The most notable changes this year are the deadline, submission mode, and Selection Criteria.

• The 2011 PEP deadline is May 13, 2011. If you assume the deadline is the same as 2010 (July 19), you’ll miss the application period by more than two months.
• In 2011, applicants must submit their grants using grants.gov rather than e-grants.ed.gov as required last year. Register your organization now for a grants.gov account, or update your existing account to ensure a smooth and timely submission.
• Among the Selection Criteria, one criterion from 2010 has been removed (the criterion referencing target population previously placed in section B2), and two new criteria have been added. Below are the Selection Criteria for 2011 PEP according to pages 33-35 of the RFP. Criteria B2 and C2 are new this year. See the RFP for notes on what should be included to respond to each criterion.

Selection Criteria

(A) Need for the Project.

(1) The extent to which specific gaps or weaknesses in services, infrastructure, or opportunities have been identified and will be addressed by the proposed project, including the nature and magnitude of those gaps or weaknesses. (10 Points)

(B) Quality of the Project Design. (40 Points)

(1) The extent to which the goals, objectives, and outcomes to be achieved by the proposed project are clearly specified and measurable. (10 Points)

(2) The extent to which performance feedback and continuous improvement are integral to the design of the proposed project. (10 points)

(3) The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of Federal financial assistance. (10 Points)

(4) The extent to which the proposed project will be coordinated with similar or related efforts, and with other appropriate community, State, and Federal resources. (10 Points)

(C) Quality of the Management Plan. (30 Points)

(1) The adequacy of the management plan to achieve the objectives of the proposed project on time and within budget, including clearly defined responsibilities, timelines, and milestones for accomplishing project tasks. (15 Points)

(2) The extent to which the time commitments of the project director and principal investigator and other key personnel are appropriate and adequate to meet the objectives of the proposed project. (15 Points)

(D) Quality of the Project Evaluation. (20 Points)

(1) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are thorough, feasible, and appropriate to the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the proposed project. (10 Points)

(2) The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward achieving intended outcomes. (10 Points)

The Federal Register posting is at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/2011-7349.htm.

The full RFP will be posted to http://www2.ed.gov/programs/whitephysed/applicant.html later today or in the next few days.

Best of luck to all!

Are you applying? If you are interested in applying with Insight’s assistance, email info@insightgrants.com today. We have just a few slots remaining. We have a terrific record of success with this program. In 2010 alone, we had 11 PEP grant winners. As there were only 77 winners across the nation, this means one in seven 2010 PEP winners was an Insight client.

Whether you work with Insight or on your own, very best of luck with your application this year!!

See the blog tomorrow for the official grant deadline and more information.

About a week and a half ago I emailed the federal program contact to check to see if the originally anticipated timetable for awards (originally discussed in the RFP as June or July) was still the anticipated timetable. She confirmed that ED expected to make awards “late June/early July.” As today is June 22, awards could be made any time between now and the next month. Exciting stuff, right? )

Many folks are also asking how they would find out their results. There are a few different ways that could happen.

Prior to announcing any grant awards, ED provides Congress with the list and allows the members a brief period (anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks) to be the first to notify and congratulate any winners within their constituency. Many members take advantage of this opportunity, but others do not. If your Representative or Senator is among those who enjoys making the announcement, you might hear from him or her directly (probably via phone or possibly fax) and/or you might see a press release from his or her office in a local paper. Remember, though, not all members do this, so not hearing from a member does not necessarily mean your application was not a winner.

ED will make its public announcement via a 2009 awards list of winning schools and their contacts at http://www.ed.gov/programs/whitephysed/awards.html and/or via a press release posted at http://www.ed.gov/news/landing.jhtml?src=gu. Additionally, ED will send out letters with instructions for “next steps” to winners via mail. While these packages are technically supposed to be sent prior to the public announcement being made, winners rarely receive them before learning they won through either their Congressional members or ED’s public announcement.

Following mail notification of all winners, ED will send out mail notifications to all non-winners that include reviewer scores and comments. (You should have THREE sets of reviewer scores and comments!) With so many people to notify, sometimes it takes weeks or even months for the non-winner packages to arrive. If it’s been a couple of months and you haven’t received anything, though, you should email the PEP contact (Carlette.Huntley@ed.gov) and request that your scores and comments be resent since several do seem to get lost in the mail every year. If you weren’t fortunate enough to win in 2009, use your reviewer scores and comments to improve your application in 2010. Please note, however, that you will still need to adhere to the newest RFP and that your application will NOT be read by the same reviewers.

Insight monitors many press release channels for PEP daily, and we frequently check both the PEP and ED Press Release sites, so we often know very soon after the winners list is posted. Additionally, using press releases from Congress and information from Congressionally-notified schools with which we are in contact, we begin compiling a “tentative” winners list of our own and then compare that to the final list. We’ve been able to learn of as many as a third of the winners prior to the official announcement this way, however only the official list will concretely name all winners. Insight will send out emails to all applicants that worked with us on PEP once the official announcement is made, as well as sending out tweets from our Twitter accounts (insightgrantspe and insightgrantsed). Certainly, if you have questions in the interim, let us know. If you didn’t work with us but would like to receive an email when the PEP awards list comes out, leave your email address under comments or email us at info@insightgrants.com. (If you send an email, please be sure to note that you are requesting a PEP awards notice email and provide your full contact info.)