Professional Development Module

The U.S. Department of Education's, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program is a State formula-grant program authorized under Title IV, Part B, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The No Child Left Behind Act converted the 21st CCLC program from discretionary grants, administered directly by Department of Education, to a program in which each State receives an allotment under a formula based on their share of Title I, Part A funds. States must use their allocations to make competitive awards to eligible entities. Grants made under the antecedent program will continue to be managed at the Federal level until they expire. The Secretary may reserve up to one percent of the total appropriation for the 21st CCLC program to carry out an array of national activities, including but not limited to national evaluations and the technical assistance. The objective of the 21st CCLC program is to enable community learning centers to have the ability to plan, implement, or expand after-school learning enrichment opportunities to help students meet State and local standards in core content areas. 21st CCLC programs must primarily serve children who attend schools identified with high-poverty, while also giving priority to serving children in low-performing schools based on State standards. Scope of Work The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) intends to establish a contract that will be used provide continued technical assistance through a professional development module to help State and local programs throughout the country design and implement research-based, effective afterschool learning opportunities for children primarily in high-poverty, low-performing schools. Under this procurement, the contractor shall design professional development databases and modules using a hybrid of distance learning techniques, train the trainer techniques, and regional study circles to increase the capacity of local 21st CCLC project and program directors to use nationally recognized best practices to improve the academic outcomes of their participating students. These databases and modules will focus on equipping afterschool program staff with the knowledge and background in program and activity design best practices so that program staffs may create curricula and activities that use local academic outcomes and objectives to design hands-on, experiential, and participatory activities that are different from the methodology used to deliver the same content during the school day. All features would be housed on a web-based portal on the website of the contractor that can easily be transported to a new platform at the end of the contract period. Several aspects of this contract require strong collaboration and coordination among distinct entities involved in the model identification and dissemination process. Additionally, the contractor must have access to and be knowledgeable of the information and materials pertaining to after-school programs to ensure that it has the capabilities to be thoroughly familiar with existing literature on effective afterschool content-area curriculum, specifically in the areas of reading, mathematics, and science and professional development. The main deliverable of this contract will be an interactive web portal encompassing several distinct sections. This portal will provide: * A technology-based, user-centric one-stop infrastructure that includes a virtual gateway for State coordinators and sub-grantees to select academic and learning strategies, classroom instructional materials, staff and instructional training modules, best business practices, and program evaluation tools; * Evaluation strategies and tools that will eliminate duplication, and enhance quality and consistency across the program; * A large and robust online learning and professional development system that will provide increased, consistent, customized, and focused afterschool information and strategies for the entire 21st CCLC community; * A communication tool that includes access to State 21st CCLC activity calendars, message boards, blackboards, meeting-conference webinar access, and other community-driven communication tools; * A virtual gateway for States and sub-grantees to select from a menu of comprehensive, innovative, and creative best practices and professional development training modules that are specific to the needs of the respective State and/or sub-grantee programs. Request for Information Response This request for information is limited to small businesses only!! All interested small businesses are encouraged to respond to this Request for Information with a brief capability statement outlining the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities in meeting Department of Education requirements by May 30, 2008, 4:00pm EST. If two or more small businesses are identified and determined by the Contracting Officer to be capable of successfully meeting contractual objectives, the Department of Education will set-aside this procurement for small-business concerns. All questions and comments must be directed to Thurl Frazier, Contract Specialist at thurl.frazier@ed.gov and cc Stephanie Girard, Contracting Officer at stephanie.girard@ed.gov.