Pilots for Higher Education Institutions

EARLY CARE & EDUCATION CORE CREDENTIAL
or
EARLY CARE & EDUCATION CORE CREDENTIAL combined with INFANT TODDLER CREDENTIAL

Mini grants are available to institutions of higher education to pilot the Early Care & Education Core Credential, or Early Care & Education Core Credential combined with the Infant Toddler Credential. Institutions applying to pilot only the core credential may be awarded up to a maximum of $5,000. Institutions applying for both the Core Credential and the Infant Toddler Credential may be awarded up to a maximum of $8,000.

Collaboration Grants

Collaboration grants are also available between two and four-year institutions. Each institution is eligible for the maximum amount as listed above. This process is highly encouraged as transferability of the Core Content is critical to ensuring the success of Illinois’ Career Lattice. Please contact the other institutions in your area to form partnerships that will help students with transition - not only between institutions - but also through the levels of the career lattice. More information on forming a partnership is included in the application.

Bidders Conference

A bidder’s conference will be held via webinar on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 from 2-4pm CST to promote the mini-grant opportunity. This opportunity will be for those institutions ready to pilot the new Early Care & Education Credentials and/or Infant Toddler Credential through the entitled route. Registration information can be found in the Request for Proposal.

Application

Any accredited college or university in the state of Illinois that prepares early care and education professionals are encouraged to apply. The application packet can be downloaded below.

Submission timeline

October 6th - Registration deadline for Technical Assistance Webinar
October 17th, 2:00 p.m. - Webinar
November 17th, 4:00 p.m. - Applications due
December 15th - Awards are announced

Submission and Evaluation of Proposals

Proposals should be received by Gateways to Opportunity no later than 4 p.m. on November 17th, 2006. Faxes will not be accepted.

Resources:

For additional resources to assist in your application, please click the links below.

Career Lattice

Core Content Areas

Matrices of Levels

Benchmarks for Core Credential Levels

Benchmarks for Infant Toddler Credential Levels

Downloads

Request for Proposal

Application Packet