The Department of Education (the Department) intends to make a sole source award to the National Academy of Science, located in Washington, DC, to support the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning activities in early childhood programs at the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) sites. The outcome of the project is to develop a toolkit to provide guidance and support for 21st CCLC staff in the area of early childhood mathematics learning. The 21st CCLC program is authorized under Title IV, Part B, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended. The 21st CCLC is designed to create community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools, to meet State and local student standards in core academic subjects, to offer students a broad array of enrichment activities that can complement their regular academic programs, and to offer literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children. Section 4202(a)(1) of Title IV, Part B authorizes the Secretary of Education to reserve not more than one percent for national activities that may be carried out directly or through grants and contracts and would like to call upon the expertise of individuals outside of the U.S. Department of Education, such as in academia, other federal agencies, and national, state and local organizations, to advise the Department on broad education policy issues. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) conducted a study on Early Childhood and Mathematics. The study presented evidence-based insights that there is a deficiency in the area of young children learning mathematics largely due to limited opportunities and exposure in homes and communities. Young children, particularly those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, would benefit greatly from adult support and guidance for it would foster rich learning environment, particularly mathematics. As a result, there is a need to develop an early childhood toolkit focusing on mathematics learning providing better guidance for optimal learning outcomes. To accomplish this purpose, the Department plans to, with the guidance of an officially appointed oversight committee, acting as a technical working group composed of NRC study group experts, representatives of the afterschool community, and STEM education experts, the NRC will work with partners from the 21st CCLC Afterschool community to develop a set of resources related to the NRC consensus study. In addition, the NRC will develop and implement a strategy for disseminating the tool kit and related materials so that practitioners have enough knowledge and support to implement effective strategies for mathematics learning in young children. The authority permitting other than full and open competition is 6.302-1. The Department will afford qualified and interested parties an opportunity to submit capability statements outlining experience directly relevant to this requirement. The Government will consider information received within 30 days of this synopsis. Draft Statement of Work (DSOW): Attached for your review is a Draft Statement of Work, which includes background, purpose of contract, legislative authority, scope of work, and tasks and deliverables. Capabilities: In order to successfully perform the work of this contract, interested parties must have ALL of the following competencies or the ability to provide all of these competencies: (Contractor must respond to all the following points by indicating your experience or the ability to provide the experience.) • Providing logistical support for grantee meetings and working group meetings • Providing meeting facilitation services • Assisting program staff with program monitoring • Survey development and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance • Data collection and analysis • Assisting with review of equitable distribution plans (optional task) The contractor shall demonstrate that its staff has expertise in current policy in and research on teacher quality, teacher effectiveness, and the equitable distribution of teachers. These areas of expertise are essential if the contractor is to successfully demonstrate that it can engage in the following activities: • Analysis and management of data related to teachers and teacher quality • Survey development and implementation, as it pertains to collecting information on and about teachers, teacher quality policy, and teacher effectiveness • Monitoring of Federal education programs, especially program related to teacher quality. • In addition, the contractor must demonstrate that its staff has expertise in • Meeting planning and logistics and • Meeting facilitation PAGE LIMIT FOR CAPABILITY STATEMENTS IS 15 PAGES. THE CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE REQUIREMENTS OR THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED ABOVE. Please address each in order listed above. Business Information: Please provide the following Business Information: 1. DUNS Number 2. Company Name 3. Company Address 4. Company Point of Contact, phone number and email address 5. Type of company under NAICS, as validated via the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Additional information on NAICS codes can be found at www.sba.gov. Any potential government contracter must be registered on the CCR located at http://www.ccr.gov/index.asp 6. Identify all applicable classifications for your organization, such as: a. Small Business b. Woman-owned business c. 8(a) business d. Large business e. Small disadvantaged business f. HUBZone business g. SDVOB business h. Non-profit 7. Current GSA Schedules appropriate to this Sources Sought 8. Point of Contact, phone number and email address of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. 9. Responders should also include a statement about whether or not they have an approved Federal audited accounting system. If the responder has an approved accounting system, please provide the certification in which the accounting system was deemed adequate (e.g. the name of the audit agency and audit number). You may submit as an attachment, which will not count towards the overall page limit. Teaming Arrangements: All teaming arrangements or Joint Ventures shall include the above-cited information and for each entity on the proposed team. Teaming arrangements are encouraged. Due Date: Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to
[email protected] . Responses must be submitted no later than 12 PM, Eastern Time, Friday, February 3, 2012. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. The Department will entertain questions through 12 PM, Eastern Time, Thursday January 12, 2012. Questions will not be accepted after this date. Please submit questions via email to
[email protected] .