The Department of Education (Department), Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), is seeking peer reviewers for the Statewide Family Engagement Centers (SFEC) grant competition. The SFEC program is authorized under title IV, part E of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). The purpose of the SFEC program is to provide financial support to organizations that provide technical assistance and training to State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) in the implementation and enhancement of systemic and effective family engagement policies, programs, and activities that lead to improvements in student development and academic achievement.
We are seeking peer reviewers from various educational backgrounds and professions, including family engagement practitioners, State or district education officials, PK-12 teachers and principals, college or university educators, researchers, and evaluators with experience, content knowledge and expertise in one or more of the following areas: parent and family engagement, education and program administration, and evaluation of education programs.
Peer reviewers will independently read, score, and provide written comments for grant proposals submitted to the Department from applicants seeking federal funding under the SFEC. Working with up to two additional reviewers and a panel manager, SFEC peer reviewers are also required to participate in conference calls to discuss each application before finalizing their scores and comments. Reviewers will receive an honorarium for their services.
In order to make awards before the end of the fiscal year, the 2018 SFEC competition is running on an extremely tight deadline. Reviewers for the competition will need to dedicate approximately 60 hours over a three week period from August 3 – August 24 for the review process. This time estimate includes participation in an orientation session by conference call/webinar prior to evaluating the applications, time for reading, scoring, developing comments, and discussing assigned applications. An estimated 35 hours will be needed to read, score, develop comments, and submit reviews for all assigned applications from August 3 - 12, and another 20 hours will be needed to participate in the remote panel calls and finalize reviews from August 13 - 17. Reviewers will read, score, develop and revise comments remotely. Panel discussions will be held by conference call.
If you are interested in learning more, please check out the SFEC webpage: https://innovation.ed.gov/statewide-family-engagement-centers-program/ The reviewer instructions and screening form can be found under the “What’s New” heading. Submit the screening form and an updated resume or curriculum vitae to sfec@ed.gov with “PEER REVIEWER RESUME” in the subject line by Friday, July 20, 2018.