REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS GUIDELINES Youth Access Grants Program Implementation Office of the Assistant Secretary for Education and Access (ASEA) Program Description The goal of the Youth Access Grants (YAG) program is to reach underserved youth (K-12) and educators working in under-resourced communities through the use of technology. The projects must reach people where they are and have a clear and measurable impact on the target audience. Priority may be given in cases where work is taking place in communities that are rural, in the deep South, and/or in the states with the lowest performing school districts which include: Nevada, Mississippi, New Mexico, Idaho, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arizona, Louisiana, Texas, California, Arkansas, South Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan, Georgia, West Virginia, Utah, Missouri, and Florida. The Youth Access Grants program will create a learning community of Smithsonian educators, their internal and external partners, and experts within the field. Through an open exchange of lessons learned and best practices, we will have an opportunity to take successful projects to scale and reach audiencesthat are geographically and culturally diverse. Ultimately, learners of all ages will have an opportunity to access the vast resources of the Smithsonian both virtually and at the Institution s museums, research centers, and the zoo. Implementation Grants Implementation grants will support activities that are ready for implementation and/or that can be taken to scale or replicated. Projects submitted must demonstrate strong external and/or internal collaborationsand clearly defined goals and outcomes. Grants will be awarded in the amounts of $50,000 to $150,000. The grant term should not exceed 12 months. (Please note that receiving a Youth Access Planning Grant is not a prerequisite for applying for an Implementation Grant.) Who is Eligible? Principal Investigators for the proposed projects must be Smithsonian educators. All Smithsonian educators are eligible to apply. (Please reference the Definitions Page. ) Match Requirement All Youth Access Grants require a one-to-one match. Matching funds for Implementation grants must be secured with new and/or outside funds. To meet the match requirement, these funds must have been awarded within 12 months of the date the proposal is submitted. Fifty percent of the match must be confirmed at the time of the proposal submission. The remaining 50% must be secured by the end of the grant term.
Confirmation of matching funds may be verified in one of two ways: 1) a written letter from the funder confirming that the funds may be used as a match for YAG funds for the stated project; or 2) written confirmation from the unit s Director of Education or Director to include the name and/or source of the matching funds. Confirmed sources of eligible matching funds should not be applied to more than one request for YAG funds. For example, if you have secured $50,000 in matching funds from X source, thesefunds may only be used to match a total of $50,000 in requested YAG funds. Matching funds may also include in-kind goods and services such as software, hardware, and service maintenance. In-kind matches require written confirmation from the donor determining the fair market value of the gift. Smithsonian staff time, space, and equipment are NOT eligible for matching funds. Please note that other grants or awards received through funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (e.g., Grand Challenges Awards) may NOT be used as matching funds. Grantee Forum All grant recipients will be required to attend and present at a forum on a date to be determined. The forum will provide an opportunity for grantees to share lessons learned and best practices. We may also invite experts from the field. Use of Funds Funding will support project development, meeting and convening expenses, invitational and staff travel, and consultant fees. Up to 50% of funds can be allocated toward staff salary and benefits. All anticipated expenses related to the project activity must be listed in the project budget and addressed in the budget justification. Funds may NOT be used for construction, capital, contributions to endowments, furnishings, or general operating expenses. Evaluation Criteria All proposals will be reviewed based on the following criteria. The project must: - Provide culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged youth greater access to our resources; - Use technology to reach a clearly defined target audience; - Demonstrate strong collaboration with one or more established project partners; - Include a logic model which maps the resources, audience, activities, long and shortterm outcomes (or impacts) of the project; and - Demonstrate achievable goals and outcomes. How to Apply? Please be sure to reference the DEFINITIONS page and the four Smithsonian Grand Challenges before preparing your proposal materials.
Please submit the following items: 1) Completed and signed cover sheet. 2) Narrative that includes but is not limited to the following: (no more than six to eight pages) - Introductory paragraph briefly stating the activities that will be directly supported through the Youth Access Grant funds. Please restate the amount requested and the time period within which the activity is taking place. - Brief summary of the project s history and development to date. - Brief description of the project goals. - Identification and description of the target audience: o Describe the underserved population and/or under-resourced community identified as your target audience. o Describe your current relationship with the targeted audience, their needs and how the project addresses their needs. o Demonstrate how you will include youth voices and/or perspectives to implement your project. - Description of the expertise and contributions that your internal and external collaborators and/or partners will provide in implementing the project. - Description of how the project will be taken to scale and/or duplicated. - Description of how the project activities connect to the content and/or collections of your unit or other Smithsonian units. - Demonstration of how the project addresses one or more of the four Smithsonian Grand Challenges and core state or national education standards. o List the specific Grand Challenge(s) and related content that will be addressed. o List the specific standard(s) that will be mastered and the project activities directly linked to those standards. - Evidence of the project s alignment with critical 21 st century skills; o List the specific skill(s) that will be mastered and the project activities directly linked to those skills. - Description of the technology that has been selected.
- Description of the rationale that was used to determine the appropriateness of the chosen technology. - Technology Plan: o Infrastructure: How does this technology build upon existing Smithsonian technology and/or current technologies available to the public? o Maintenance: As technology advances, how will you ensure that your chosen technology is no longer obsolete? o Distribution: How will people have continued access to the content or knowledge gained from the project activity? o Training: How will you train the educators and/or youth who will use the technology? - Anticipated risks and challenges and an explanation of how you plan to mitigate them. - Description of the intended change and impact that will result from implementing the project activities. Be sure to include the following: o Specific number of participants who will be served by each of the activities; o Tools you will use to measure the effectiveness of the stated outcomes; and o Evidence that will substantiate that the project activities have led to the stated outcomes. - Description of plans for sustainability over time. 3) Short bios for Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator(s). (No more than half a pagefor each bio). 4) Evidence of an established relationship between at least one of the partners implementing the project. Please provide a copy of the written agreement. 5) Itemized project budget and budget justification for the full term of the project, which includes confirmed source and amount of matching funds. (Please see attached budget template and budget justification guidelines.) 6) Written confirmation of the match (50% or more) received to date. 7) Letters of support from funders, partners, and/or members of your target audience who can attest to your existing relationship, if relevant. 8) Logic Model that maps the information provided within the proposal narrative and includes resources, target audience, project activities, outputs, short and long-term outcomes, and impact.(if you need technical assistance or guidance, please be in touch with Karen C. Garrett and she will coordinate that effort.)
9) Use Case that provides examples of how the target audience performs the project activities while addressing the Grand Challenges, education standards, and 21 st century skills. 10) Timeline to include dates and activities described in the proposal narrative and listed in the logic model. 11) Work sample(s): If available, please submit examples of the prototypes or modules that demonstrate the technology being used in the project which may include a URL, PowerPoint, PDF, etc. Proposal materials are due Monday, August 8, COB. Please email proposal materials toyagimpsubmissions2016@collab.si.edu. The ASEA staff will review all submissions and contact the Principal Investigators with questions, requests for clarification and/or additional information. We will convene a panel of experts in such areas as education, technology, evaluation, and informal and formal learning. All panelists will be selected from outside of the Smithsonian Institution. Once the panel process is completed, Principal Investigators will receive written notification regarding the status of their proposals by October. If a grant has been awarded, we will also confirm the amount to be awarded. Panel comments will be made available upon request. Grants and Reporting Requirements Grantees will receive an award letter and a letter of agreement. Letters of agreement must be signed by the Principal Investigator, the unit Director, the unit s Director of Education, as well as the unit s Administrative Officer. Interim and final reporting requirements will be included in the letter of agreement. Who to Contact? Please contact Karen Garrett at garrettk@si.edu or 202-633-0628 with any questions about the program or the submission process. Youth Access Implementation Grants RFP 2016: Guidelines 5