Authentic Grant Proposal Analysis - Coursework Example

Grant Proposal Request Pegservices requests $ 246,322 per year for a 36 month program designed to provide online mentors who are active in the field of Psychology along with online tutors and editors for all subjects the Psychology student will encounter for 85 full time Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral level students in the field of psychology from the Ojibwa Nation. What is Pegservices ? Pegservices, 1994 Carver Road Chaska Minnesota, is an online tutoring program working with students primarily at the college level and with those working on higher degrees. This organization provides services for those students who do not work into the educational system easily. These may be individuals who have had their developmental history interrupted by difficult circumstances. They work with individuals who may not have finished high school on schedule due to adolescent acting out or family difficulties. They work with the student who has a learning disability such as ADHD or dyslexia. They may work with individuals who struggle with anxiety or depression. How ever most of the individuals Pegservices work with are those individual that have a higher Performance IQ than Verbal IQ. These are students who learn by doing rather than by verbal means. These students often look like they are not intelligent in the high school setting or even earlier. It is not that they are not bright. The difficulty comes from the fact that these individuals need to do something to understand it and our educational system is set up so information is imparted to the student verbally either by reading or talking and then to prove the student has learned the material they generally have to perform a verbal task. The performance orient student does not fit this mode (pegservices.cjb.net). Dr. Siegfried has put together a model for teaching all of the students above that first of all deal directly with the tasks the students are encountering in their program. It is not a program that tests the students and then attempts to fill in multiple deficits. Dr. Siegfried learned through years of working with students having difficulty that these students did not automatically know how to mentally process verbal material. Firstly, they did not grasp all the implications of verbal material provided to them since they learn by doing, actually performing a task even a verbal task such as writing a paper. and not by hearing it. Secondly, since their process is reversed from the 60% of the population that learn verbally they do not have the skills to get from verbally imparted information to perform the task required which is often to verbally show they know the information i.e. write a paper or take a test. This is brain processing. Dr, Siegfried’s research shows that the brain can be taught processing. Therefore, students are given a step by step process to follow in completing the required task. In the case of a test it is a step by step study process. This process a heuristic that will work every time. Tutors provide the required heuristic to the student. The student follows it and then understands the material. In addition they have their homework done so they remain on track in their classes. Dr. Siegfried’s research not only show that grades improve by one full letter grade after six hours in this program but students remain in school because they are keeping up and they feel a greater level of satisfaction in school (pegservices.cjb.net). In addition to the step tutoring Pegservices provides the student with a mentor, often a student in the same program that is further along. The mentor truly teaches the student how to be a student. The mentor keeps track of assignments so he/she can give reminders. The mentor helps organize the research paper writing process. In many cases the mentor helps plan for child care emergencies and transportation emergencies to reduce the risk of their mentee missing classes or deadlines. Equally important the mentor supplies support and excitement about their field of choice. In this case that would be psychology (pegservices.cjb.net). An important part of this program is that it is all online. The student can contact a tutor or their mentor any time of the day or night and get a quick response. Therefore the student is less likely to give up. Those first minutes of frustration are the time the student needs to be supported (pegservices.cjb.net). What is the Need? The field of Psychology needs therapist and Psychologist with cultural backgrounds that are similar to those of their clients. The Native American population is currently having difficulty in keeping their young people in school and few go on to college. Dr. Siegfried’s experience testing in school settings shows that the majority of Native American students she tests have higher Performance IQs than Verbal IQs. Therefore they would likely benefit from this program. The result would be more Native American psychologists, therapists, social workers and substance abuse counselors. Research has shown a great improvement in therapy outcomes when the client and therapists have similar cultural backgrounds (Weatherford, 1991). Pegservices headquarters are in Chaska Minnesota. Its home office provides a smoke free environment for its workers. There is a large group of Native Americans with the Ojibwa culture there. They are very concerned with the difficulties their young people are having with education. They are also concerned that they can not find people of their own culture to work with the difficulties within their culture. This program could help to improve both of these situations. Pegservices has a Native American Therapist on staff who heads all work with the Ojibwa Nation. That therapist would be the liaison with the Native Americans to be sure their needs were being met by the program (pegservices.cjb.net). In addition, the number of Native Americans who have drug or alcohol issues must be discussed. The amount of drug and alcohol abuse is 40% higher than it is among the general population leading to family issues, work issues, poverty fetal alcohol issues and much more (Dorris,1989). It is imperative the Native American population turn this around. It is much more likely this can happen if we can educate Native Americans to work within their own culture to find solutions. Pegservices can help to train these Native Americans and give them the support needed to be successful in obtaining the knowledge and the skills to make a difference within their own culture. When ever one subculture is strengthened the entire country benefits (Weatherford, 1991). The Plan Pegservices is an online tutoring program so it is set up to handle large numbers of students. It will cost about $700 per quarter per student to provide a mentor, any tutors needed and editing for any and all writing. This would allow Pegservices to accept 85 Native American students per year with the grant provided. We will ask for a matching grant from the Native Americans so that 170 students total could be serviced. Half of the students would have to be in an accredited bachelor’s Degree program majoring in psychology with the intent of working within the field as a social worker, drug counselor or school counselor. Forty percent of those accepted must be a Master’s Degree program intending to be a mental health therapist. Ten percent of those accepted could be in a Doctoral program with the intent of being a psychologist. Applications would be screened through the Tribal counsel for the Ojibwa Nation, however, if there are not enough Ojibwa students applying Native American students from other Nations would be considered. Each student must show availability of funding to complete their education. Each student will sign a contract to work at least three years in a Native American Reservation Community or in the Social Services Department is a county with predominately Native American residents (above 50% Native American heritage in the community). Only students meeting the Federal Government guidelines for percentage of Native American genetic heritage would be considered for this program. Pegservices will work closely with the Native American population through our Native American representative to oversee the program. As students drop out and graduate they will be replaced. An outcome study will be initiated immediately to annually evaluate the program. Goals of the program that will be evaluated are: 1. Increase the numbers of Native American students receiving their desired degree. The goal being a 50% increase. 2. Increase the numbers of Native American students graduating in the field of Psychology. 3. Increase the numbers of Native Americans working within the Native American culture. The goal being, all of the graduating student working in the Native American community for at least three years. 4. Statistically significant increase personal self-efficacy among the students involved in the program. The Index of self-Esteem (ISE) (Hudson, 1992) will be used as a scale. 5. An increased awareness of Native American issues and culture among the non- Native American professionals involved. Pegservices will provide each approved student 20 to 25 hours of one-on-one time with tutors and mentors as well as an unlimited amount of editing. Hours not used by one student will be transferred to students with greater needs. Pegservices will provide outcome studies and a liaison relationship with the Native American community. All tutors are college graduates with degrees in the field they are tutoring. All mentors are experienced college students or graduate students depending on the level being mentored. Mentors at the doctoral level are experienced professionals in the field of psychology. All training and supervision is done by Dr. Siegfried. Supervision of the project will be provided by Oscar Anderson, professor emeritus Augsburg College Minneapolis Education Department. Timeline This plan could be activated immediately upon the assurance of funds. Advertisements would be distributed to all major colleges and universities as well as high schools upon notification of grant approval. The Native American Community will begin distributing applications and making monthly decisions approving applicants. The Native American community will notify other Native American communities of opining in the program. Pegservices is already functioning and can increase mentors and tutors beginning immediately as needed. 85 students will be served with the Federal Grant Money and an additional 85 students will be served with the matching Native American funding. It could be anticipated that all 170 could be progressing through school by January 2008. $700 per student per quarter covers all administrative costs plus service to student costs. Budget 25 hours of service cost $700. Forty percent of that is used in administrative costs and website costs. Sixty percent pays tutors, mentors, and editors. Pegservices has been working at this payment level since 1998 and has been successful in doing so for between 80 and 500 students at one time over those years. This allows for service for 85 students per year with the $246,322 grant. All paper work and advertisement is done electronically. Summary This project is intended to increase the numbers of Native American therapist and psychologist to serve the Native American population. It will begin with the Ojibwa Nation in Minnesota and hopefully grow to encompass other Native American groups across the country. Pegservices an online tutoring, mentoring and editing service will provide the services needed to help applicants complete their program of study. Applicants will be chosen by an Ojibwa counsel and the project will be supervised by an outside evaluator with much experience in the field of education. The Ojibwa Nation will also include matching funds. In exchange for the assistance the student will sign a contract to work at least three years directly with Ojibwa people. References Dorris, M., (1989). The Broken Cord. New York: Harper Perennial. Fisher, J., Corcoran,K.,(eds.) (1992). Measures for Clinical Practice. New York : Free Press. Pegservices. Siegfried, S. Retrieved March 28, 2006 from . Weatherford, J., (1991). Native Roots. New York: Crown Publishers. Read More