in Rural Communities

Rural schools educate 9.7 million students, nearly one in five public preK-12 students nationwide. Yet there remains a need for policymakers to understand whether and how popular education reforms play out in rural contexts. That’s especially true for school choice policies. This brief by the National Comprehensive Center provides an overview of how six school choice policies play out in rural contexts, including best practices for policymakers to ensure school choice policies meet the unique needs of rural schools, students, and communities. Learn more details on this page.

Best Practices Clearinghouse

The Best Practices Clearinghouse has an interactive map that presents a state-by-state view of Clearinghouse resources in the Resource Library. This new feature allows users to see resources submitted by stakeholders in each state and national organization. The map also links to state plans and state links to LEA plans for the use of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief  (ARP ESSER) Funds, where available. You can also find archived and upcoming events on the Clearinghouse’s events page. The Department welcomes lessons learned and best practices from the field for consideration for the Clearinghouse, including those with an educational equity focus. Send submissions via email to Bestpracticesclearinghouse@ed.gov. Please find additional submission information in the Federal Register notice. 

Back to School Blitz: Strategies for Improving Attendance in the First 3 Months of School

On Aug. 24, the Department invited guests to join the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, Executive Director of Attendance Works Hedy N. Chang, representatives from the Department’s Student Engagement and Attendance Center, and parent and student representatives for a webinar on strategies to improve attendance in the first three months of school. This was an opportunity to hear from experts on chronic absenteeism and proven strategies to support student attendance. The webinar recording is available on this website.

Regional Education Laboratory highlight: Resources for rural educators and decision makers 

Over the past few years, the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Program has produced dozens of applied research, training, and dissemination resources focused on rural education. The resources, such as this REL Southeast infographic on strategies to recruit and retain school leaders in rural schools, are evidence-informed and geared toward educators and decision makers in rural schools and districts.

Visit the rural education topic page on the revamped REL Program website to learn more. The below image indicates where to find it.

Introducing NCES’s new locale-focused resource hub: Education Across America

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is excited to announce the release of a resource hub that focuses on data by geographic locale, Education Across America: Cities, Suburbs, Towns, and Rural Areas.

The Education Across America: Cities, Suburbs, Towns, and Rural Areas website is designed for those who are interested in the condition of education in different geographic locales in the United States (i.e., cities, suburbs, towns, and rural areas). This website includes tabulations produced by NCES that cover all locales, with indicators and summary reports that focus on specific locales forthcoming in future releases. Rural areas will be the first locale highlighted.

Impact Aid electronic data collection program

Is your LEA interested in going paperless for your FY 2024 Impact Aid 7003 application survey? You can reduce the cost and time associated with printing paper forms, sending them to parents, and hand counting them by implementing an electronic data collection (EDC) system.

Contact Impact Aid staff at EDCPilot@ed.gov to get started. Staff can answer your questions, provide technical assistance, and walk you through the approval process. Your LEA must be approved before using electronic data collection. The EDC team recommends giving yourself two months from your expected survey date to complete the approval process.

You can review EDC resources, including training slides and samples, on this webpage.

Impact Aid Program back to school tips   

Now that the back-to-school season has officially started, take a moment to make sure your Impact Aid information is up to date!  

If you have not logged into your Impact Aid grant System Account in the past 120 days, your account has been deactivated. Log into your account today or visit our contact page to get help reactivating your account.    

If your district’s core user has changed, contact us now through the Get Help feature on our portal.  Be sure to include the name of your school district, the current core user’s name and email address, and the name, job title, and email address of the person who is the new core user. Doing this now will allow you to begin your application without problems.    

Finally, don’t forget to keep your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) registration active in SAM. To receive funds from any federal program, a school district must have an active UEI in the System for Award Management (SAM). SAM registration must be updated annually. Visit sam.gov for more information and to log in to your account.

Visit our FAQs for additional information, or contact us for help at (202) 260-3858 or email at Impact.Aid@ed.gov.

Impact Aid training resources

Whether you are looking for live training, videos, or user system guides, the Impact Aid Program has resources for you.

View our to find our latest live training offerings. Registration is not required, and sessions are offered through Microsoft Teams, allowing you to join by computer or phone. Mark your calendar now!

If you’d like to review any of the previous Impact Aid Program webinars, the training slides can be found on this webpage.

Visit our training page to find links on various topics.

Contact us by email Impact.Aid@ed.gov if you have any questions. 

Message from the Office of Indian Education director

September marks both the close of the federal fiscal year and the first full month of the new academic calendar. As you work toward supporting Native students in your district, we at the Office of Indian Education (OIE) are here to provide meaningful technical assistance to you.

Whether you are a novice or a veteran in your role to support Native students, you can always count on us at OIE to assist you. You can view hours of recorded technical assistance content on our YouTube channel for discretionary grants and Communities of Practice for formula grants.

We encourage you to stay connected to our work via our OIE webpage and follow us on Twitter @OIEIndianEd for more updates. Are you subscribed to our technical assistance listserv? You can subscribe and begin to receive bulletins regarding tribal consultation and funding opportunities as they publish in the Federal Register.

OIE formula grant updates

Here's the latest on the Electronic Application System for Indian Education (EASIE) grants: 

For the FY 2022 application cycle, grantees are receiving Grant Award Notifications and funding, and the 2022-2023 school year looks bright!

FY 2021 EASIE Application Part III annual performance reviews (APRs) are due in October.

Fall APR submissions for FY 2020 and FY 2021 will begin in September.

Discretionary grants update

Talking Circles are starting up again!  These are wonderful opportunities for our grantees to come together, network, and learn from each other and from our program officers. Each program has its own session, and they are recorded and published on our webpage.

Stay tuned for news about the new Native American Language Resource Center that is coming soon!

New Competitive Grants for State Assessments

The Department is announcing 11 grant awards for the 2022 Competitive Grants for State Assessments (CGSA) program competition. CGSA is a program designed to enhance the quality of state assessment systems to better reflect the needs and experiences of our nation’s students and communities. This year’s competition focused on assessment systems based on multiple measures and developing competency-based educational assessments. The 11 projects will help states in their continued efforts to improve assessments to advance teaching and learning and to better meet the needs of our evolving education system. The program is awarding $29.7 million to 11 state educational agencies.

Additional information about the Competitive Grants for State Assessments program is available at this webpage.

Updates from the Office of Rural, Insular, and Native Achievement Programs

The Rural, Insular, and Native Achievement Programs (RINAP) division, comprised of the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP), Insular Areas, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Education program teams, provides financial support and technical assistance to improve the educational outcomes of students, particularly those in rural and geographically isolated areas. RINAP currently administers approximately $2.9 billion in grants to support rural and Native education achievement in the U.S. and improve teaching and learning in the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Recently announced RINAP awards include $195 million in REAP grants to approximately 6,500 small, rural and rural and low-income school districts throughout the U.S. to support supplemental teaching and learning activities during the 2022-2023 school year. The Alaska Native Education program also announced 28 new grants totaling $35 million this summer, which will fund innovative projects that recognize and address the unique educational needs of Alaska Natives. Finally, the Insular Areas team oversees the administration of over $1.5 billion in grant funds, which  includes new awards under the Consolidated Grants to the Insular Areas program, the Republic of Palau Grant program, the Supplemental Educational Grant program, as well as the Education Stabilization Fund and the American Rescue Plan to the Outlying Areas.