Early Lit Q_A final.pdf

1 Specific area of the RFA being questioned Question Response

2 ? Can the Migrant Education Program Housed at the Clackamas Education Service District apply for this grant or can only individual school districts apply for it? Thank you!

Please review Section 1.3 of the RFA, which lists criteria regarding the organization type as well as other criteria that must all be met in order to be eligible to apply.

3 focus on three specific community‐based goals:

Expand culturally and linguistically responsive early literacy programs for children in early elementary grades by: Encouraging family and caregiver engagement; and Providing research‐aligned professional training and coaching for direct service staff in early literacy.

Develop and implement programs that engage parents and children in early elementary grades in early literacy and that are available equitably and statewide.

Provide high‐dosage tutoring programs and training to tutors to qualify the tutors for instruction in a manner consistent with research‐aligned literacy strategies.

Does the RFA support GED/ESL programs offered by community colleges that directly address literacy for students who are parents?

Do all three goals have to be addressed or is focusing on one or two allowable?

Grant funds must be used for early literacy programs for children in grades Pre‐K to 3. Funding to provide services to adults is only one goal of the Grant outlined in the RFA as family and caregiver engagement.

However to be eligible, all three goals must be addressed in your proposed project. Please review Sections 1.1, 1.3, and 2.2.

4 3.2.1.2 Service Area and Regions Served The RFA states, "Grants will be evaluated with the intent to award at least one (1) application in each Region to expand Program resources for students statewide."

We understand that an organization in Region 2: Northwest, which is our region (Marion and Polk), has already been awarded. Can you speak to whether we can or should apply?

Existing grants awarded to a Grantee in a region do not limit award of a grant(s) from this RFA to that same region.

5 Page 4, Section 1.3 Eligibility Can you please let us know if an organization is eligible to apply for more than one grant under this RFA? For example, if an organization wanted to apply to lead one program in Region X and one program in Region Y would they be eligible to receive awards for both programs?

While applicants can include more than one region in its application, only one Grant will be awarded to each Grantee, with a maximum Grant amount of $1,000,000. See section

1.2 of the RFA.

EARLY LITERACY COMMUNITY GRANTS Q&A

6 Section 1.2 Grant Amount and Duration Do you have an estimate of total funding available and/or the anticipated number of grants awarded?

Total funding available is $8 million.

The number of awarded grants will be determined once the evaluation and ranking process has been completed, and will be determined by the approved budget for each of the successful applicants.

7 1.3 Eligibility, Section A. I am still trying to determine if Serendipity Center is eligible to apply, based on our organization type. We consider ourselves to be one of the following:

Community‐Based Organization; ‐‐ Serendipity is a K‐12 alternative school and considers itself to be a CBO, although ODE has disagreed.

• Early Learning Hub; ‐‐ I’m not sure what this means even after reading the definition, can you provide more information/ let me know if this is applicable to Serendipity?

• Provider of Early Learning Services; We do provide early learning services under the definition except that our services happen during the school day. We are an alternative school that serves students from all over the Portland region, from many school districts.

Thank you for clarifying if we are eligible to apply.

Please refer to section 2.2 of the RFA for the definitions of each of the eligible applicant types. Grant funds must be used for early literacy programs that are provided outside of school hours, as stated throughout the RFA.

8 1.1 Purpose/plan students Can the grant serve youth who are older than grades pre‐k‐3 if the youth is at a grade 3 reading level or below? And/Or at a math grade three level or below?

Grant funds must be used for early literacy programs for children in grades Pre‐K to 3.

9 2.2 Definition of Terms Does "Community Based Organization" include those run as for‐ profit entities? Are they thus eligible to submit a grant application?

if not, can we become as a service‐provider for an eligible grantee? I have already submitted an application to become an approved provider of high‐dosage tutors (tutoring?). Once approved, it is up to us to contact approved grantees to offer our services?

I own a K‐12 Learning Center in Bethany, Oregon (now in its 18th year), fully accredited, and with enormous experience in early literacy, and would love the chance to provide instruction to community members who cannot afford to pay for our services themselves.

Please refer to section 2.2 of the RFA for the definitions of each of the eligible applicant types. Since you are not currently on the approved vendor list for High Dosage Tutoring, you would not be eligible to provide those services to grantees using these grant funds.

10 Page 13: 3.2.1.4 Community Overview The RFA states, "Provide detailed information about the Early Literacy needs of the community your organization proposes to serve with these grant funds, including the demographics of students and families in that community."

We partner with school districts to provide services. Do we need any sort of written letters of commitment or MOUs from districts to include in our proposal?

The RFA does not require submission of agreements between the Applicant and partners or subcontractors as part of the application process.

11 Eligibility Hope all is well! My team and I were reviewing this RFA and had a quick question regarding eligibility. Do applicant organizations need to be based in Oregon, or are organizations based in other states also eligible to apply?

Please refer to Section 1.3 (Eligibility) and Section 2.2 (Definition of Terms) to determine your eligibility to apply.

Please note that the intent of these grants is to increase early literacy in the State of Oregon. As such, even if an Applicant (out of state or otherwise) is one of the five organization types listed in 1.3.A., they must also meet all of the requirements in 1.3.B and 1.3.C., as well as the goals outlined in Section

2.5 and elsewhere in the RFA.

12 Sections 3.2.1.3 through 3.2.1.11 Equity page 13‐14 Are there any word counts or character limits we need to adhere to when answering these items in our application? Or when we upload our responses into Smartsheet?

Each narrative portion of the Smartsheet Application is limited to 4,000 characters as stated on the Application.

13 High Level Summary for RFA‐ Early Literacy Success Community Grant

Does WISE qualify as an “eligible organizations in Oregon"?

Please feel free to call me to discuss‐ 508‐688‐5342

Please refer to Section 1.3 (Eligibility) and Section 2.2 (Definition of Terms) to determine your eligibility to apply.

Please note that the intent of these grants is to increase early literacy in the State of Oregon. As such, even if an Applicant (out of state or otherwise) is one of the five organization types listed in 1.3.A., they must also meet all of the requirements in 1.3.B and 1.3.C., as well as the goals outlined in Section

2.5 and elsewhere in the RFA.

14 1. Attachment F ‐ Grant Expenditure Guidance

2. General Question‐ non specific to RFA materials

3. RFA Section 1.3

4. RFA Section 2.2

1. Is there a limit on what percentage of the grant can be spent on .FTE for staff doing work directly in line with grant activities?

(i.e. payroll for high dosage tutors)

2. Can the grant serve one group of students in pre‐K‐3? Or would it need to be all 5 grade levels? (i.e. could a grant be for just pre‐k students?)

3. Can high dosage tutoring requirements be met in a hybrid format? For example, online tutoring 1 day a week and in person tutoring the second day that week?

4. Could high dosage tutoring occur in a childcare center for pre‐ k students? Or would this not count as out of the school day?

15 Project Budget, Page 14, Section 3.3.4.1 1) Can we have 2 co‐PIs and 2 co‐program directors who are paid stipends for their grant work (training and direct service delivery, etc.)? These are all salaried faculty members who are on 9 month contracts. our school usual pays $825 month stipends + FICA.

2) Can salaried faculty members who are on a 9 month teaching contract, receive summer salary?

3) do we need to include the name of each person working on the grant?

4) Can we pay stipends for

a. $22,750 Training ($650 per student)

b. $10,000 Training Faculty ($2500 each x4)

c. $70,000 Tutoring Stipends: 10 weeks of tutoring 5 hours per week (2 sessions)

1. As per Attachment F: Grant Expenditure Guidance, a stipend is defined as "a fixed sum of money paid to individuals in exchange for performing otherwise unpaid work or while they receive training". It cannot be given for direct service delivery.

2. Yes, they can receive a summer salary for direct service delivery.

3. Please see response to #1.

16 Application Submission, 3.1.5, page 11 When I click the "Smartsheet Application Link" I am taken to my Smartsheet account, not the application. Where can I access a link to the application in Smartsheet?

We have confirmed through internal and external testing that the Smartsheet Application Link in the RFA takes you directly to the Application.

17 1.1 B on page 3 compared to 3.2.1.2 on page 12. Should individual projects have a dual focus of serving a specific region/county as well as one or more components that reach the entire state? Or should individual projects focus strictly on the region and county(ies) identified in 3.2.1.2? Is there any competitive advantage to having a project that focuses primarily on the region/counties identified and also includes a smaller statewide component?

Section 1.1 lists the overall goals of the Early Literacy Success Grants programs. Please ensure your Application meets all of the requirements set forth in Section 3.2, Application Requirements.

18 3.2.1.2 Regions served & community overview If applying as a consortium, can the lead applicant be an intermediary that is facilitating multiple direct service organizations across multiple regions? If yes, would all the communities served be in equal consideration? If no, would one lead organization be able to submit on behalf of multiple organizations across different regions but still include all the communities in the application materials for equal consideration?

This RFA has no language concerning "Consortium" and each Applicant will be evaluated on the proposal it provides for the Region or Regions it will serve. Also, while a single Applicant can include multiple Regions in its Application, only one grant can be awarded to each Awardee, with a maximum grant amount of $1,000,000 as stated in Section 1.2 of the RFA.

19 General Eligibility Question Would a eligible CBO be able to partner and apply on behalf of a regional Migrant Education Program? The grant activities would be for migrant students who are served in a supplementary, outside of school hours structure.

Please refer to Section 1.3 (Eligibility) and Section 2.2 (Definition of Terms) to determine eligibility. Please note that the intent of these grants is to increase early literacy in the State of Oregon. As such, even if an Applicant (out of state or otherwise) is one of the five organization types listed in 1.3.A., they must also meet all of the requirements in 1.3.B and 1.3.C., as well as the goals outlined in Section

2.5 and elsewhere in the RFA. Grants will be awarded to only the selected Applicants, and all awarded applicants will be solely responsible for providing their approved project activities regardless of partnerships.

20 Qualifications Can a school district be considered an Early Literacy Hub if the tutoring occurs outside of school hours?

Please refer to Section 1.3 (Eligibility) and Section 2.2 (Definition of Terms) to determine eligibility. There is no defined "Early Literacy Hub", but the RFA does define Early Learning Hub in section 2.2.

21 3.2.1.8 High‐Dosage Tutoring to Students Page 13‐14

The RFP states "Describe how you will implement the domains and indicators, outlined in Attachment G: Early Literacy Guidebook, to provide High‐Dosage Tutoring (to students in grades 1‐3)"

We provide programming for students in grades PreK‐3. Should we only propose high‐dosage tutoring for grades 1‐3 and propose other literacy programming for grades prek‐K?

You can deliver high‐dosage tutoring to any groups of students in Pre‐K to 3rd grade. However, we specifically call out grades 1‐3 because we understand high‐dosage tutoring is not generally developmentally appropriate for students in Pre‐K and Kindergarten.

22 1.3 ELIGIBILITY, section C, subsection 3 regarding high‐dosage tutors and training

In order to comply with providing high‐dosage tutoring, do we have to use one of the companies from your list? Or can we have our own local people trained to be tutors for our program.

We would MUCH PREFER in‐person tutoring.

Using an ODE‐Approved high‐dosage tutoring vendor for tutor training is an allowable use of this grant fund. Any tutoring vendors not on the ODE list will need to be reviewed and approved on a case‐by‐case basis.

23 Page 13, 3.2.1.6 Can you clarify if it is required for one program/proposal to address all domains and indicators in Attachment G? Or would it be allowable for programs to focus on some of the domains and indicators based on proposed budget/project's overall capacity?

The domains and indicators in Attachment G are what would be an ideal program. Respond to each question accordingly in reference.

24 Attachment G, Domain 1, Indicator 1.1, 7th bullet under "Components"

In Attachment G, there is a reference to "High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIMs) being used have been selected from ODE’s approved list (to be published in early 2025)". We are not seeing this list in the RFA. Are you able to provide this list for Pre‐K‐3rd grade? Or are you able to share where we can find it? We have found some lists online but want to confirm that we are looking at the correct list. Thank you!

The approved provider lists for High‐ Dosage Tutoring and Professional Development and Coaching are both linked in Section 3.2.1.9 of the RFA.

25 Page 14, 3.2.1.9, first bullet, "Approved PD and Coaching Provider" hyperlink

The RFA has a hyperlink to a list of approved trainers to offer professional development and coaching for high dosage tutors.

The link leads to a list titled "ODE‐Approved Provider List for Professional Development and Coaching with Early Literacy Success School District Grant Funds". We want to confirm that this is the correct list for Community Based Organizations to use as well as school districts?

Yes, this is the correct list and these providers can be used for this grant program as well.

26 Attachment B, insurance requirements If a fiscal sponsor is submitting on behalf of a collaborative grant, does the fiscal sponsor need to have all the appropriate insurance as well as the partner organizations?

The Applicant, if awarded, will become the Grantee and will be responsible for meeting all requirements of the RFA and final Grant Agreement, including liability insurance requirements. Grantees should work with their own legal and risk management teams to determine how any partner or contractor relationships are structured.

27 1.3.B.

3.2.1.8

Is this grant open to programs that are targeting preschool students? If so, is there a guidance reference for what the State considers to be best practice for high dosage tutoring for preschool? If not, is the grant open to programs that include preschool students in a continuum of services for students from preschool to early elementary grades?

Yes, the grant is open to all eligible entities that serve grades Pre‐K to 3rd. High‐dosage tutoring is not generally developmentally appropriate for students in preschool.

Therefore, high‐dosage tutoring should generally target students in 1st to 3rd grade.

28 Recorded Programs If a grantee is submitting on behalf of a partnership, would all the partners be required to submit a recorded program document, attachment B?

Would there be an expectation that all partners serving kids directly be a recorded program?

The Applicant, if awarded, will become the Grantee and will be responsible for meeting all requirements of the RFA and final Grant Agreement, including providing evidence of compliance with the DELC recording requirements as stated in Section 5.1 of the RFA.

29 Budget ‐Attachment E When entering costs in Attachment E contract services section, do we consider tutoring costs to be a participant or staff cost?

Do we have to break down the cost of staff time doing tutoring live vs other assessment and reporting duties?

Would it be considered participant cost instructional materials if we were using on online assessment tool?

If tutoring is being provided to students, it would be considered a participant cost. If tutor training is being provided to staff, it would be considered a staff cost.

Staff time spent delivering direct service, including in‐person tutoring, delivering assessments, and reporting, would be considered a direct service cost for that personnel.

Online assessment tools being used with students would be considered a participant cost.

30 Budget‐ attachment E When imputing staff salaries or hours supporting implementation, should it only include direct instruction of literacy activities, outreach, etc?

For example, a program runs for 90 minutes and in that time, there is 45 minutes of literacy activities, snack, community building, as well as other structured peer to peer activities that are essential for relationship building and relevant instruction.

Would we count the 45 minutes of literacy only activities or the 90 minutes of the whole program?

Direct literacy, or literacy integrated activities, would qualify. Snack time or non‐literacy related activities would not qualify.