RFP: US Department of Education National Technology Activities procurement

I just wanted to give you a heads up on a contract coming out of our office . . . in case you want to let any of your colleagues know . . . Thanks!
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Dear MATO Category B and E Contractors,

Your firm is invited to submit a Statement of Capability for the "Analytic and Policy Support for the U.S. Department of Education National Technology Activities" procurement. This invitation is open to all contractors under MATO 2004 Categories B and E. Attached below is the Request for Statements of Capability cover letter, Instructions, Draft Statement of Work.

If there are any questions contact Cindy Duncan via e-mail or at 202-245-6196 or Pam Bone via e-mail at pamela.bone@ed.gov or at 202-245-6181. Submit Statements of Capability via e-mail to Cynthia.Duncan@ed.gov and carbon copy (cc) pamela.bone@ed.gov. Note that I will be out of the office from Friday June 24, 2005 through Wednesday July 6, 2005, please contact Pam Bone if you have questions during that timeframe.

Questions regarding this request are due not later than 2:00 p.m. local time on June 29, 2005. Capability Statements are due not later than 2:00 p.m. local time on July 6, 2005. Thank you in advance for your interest in the Department's requirements.

Note: 1) This is a Request for Capability Statements, not a Request for Proposal and 2) This Request for Statements of Capability is issued subject to the availability of funds, see FAR 52.232-18

COVER LETTER: REQUEST FOR CAPABILITY STATEMENTS

UNESCO U.S. National Commission

The U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization held its first annual conference since its re-establishment in Washington, DC, on June 6 and 7. Readers of this blog may be most interested in following the activities of the Commission with respect to future developments in the Education and Communication and Information Sectors.

6/22-Ed Tech in the News

Distance Learning
Oregon DOE Approves Online Charter School
"An online charter school in Scio moved a step closer to reality Monday when the Oregon Department of Education announced it finds no reason to recommend withholding of funds. Oregon Connections Academy stands to be the first wholly online, statewide, full-curriculum public charter school in the state.Thomas said the private company with which the school district has contracted has a list of about 100 interested students so far, most of them homeschoolers and all of them from outside the Scio area.Scio Business Director Cecelia Swigart said she is building a budget for next year with a potential revenue figure of about $2.6 million."
(Moody, Albany Democrat-Herald)

Online P.E. Classes Allow Busy Students Greater Flexibility
Students in Minneapolis high schools have been given the option to complete their P.E. requirements online raising questions from parents and students. 'Initially, Minneapolis physical education teachers had questions, too. "It's kind of an oxymoron to have online PE," said Jan Braaten, the district's lead teacher for physical education and health. "My staff was leery at first." "But Braaten and others who developed the class are proud of their creation and say it's drawing interest from around the state and beyond. Online phy ed made its debut in Minneapolis this spring and is being offered this summer as well." "Online learning offers a way for busy students to shoehorn the state-required academic courses -- the district requires one year each of health and physical education -- and the electives they want into their schedules."

"The point, according to first-level online physical education teacher Frank Goodrich, is to start at whatever fitness level the student has and try to improve that. The course begins and ends with face-to-face meetings between student and teacher. Those sessions include testing components of fitness such as strength, flexibility and endurance. Students also are provided with a heart monitor and record its readings and how hard they perceive they're working, along with other workout notes, in an activity journal. They e-mail their work for each weekly unit to teachers. " (Brandt, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

The Met Life Survey of the American Teacher: Transitions and the Role of Supportive Relationships

The current study incorporates the perspectives of key stakeholders in exploring this issue: new public school teachers in grades K-12, public school principals in grades K-12, and secondary public school students in grades 7-12. Topics in this survey include: the role of principals in staffing and managing schools, the general attitudes, expectations and challenges associated with education, the profiles of teachers likely to leave their profession, and the various relationships surrounding the transition for new teachers, principals and students.

6/21-Ed Tech in the News

Data Systems
Shift in Tech Funding Focuses on Data Systems
Public schools pressured to keep up with state and federal testing requirements are spending millions on high-tech systems to track and catalog their kids at the same time the federal government is cutting funding for the very same technology.

The idea is that by extensively tracking students' past performance and making that information available to teachers in a timely manner, teachers can individualize instruction to give kids a better chance of passing standardized tests.

In its annual national study on technology use in schools, the trade magazine Education Week found 15 states, including Texas, are focusing more technology funding on data management and collection as a direct result of No Child Left Behind requirements.
( LaCoste-Caputo, San Antonio Express News)

Grants
NCLB-Funded Grant Brings Tech to Minority Schools
"Between hours spent working at the Calumet City Cultural Center and going to high school this spring, Adrieono Shanklin built computers from scratch. The 15-year-old Thornton Fractional North student was one of 28 participating in Project Elevate, a collaborative effort between Calumet City and Chicago State University's Community Technology Center. Adrieono and his classmates get to keep the computers they worked on for eight weeks.It will be the only working computer in the Shanklin household when it arrives."

"Making a computer seemed like it would be fun," said Adrieono, who received a certificate of completion Friday night. The program, now in its second year, is aimed at bringing technology to low-income neighborhoods and schools with a glut of students who traditionally fail to meet reading, math and language arts standards set in the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The Calumet City program is funded with a grant from the act." (Holt, Chicago Tribune)

Distance Education
Video Conferencing Used to Teach Future Teachers
"Karen C. Newtzie is trying to be in several places at once. She is teaching in four classrooms simultaneously, sitting in one of them while watching three others on video screens."

"The course is jointly taught by Ms. Newtzie and four other instructors in the Virginia Community College System, who are also spread out around the state. It is part of a statewide program called Career Switchers, which was started in 2004 for adults who want to change careers and become teachers in math or science."

"An emerging technology called "video over IP," which allows video signals to be transmitted via Internet Protocol over standard computer networks, brings everyone in the course together. Just a few years ago, when broadband connections were not as widespread, videoconferences could happen only on specialized and expensive networks. Now video over IP is proliferating, enabling distance-education professors to watch the animated expressions (or blank, bored faces) of their students no matter how far away they may be."
(Guernsey, Chronicle of Higher Education)

Other News
Texas High School Uses Online College Counseling
"Beginning this summer, students will have access to an online college admissions counseling service customized for Centennial High and run by the school's counselors.
Students will be able to sign on from home and schedule college visits, order transcripts and call up information about scholarships and other financial aid, she said."

"Centennial's counselors expect wide use of the site, Ms. Clair said. Ninety-five percent of the school's families have Internet access at home. And about 90 percent of Frisco's students head for college, according to district figures. "
(Jackson, Dallas Morning News)

Lack of Funding Citied for Kentucky's Limited Technology Access
"Kentucky once drew national praise for its aggressive efforts to bring computers into the classroom, but lately the state has stumbled in the race to keep pace with technology.
Just five years ago, Kentucky led other states in providing and using computer technology in schools. Now 75 percent of student computers are considered too old to run modern software programs."

"The problem is money. State education officials say the state hasn't earmarked sufficient money for technology, especially in the past four or five years." "With an ever-shrinking state dollar for technology, school districts have shouldered more of the burden to pay for new computers and upgrades. The results have shown in increasing reliance on older equipment."
(Harden, The Kentucky Post)

Summer Courses Held Online In Growing Number Of Districts

Education Week (6/15, 1, Borja) reports in a front-page story, "Students in Tennessee's Hamilton County schools won't trudge to classrooms in the syrupy July heat for summer school. Instead, they can boot up a computer at home or almost any place else with an Internet connection and take classes online. The summer Web-based classes will supplant the 40,000-student district's traditional summer school courses, according to a district official." The reasons given are "the logistical ease of 'anytime, anywhere' learning, the courses' relatively low cost to parents, and the increased need for students to meet state academic standards." Susan D. Patrick, "director of educational technology for the U.S. Department of Education, said the increasing popularity of online summer school reflects the overall growth of distance education."