Main Content: Grant Management
Effectively administrating the day to day operations of the SPDG projects is a key component in implementing successful projects. To assist SPDG Directors and Coordinators in managing their initiatives we will regularly post resources to this page in the following areas of budgeting; contracting and distribution of funds; recruitment of staff, working with assigned OSEP Project Officers, and building strong collaborative partnerships with PTI/CPRC and Institutes of Higher Education.
SPDG FY 2013 Budget and President Obama's FY 2014 Proposal
President Obama released his proposed FY 2014 budget on (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part D, Subpart 1) on April 9, 2012:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget14/justifications/j-specialed.pdf.
The SPDG info starts on page J-61 - National activities: State personnel development (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part D, Subpart 1).
FY 2014 Budget Authority (dollars in thousands):
(PAST - not included in report 2011: $46.8M)
2012: $43,917
2013 $43,917
2014 Request: $45.0 Change from 2012 + $1.094
U. S. Department of Education Grants Management Training
U.S. Department of Education Grants Management Training: http://vpp.ed.gov/training/. This training is important for new grantees and anyone who wants to brush up on important guidance for managing their grant.
Budgeting and Contracting
Grant Management PLC - Dawn Kliphan, Maine SPDG Director,provided a short presentation on what Maine does in designing and managing contractual agreements for the SPDG. Information covered in her presentation includes:1) contract design in a logic model structure; 2) the criteria used to establish goals, objectives, strategies, indicators, deliverables and data collection; and 3) resources and budgets. Provided below is her PPT and the resources shared.
Conference Spending
Memorandum To Ed Grantees Regarding The Use Of Grant Funds For Conferences And Meetings (PDF, June 2012). This memorandum from the Office of the Chief Financial Office, U.S. Department of Education outlines factors to consider in use of grant funds for conferences and meetings. All federally funded grants are required to adhere to these requirements. We encourage you to review the document and meet with your OSEP Project Officer to ensure your project is appropriately following the guidelines when hosting trainings and conferences.
Final Reporting and No-cost Extensions
The Final Year of Your Project
In the final year of their project grantees do not need to send in a continuation report. Instead, grantees must send in their final report within 90 days of the final day of their project. If a grantee has money left in their account that they need to use to complete activities approved in their application they can email their Project Officer to request a no-cost extension of up to one year.
Requesting No-cost extensions
At the time the no-cost extension is requested, about 30 days before the end of the grant, the Project Officer will need a continuation report emailed to them. The Project Officer will also need to know: (1) the amount the grantee has remaining in their budget, (2) the activities the grantee wants to continue to conduct that align with approved objectives, (3) how much of the budget will be used for each activity, and (4) why the grantee was not able to spend the entire budget within 5 years.
NCE REporting Form, This is the form OSEP provides to states to capture information about the no cost extension (NCE).
Organizing SPDG Personnel and Coordinating Organizations and Projects
Grant Coordination of personnel & projects at all levels (PPT, 9/2012) (PPT, 9/2011). Melanie Lemoine, Louisiana SPDG Director, presented details on how Louisiana coordinations its people, organizations, and projects. Session Recording (30 min).
Resource shared on the 9/2012 session - SPDG Evaluators' Session: Using and Implementing Goal Attainment Scales as a Way to Measure Progress (June 2012, M. Ballay & A. Gaumer Erickson)
Effectively Organizing SPDG Personnel: Challenges & Strategies (PPT, 10/2011, Grant Management PLC). Cyndi Boezio, Colorado’s SPDG Director, shared challenges and strategies for effectively organizing SPDG personnel. Related Resrouces:
Colorado School-wide PBIS Initiative Individual TAC Meeting Report (WORD, 2011)
Minigrant Data Checklist (EXCEL, 2011)
SPDG Data Reporting Requirements by Initiative (EXCEL, 2011)
Sharepoint Data Entry Window (PDF, 2011)
OSEP Key Resources for Grant Management
The following 8 items can also be downloaded: WORD (as of 2/2012)
1) Logic Modeling and Performance Measure Training
• The Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University has created two Voice-over PowerPoint presentations for OSEP: (1) How to create and use logic models, and (2) How to create high quality objectives and performance measures.
• For training on modules, see - http://www.tadnet.org/model_and_performance
2) Timely Submissions of Annual Performance Reports, Data Reports, and Service Obligation Data
• According to 34 CFR 75.253(a)(3), the timely submission of this report is one of the factors that the Secretary will consider in determining whether to continue your project's funding for next fiscal year.
• According to section 75.217(d)(3)(ii), the Secretary can consider the failure to submit scholar data in a timely fashion in determining your project’s ability to obtain future grants from the Office of Special Education Programs or under any other Department program.
3) Grant Forms
• Department of Education forms for grant applications and annual and final performance reports. Go to http://www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/appforms.html.
4) E-Reports
• E-GRANTS is the Department of Education's (ED) portal site for electronic grants. From e-GRANTS you may access all of the Department's web-based grant systems. Go to http://vpp.ed.gov/training/
• "Help" is available on line; via e-mail; or by calling the G5 Hotline (Helpdesk) at 1-888-336-8930. Helpdesk hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, Washington, D.C. time. If you have a problem or encounter an error message on any of the applications, save your work if you can. Then, logout of the site and restart your browser.
5) Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR)
• These regulations are used by the Department to administer and manage its discretionary grant programs. Go to http://www2.ed.gov/policy/fund/reg/edgarReg/edgar.html.
6) Circular No. A-21
• These are the principles for determining costs applicable to grants, contracts, and other agreements with educational institutions. Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a021_2004/.
7) Disclaimer Language on Project Work
• Use the following disclaimer as required by EDGAR §75.620 –
The contents of this (insert type of publication; e.g., report, presentation, brief) were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, #H325xxxxxx. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, xxxxxx x. xxxxxxxx.
• Use the OSEP logo, IDEAs that Work, on each document, publication, presentation PowerPoint, etc. to identify your funding source.
• Logo templates are at http://www.nectac.org/ecprojects/logo.htm
8) Subscribe to the Federal Register
• To subscribe to the Federal Register Table of Contents LISTSERV electronic mailing list, go to http://listserv.access.gpo.gov and select Online Mailing List Archives, FEDREGTOC-L, Join or leave the list
Miscellaneous Resources
Disclaimer Template For Practice/Research-Based Products (4/2011). This provides instructions and boiler plate language to be used for practices and products produced using OSEP funds.
OSEP Project Officer's SPDG Call Form (September 2010). This is the form used by Project Officers when meeting with SPDG Directors & Evaluators
The IDEAs that Work LogoIDEA Discretionary Grants Page and Performance Report (continuation report) Packages
Evaluation of the State Program Improvement Grant (SIG) Program: Final Report (PDF, December 2007 Fiore, T.A., Munk, T.E. & Langham, A., Westat; Magliocca, L.A.,) Ohio State University] Icludes a systems change model & an elegant way of designating outcomes as robust, solid, probable & possible. Outcome evidence is provided to support the categorization of the outcomes. There is also a very interesting section on administrative leadership. Please note that this is a SIG rather than SPDG report. As such, some of the outcomes are a bit dated (e.g., participation in assessment) given the passage of NCLB.
Findings from Westat’s Evaluation of the State Improvement Grant Program: Implementation Issues, Systemic Change, & Project Outcomes (PPT, February 2010, Fiore T.A. & Langham, A., Westat; Magliocca, L.A.Ohio State University) This presentation describes how results from Westat’s SIG Program evaluation can be used to inform SPDG evaluations.
FFATA Reporting Requirements
ED issued a grant policy bulletin (GB 10-03) on November 22, 2010 that addresses FFATA reporting requirements, and conducted POC specific, agency-wide, grantee training at the time the bulletin was issued. Here is the PPT that the U.S. Department of Education used for a Webinar to explain FFATA; it can also be found at www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/webinarslides11-9-10.ppt - 2011-02-11.
ED Grants subject to subaward reporting must:
* Report, in FSRS.gov, all subawards equal to or greater than 25K by the end of the month following the month the subawards were made.
All ED grants awarded on or after 10/01/2010 are subject to executive compensation reporting and must:
* Report executive compensation as part of their registration profile if the grant awarded is for 25K or more, AND 80% or more of the grantee's gross revenue comes from Federal sources, AND 25 million or more of the grantee's gross revenues are from Federal sources. Grantees that meet these conditions must report in CCR unless executive compensation information is available to the public resulting from other reports filed with the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Since program staff often do not know the amounts or sources of a grantee's gross revenue, or if a grantee has filed executive compensation data through SEC and IRS reports, the onus lies with grantee to ensure that they comply with Attachments O and/or P as conditions of their grant awards based on their knowledge of their gross revenue amounts and sources, and SEC and IRS reporting. An ED grantee that fails to comply is in violation of its grant terms and conditions and of FFATA.
For additional information, go to www.FSRS.gov. There is a wealth of information available to the public on that site that includes the FFATA legislation, OMB's FFATA reporting guidance, FAQ's regarding FFATA, an FSRS systems user guide, and a webinar overview.
Categories: Main Content