IID ARRA Eligible SAUs

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA)
Title IID Enhancing Education Through Technology
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Competitive Grants

Questions and Answers

A recording of the RFP Info and Grant Writing Session is available online at this link
http://stateofmaine.na4.acrobat.com/p68218450/

The Question and Answer period for the RFP has ended.

Questions and Answers – The most recent questions appear at the top of the list.

Q: How do we deal with a new RSU that may not yet have a united tech plan?
A: The RSU does not need a unified plan. The RSU is covered by the plans of the school administrative units making up the new entity.

Q: Is there a form that should be signed by partnering districts in a consortium? The one included in the RFP is really for the district acting as fiscal agent.
A: There is no form that should be signed by partnering SAUs in the consortium. Identify them in the narrative. The superintendent of the SAU submitting the proposal is the only required signatory.

Q: Do the teacher representatives from each superintendent’s region have to be in a district identified as high poverty in each region, or can it be teachers in the region from schools not on the list, but who have high expertise in the content area??
A: The teacher representative from a superintendent’s regions does not have to be employed by in a district identified as high poverty. Expertise in the content area should be a priority.

Q: Regarding the nonpublic schools form- does it just need to be included for schools, if any, in the applying fiscal district, and not other schools in a consortium?
A: The non-public school form must be completed for those schools in the catchment area of the SAU submitting the proposal as the fiscal agent.

Q: Can indirect be charged by the district acting as fiscal agents and is there a limit?
A: The SAU acting as the fiscal agent can charge a 3% administrative fee.

Q: How are you defining professional development?
A: A description of professional development can be found in the introduction to “Achieving Results” http://www.maine.gov/education/achievingresults/intro.htm

Q: The focus this first year is on researching OERs. Is much of that work- exploring and identifying resources-considered professional development or learning??
A: Professional development hopefully involves learning! The description provided in the introduction to the Department publication “Achieving Results” captures the essence of professional development. It “regards teachers as learners and supports collegiality and collaboration rather than separation. Research tells us that training and development must: include a clear purpose and well-defined, assessable goals that are anchored in student learning; be ongoing and grounded in each individual's job; clearly demonstrate the connections between old and new educational methods; provide appropriate models including training, observation, inquiry, and mentoring; feature site-based activities that emphasize relevance and real-world applicability; and involve planning for the long-term, as the process must be seen as a long-term investment.”

Q: What counts as administration?
A: Administration are activities like fiscal management and the “nuts and bolts” work like making meeting arrangements or scheduling on-line meetings.

Q: Is it true that the grantee will need to assemble a team that includes members from each of the 9 superintendents regions in the state?
A: Yes, the content team must include a teacher from each superintendents region.

Q: I presume that you are looking for a proposal that will hire a person to coordinate all of these people as they dig around for appropriate OER for whatever content area we choose to focus on. Is that correct?
A: No, not necessarily.

Q: Do all superintendent regions need to be represented, even though they are not all poverty districts??
A: Yes.

Q: Do you have to file a letter of intent in order to submit a proposal?
A: A letter of intent is not required, but requested to help gauge interest.

Q: If the proposal is coming from a consortium or statewide initiative involving multiple districts and regional partnerships, do all the superintendents need to sign off in the letter of intent?
A: The letter of intent should be signed by the superintendent of the school administrative unit that will be submitting the proposal for the consortium.

Q: Do you really need to have a representative from ALL superintendent regions, if you’ve got an existing network that covers most- but not all??
A: The RFP and the Rider A of the contract requires that the team must include representatives from each of the Maine School Superintendent’s Regions.

Q: Can adult education staff be included on the content teams?
A: Yes.

Q: Can you kindly tell me if a district not on the list of eligible SAUs can partner with an institution of higher learning to apply for this grant?
A: A school administrative unit (SAU) not eligible to submit a proposal can work with an SAU that is eligible to submit a proposal in a collaborative arrangement that can also include representatives of institutes of higher education and/or related professional organizations.

Q: For the PD portion of the OER, do we create it, or does it have to exist within the OER source?
A: The goal of this grant is to identify Open Educational Resources. If there are related professional development materials or strategies that is great. Developing professional development will be support in the Phase 2 RFP.

Q: How can we, as a regional technical center, participate in this technology integration grant? And further, how will we connect this to content areas, and CTE.
A; Technical center teachers can connect through the eligible SAUs in their regions. Contact the superintendents to learn if the districts are part of a collaborative team or considering developing a proposal.

Q: Are Phase 1 grants connected to Phase 2 grants? If you are awarded a Phase 1 grant does the district automatically get a Phase 2 grant?
A: Districts awarded a phase 1 grant will not automatically get a Phase 2 grant. The information gathered in Phase 1 will inform the work in Phase 2.

Q: What is the reason for having a representative from each Superintendent’s Region?
A: There are two reasons for having representatives from various regions in the state. It is important that teachers from across the state have the opportunity to contribute to the work. An equally important outcome is that a network of teachers be created or existing networks enhanced that will enable the collaborative work of creating and using open educational resources to continue after the grant itself ends.

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