2023 Call for Peer Reviewers

FULL-SERVICE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS CALL FOR PEER REVIEWERS

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) received an historic level of fiscal year 2023 funding for the Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program.

FSCS provides support for the planning, implementation, and operation of full-service community schools that improve the coordination, integration, accessibility, and effectiveness of services for children and families, particularly for children attending high-poverty schools, including high-poverty rural schools.

Full-service community schools meet the unique needs of the neighborhoods they serve by leveraging local nonprofit, private sector, and public partnerships to bring wraparound services into school buildings, such as mental health supports, dental services, and assistance with shelter and nutrition.  They operate with the assistance of school staff who coordinate with school administrators, stakeholders, and local organizations to deliver these services and more to students, their families, and members of the community.

For the application review this late summer/early fall, we are seeking panel moderators and reviewers with evaluation and content experience.

Panel Moderators with facilitation and process management experience, who can lead reviewer discussions of applications, answer procedural questions, and provide initial reviews of comments for clarity and grammar.  Previous peer review experience is required.

Evaluation Peer Reviewers with evaluation and research experience, who can review applicants’ proposed evaluation plans and logic models, in addition to the full application. Knowledge of What Works Clearinghouse standards is helpful.

Content Peer Reviewers who have direct and significant pre-kindergarten through grade 12 education experience in one or more of the following content areas:

*Examples of related SEL experience may include trauma-informed practice, multi-tiered systems of support, and specialized support personnel such as social workers and psychologists

We are seeking individuals able to review applications, which includes: 1) reading and analyzing applications, 2) discussing ratings with other reviewers, and 3) formalizing scores and comments for applicants and public records.

Examples of Relevant Prior Experience

• State/district education leaders, school leaders, teachers, foundation officers, university faculty (who work with schools), and researchers;
• Community school leaders at the State, district, community, and school levels;
• Persons with administrative, project management, or other leadership experience who have implemented, sustained, expanded, and disseminated innovative school and community projects (including grants);
• Professionals with wide-ranging experience informing an ability to distinguish varying merits of innovative and potentially promising project ideas;
• Excellent writers, good critical thinkers, and reflective individuals open to feedback from others;
• Individuals with scheduling flexibilities who can commit to completing tasks in a timely manner; and
• Former grant reviewers or grantees for education programs.

Reviewer Application and Selection Process

• To apply as a reviewer, complete ED’s online peer reviewer training.
• Send an email confirming the date you completed the training; stating whether you are interested in serving as a moderator, evaluation reviewer or content reviewer; and including your resume to FSCS@ed.gov by August 14, 2023.
• Please make sure your resume (maximum of 5 pages) clearly reflects your skills, experience, and training in evaluation, one or more of the content areas listed above, and/or facilitation.

• Reviewers who are selected to participate will be contacted by the FSCS team and/or FSCS Peer Review Contractor by August 18, 2023, and asked for additional contact information, availability, and potential conflicts of interest. Those not selected will remain in the FSCS reviewer pool for future competitions.
• If selected, register and submit a PDF-version resume in G5 (www.g5.gov). For support, contact edcaps.user@ed.gov or 1-888-336-8930.

• ED solicits reviewers without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability. ED will provide reasonable accommodations for an individual with a disability, so that the individual is able to participate in the review process. 

Conflict of Interest

You are not eligible to be a reviewer if you will be applying for an FSCS grant in FY 2023, if you will be involved in the preparation of a grant application, or if you would stand to benefit from an application that were to receive funding in this new competition.

You are eligible if you are a current or past FSCS grantee and are not submitting a new application under the EIR competition. 

Responsibilities/Payment

• FSCS Peer Review is scheduled to take place between August 28 – September 30, 2023.  This time period includes reading, scoring, discussing applications and finalizing scores and comments. Please review these tentative dates against work professional and personal calendars to determine availability. If selected, you will be contacted to confirm availability for each panel sections; reviewers may serve on multiple sections.

• You will be expected to:
  • participate in two 60-minute training and introductory video calls;
  • read, review, and evaluate approximately 6-8 applications (75-125 pages of narrative as well as appendices);
  • participate in approximately 4-6 panel video calls (each several hours in length);
  • complete written evaluations of applications based on the selection criteria;
  • revise your reviews after panel discussion and facilitator feedback; and
  • submit reviews in ED’s online G5 system.
  • Payment will be $350 per application (approximately $2,100-$2,800 total) after successful completion of all required tasks.

Please note that previous reviewers estimate that each application requires 6-8 hours of time for reading, scoring, discussing applications and finalizing comments.

Program Information

Visit the FSCS program website and FY 2023 competition webpage for additional information about the grant program. Please direct all questions to FSCS@ed.gov and include “Peer Review” in the subject line.