Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2010

Workplace Education Planning Grants are designed for partnerships between/among education providers, business partners, and unions (where the workforce is unionized) to:

1. identify the need for instructional services for adult incumbent workers lacking the basic foundation skills of a high school graduate (ABE) and/or the need for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services for limited English speakers within a specific business or a consortium of businesses;

2. assess the readiness of the business(es)/organization(s) to support a contextualized educational program that meets the basic skills needs of its incumbent workforce; and

3. plan for program components: recruitment; assessment; contextualized curriculum; data collection; partnership/team governance; and program evaluation.

Priorities are to support applicants that propose to:

1. partner with businesses identified as critical and emerging industries/clusters as cited by regional labor market demand and supply data; and

2. integrate ABE/ESOL with industry skills training/work readiness training to develop increased economic self sufficiency and a more productive workforce.

Eligible applicants are public and private non-profit entities that include:

• cities and towns;

• school districts;

• community colleges and other institutions of higher learning; and

• community-based organizations.

These entities must be in partnership with a specifically identified business, organization, or consortium of such businesses/organizations. If workers who are to be served by the educational program at the workplace are unionized, the labor union must be a partner.

$66,000 is available for up to 15-20 planning grants to be awarded.

Applicants may request from $2,000 to $6,000 to conduct a Workplace Needs Analysis (WNA) planning process to determine the readiness of the partnership to support a multi-year instructional program for incumbent workers.

Funding must be used to conduct an assessment of the needs and assets of the partnership to design, deliver, and evaluate an effective workplace education program. These funds must be used to inform the development of a contextualized curriculum by the identification of:

1. current or future job-related basic skills needs: e.g., reading, writing, mathematics, and/or English communication among the workforce; and

2. materials and other appropriate resources in the workplace from which relevant themes or topics for instruction may be adapted and identified for contextualized development.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Competitive proposals must be received at the Department by 3:00 p.m. on the date due.

1.      Part I - General - Program Unit Signature Page - (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)

2.      Part II Budget Detail Pages (Include both pages.) - Instructions

3. Budget Narrative (See Part III, Section IV - Budget and Budget Narrative.)

4.     Part III - Required Program Information.

5.     Workplace Needs Analysis Report (due Friday, September 25, 2009)

1. Workplace Education Standards and Indicators of Program Quality
   http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/grants/grants06/rfp/538.html

2.     Policies for Instruction and Matching Funds

3. For a list of education providers funded by ACLS, businesses may contact Olivia Steele at osteele@doe.mass.edu.

Submit four (4) complete sets of the proposal, with original signatures of the Superintendent/Executive Director/President (in blue ink) on two (2) sets. Deliver/Mail to: