Sen. Murkowski's Education Newsletter for the week of February 7
This week in Education
U.S. Department of
Education Now Soliciting Applications for the Alaska Native Educational Equity Grant
Program
The U.S. Department of Education has just opened the grant application period for the Alaska Native Educational Equity grant competition. You can find a synopsis of the notice at http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=67373. The full Federal Register announcement is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-01-31/pdf/2011-2075.pdf. The Department anticipates making approximately 19 awards this year. Deadline for Submitting Applications: April 1, 2011
Eligible Entities: (a) Alaska Native organizations; (b) Educational entities with experience in developing or operating Alaska Native programs or programs of instruction conducted in Alaska Native languages; (c) Cultural and community-based organizations with experience in developing or operating programs to benefit Alaska Natives; and (d) Consortia of organizations and entities described in this paragraph to carry out activities that meet the purposes of this program. Note: A State educational agency (SEA) or local educational agency (LEA), including a charter school that is considered an LEA under State law, may apply for an award under this program only as part of a consortium involving an Alaska Native organization. The consortium may include other eligible applicants.
Priorities: This competition includes three competitive preference priorities. In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(iv):
- Competitive Preference Priority 1 (Alaska Native regional nonprofit organizations or consortia that include at least one Alaska Native regional nonprofit organization) is from section 7304(c) of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7544(c)).
- Competitive Preference Priority 2 (Improving the Effectiveness and Distribution of Effective Teachers or Principals) and Competitive Preference Priority 3 (Turning Around Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools) are from the notice of final supplemental priorities and definitions for discretionary grant programs, published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2010 (75 FR 78486).
Five points will be awarded to applicants that meet priority 1 and five points will be awarded to applicants that meet Priorities 2 or 3. A maximum of 10 points will be awarded.
Note Also: The Alaska Native Education program is seeking reviewers for the FY 2011 discretionary grant competition. The deadline to apply is February 11, 2011. More information is available at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/alaskanative/resources.html.
For Further Information Contact: Chuenee Boston, U.S. Department of Education ,400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E118, Washington, DC 20202–6200. Telephone: (202) 260–7008. E-mail: Chuenee.Boston@ed.gov. If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll free, at 1–800–877–8339.
More information about the Alaska Native Educational Equity program in general can be found at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/alaskanative/index.html, including a link to the statute authorizing it.
Excerpts from this week’s Ed Review from the U.S. Department of Education.
COMMENCEMENT CHALLENGE
Students from public high schools are invited to demonstrate how their school prepares them for college and a career by submitting an application. The winning school will host President Obama as their 2011 commencement speaker. Applications must be submitted by Friday, February 25, at 11:59 p.m. ET. http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement
EDUCATION DASHBOARD
...convenient and transparent access to key national and state education data... http://dashboard.ed.gov/. ..users are encouraged to send comments to dashboard@ed.gov so that usability and functionality can be improved.
(Does anyone else remember the Dashboard data website from 2008?)
NAEP 2009: SCIENCE ASSESSMENT
http://nationsreportcard.gov/science_2009
SUPPORTING MILITARY FAMILIES
“Strengthening Our Military Families: Meeting America’s Commitment” (www.defense.gov/home/features/2011/0111_initiative/Strengthening_our_Military_January_2011.pdf): (1) enhancing the well-being and psychological health of the military family; (2) ensuring excellence in military children’s education and development, (3) developing career and educational opportunities for military spouses, and (4) increasing child care availability and quality throughout the Armed Forces. The Department will make supporting military families one of its supplemental priorities for discretionary grant programs. This priority, when applied, will favor grant applications that meet the unique needs of military-connected students. . (Note: The Department’s new Veterans and Military Families web site can be found at http://www.ed.gov/veterans-and-military-families.)
ODDS AND ENDS
The Department’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) has a new blog (http://www.ed.gov/oese-news), as well as a monthly e-newsletter for superintendents and staff (http://www.ed.gov/oese-news/superintendent-monthly).
UPCOMING EVENTS
President Obama will release his Fiscal Year 2012 budget on February 14.
February is African-American History Month, and February 21 is Presidents Day. Need help planning your education activities? The Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) web site (http://www.free.ed.gov/) offers more than 1,500 free teaching and learning resources from dozens of federal agencies, including 140 resources specifically highlighted for these events. (Don’t forget to check out the Library of Congress and the National Archives! KM)
The Department’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) is hosting a series of regional meetings to engage stakeholders on what makes for quality education for English Learners. www.ncela.gwu.edu/meetings/2011elconversation/
The full edition can be found at http://www2.ed.gov/news/newsletters/edreview/index.html.
