§ 472.22 - What selection criteria does the Secretary use?

The Secretary uses the following criteria to evaluate an application:

(a) Program factors. (15 points) The Secretary reviews each application to determine the extent to which the project—

(1) Demonstrates a strong relationship between skills taught and the literacy requirements of actual jobs, especially the increased skill requirements of the changing workplace;

(2) Is targeted to adults with inadequate skills for whom the training described is expected to mean new employment, continued employment, career advancement, or increased productivity;

(3) Includes support services, based on cooperative relationships within the partnership and from helping organizations, necessary to reduce barriers to participation by adult workers. Support services could include educational counseling, transportation, and child care during non-working hours while adult workers are participating in a project;

(4) Demonstrates the active commitment of all partners to accomplishing project goals; and

(5) Focuses on improving performance in jobs or job functions that have a broad representation within the Nation's workforce so that the products can be adapted for use by similar workplaces across the Nation.

(b) Extent of need for the project. (10 points) (1) The extent to which the project will focus on demonstrated needs for workplace literacy training of adult workers;

(2) The adequacy of the applicant's documentation of the needs to be addressed by the project;

(3) How those needs will be met by the project; and

(4) The benefits to adult workers and their industries that will result from meeting those needs.

(c) Quality of training. (15 points) The Secretary reviews each application to determine the quality of the training to be provided by the project, including the extent to which the project will—

(1) Develop or use curriculum materials for adults based on literacy skills needed in the workplace;

(2) Use individualized educational plans developed jointly by instructors and adult learners;

(3) Take place in a readily accessible environment conducive to adult learning;

(4) Provide training through the partner classified under §472.2(a)(2), unless transferring this activity to the partner classified under §472.2(a)(1) is necessary and reasonable within the framework of the project; and

(5) Provide, and document for others, a program of training for staff including, but not limited to, techniques of curriculum development and special methods of teaching that are appropriate for workplace environments.

(d) Plan of operation. (15 points) (1) The quality of the project design, especially the establishment of measurable objectives for the project that are based on the project's overall goals;

(2) The extent to which the plan of management is effective and ensures proper and efficient administration of the project, and includes—

(i) A description of the respective roles of each member of the partnership in carrying out the plan;

(ii) A description of the activities to be carried out by any contractors under the plan;

(iii) A description of the respective roles, including any cash or in-kind contributions, of helping organizations;

(iv) A description of the respective roles of any sites; and

(v) A realistic time table for accomplishing project objectives;

(3) How well the objectives of the project relate to the purposes of the program;

(4) The quality of the applicant's plan to use its resources and personnel to achieve each objective; and

(5) How the applicant will ensure that project participants, who are otherwise eligible to participate, are selected without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or handicapping condition.

(e) Applicant's experience and quality of key personnel. (8 points) (1) The Secretary reviews each application to determine the extent of the applicant's experience in providing literacy services to working adults.

(2) The Secretary reviews each application to determine the quality of key personnel the applicant plans to use on the project including—

(i) The qualifications, in relation to project requirements, of the project director;

(ii) The qualifications, in relation to project requirements, of each of the other key personnel to be used in the project;

(iii) The time that each person referred to in paragraphs (e)(2) (i) and (ii) of this section will commit to the project; and

(iv) How the applicant, as part of its nondiscriminatory employment practices, will ensure that its personnel are selected for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or handicapping condition.

(3) To determine personnel qualifications under paragraphs (e)(2) (i) and (ii) of this section, the Secretary considers—

(i) Experience and training in fields related to the objectives of the project;

(ii) Experience and training in project management; and

(iii) Any other qualifications that pertain to the quality of the project.

(f) Evaluation plan. (10 points) The Secretary reviews each application to determine the quality of the plan for an independent evaluation of the project, including the extent to which the applicant's methods of evaluation—

(1) Are clearly explained and appropriate to the project;

(2) To the extent possible, are objective and produce data that are quantifiable;

(3) Identify expected outcomes of the participants and how those outcomes will be measured;

(4) Include evaluation of effects on job advancement, job performance (including, for example, such elements as productivity, safety and attendance), and job retention;

(5) Are systematic throughout the project period and provide data that can be used by the project on an ongoing basis for program improvement; and

(6) Will yield results that can be summarized and submitted to the Secretary for review by the Department's Program Effectiveness Panel.

Note to §472.22(f)(6): The Program Effectiveness Panel (PEP) is a mechanism the Department has developed for validating the effectiveness of educational programs developed by schools, universities, and other agencies. The PEP is composed of experts in the evaluation of educational programs and in other areas of education, at least two-thirds of whom are non-Federal employees who are appointed by the Secretary. Regulations governing the PEP are codified in 34 CFR parts 785–789. Specific criteria for PEP review are found in 34 CFR 786.12 or 787.12.

(g) Budget and cost-effectiveness. (7 points)

(1) The budget is adequate to support the project;

(2) Costs are reasonable and necessary in relation to the objectives of the project; and

(3) The applicant has minimized the purchase of equipment and supplies in order to devote a maximum amount of resources to instructional services.

(h) Demonstration. (5 points) The Secretary reviews each application to determine the quality of the applicant's plan, during the grant period, to disseminate the results of the project, including—

(1) Demonstrating promising practices used by the project to others interested in implementing these techniques;

(2) Conducting workshops or delivering papers at national conferences or professional meetings; and

(3) Making available material that will help others implement promising practices developed in the project.

(i) Commitment. (5 points) The Secretary reviews each application to determine the quality of the applicant's plan to institutionalize learning in the workplace based on promising practices demonstrated in the project. In making this determination, the Secretary considers—

(1) The general, but realistic, forecast of literacy needs of members of the partnership and the capacity of the partners;

(2) Activities that will increase, during the grant period, the capacity of partners to provide a coherent program of learning in the workplace; and

(3) Activities that will lead to the continued provision or expansion of work-based literacy services built on successful outcomes of the project. For example, the partners could—

(A) Integrate workplace literacy services into the long-term planning of partner organizations;

(B) Create and implement policies and practices that encourage worker participation in workplace literacy and other education and training opportunities;

(C) Provide training that will enable partners to build a capacity to furnish necessary workplace literacy services in the future;

(D) Establish relationships within the partnership or with other entities that will continue provision of necessary workplace literacy services after the project ends; or

(E) Plan, after the project has ended, to expand services to other locations, divisions, or suppliers of the business or industry partners or labor organizations.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control numbers 1830–0507 and 1830–0521)

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1211(a))

[54 FR 34418, Aug. 18, 1989. Redesignated at 57 FR 24091, June 5, 1992, and amended at 59 FR 1443, Jan. 10, 1994]