GRANT FUNDS AVAILABLE FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
I. Purpose of Program: The Investing in Innovation Fund, established under section 14007 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), provides funding to support (1) local educational agencies (LEAs), and (2) nonprofit organizations in partnership with (a) one or more LEAs or (b) a consortium of schools. The purpose of this program is to provide competitive grants to applicants with a record of improving student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on improving student achievement or student growth (as defined in this notice), closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and completion rates.
II. Award Information
Types of Award: Cooperative agreements (for Scale-up grants) and discretionary grants (for Validation grants and Development grants).Estimated Available Funds: $643,500,000.Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of applications, we may make additional awards in FY 2011 from the list of unfunded applicants from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards:
Scale-up grants: Up to $50,000,000.
Validation grants: Up to $30,000,000.
Development grants: Up to $5,000,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards:
Scale-up grants: $40,000,000.
Validation grants: $17,500,000.
Development grants: $3,000,000.
Estimated Number of Awards:
Scale-up grants: Up to 5 awards.
Validation grants: Up to 100 awards.
Development grants: Up to 100 awards.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this notice.
Project Period: 36-60 months.
Eligibility Information and Program Requirements
The Secretary establishes the following requirements for the Investing in Innovation Fund. We may apply these requirements in any year in which this program is in effect.
Providing Innovations That Improve Achievement for High-Need Students: All eligible applicants must implement practices, strategies, or programs for high-need students (as defined in this notice).
Eligible Applicants: Entities eligible to apply for Investing in Innovation Fund grants include: (a) An LEA or (b) a partnership between a nonprofit organization and (1) one or more LEAs or (2) a consortium of schools. An eligible applicant that is a partnership applying under section 14007(a)(1)(B) of the ARRA must designate one of its official partners (as defined in this notice) to serve as the applicant in accordance with the Department's regulations governing group applications in 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129.
First-come, first-serve! Space is limited, filled timeslots will be unavailable.
Click on Women in Trades Career Fair; then on Register Your School or Group.
MARK THESE IMPORTANT 2010 DATES!
* Tuesday January 5th Fair registration opens
* Last week in February Student recruiting posters (sent to registered schools or groups)
* 1st week in April Confirmation packet (sent to registered schools or groups)
THE FAIR!
* Thursday, April 29th Middle School Girls Day
* Friday, April 30th High School Girls Day
* Saturday, May 1st Careers for Women Day (open to the public)
The schedules for the School Girl Days are located on the above web site. Four groups are available on Middle School Girls Day and High School Girls Day. Sign up on-line for one of these timeslots.
Required Parent Authorization and Photo Release forms can be downloaded from our website. May we suggest copying, distributing and collecting these as soon as possible to help confirm final attendance numbers. Thank you.
Transportation Assistance Grants: we offer a limited number of grants of up to $225 to help defray bus costs. Apply on-line. Special thanks to our industry supporters for providing these grants!
Careers for Women Day: No registration is needed on this day. We encourage young women unable to attend the school days to come on Saturday.
Thank you for bringing your students to the Northwest's largest hands-on, non-traditional career fair!
AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER TRANSITION SURVEY. PLEASE HELP IMPROVE TRANSITION SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AUTISM IN OREGON!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Some users who use Internet Explorer as their default browser report having trouble with the button above. If that is the case, to register click: Complete Autism Survey
Columbia Regional Program is conducting a survey on transition planning and services related to Oregon students and residents ages 14 and older who have received Special Education services through an IEP under the category of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) since 2004. This survey asks questions regarding what is currently occurring and what is needed to enhance the transition from school to adulthood for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
The information from this survey will be used to prioritize training and resources that need to be developed.
You are being asked to take part in this survey because we are interested in your experience in secondary transition with one individual with ASD, as well as your thoughts about training and resources that would be valuable. Your response is important to help prioritize the content and form of training and resources for staff. You know best what is currently happening in secondary transition and what would most augment your ability to facilitate successful transition outcomes for individuals with ASD.
Your participation in the survey and the information that you provide will be anonymous. We will not collect any information that can identify you, an individual with ASD, or your specific place of employment.
It should take about 15 minutes to complete this survey.
For completing this survey, you will receive a link to a document with excellent information on ASD and secondary transition, as well as a link for the results of this survey.
The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) annually awards $5 million in scholarships and reaches 2,300 Oregon students through our statewide scholarship program. Two of these scholarship programs are targeted specifically to Native American students.
Verl and Dorothy Miller Native American Scholarship
Eligible students include Native American residents of Oregon attending or planning to attend an accredited trade or vocational school in Oregon. The awards are for $1,500-$3,000 / year - Students may apply and compete for the scholarship for up to four years.
Howard Vollum American Indian Scholarship
Eligible students include Native American residents of Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Clark counties seeking post-secondary education or training in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. The awards are for $3,000 / year for up to five years of undergraduate study and two years of graduate study.
Criteria for both scholarships
* Participation in school or community activities
* Personal accomplishments or achievements
* Preference given to students who have a demonstrated commitment to and involvement in the Native American community
* Open to students with a Certification of tribal enrollment or decedents of enrolled members
FAFSA TIPS AND RESOURCES FOR FOSTER AND UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH WITHOUT STABLE HOUSING
Certain questions on the 2009-10 FAFSA may cause particular difficulty for foster youth and youth without stable housing. These questions are highlighted and answered to help youth in these situations. The following weblinks address these issues:
SHARING YTP CLIENT PROGRESS NOTES WITH VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION COUNSELORS ON A REGULAR BASIS
As a best practice, YTP Transition Specialists should share YTP client progress notes electronically with their Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC) partners on a systematic and scheduled basis. Every 2 months would be a good schedule to consider.
The electronic (e.g. email, progress notes in document form attached to an email, etc.) sharing of progress notes allows the VRC to copy and paste those notes into their ORCA system (OVRS's data management system). It also fosters communication, teamwork, collaboration, "next step" thinking in terms of plan development, readiness for employment, and other benchmarks along the path of rehabilitation that VRCs are required to report on.
METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES "WAYS TO WORK" PROGRAM AVAILABLE TO WORKING PARENTS WHO ARE RESIDENTS OF MULTNOMAH, WASHINGTON, AND CLACKAMAS COUNTIES
There is an alternative for responsible, working parents to receive low-interest auto loans.
Ways to Work is a national program of Alliance for Children and Families that allows qualified working parents who are unable to get funds elsewhere, to receive loans up to $4,000 to purchase, repair or refinance a car.
The first program of its kind in Oregon, Ways to Work is operated locally by Metropolitan Family Service.
Loan Eligibility:
To be eligible for loan consideration, a potential borrower must:
* Be employed three months continuously
* Be an involved parent
* Have exhausted other loan sources
* Have a household income less than 80% of the Portland median income (80% for a family of 4 is $54,300)
* Reside in Multnomah, Clackamas, or Washington County
Borrowers agree to repay the loan at an 8% interest rate within two years. The money is then made available to other applicants.
For more information regarding loans contact our Ways to Work Coordinator at (503) 232-0007, ext. 303. Or visit the "Ways To Work" website at: http://www.metfamily.org/waystowork.htm
Don't reside in the Tri-County area and want to find out more? Contact your Family Services agency in your community by looking in the blue pages of the phone book, or contact Metropolitan Family Services at the number above to ask if there is a "Ways to Work" option in your community. You may also be able to find out more about this program by going to the National "Ways to Work" website at: http://www.waystowork.org/index.html
DHS IN ILLINOIS REPLICATES KEY FEATURES OF OREGON'S YTP WITH THEIR TRANSITION SPECIALIST PROGRAM
"The Transition Specialist (TS) program provides for a rehabilitation specialist team consisting of a specialist/s, specialist aide (as needed), and a secretary. Customers served by this team are those in Secondary Transitional Experience Program (STEP), those who have completed the program or any of the school's customers with disabilities who may need rehabilitation services prior to or upon leaving the school setting. The services are provided according to Department of Human Services/Department of Rehabilitation Services (DHS/DRS) policies and procedures. The functions and duties of the specialist/s, specialist aide, and secretary are primarily those prescribed for the DHS/DRS general rehabilitation counselor and secretary. All casework procedures for serving customers and the expenditure of DHS/DRS' monies are under the direct supervision of DHS/DRS. TSs serve as the liaison between DHS/DRS and the schools and as the facilitator for the customer's transition from school to work."
YTP TESTIMONALS
"A young man in Tillamook County was essentially illiterate. But he lived and breathed auto body. That's all he wanted to do - auto body. It wasn't our job to discourage that - it was our job to accommodate that."
Clayton Rees coordinates the Youth Transition Program, or YTP, for the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS). He says it's all about turning a young person's passion -- like auto body -- into a blueprint for success.
"We helped this young man learn occupational reading skills," remembers Rees, "skills that were germane to his job -- like reading a repair manual. He didn't have to understand how a noun and verb are arranged properly. He only had to know how the pieces of a car fit together. We developed a program for him in an auto body shop -- and he learned auto body repair, a job he still holds after more than seven years."
Federally financed, YTP is a service of DHS, the University of Oregon and the Oregon Department of Education. School districts wishing to participate submit proposals to DHS and commit matching dollars to help pay for a transition specialist in the school.
The goal is to help students with disabilities transition from school to paid, competitive employment, post-secondary education and/or independent living.
The first step? Help students identify vocational goals. "Some schools have a student store, for example, or a coffee cart where students can sample the business world," Rees says. "Students also visit community colleges and vocational schools, and learn basic skills like filling out an application and writing a resume."
Although the transition specialist helps coordinate the program, Rees says, the students drive the process -- their interests, skills and preferences are incorporated directly into their individual plans.
Individual plans help identify services students will need to carry out their employment plans, such as transportation, work clothing, on-the-job training or interpretive services.
Rees says part of YTP's success hinges on parent involvement: "I recall a person who had cerebral palsy and he was not regarded as someone with competitive skills. In fact, some who worked with him believed the best he could hope for would be to shred papers in a sheltered workshop.
"But his mother insisted that he receive educational and work opportunities. As a result, he completed high school and received employment assistance through the YTP in his school. Today he's working for $10 an hour at a bookstore running books through a scanner."
After a student graduates, the YTP team provides follow-up support for up to two years. "We want to see these kids engaged -- working at least 30 hours a week, taking additional credit hours or in some kind of training," Rees says.
A national study of high school students with disabilities says 47 percent drop out without graduating but, among Oregon YTP students, 90 percent leave high school with a diploma.
Nationally, only 46 percent of youth with disabilities are employed two years after leaving school, compared with 71 percent of Oregon's YTP participants.
"These are very impressive figures," says Lu Ann Anderson, former Oregon Department of Education Transition Specialist. "This program is a good thing for kids -- and a good thing for Oregon's economy."
"YTP allows kids to understand they have options," says Rees. "They know that there are jobs out there they can do. And, bottom line, if they're employed as a youth, they're more likely to stay employed through their adult years.
"We're making a difference in a young person's life -- and that's wonderful."
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