Evaluation of State Education Programs
Name of Grant Program:
Fund Code: 109
PART III – REQUIRED PROGRAM INFORMATION
For each program for which they submit a proposal, applicants should prepare a proposal that
clearly explains how they propose to evaluate a state-funded education program, analyzing the
following six areas:
1. The quantifiable effect of the program on the population enrolled in the program;
2. Fidelity of program implementation;
3. An estimate of the cost to the Commonwealth of the education problem being
addressed through the program;
4. A comparison of the cost of the program and the estimated short-term and long-term
benefits received by program recipients through the program;
5. Data limitations in estimating the effect of the program; and
6. Recommendations for further study.
ESE expects to work collaboratively with the successful grantees including regular meetings to
discuss progress, next steps, and any challenges. In addition, ESE expects to work
collaboratively to finalize research questions, data collection strategies and methodologies.
Each proposal must be written clearly and concisely so that it is understandable to a nontechnical reader and organized in a manner convenient for reviewers. Proposals will be
evaluated based on the following six criteria:
1. Quality of the plan submitted to conduct the work (30 points)
2. Substantive and methodological expertise (20 points)
3. Work samples (15 points)
4. Listing of key personnel and evidence of qualifications (15 points)
5. Budget (15 points)
6. Organization is based within or has a significant operational presence in Massachusetts
(5 points)
Quality of the proposal
The applicant shall include with its response an executive summary and project narrative that
combined are no more than twenty pages (“page” as used in this document includes minimum 1”
margins left, right, top and bottom with text that is single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman or
equivalent font) that summarizes its proposal. The executive summary should briefly address:
 The applicant’s understanding of the overall project, goals and objectives, and
components;
 The applicant’s understanding of the project’s constraints and/or risks and the
Applicant’s approach to overcoming these.
The project narrative should outline the proposed analysis and research design, including a data
analytic plan that describes how the analysis may be conducted. The project narrative must
include:
 A specific set of research questions;
 A research strategy to answer the research questions; and
 Proposed work-product deliverables and timeline.
Substantive and methodological expertise
The proposal should include a description of the researchers’ expertise in the topic area as well
as their methodological expertise as it pertains to the proposed research design.
Work samples
Proposals should include samples of work from at least two previous projects that are similar to
the scope and/or purpose of that being proposed here. ESE reserves the right to contact any of
the client contacts listed with the work samples.
Listing of key personnel and evidence of qualifications
The Applicant shall designate a Principal Investigator for this project. This individual shall be
considered Key Personnel. The Applicant shall propose other individuals as are necessary, in
the Applicant’s judgment to perform the work specified in this RFP and include evidence of the
qualifications of the principal investigator and any research team members, including CV, and
copies of at least one report containing work of comparable scope.
Budget
The duration of each grant will be from the approval date to June 30, 2017.
The budget for each proposal should not exceed $150,000. ESE reserves the right to increase or
decrease the amount of the grant depending on available funds and the agency’s priorities. The
budget must be all-inclusive and be broken into fiscal years.