Section 256.550  Criteria for the Review of Proposals

Applications for grants shall be evaluated according to the following criteria:

a)         Need (25 points)

1)         At least forty percent of students are low-income.

2)         Clear demonstration of interest in green industry occupations among students and community members.

3)         Articulated need for green industry occupations among local employers, as identified in the Local Needs Assessment.

4)         Evidence of need for development of new CTE pathways to address the lack of representation among special populations in extant CTE programming, as identified in the Local Needs Assessment.

5)         Identified lack of access to high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand occupations in the vicinity.

b)         Capacity (25 points)

1)         List of at least three current CTE program offerings.

2)         A description of the development of at least one new program within the past five years.

3)         At least 25% of students engaged in CTE programs.

4)         At least three measured examples of strengths and evidence of success for students in current CTE programs.

5)         At least two examples of CTE-related collaboration with external stakeholders (e.g., business and industry, community colleges, universities, and colleges).

c)         Quality of the Plan (45 points)

1)         A process for ongoing, meaningful engagement of external stakeholders that include employers, postsecondary institutions, parents, and community members.

2)         Recruitment of students.

3)         Professional learning provided to teachers related to the Clean Jobs Curriculum, developed by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity under Section 5-25 of the Energy Transition Act [20 ILCS 730], that includes the methods teachers will use in the Program to ensure rigorous integration of the challenging academic standards adopted by the State.

4)         How the Program will provide opportunities and experiences, including work-based learning, to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue careers in green industry occupations.

5)         How the Program will provide opportunities for advanced coursework, including dual credit.

6)         A plan to carry out elements that support the implementation of the Program, result in increasing student achievement on performance indicators, and meet quality criteria defined in the Perkins State Plan and Section 256.160.

7)         Timeline for implementation of the Program.

8)         Specific Program goals.

9)         List of activities necessary to develop and begin implementation of the Program.

d)         Cost-Effectiveness (5 points)

1)         Costs are reasonable, necessary, and allocable.

2)         The plan to implement and spend funds is timely.

3)         If the applicant is a consortium or partnership, a description of commitments on the part of all its members that will enable it to sustain the Program over time with a reduction in the need for external resources.

4)         Budget information that corresponds to the categories of allowable expenditures identified in the RFP, completed on the forms provided, and detailing each line item of expenditure. The budget information must cover the entire duration of the Program.

e)         Priority Points

1)         Districts that are classified as rural by the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 550 12^th St. S.W., Washington, DC  20202.  (Classification methodology can be found in "Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) Program, Locale Boundaries File Documentation" (2022) (no later editions or amendments are incorporated), available at https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/docs/EDGE_NCES_LOCALE.pdf.) (5 points).

2)         Districts with adequacy percentages of 70% or lower under the evidence-based formula (5 points).

3)         Proposals that include the integration of academic and career and technical education content, arranged in sequences of courses that lead to post-secondary completion (5 points).

4)         Partnership with a green industry (5 points).

(Source:  Added at 47 Ill. Reg. 14442, effective September 26, 2023)