Scoring Guidelines - Evaluation Grant Proposals

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

Each funding source will have a basis for evaluating grant proposals. The review criteria will be available in application materials. Utilizing the review criteria and the assigned scoring weights a project team and an internal review team can use the information to evaluate the grant seeker's proposal before prior to submission.

The U.S. Department of Education will utilize the following general criteria with an allocation of points assigned to each item. When submitting a grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Education be sure that your proposal addresses the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) selection criteria.

Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) Selection Criteria
    1.    Meeting the Purposes of the Authorizing Statute
    2.    Extent of the Need for the Project
    3.    Plan of Operation
    4.    Quality of Key Personnel
    5.    Budget and Cost Effectiveness
    6.    Evaluation Plan
    7.    Adequacy of Personnel

Scoring scales used to rate a grant proposal will vary among funding sources. The following table illustrates sample scoring scales along with guidance on evaluating a score's quality. For example the first line represents a total possible score of 25 points, a score of 0-8 would represent a poorly written proposal while a score of 24-25 would rate as an outstanding proposal.

Suggested Scoring Guidelines

Source:
U.S. Department of Education

Belinda Biscoe, Ph.D., College of Continuing Education, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

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