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IMPACT IV FAQs

You may submit additional questions by sending an email to Ouida Myers. Responses to questions will be posted here.

Updated 12/13/2007

IMPACT IV-IMPACTing Leadership Questions

  1. Should the TCO plan for implementing a total cost of ownership model be included in the narrative or the appendix? Do we submit the TCO for each school? Should the required guarantees and letters of commitment (pages 14 and 15) be included in the appendix or should they be incorporated in the narrative? We are asking this because on page 19 gives the limitations of the appendix?
  2. Can the tables outlining the staff development plans timelines for each school be included in the appendix rather that the narritive?
  3. We have two line items in our budget spreadsheet, 1. computer hardware, and 2. computer related hardware and supplies. Each school has provided me with more detail about what they want to purchase with the funding, but I wasn't sure how much detail needed to be in the spreadsheet since we explain in our narrative the specifc items we plan to purchase. Are those two line items sufficient?
  4. Do we only fill in the yellow shaded areas (not budget codes, matching, etc.)?
  5. In regards to the collection development plan, what constitutes a "certified budget" assuring expenditures for the library media program?  In other words, what would we actually attach?
  6. On the budget spreadsheet in the grant proposal, do we have to itemize and spell out each projected professional development expenditure (following our projected staff development calendar in the narrative), or do we simply list a total amount?
  7. What is the minimum number of classrooms that have to be brought up to 21st century standards per school? Is it dependent upon the size of the school?
  8. For electronic submissions, can we place the proposal on a CD and submitted with a hard copy or do we have to set up an URL link to the proposal?
  9. On page 17 in Phase II of the proposal it states that the narrative should also include a signed letter of commitment from each school principal. Is this an actual letter signed in the middle of the narrative or a detailed section of each school's vision and project design for IMPACT and we attach a signed letter of support/commitment?
  10. Is it possible for you to get an unprotected version of the Impact IV Budget Worksheet? We would like to add tabs for each of the schools that we would like to participate in this program. Or would you direct me to the appropriate location?
  11. Can a school system use their own web-based professional development system (existing) as their online initiative?
  12. Is there a total cap on the number of students a school/county can receive funding for?
  13. When doing the budget, do you use the ADM for k-8?
  14. When I look at the funding for the grant I am a confused. In both phases it state 10% for an outside evaluation. Is that in addition to the allotment or does that mean we hold the 10% to pay for the evaluation. The same question applies to phase II is the 25% for staff development in addition to allotment or does it need to be saved out of the allotment?
  15. Is a bibliography something that should be included or is it optional?
  16. For Phase II funding, the 25% for staff development is based on 25% of the 400. X ADM and is an additional allocation beyond the 400. per ADM, correct? Is the 10% for an outside evaluator is based on the total amount including funding for hardware and funding for staff development?
  17. We have a multipage chart included in our document. Is it acceptable to single space within the chart? Is it acceptable to use a slightly smaller font within the chart?
  18. To keep from having to repeat some items, such as the management plan, in both phases, we plan to refer readers to Phase I for that item. Is that acceptable? Will readers see both sections as a whole document?
  19. What format do you want the professional development plan in? Do we list areas where we plan to do professional development within our narrative?
  20. Does the professional development plan need to be a part of the narrative for phase II?
  21. May funds be budgeted to a service contract for a consultant to assist with the development of the Phase II Implementation plan?
  22. Is the STNA survey a sufficient OR necessary component that each STNA manager for each school needs to complete? 
  23. We understand that a school can partner with another school -- but NOT an eligible school.  Does the word "eligible" mean Title I or does it mean a Title I school that does not meet the current guarantees for this grant?  
  24. Is there are budget spreadsheet for Phase II of the grant?
  25. What happens if a school that we select to participate in IMPACT IV falls out of Title I classification next year due to reassignment?
  26. Where is the IMPACT Summer Academy?
  27. How is the Summer Academy funded?
  28. What type of evaluation will IMPACT schools conduct?
  29. What activities are required for the outside evaluation?
  30. Who will be the outside evaluator?
  31. How long are IMPACT schools evaluated by the Friday Institute?
  32. Can non-Title I schools participate?
  33. If all feeder schools are Title I is a high school eligible?
  34. Which schools are eligible to participate?
  35. If only 3 sites qualify, do all sites have to participate?
  36. What if you can’t find a certified Tech Facilitator?
  37. Is there an expectation of when funds should be spent?
  38. When will Phase II funds be released?
  39. How is a school that is planned but not built yet included in the grant proposal?
  40. What are the dates of training for Phase I?
  41. Can additional participants be included in Phase I of the training?
  42. Is there a recommended needs assessment instrument?
  43. If awarded an IMPACT grant, can changes be made to the budget during Phase I?
  44. What if you choose to purchase more/less hardware?
  45. Should plans for Phase I and Phase II be included in the grant proposal?
  46. May grant funds be used to purchase library resources?
  47. Are copies of a collection development plan and corresponding certified budget to be included in the application?
  48. How many IMPACT IV grants will be awarded?
  49. Are the under age students included in the ADM in an elementary school with pre K classes?
  50. How should the letter of intent be submitted?
  51. What high school research-based reform models will be accepted for extra points?
  52. Are schools that received previous IMPACT grant funding eligible for IMPACT IV?
  53. Are districts that were awarded a previous IMPACT grant eligible for IMPACT IV?
  54. Is a full-time Media assistant required?
  55. What if a person does not have the qualifications for Technology Facilitator but is working on licensure?
  56. May grant funds be used to for personnel costs?
  57. Who is eligible to apply for this grant?
  58. What are the dates of training for Phase I?

Questions and Answers

  • Who is eligible to apply for this grant?
  • May grant funds be used to for personnel costs?
  • What if a person does not have the qualifications for Technology Facilitator but is working on licensure?
    • A technology facilitator must be fully qualified or have a provisional license on file at the beginning of the implementation year. (top)
  • Is a full-time Media assistant required?
  • Are districts that were awarded a previous IMPACT grant eligible for IMPACT IV?
    • Districts who have received a previous IMPACT grant are eligible except for those districts awarded an IMPACTing Leadership grant (200-7-2008). (top)
  • Are schools that received previous IMPACT grant funding eligible for IMPACT IV?
    • School who received funding under the original IMPACT grant or IMPACT II are not eligible. Schools that received funding for the NC 1-2-1 project in 2005 are eligible. (top)
  • What high school research-based reform models will be accepted for extra points?
    • Any overall school research model may be adopted. (top)
  • How should the letter of intent be submitted?
    • The letter of intent includes signatures and therefore must be mailed or delivered so that it is received by 5:00 PM on October 31, 2007. (top)
  • Are the under age students included in the ADM in an elementary school with pre K classes? 
    • Yes and all teachers shall receive services. (top)
  • How many IMPACT IV grants will be awarded?
    • Since funding is related to ADM, the number of grants awarded will depend on the size of schools that apply. (top)
  • Are copies of a collection development plan and a corresponding certified budget to be included in the application?
    • Yes.  A certified budget and a collection development plan for the school library media center that guarantees continued funding for the collection are required. (top)
  • May grant funds be used to purchase library resources?
    • Grant funds may not be used to purchase print materials but can be used to purchase technology resources. (top)
  • Should plans for Phase I and Phase II be included in the grant proposal?
    • Yes, the application includes instructions for both Phase I and II. (top)
  • Can additional representatives participate in grant activities?
    • Yes, if you are willing to fund locally. $5,500 should be budgeted for each additional participant and be labeled as “in-kind” in your budget. Additional travel expenses should also be included. (top)
  • What if you choose to purchase more/less hardware?
    • If you choose to purchase more hardware explain how you will pay for it. Provide a rationale if you don’t need as much hardware. Show in the budget worksheet and over/ under hardware expenses. (top)
  • Is there a recommended needs assessment instrument?
  • If awarded an IMPACT grant, can changes be made to the budget during Phase I?
    • The budget can be modified with a budget amendment but should follow grant guidelines for expenditures. (top)
  • Can additional participants be included in Phase I of the training?
    • Yes, additional participants may be included in Phase I training (IMPACTing Leadership) if funded locally. (top)
  • What are the dates of training for Phase I?
    • Training dates for Phase I are April 1-3, 2008, May 6-8, 2008, and June 17-19, 2008. (top)
  • How is a school that is planned but not built yet included in the grant proposal?
    • The principal should be in place in time to participate in the development of the grant proposal which is due in December.
  • When will Phase II funds be released?
    • Phase II funds will be released by July 2008 before the IMPACT Academy. (top)
  • Is there an expectation of when funds should be spent?
    • In the Implementation Phase, funds should be spent as soon as funds are released to have equipment and software in place for the implementation year. (top)
  • What if you can’t find a certified Tech Facilitator?
    • At least a provisional license is required and 6 hours must be earned each year.  Teachers may work toward the 079 endorsement, which is offered by most institutions of higher education. (top)
  • If only 3 sites qualify, do all sites have to participate?
    • Yes, unless you document why they would not be included. (top)
  • Which schools are eligible to participate?
    • Eligible schools are Title I or a Title I feeder school if the school does not qualify (i.e. middle schools or high schools) (top)
  • If all feeder schools are Title I is a high school eligible?
  • Can non-Title I schools participate?
    • Non-Title I schools may be invited to partner with staff development and should be included in the 25% required for professional development in phase II. (top)
  • Who will be the outside evaluator?
    • The Friday Institute will continue the study of IMPACT grant schools. (top)
  • How long are IMPACT schools evaluated by the Friday Institute?
    • At least 3 years is desirable, but 5 years is ideal. However, the length of the outside evaluation for this grant depends on future funding. (top)
  • What activities are required for the outside evaluation?
    • Lots of documentation is needed.  Documentation includes surveys, test scores, some site visits, and demographics.  Each IMPACT school will a have comparison school. (top)
  • What type of evaluation will IMPACT schools conduct?
    • Formative evaluation training for schools is included in Phase I and Phase II. (top)
  • How is the Summer Academy funded?
    • The IMPACT Summer Academy is funded with staff development dollars. Budget $350 plus travel for each participate. This includes most of the meals during the Academy. (top)
  • Where is the IMPACT Summer Academy?
    • Sea Trail Golf and Conference Center near Sunset Beach is the location of the IMPACT IV Summer Academy. (top)
  • What happens if a school that we select to participate in IMPACT IV falls out of Title I classification next year due to reassignment?
    • That school would no longer be eligible to participate in the IMPACT IV Grant. (top)
  • Is there are spreadsheet for Phase II of the grant?
  • We understand that a school can partner with another school -- but NOT an eligible school.  Does the word "eligible" mean Title I or does it mean a Title I school that does not meet the current guarantees for this grant? 
    • A school that is not eligible is one that does not meet the NCLB qualifications for eligibility. (top)
  • Is the STNA survey a sufficient OR necessary component that each STNA manager for each school needs to complete? 
    • If the district is awarded an IMPACT grant, the STNA is required and therefore it is strongly recommended- but not required-that it be completed and results used as part of the application process. (top)
  • May funds be budgeted for a service contract for a consultant to assist with the development of the Phase II Implementation plan?
    • There are no professional development funds available for this purpose. Professional development and assistance will be provided during Phase I by the NC DPI staff. (top)
  • Does the professional development plan need to be a part of the narrative for phase II?
    • Yes, the professional development plan for Phase II would be at the school level. The IMPACTing Leadership training is the professional development for Phase I. (top)
  • What format do you want the professional development plan in? Do we list areas where we plan to do professional development within our narrative?
    • The professional development plan should be in table format with a timeline attached. (top)
  • To keep from having to repeat some items, such as the management plan, in both phases, we plan to refer readers to Phase I for that item. Is that acceptable? Will readers see both sections as a whole document?
    • The grant readers will see your entire proposal so there is no problem with referencing items in Phase I. (top)
  • We have a multipage chart included in our document. Is it acceptable to single space within the chart? Is it acceptable to use a slightly smaller font within the chart? The unused blocks of white space in some columns make it hard to fit much information with double spacing and I think the chart makes it much clearer to the readers what our intentions are.
    • You may single space within a chart. It is recommended that the text in a chart be no smaller than 10. (top)
  • For Phase II funding, the 25% for staff development is based on 25% of the 400. X ADM and is an additional allocation beyond the 400. per ADM, correct? Is the 10% for an outside evaluator is based on the total amount including funding for hardware and funding for staff development?
    • Yes, the spreadsheet will do the calculations for you. (top)
  • Is a bibliography something that should be included or is it optional?
    • The bibliography is not a required component of the document. (top)
  • When I look at the funding for the grant I am a confused. In both phases it state 10% for an outside evaluation. Is that in addition to the allotment or does that mean we hold the 10% to pay for the evaluation. The same question applies to phase II is the 25% for staff development in addition to allotment or does it need to be saved out of the allotment?
    • If you use the spreadsheet that is online it will calculate the 20% for professional development and the 10% for evaluation for you. (top)
  • When doing the budget, do you use the ADM for k-8?
    • Yes, use the total ADM for each school. (top)
  • Is there a total cap on the number of students a school/county can receive funding for?
    • We do not formally have a cap but caps could be initiated by the reviewers and grant decision makers. (i.e. A large school could be funded at a lesser amount.) (top)
  • Can a school system use their own web-based professional development system (existing) as their online initiative?
    • Yes, a school system that already has an online professional development initiative may use it to meet the requirement. (top)
  • Is it possible for you to get an unprotected version of the Impact IV Budget Worksheet? We would like to add tabs for each of the schools that we would like to participate in this program. Or would you direct me to the appropriate location?
    • If you would like to do a separate budget for each school, you may use a separate budget sheet for each one. (top)
  • On page 17 in Phase II of the proposal it states that the narrative should also include a signed letter of commitment from each school principal. Is this an actual letter signed in the middle of the narrative or a detailed section of each school's vision and project design for IMPACT and we attach a signed letter of support/commitment?
    • It should be an actual letter with an original signature that can be included in the appendix. (top)
  • For electronic submissions, can we place the proposal on a CD and submitted with a hard copy or do we have to set up an URL link to the proposal?
    • A CD with the electronic version may be submitted with your hard copies. (top)
  • What is the minimum number of classrooms that have to be brought up to 21st century standards per school? Is it dependent upon the size of the school?
    • The IMPACT Model should be implemented school-wide. (top)
  • On the budget spreadsheet in the grant proposal, do we have to itemize and spell out each projected professional development expenditure (following our projected staff development calendar in the narrative), or do we simply list a total amount? 
    • The staff development should be detailed in the budget narrative. (top)
  • In regards to the collection development plan, what constitutes a "certified budget" assuring expenditures for the library media program?  In other words, what would we actually attach? 
    • A certified budget is a copy of the budget that has been signed by the Media Coordinator and principal of the school. 
  • Do we only fill in the yellow shaded areas (not budget codes, matching, etc.)?
    • Please fill in the budget codes and matching areas that are associated with the yellow shading.(top)
  • We have two line items in our budget spreadsheet, 1. computer hardware, and 2. computer related hardware and supplies. Each school has provided me with more detail about what they want to purchase with the funding, but I wasn't sure how much detail needed to be in the spreadsheet since we explain in our narrative the specifc items we plan to purchase. Are those two line items sufficient?
    • The detail should be included in the narrative. (top)
  • Can the tables outlining the staff development plans timelines for each school be included in the appendix rather that the narritive.
    • Yes, just be sure to refrence them in the narrative. (top)
  • Should the TCO plan for implementing a total cost of ownership model be included in the narrative or the appendix? Do we submit the TCO for each school? Should the required guarantees and letters of commitment (pages 14 and 15) be included in the appendix or should they be incorporated in the narrative? We are asking this because on page 19 gives the limitations of the appendix?
    • As in the previous question, these may be placed in the appendix but referenced in the narrative. (top)

 
IMPACT Model Schools