Grantees must submit, no later than 120 calendar days after the end date of their period of performance, all financial, performance, and other reports as required by the terms and conditions of the grant. Program offices may approve extensions when requested and justified.

Unless program offices authorize an extension, grantees must liquidate all financial obligations incurred under the grant no later than 120 calendar days after the end date of the period of performance as specified in the terms and conditions of the grant.

Grantees must promptly refund any balances of unobligated cash that the U.S. Department of Education (Department) paid in advance or paid and that are not authorized to be retained by the grantees for use in other projects. See 2 CFR § 200.346, Part D of the General Education Provisions Act, and Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) part 81 for requirements regarding unreturned amounts that become delinquent debts.

If 10 percent or more of the Federal funds made available to the grantee in the final budget period (or the project period, for grants with only one budget period) remain in the grant account, program offices contact the grantee before de-obligating the funds and ask for a letter or email verifying that the funds are not needed, and that all of the financial obligations of the grant were met. The grantee's certifying official should send the email or sign the letter. If the grantee previously submitted a final performance report that has an explanation of the balance of funds, program offices may determine that it is not necessary to contact the grantee. An authorized license holder then de-obligates the funds and approves the closeout.

If a grantee does not submit all reports in accordance with the terms and conditions of the grant, the program office will proceed to close out the grant with the information available within one year of the period of performance end date. In addition, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.344, the Department will report the grantee's material failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the award to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), and may pursue other enforcement actions in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.339.

Program offices complete the following necessary steps to close out a grant:

1. Review the final performance report and determine whether the grantee achieved the scope and objectives of the grant; and
2. Determine if all applicable administrative actions and financial obligations have been completed by the grantee and that the grant is ready for closeout.
3. Determine if all applicable administrative actions and financial obligations have been completed by the grantee and that the grant is ready for closeout.
4. Complete the "Closeout Checklist for Discretionary Grants." The checklist requires the signature of the program staff person who closed the grant and the signature of the license holder if funds were de-obligated.
5. Once the grant is closed, the program office will send the "Notification of Closeout" letter to the grantee for their records.

The "Notification of Closeout Letter" informs the grantee of the status of their award and reminds them of the record retention requirements. The letter includes the following information:

• Grantee Name
• PR/Award Number
• UEI Number
• Body of letter

• The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has completed a final review of the grant identified by the PR/Award number above and determined that all the terms and conditions of the grant were met. This grant is closed in compliance with 2 CFR 200.344. Therefore, ED is officially closing this grant.
• Please be aware that, even after ED closes out a grant award, grantees are required by regulation to maintain records related to a grant project after the award ends. The time period that records must be maintained differs based on the types of records that were created for the administration of the grant. Further information on retention and access requirements for records can be found in 2 CFR 200.334. In addition, ED grant projects are also subject to post-grant Federal audit and various after-the-grant requirements, found in 2 CFR 200.344, 200.345, and 200.346.

Subgrantee (Subrecipient) Closeout

1. Subrecipients must submit to the grantee, no later than 90 calendar days (or an earlier date as agreed upon by the grantee and its subrecipients) after the end date of the period of performance, all financial, performance, and other reports as required by the terms and conditions of the Federal award and subaward.

• a. Grantees with respect to their subrecipients, may approve extensions when requested and justified.
• b. Subrecipients must liquidate all financial obligations incurred under the subaward no later than 90 calendar days after the end date of the period of performance as specified in the terms and conditions of the subaward.
• c. Subrecipients must promptly refund any balances of unobligated cash that the grantees, with respect to subrecipients, paid in advance or paid and that are not authorized to be retained by the subrecipient for use in other projects. See 2 C.F.R. § 200.346, Part D of the General Education Provisions Act, and EDGAR part 81 for requirements regarding unreturned amounts that become delinquent debts.

Late Liquidation

If a grantee needs to draw down any of the remaining funds after the liquidation period ends, for obligations incurred on, or before the performance end date, the program office requires the grantee to submit the following information:

• a memo from the authorizing representative on the grant that includes the following: the PR/Award Number, the request to open the grant, the time period needed, the reason that funds could not be liquidated during the original performance and liquidation period;
• the Summary of Obligations chart and supporting documentation for each obligation (invoices, purchase orders, etc.);
• a Federal Financial Report (FFR) signed by the certifying official, or the individual authorized to record and report the grant's finances (expenditures and obligations), or the individual delegated the authority to respond on behalf of the certifying official.

Note that a late liquidation request will not be processed until after a final performance report is submitted and approved. If the program office approves the request, a license holder modifies the liquidation dates in the grants management system to allow the grantee to draw down the agreed amount of funds. The drawdown period should not exceed 30 calendar days. If the request is not approved, program offices ask an authorized license holder to de-obligate the remaining funds and approve the closeout. The program official signs and sends to the grantee a letter informing the grantee of the disapproval.

Records Retention

Records retention requirements are governed by 2 CFR 200.334 and EDGAR. Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other SEA records pertinent to the CLSD award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission including all approved annual, ad hoc, and final reports. This includes quarterly or annual financial reports the subgrantee submits to the grantee. The SEA and all subgrantees must keep records that fully show:

• The amount of funds under the grant or subgrant;
• How the SEA or subgrantee uses the funds;
• The total cost of the project;
• The share of that cost provided from other sources;
• Other records to facilitate an effective audit; and
• Compliance with program requirements.

Discretionary Grant Regulations and Resources

OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance

In addition to statutory requirements, grantees must comply with all applicable administrative and fiscal regulations, including OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance in 2 CFR part 200, as adopted and amended as regulations of the Department in 2 CFR part 3474. This guidance establishes requirements for uniform administrative activities, pre– and post–award actions, cost principles, and audits for Federal awards to non–Federal entities.

Education Department General Administrative Regulations

The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR consists of administrative regulations governing U.S. Department of Education (Department) grant programs found in the following parts of Title 34 of the CFR:

Part 75 — Direct Grant Programs

Part 77 — Definitions that Apply to Department Regulations

Part 79 — Intergovernmental Review of Department of Education Programs and Activities

Part 81 — General Education Provisions Act - Enforcement

Part 82 — New Restrictions on Lobbying

Part 84 — Governmentwide Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace

Part 86 — Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention

Part 97 — Protection of Human Subjects

Part 98 — Student Rights in Research, Experimental Programs, and Testing

Part 99 — Family Educational Rights and Policy

Single audit requirements

Single audits are financial and compliance audits of States, local governments, Indian tribes, public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations. Single audits are required for a non-Federal entity that expends $750,000 or more during the non-Federal entity's fiscal year. Federal awards expended as a grantee or as a subgrantee are subject to audit. All single audits are submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

For more information, visit 2 CFR 200 Subpart F and the Department's Single Audits webpage.

Discretionary Grant Trainings

The Department has a repository of web-based discretionary grant trainings. The courses cover a variety of topics relevant to managing a discretionary grant such as CLSD. These trainings may be of particular interest to CLSD grantees, particularly to new project directors:

• Welcome to ED Grants
  • Length: 30 minutes
  • This course provides an overview of the information you need to successfully implement and manage your grant, including different types of grants you may be awarded. The course identifies resources and processes that may be used throughout the grant management process. This course also provides information about how the Department will monitor your grant to help you ensure success!
• Discretionary Grants Administration
  • Length: 45 minutes
  • This course provides an overview of discretionary grant recipients' responsibilities for grant administration and introduces references and additional resources that are available to support grantees. The course provides key information that can be found in the Grant Award Notification, addresses how to apply the cash management requirements when drawing down funds, addresses the Department's Monitoring Practices, explains when administrative changes require approval, explains when an independent audit is required, explains common audit findings, and explains the requirements for performance reporting and records retention.
• Allowable Costs and Activities
  • Length: 60 minutes
  • This course provides Department grantees and subgrantees a high-level overview of the concepts and regulations behind using Federal grant funds for allowable costs and activities.
• Internal Controls
  • Length: 40 minutes
  • This course provides an overview of internal controls and explains what they are and why they are important. It also provides information about the categories of objectives, regulatory requirements and guidance to develop internal control systems, and the components and principles of internal controls and the interrelationship between them.
• Indirect Cost
  • Length: 45 minutes
  • This course provides an overview of indirect costs. It includes how to define indirect, direct, and direct administrative costs and how to apply the Regulatory and Statutory Framework of these costs.
• Subrecipient Monitoring
  • Length: 60 minutes
  • This course provides a high-level overview of monitoring subrecipients and is intended for grantees that make subawards. It has four modules that cover related key information and processes, regulatory requirements, subrecipient monitoring plans, as well as a risk-based monitoring approach.

Acronyms and Definitions

This section defines common acronyms or initialisms and terms you may encounter when working with CLSD.

Acronyms and Initialisms

Definitions

This section includes a list of terms from the Departments' Grant Terminology page, definitions found in 2 CFR 200.1 in the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA).

Application notice is published in the Federal Register and invites applications for one or more discretionary grant competitions. It provides basic program and fiscal information on each competition, informs potential applicants when and where they can obtain applications, and cites the deadline date for a particular competition.

Authorized representative is the official within an applicant organization with the legal authority to give assurances, make commitments, enter into contracts, and execute such documents on behalf of the applicant as may be required by a grant maker. The signature of the Authorized Representative certifies that commitments made on grant proposals will be honored and ensures that the applicant agrees to conform to the grant maker's regulations, guidelines, and policies. Note that the Authorized Representative is not necessarily the Project Director. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

Budget narrative explains the budget. Explanations can include the derivation of amounts (for example, a $1,250 budget item derives from 100 people at five meetings each using a $2.50 expendable item), the itemization of totals, the purpose of purchased supplies and services, and the justification of the size of salaries, fringe benefits, and indirect costs. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

Budget period means the time interval from the start date of a funded portion of an award to the end date of that funded portion during which recipients are authorized to expend the funds awarded, including any funds carried forward or other revisions. (See 2 CFR 200.1)

Child with a disability has the same meaning given that term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. (See Section 8101(4) of the ESEA.)

Section 1401(3) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

(A) IN GENERAL. The term child with a disability means a child (i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this title as emotional disturbance), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and (ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

(B) CHILD AGED 3 THROUGH 9. The term child with a disability for a child aged 3 through 9 (or any subset of that age range, including ages 3 through 5), may, at the discretion of the State and the local educational agency, include a child (i) experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in 1 or more of the following areas: physical development; cognitive development; communication development; social or emotional development; or adaptive development; and (ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

Contract means a binding, legal agreement that is for the purpose of obtaining goods and services for the recipient's or subrecipient's use and creates a procurement relationship with a contractor. See the definition of contract in 2 CFR 200.1. Characteristics that support a procurement relationship between the recipient or subrecipient and a contractor include, but are not limited to, when the contractor:

• (1) Provides the goods and services within normal business operations;
• (2) Provides similar goods or services to many different purchasers;
• (3) Normally operates in a competitive environment;
• (4) Provides goods or services that are ancillary to the implementation of a Federal program; and
• (5) Is not subject to compliance requirements of a Federal program as a result of the agreement. However, similar requirements may apply for other reasons.
• (See 2 CFR 200.331.)

Comprehensive literacy instruction means instruction that —

• a) includes developmentally appropriate, contextually explicit, and systematic instruction, and frequent practice, in reading and writing across content areas;
• b) includes age-appropriate, explicit, systematic, and intentional instruction in phonological awareness, phonic decoding, vocabulary, language structure, reading fluency, and reading comprehension;
• c) includes age-appropriate, explicit instruction in writing, including opportunities for children to write with clear purposes, with critical reasoning appropriate to the topic and purpose, and with specific instruction and feedback from instructional staff;
• d) makes available and uses diverse, high-quality print materials that reflect the reading and development levels, and interests, of children;
• e) uses differentiated instructional approaches, including individual and small group instruction and discussion;
• f) provides opportunities for children to use language with peers and adults in order to develop language skills, including developing vocabulary;
• g) includes frequent practice of reading and writing strategies;
• h) uses age-appropriate, valid, and reliable screening assessments, diagnostic assessments, formative assessment processes, and summative assessments to identify a child's learning needs, to inform instruction, and to monitor the child's progress and the effects of instruction;
• i) uses strategies to enhance children's motivation to read and write and children's engagement in self-directed learning;
• j) incorporates the principles of universal design for learning;
• k) depends on teachers' collaboration in planning, instruction, and assessing a child's progress and on continuous professional learning; and
• l) links literacy instruction to the challenging State academic standards, including the ability to navigate, understand, and write about, complex print and digital subject matter.

(See Section 2221(b)(1) of the ESEA.)

Discretionary grant is an award of financial assistance in the form of money by the Federal government to an eligible grantee, usually made on the basis of a competitive review process. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

Eligible entity means an entity that consists of —

• (A) one or more local educational agencies that serve a high percentage of high-need schools and — (i) have the highest number or proportion of children who are counted under section 1124(c), in comparison to other local educational agencies in the State; (ii) are among the local educational agencies in the State with the highest number or percentages of children reading or writing below grade level, based on the most currently available State academic assessment data under section 1111(b)(2); or (iii) serve a significant number or percentage of schools that are implementing comprehensive support and improvement activities and targeted support and improvement activities under section 1111(d);
• (B) one or more early childhood education programs serving low-income or otherwise disadvantaged children, which may include home-based literacy programs for preschool-aged children, that have a demonstrated record of providing comprehensive literacy instruction for the age group such program proposes to serve; or
• (C) a local educational agency, described in subparagraph (A), or consortium of such local educational agencies, or an early childhood education program, which may include home-based literacy programs for preschool-aged children, acting in partnership with 1 or more public or private nonprofit organizations or agencies (which may include early childhood education programs) that have a demonstrated record of effectiveness in — (i) improving literacy achievement of children, consistent with the purposes of participation under this subpart, from birth through grade 12; and (ii) providing professional development in com prehensive literacy instruction.

(See Section 2221(b)(1) of the ESEA.)

English learner, when used with respect to an individual, means an individual —

(A) who is aged 3 through 21;

(B) who is enrolled or preparing to enroll in an elementary school or secondary school;

(C)(i) who was not born in the United States or whose native language is a language other than English; (ii)(I) who is a Native American or Alaska Native, or a native resident of the outlying areas; and (II) who comes from an environment where a language other than English has had a significant impact on the individual's level of English language proficiency; or (iii) who is migratory, whose native language is a language other than English, and who comes from an environment where a language other than English is dominant; and

(D) whose difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language may be sufficient to deny the individual— (i) the ability to meet the challenging State academic standards; (ii) the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English; or (iii) the opportunity to participate fully in society.

(See Section 8101(20) of the ESEA.)

Evidence-based, for the purposes of the CLSD program, means the proposed project component has shown a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes and is supported by:

• 1) Strong evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented experimental study;
• 2) Moderate evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study; or
• 3) Promising evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls for selection bias.

(See Section 8101(20) of the ESEA.)

Grantee is an individual or organization that has been awarded financial assistance under one of the Department's discretionary grant programs. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

Grant Award Notification is an official document signed by the authorized official stating the amount and the terms and conditions of an award for a discretionary grant. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

High-need school means (i) an elementary school or middle school in which not less than 50 percent of the enrolled students are children from low-income families; or (ii) a high school in which not less than 40 percent of the enrolled students are children from low-income families, which may be calculated using comparable data from the schools that feed into the high school.

(See Section 2221(b)(3)(A) of the ESEA.)

Indirect costs are costs an organization incurs for common or joint objectives that cannot be readily and specifically identified with a particular grant project or other institutional activity. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

Indirect cost rate is a percentage established by a Federal department or agency for a grantee organization, which the grantee uses in computing the dollar amount it charges to the grant to reimburse itself for indirect costs incurred in doing the work of the grant project. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

Low-income family means a family (i) in which the children are eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); (ii) receiving assistance under the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families established under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); or (iii) in which the children are eligible to receive medical assistance under the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act. (See Section 2221(b)(3)(B) of the ESEA.)

Non-Federal entity means a State, local government, Indian tribe, institution of higher education, or nonprofit organization that carries out a Federal award as a recipient or subrecipient. (See 2 CFR 200.1)

Pass-through entity means a non-Federal entity that provides a subaward to a subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal program. The authority of the pass-through entity under this part flows through the subaward agreement between the pass-through entity and subrecipient. (See 2 CFR 200.1)

Period of performance means the total estimated time interval between the start of an initial Federal award and the planned end date, which may include one or more funded portions, or budget periods. For discretionary grants, the Department uses the term "project period" instead of "period of performance" to describe the period during which funds can be obligated. (See 2 CFR 200.1)

PR/Award number is the identifying number for a discretionary grant application (e.g., S184H001203), which is issued when the application is received by the Department's Application Control Center. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

Professional development means activities that —

(A) are an integral part of school and local educational agency strategies for providing educators (including teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, and, as applicable, early childhood educators) with the knowledge and skills necessary to enable students to succeed in a well- rounded education and to meet the challenging State academic standards; and

(B) are sustained (not stand-alone, 1-day, or short term workshops), intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused, and may include activities that —

• (i) improve and increase teachers'— (I) knowledge of the academic subjects the teachers teach; (II) understanding of how students learn; and (III) ability to analyze student work and achievement from multiple sources, including how to adjust instructional strategies, assessments, and materials based on such analysis;
• (ii) are an integral part of broad schoolwide and districtwide educational improvement plans;
• (iii) allow personalized plans for each educator to address the educator's specific needs identified in observation or other feedback;
• (iv) improve classroom management skills;
• (v) support the recruitment, hiring, and training of effective teachers, including teachers who became certified through State and local alternative routes to certification;
• (vi) advance teacher understanding of— (I) effective instructional strategies that are evidence-based; and (II) strategies for improving student academic achievement or substantially increasing the knowledge and teaching skills of teachers;
• (vii) are aligned with, and directly related to, academic goals of the school or local educational agency;
• (viii) are developed with extensive participation of teachers, principals, other school leaders, parents, representatives of Indian tribes (as applicable), and administrators of schools to be served under this Act;
• (ix) are designed to give teachers of English learners, and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and appropriate language and academic support services to those children, including the appropriate use of curricula and assessments;
• (x) to the extent appropriate, provide training for teachers, principals, and other school leaders in the harms of copyright piracy, so that technology and technology applications are effectively used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning in the curricula and academic subjects in which the teachers teach;
• (xi) as a whole, are regularly evaluated for their impact on increased teacher effectiveness and improved student academic achievement, with the findings of the evaluations used to improve the quality of professional development;
• (xii) are designed to give teachers of children with disabilities or children with developmental delays, and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and academic support services, to those children, including positive behavioral interventions and supports, multi-tier system of supports, and use of accommodations;
• (xiii) include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct classroom practice;
• (xiv) include instruction in ways that teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, and school administrators may work more effectively with parents and families;
• (xv) involve the forming of partnerships with institutions of higher education, including, as applicable, Tribal Colleges and Universities as defined in section 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)), to establish school-based teacher, principal, and other school leader training programs that provide prospective teachers, novice teachers, principals, and other school leaders with an opportunity to work under the guidance of experienced teachers, principals, other school leaders, and faculty of such institutions;
• (xvi) create programs to enable paraprofessionals (assisting teachers employed by a local educational agency receiving assistance under part A of title I) to obtain the education necessary for those paraprofessionals to become certified and licensed teachers;
• (xvii) provide follow-up training to teachers who have participated in activities described in this paragraph that are designed to ensure that the knowledge and skills learned by the teachers are implemented in the classroom; and
• (xviii) where practicable, provide jointly for school staff and other early childhood education program providers, to address the transition to elementary school, including issues related to school readiness.

(See Section 8101(42) of the ESEA.)

Program regulations implement legislation passed by Congress to authorize a specific grant program, and include applicant eligibility criteria, nature of activities funded, selection criteria under which applications will be selected for funding, and other relevant information. (See the Department's Grant Terminology.)

Subgrant (or subaward) means an award provided by a pass-through entity to a subrecipient for the subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal award received by the pass-through entity. It does not include payments to a contractor or payments to an individual that is a beneficiary of a Federal program. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the pass-through entity considers a contract. See 2 CFR 200.1 "Subaward." Subgrantees are responsible for implementing their programs as laid out in their subgrant application. They should also submit any requested financial or programmatic reports and data to the CLSD project director. 2 CFR 200.332 describes additional requirements that grantees must adhere to in making subawards.

Subrecipient — A subaward is for the purpose of carrying out a portion of the Federal award and creates a Federal financial assistance relationship with a subrecipient. See the definition of Subaward in § 200.1. Characteristics that support the classification of the entity as a subrecipient include, but are not limited to, when the entity: (1) Determines who is eligible to receive what Federal assistance; (2) Has its performance measured in relation to whether the objectives of a Federal program were met; (3) Has responsibility for programmatic decision-making; (4) Is responsible for adherence to applicable Federal program requirements specified in the Federal award; and (5) Implements a program for a public purpose specified in authorizing statute. (See 2 CFR 200.331.)

Well-rounded education means courses, activities, and programming in subjects such as English, reading or language arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, geography, computer science, music, career and technical education, health, physical education, and any other subject, as determined by the State or local educational agency, with the purpose of providing all students access to an enriched curriculum and educational experience. (See Section 8101(52) of the ESEA.)

The CLSD National Literacy Center Resources

The CLSD National Literacy Center website includes a variety of resources for CLSD grantees and the larger field.

The Resources page houses a searchable database for you to identify evidence-based practices or to find the level of evidence for a given practice. Many of these are practitioner-oriented tools that could be helpful in applying evidence-based practices.

Professional learning modules (PLMs) are available that cover a variety of literacy-related topics. These courses provide a general overview along with more detailed information, examples, and resources that can be helpful to grantees interested in gainer a deeper understanding of a specific literacy topic or issue.

Peer Resources

This page brings together grantee-developed resources by topic that other grantees may find useful.

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Use the fields to search for resources by topic, SEA, or keyword. — COMING SOON —

Submit a Resource

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