Department of Education Seeks Application Reviewers for PDAE Grant Competition

(2-8-2011) The Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE) Grant Program at the U.S. Department of Education seeks application reviewers for its upcoming grant competition, scheduled to begin in late April or May 2011. Reviewers will receive an honorarium based on the number of applications reviewed.

The grant program supports the implementation of high-quality professional development model programs in elementary and secondary education for music, dance, drama, media arts, or visual arts, including folk arts, for educators and other arts instructional staff of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) students in high-poverty schools. The purpose of this program is to strengthen standards-based arts education programs and to help ensure that all students meet challenging State academic content standards and challenging State student academic achievement standards in the arts.

Reviewers must have experience in one of the following areas: arts or arts education; elementary school education; middle school education; high school education; school administration; professional development; special populations; curriculum development; or research evaluation. Reviewers may not have served in three consecutive previous grant reviews for this program.

The review process is conducted entirely via the Internet and conference call. Reviewers are assigned to panels comprised of three people and a panel facilitator. Each member of the panel reviews the same 10-12 applications. Applications are generally 25 pages of narrative and may include additional pages of appendices. Reviewers download their assigned applications from the https://www.g5.gov site. Each reviewer attends a reviewer orientation conducted by Department of Education staff and subsequently evaluates and scores the applications based on the program’s selection criteria. After reviewers enter their scores and comments, conference calls are conducted to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the applications. While discussion is required, consensus is not. Conference calls are scheduled at least three times during the review period, which may last up to 15 working days depending on the efficiency of the panel. Reviewers must be available for all scheduled conference calls during the entire period.

This is an electronic review that includes group conference calls. Each reviewer must have:

1. Access to the Internet and a printer
2. The ability to interact within a web-based environment
3. The ability to send and receive email

If interested, please submit by February 28, 2011 a (1) current resume and (2) completed Reviewer Checklist (download the .docx file) to: pdae@ed.gov.