Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2006

Workplace Education Planning Grants (Phase 1) are designed for partnerships among education providers, businesses, and unions (where the workforce is unionized) to:

1. identify needs for Adult Basic Education services for the incumbent workforce within a specific business or a consortium of businesses;

2. assess the readiness of the business/organization to support an educational program that meets the basic skills needs of its incumbent workforce; and

3. plan for program components (e.g., recruitment, assessment, curriculum development, data collection, partnership/team governance, and evaluation).

Priorities are to support:

1. a partnership between education provider and a business, or an education provider, a business, and a union (where the workforce is unionized)

2. a partnership between an education provider and more than one business (a business consortium), or an education provider and a number of unionized worksites in which the labor union is the organizational partner (a labor union consortium)

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 to be served by the educational program at the workplace are unionized, the labor union must be a partner.

• Businesses that received Department funding through prior partnerships are not eligible. (See the list of ineligible businesses.)

• Non-profit and not-for-profit businesses may be eligible as partners.

Up to six (6) planning grants may be awarded.

• Phase 1: Applicants may request from $4,000 to $6,000 to conduct a planning process to determine the readiness of the partnership to support a multi-year instructional program for incumbent workers. The planning process must include a Workplace Needs Analysis (WNA) as outlined in Fund Use.

• Phase 2: Partnerships having completed a successful planning process are eligible for multi-year implementation grants. Up to $300,000 is set aside for implementation grants.

Phase 1 funding must be used to conduct a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the educational needs of the incumbent workforce at a workplace (or workplaces) and the readiness of all partners to engage in delivering a quality instructional program (the WNA). This plan must include the following components:

1. the collection, documentation, and analysis of data regarding evidence of incumbent workers lacking the foundation skills of a high school graduate (e.g., reading, writing, speaking, and mathematics) and/or needing English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL);

2. the determination of the need for educational services through input from a representative sampling of perspectives (e.g., potentially participating workers, supervisors, managers, and unions (where the workforce is unionized) );

3. the identification of supports and barriers to worker participation in the educational program;

4. an assessment of the needs and assets of the partnership to design, deliver, support and evaluate a high quality workplace education program. The program must contribute to meeting the needs of the workers, the business, and the union (where the workforce in unionized).

5. evidence that all partners understand and support the multi-year requirements of the program, as documented in a Memorandum of Agreement;

6. the identification of a lead person to convene and train the WNA Team; and

7. a strategy to market the WNA process throughout the organization and an evaluation of the WNA process.

Submit 5 complete sets of the proposal, with an original signature of the Superintendent/ Executive Director/President (in blue ink) on two sets.

Proposals must be received in ACLS not later than THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2006 by 3:00 p.m.

Deliver/Mail to:

Julia Zoino-Jeannetti
Adult and Community Learning Services
Massachusetts Department of Education
350 Main Street
Malden, MA 02148-5023

• Part I - General - Program Unit Signature Page - (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants): [ WORD | PDF ]

• Part II Budget Detail Pages (Include both pages): [ WORD | PDF | EXCEL | Instructions ]

• Part III - Required Program Information: [ WORD | PDF ]

• Letter of Interest-Not Required for Eligibility : [ WORD | PDF ]

• Sample Memorandum of Agreement to Conduct a Workplace Needs Analysis: [ WORD | PDF ]

• Summary Chart for Planning Activities and Key Funding Dates (Phases 1 and 2): [ WORD | PDF ]

• Timeline for Workplace Education Activities in Phase 1: [ WORD | PDF ]

• Businesses Ineligible to Apply (i.e. , previously funded under this grant program): [ WORD | PDF ]

• Summary Chart for Planning Activities and Key Funding Dates (Phases 1 and 2): [ WORD | PDF ]

• Workplace Education: Supplementary Materials for Developing and Delivering Effective Workplace Education Services: [ WORD | PDF ]

  • Workplace Needs Analysis Final Report Guidelines

  • Sample Memorandum of Agreement (Phase 2)

  • Statement of Assurances for Workplace Education

  • Match Requirements for Phase 2

• Workplace Education Grid to Estimate Hours for Assessment: [ WORD | PDF ]

• Workplace Education Standards and Indicators of Program Quality: [ WORD | PDF ]

• Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual