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Request for Competitive Letters of Interest (LOI) for Regional Early Childhood Education Support Specialists (RECESS) Grant Opportunity

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DATE:

Nov. 8, 2018

SUBJECT:

Request for Competitive Letters of Interest (LOI) for Regional Early Childhood Education Support Specialists (RECESS) Grant Opportunity

CATEGORY:

Grant Opportunity

NEXT STEPS:

Partner with Education Service Center (ESC) staff and/or non-profit organizations that support early childhood education

 

The following information should be shared with Education Service Center (ESC) staff and/or non-profit organizations that support early childhood education.

 

Grant Overview

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) seeks to award RECESS grants to ESCs and/or non-profit organizations to support early childhood education quality and access efforts. TEA anticipates awarding grants in May 2019. Grant awards will range between $525,000-$850,000 per grantee. The grant period will run through December 2021. 

The RECESS grant is designed to increase targeted early childhood technical assistance for programs serving children ages birth – five years. TEA will award grants at the regional level to achieve the following objectives:

  • Objective 1: Increase targeted early childhood support in the areas of family engagement, coaching, professional development, and student assessment
  • Objective 2: Increase the quality of teacher-student interactions using an assessment tool
  • Objective 3: Increase and sustain public-private partnerships

These objectives will be accomplished by three main initiatives outlined below. Applicants can choose to apply for one (1) or more of the initiatives. The overall vision of this grant opportunity is ensuring the scalability and sustainability of technical assistance models to lay the groundwork for replication across Texas.

  • Initiative 1: General Early Childhood Support
  • Initiative 2: Improving Teacher-Student Interactions
  • Initiative 3: Regional Public-Private Partnerships

Eligible Applicants

ESCs and/or non-profit organizations that support early childhood education are eligible to apply for this grant opportunity. Grantees will provide targeted early childhood technical assistance to local education agencies (LEAs) and early learning centers (private childcare providers). The TEA aims to select approximately 13 grantees across the state.

Application, Review, and Award Process

Interested ESCs and/or non-profit organizations should review the detailed Request for Competitive LOI and submit the required application(s) electronically via Qualtrics by 5:00 p.m. CT, January 22, 2019. Links to the Request for Competitive LOI and corresponding applications are listed under “Application Materials” at the end of this letter.

An informational webinar will be held on November 14, 2018, to review the requirements of the grant and each initiative. Questions related to the grant will be accepted beginning on November 14-28. See “Application Materials” for additional information. 

TEA staff and peer reviewers will review and score applications and will notify awardees by May 2019.

We look forward to expanding early childhood technical assistance across the state and welcome the opportunity to work with each grant applicant.

Thank you,

Jacquie Porter, Director
Early Childhood Education Division

Application Materials

RECESS Request for Competitive LOI: /sites/default/files/RECESS_Request_for_Letters-of-Interest_2.pdf

RECESS LOI Notice of Intent to Submit (Optional): https://tea.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0wVU5qVARl66pPD

RECESS Initiative 1: General Early Childhood Support Application https://tea.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6RqEbd1etpLsNEh  

RECESS Initiative 2: Improving Teacher-Student Interactions Application https://tea.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_efaRChR0pfsqCZ7

RECESS Initiative 3: Regional Public-Private Partnerships Application https://tea.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3JHiT3CJ8xRfwNv

Critical Dates

11/14/18 – 11:00 AM CT -  RECESS Grant Overview Webinar. Register here:https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6779869466363242497

11/14/18 – First day to submit written questions about RECESS to earlychildhoodeducation@tea.texas.gov

11/28/18 – 5:00 PM CT – Last day to submit written questions about RECESS to earlychildhoodeducation@tea.texas.gov

11/30/18 Answers to written questions about RECESS posted publicly at /node/103534

12/10/18 – 5:00 PM CT – Submit LOI Notice of Intent (optional) via Qualtrics (link above)

1/22/19 – 5:00 PM CT –  Submit LOI Application(s) via Qualtrics (links above)

 

 

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