Using AI to Research
and Develop Your Grant
Every applicant for the NMPED 21st CCLC and OST FY27–31 RFPs is screened for eligibility with supporting documents required. The stronger your evidence, the better your results. AI tools can help you assemble that evidence, connect to data, and write stronger narratives in the 25 days you have before proposals are due.
AI for Grant Development
Learn how to use AI tools to research your needs assessment, structure your narrative, and assemble supporting documentation — all within the 21st CCLC/OST RFP scoring framework. No prior experience with AI required.
Register → FreeDurable Life Skills Project
Participants nominated to join the McCune project gain access to NextREADY GPS as their assessment infrastructure — and the documented consortium participation that satisfies RFP requirements.
Apply to Join the Project →Aaron and Nestor will present the Grant Writing with AI workshop they delivered at the OBAE Broadband Summit in Las Cruces.
Add NextREADY GPS
to your OST application
and strengthen your score.
ASCEND is a participant in the Northern New Mexico STEAM Coalition and contributed to the development of the STEMinNM Framework. We are currently recruiting 200 participants for the McCune Durable Life Skills project — by nomination through OST providers and schools. The resources on this page help any out-of-school time applicant understand how NextREADY GPS fits the NMPED 21st CCLC FY27–31 RFP requirements and how to write it into a stronger proposal.
"STEMinNM creates the conditions for STEM engagement.
ASCEND creates the conditions for STEM identity."
This capacity-building resource is funded by the McCune Charitable Foundation ahead of the July 1, 2026 funding start date.
Now Recruiting: McCune Durable Life Skills Project, 2026 · ASCEND is recruiting 200 participants by nomination through OST providers and schools in our seven-county McCune territory: McKinley, San Juan, Santa Fe, Chaves, Doña Ana, Sandoval, and Taos. When an OST provider or school nominates participants and joins the project, that relationship itself satisfies the community engagement and consortium requirements of the 21st CCLC RFP — without requiring a separate fiscal agent structure. This capacity-building work is funded ahead of the July 1, 2026 program start date.
Same students. Same communities.
Sequential and reinforcing missions.
ASCEND participated in the development of the Northern New Mexico STEAM Framework alongside 75+ coalition partners. The alignment below reflects a shared philosophy about whole-student development, cultural and linguistic responsiveness, and what it actually takes for a young person to build a durable relationship with STEM learning.
Light Touch · YPAR Approach
Adding NextREADY GPS to your program is intentionally low-burden. Because ASCEND uses Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), students are reflecting on experiences they've already had in your OST program — not completing a separate assessment. The penny drop session is a welcoming entry point: students place a penny on a bilingual sheet to document what they already know and can already do. Your program provides the STEM experience; NextREADY GPS gives students the language to name it and the evidence to show it.
Expand access to high-quality STEM learning for New Mexico students — especially those in rural, tribal, and underserved communities. Build a statewide network capable of delivering equitable STEM experiences outside the school day.
Develop the learning identity, durable life skills, and career readiness of individuals and families through evidence-based, culturally responsive assessment tools. Committed to the students at the heart of the Martinez/Yazzie lawsuit and aligned to the NM Indigenous Instructional Scope and Sequence.
Both organizations serve the same students, outside the school day, with equity as the organizing principle. The curiosity, agency, identity, and persistence that STEM learning requires to be sustained — these are exactly what NextREADY GPS is built to document.
ASCEND creates the conditions for STEM identity.
NM Indigenous Instructional Scope & Sequence
Your Program Is Already
Generating This Evidence
Think about what happens in a quality OST environment. A student builds something. Tests a hypothesis. Connects hands-on skills to something they care about. Every one of those moments is a Durable Life Skill in action — and NextREADY GPS gives students the language to name it and the documentation to show it.
Additional short videos in each section below go deeper on specific components.
NextREADY GPS Workshop Series
Our Durable Life Skills project, funded by the McCune Charitable Foundation, provides a series of webinars and in-person workshops for 200 participants. ASCEND has adapted the design of these professional development workshops so that STEMinNM network members can learn to use NextREADY GPS. The workshop series is the entry point — building the trust and shared language that makes a formal partnership meaningful. Our goal is for these participants to leverage the power of this information to support their next five years of funding through the NMPED 21st CCLC and OST FY27–31 RFPs.
Durable Life Skills · Penny Drop Sheet
Orienting OST program staff to the NextREADY GPS system: the penny assessment, iCAN framework, Durable Life Skills structure, and DOK levels. Designed for educators with no prior assessment background.
Hands-on facilitation practice: administering penny assessments, interpreting placement, generating pre/post comparisons. Staff practice with each other before using with students. Bilingual (English/Spanish) materials throughout.
Designing iCAN learning conversations within STEM program contexts. Connecting STEM skill goals to the Hand of Learning frame (Curiosity, Identity, Agency, Courage, Commitment) and to the NM Indigenous Instructional Scope and Sequence.
Using NextREADY GPS data for program reporting: mapping Durable Life Skills evidence to 21st CCLC performance indicators, MasteryIndex scoring, and federal 21APR reporting language.
Incorporating the Capstone Journey Journal into existing STEM program activities as a portfolio and reflection tool. Generates evidence for funder reporting, credential preparation, and Martinez/Yazzie-responsive documentation of student growth.
How ASCEND Strengthens
Your STEMinNM Application
RFP #2026-09 Context: The NMPED released the 21st CCLC FY27–31 RFP on March 30, 2026. Letter of Intent: April 17, 2026. Proposals due: April 24, 2026 at 4:00 PM MST. Five-year award cycle. Community-based organizations are eligible applicants. Consortium applications earn up to +75 competitive priority points. The tables below show exactly where NextREADY GPS generates evidence and score.
| RFP Requirement | What's Required | ASCEND–STEMinNM Response |
|---|---|---|
| Program Purpose ESSA Title IV-B | Provide academic enrichment and youth development outside the school day. | NextREADY GPS Durable Life Skills framework provides the youth development assessment layer that STEMinNM's programming delivers. The iCAN framework connects enrichment to learner-owned academic goals. |
| Family Engagement | Minimum two family engagement events annually; welcoming and culturally responsive approaches. | ASCEND's family learning approach and Hand of Learning frame provide STEMinNM member programs with a structured, culturally responsive framework for family engagement that goes beyond events to sustained learning conversations. |
| Evaluation & Continuous Improvement | Local needs assessment, measurable objectives, evidence-based strategies, data for ongoing improvement. | NextREADY GPS penny assessments provide pre/post data. MasteryIndex scoring with Cronbach's α >.90 satisfies evidence-based strategy requirements. DOK progression data enables continuous improvement cycles. |
| Data Reporting 21APR | Collect and submit student attendance and outcome data through 21APR system. | ASCEND's session-level data architecture (SessionID, TeamID, timestamped GPS coordinates) generates the participation records required for 21APR. Durable Life Skills outcomes map to NM State Performance Indicators. |
| Partnership Requirement | Demonstrate active collaboration among schools, LEAs, CBOs; provide MOUs. | The ASCEND–STEMinNM MOU provides the documented partnership required. STEMinNM's existing LEA relationships across its member network satisfy the school collaboration requirement. |
| Consortium Model+75 pts | Two or more eligible entities jointly plan and implement under a single fiscal agent. | When an OST provider or school nominates participants and joins the McCune Durable Life Skills project, that participation creates the documented consortium relationship. No separate fiscal agent structure is required — enrollment in the project is the partnership credential. |
| Rural, Tribal, Underserved Access+75 pts | Expand access for students in rural, tribal, or geographically underserved communities. | STEMinNM's existing presence in tribal and rural communities — combined with ASCEND's bilingual penny assessments, culturally responsive 4Rs framework, and alignment to the NM Indigenous Instructional Scope and Sequence — directly satisfies this priority. |
| Organizational Capacity150 pts | Leadership structure, staffing plan, experience serving target population, capacity to manage grant. | NextREADY GPS is a 15-year FileMaker-based platform — not a prototype. Validated psychometric tools (Cronbach's α >.90, Ravitz/Gerry/Heine, AECT 2022) and McCune Foundation grant credibility demonstrate organizational readiness. |
| Innovative Enrichment+25 pts | Innovative enrichment supporting STEM, arts, career exploration, experiential programming. | STEMinNM's core programming IS innovative STEM enrichment. NextREADY GPS adds the career readiness layer (D-CAR competency, SOC-linked aspiration mapping) that elevates enrichment to career pathway development. |
| NM State Performance Indicator | NextREADY GPS Evidence Pathway |
|---|---|
| Academic Achievement Reading & Mathematics improvements | NextREADY GPS Durable Life Skills sheets include D-LRN (Lifelong Learning) and D-LIT (Literacy) competencies. Pre/post penny placement documents movement along validated skill scales. DOK level progression documents deepening academic engagement from recall (DOK 1) through extended thinking (DOK 4). |
| School-Day Attendance Reduced chronic absenteeism | The iCAN framework and Hand of Learning (particularly Agency and Commitment dimensions) address the motivational and identity factors underlying chronic absenteeism. This connection is central to serving students at the heart of the Martinez/Yazzie lawsuit. |
| Student Engagement Participation in enrichment | MasteryIndex scores document sustained engagement over time. Capstone Journey Journal portfolio entries provide artifact evidence of deepening participation. MasteryIndex validated to Cronbach's α >.90 (Ravitz/Gerry/Heine, AECT 2022). |
| Family Engagement Increased family involvement in student learning | ASCEND's family learning approach generates documented family engagement touchpoints. The iCAN framework creates family conversation structures that are recordable as engagement events for PED reporting requirements. |
Two Partnership Pillars
Community Schools · Six Key Practices
Your program delivers the STEM learning environment — the activities, mentors, projects, and community context. You nominate students to join the McCune Durable Life Skills project. That's the partnership.
ASCEND brings the YPAR-based NextREADY GPS system. Students reflect on their OST experiences using penny drop sessions and iCAN statements. The documentation happens; your program gets the data.
When your OST program or school signs up to join the McCune project, that participation by definition meets the community engagement and consortium requirements of the 21st CCLC RFP. You don't need a separate fiscal agent structure — your nomination and enrollment in the project creates the documented partnership relationship that reviewers are looking for.
When OST programs use NextREADY GPS as their shared assessment platform, three durable outcomes follow:
- A shared data architecture enabling network-level outcome reporting no individual program could generate alone
- A common language for learner development — curiosity, agency, identity, persistence — spanning diverse STEM programming contexts
- An evidence base supporting 21st CCLC, McCune Foundation, and other NM funder reporting requirements
Youth Participatory Action Research means students are the researchers of their own experience — not subjects of an external assessment.
- Students reflect on STEM experiences they've already had in your program — no separate assessment sessions required
- The penny drop is a welcoming entry point, not a test — bilingual, culturally responsive, designed for OST contexts
- iCAN statements give students ownership of their own evidence — transforming participation into documented learner agency
- Your program provides the context; NextREADY GPS provides the language and the record
Timeline Alignment with RFP
17
LOI is optional but signals intent to PED reviewers. If you're planning to include NextREADY GPS as your assessment infrastructure, name it in the LOI. Contact ASCEND now to confirm your participant nominations are in the system before this date.
24
Partnership documentation, needs assessment, evaluation plan, and data reporting sections all benefit from naming NextREADY GPS explicitly. The collapsible tables above provide the language for each scoring section.
Jun
OST providers and schools can nominate participants for the McCune Durable Life Skills project now. Joining the project before your proposal is submitted gives you documented community engagement and consortium participation to include in your application narrative.
1
McCune Foundation funding supports this capacity-building work ahead of the July 1 start date. Funded programs that have already integrated NextREADY GPS begin the award cycle with assessment infrastructure ready — not a to-do item.
An entire ecosystem
for family learning
NextREADY GPS is not just a grant tool — it's a living navigation system for families at every stage. OST programs are one entry point. There are four more.
Two ways to
get started now.
The free webinar is open to any OST or school applicant. Applications are screened for eligibility — the stronger your supporting evidence, the better your results. If you want to go deeper — using NextREADY GPS data and AI tools to strengthen your application and build five years of assessment infrastructure — apply to join the McCune Durable Life Skills project.