DRAFT PWS for ARRA TIF TA contract 11-12-09

DRAFT—November 12, 2009

Performance Work Statement (PWS) Technical Assistance for Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) Grants Funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Abbreviations

APR

Annual program report

ARRA

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

CECR

Center for Educator Compensation Reform

CO

Contracting Officer

COR

Contracting Officer’s Representative

ED

United States Department of Education

ESEA

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

GPRA

Government Performance Results Act

LEA

Local educational agency

MER

Monthly Expenditure Report

MPR

Monthly Progress Report

OESE

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

PART

Program Assessment Ratings Tool

PD

Project Director

SEA

State educational agency

SOW

Statement of work

TIF

Teacher Incentive Fund

Background

In most school systems in the United States, educator compensation systems are structured in ways that do not recognize and reward effective teaching. Teachers and principals are paid according to set pay scales where increases in salary come through additional years of service or through the attainment of advanced degrees or credentials. Teachers and principals, by and large, do not receive additional compensation for taking difficult assignments, for teaching hard-to-staff subjects, when their students’ performance improves, or when they successfully close achievement gaps.

In order to change this situation and improve the alignment between teacher and principal pay and performance, school systems must reform how educators are compensated and find ways to re-work how educators, schools, legislative bodies, and communities view educator pay.

In recent years, concerns about teacher and principal pay have generated performance-based pay experiments in several school systems. These experiments have met with varying degrees of success, but many failed because of the school system’s inability to effectively address inherent difficulties in changing compensation practices. For example, teacher organizations have been skeptical about how performance pay is implemented, so they are often resistant to participating. Concerns about using standardized tests to measure student success are also an important obstacle, as is the school system’s ability to implement bias free methods for conducting classroom evaluations of educators’ practice. Technical obstacles, such as the reworking of payroll systems, are also a concern. Sustainable government support and funding for such schemes have also been concerns.

In response to interest in compensation reform and to difficulties that school systems have had in implementing such reform effectively, Congress authorized the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) in September 2006. TIF, a discretionary grant program, supports projects that develop and implement performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need schools. Grantees must consider gains in student academic achievement as well as classroom evaluations conducted multiple times during each school year among other factors and provide educators with incentives to take on additional responsibilities and leadership roles in order to be funded. Eligible grantees for this discretionary grant program include local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that are LEAs in their State, State Educational Agencies (SEAs), or partnerships of (1) an LEA, an SEA, or both, and (2) at least one non-profit organization. To date, the ED has awarded 33 TIF grants.

In addition to funding TIF grantees, some program funds were used to fund a contract to create and maintain the Center for Educator Compensation Reform (CECR). The CECR contract, which was awarded on September 30, 2006, provides technical assistance and monitoring services for the first two cohorts of TIF grantees. The CECR also engages in national activities designed to enhance public knowledge about and interest in the reform of educator compensation systems, primarily through products developed for the CECR web site (http://cecr.ed.gov/).

In February 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The ARRA provided a large amount of funds for various education programs, including $100 million for the TIF program. Using funds from the ARRA, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will award an anticipated 50-60 additional TIF grants. ED expects to award these ARRA-funded TIF grants by July 2010.

Purpose of Contract

The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) requires the services of a contractor to coordinate the provision of technical assistance and other services to TIF grantees funded under the ARRA. The contractor shall provide technical assistance for TIF grantees; administrative support for TIF program staff in conducting monitoring; and logistical support for annual grantee meetings. The contractor shall provide services beginning with the award date of the contract for a 12-month base period. The contract includes a 12-month base period and four possible 12-month option periods.

Legislative Authority

The contractor will provide technical assistance and support for the TIF and will be funded under the ARRA—P.L. 111-5, passed on February 17, 2009. The TIF was originally authorized under P.L. 109-149—Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Department of Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, to support projects that develop and implement performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need schools. Grantees must consider gains in student academic achievement as well as classroom evaluations conducted multiple times during each school year among other factors and provide educators with incentives to take on additional responsibilities and leadership roles in order to be funded. Eligible grantees for this discretionary grant program include local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that are LEAs in their State, State Education Agencies (SEAs), or partnerships of (1) an LEA, an SEA, or both, and (2) at least one non-profit organization.

Scope of Work

The contractor shall provide technical assistance and training that support TIF grantees in developing and implementing performance-based educator compensation systems. The contractor shall also provide administrative assistance to TIF program staff. These services will ensure that federal funds help to improve educator compensation systems.

Services provided by the contractor shall include:

· Logistical support for annual grantee meetings

· Technical assistance to grantees

· Monitoring assistance

· Development of profiles of new grantees for publication on the CECR web site and development of items for CECR newsletter

· Assistance with Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) and Program Assessment Ratings Tool (PART) reporting

Tasks and Deliverables

Task 1: Meet and Communicate with ED

The contractor's Project Director/Manager and key personnel shall, within 5 working days after the effective date of the contract, attend a one-day meeting in Washington, D.C., with ED’s Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and the Contracting Officer (CO) or duly authorized representative. The purpose of the meeting is to review the goals and objectives of the contract and the contractor’s approach and schedule for coordinating tasks, as specified in the contractor’s proposal. The meeting will also enable the contractor’s staff to ask questions and to seek clarification of any potential issues related to the implementation of the contract.

Deliverable 1.1: The contractor shall, within 5 workdays of the meeting with ED, submit to the CO and the COR a schedule with actual calendar dates for deliverables and reports and a summary of the kickoff meeting.

Task 2: Contract Administration—Role of the Project Director The Project Director (PD) of the contract shall be responsible for overall management of the work of the contract. In addition to managing the contract on a day-to-day basis, the PD shall integrate the work to ensure that there is a cohesive scope of work and that each task is aligned with others. The purpose of this position is to ensure that the contract as a whole is greater than its individual tasks. The PD shall possess strong management skills. The PD shall be proactive in identifying grantee needs and assuring that the contractor is capable of meeting those needs.

In addition to managing the work of the contract, the PD shall also be responsible for working closely with the CECR. The CECR currently provides monitoring and technical assistance services to current TIF grantees, and the CECR plans annual conferences for the existing grantees. Because this contract shall provide similar services for ARRA-funded TIF grantees, it is important that the two contractors work together to ensure that all TIF grantees receive comparable levels of technical assistance and are monitored using the same criteria. In addition, it may be appropriate, in some years, for grantee meetings for all TIF cohorts to be held together, which would require additional contractor coordination.

In addition to providing services to TIF grantees, the CECR also engages in national activities designed to enhance public knowledge about and interest in the reform of educator compensation systems. While the contractor providing services for ARRA-funded TIF grants shall not have direct responsibility for such national activities, the PD of this contract shall be responsible for regularly contacting the CECR to ensure that products produced for the CECR also serve the needs of ARRA-funded TIF grantees and to ensure that grantees served under this contract are appropriately represented on the CECR web site (e.g., in newsletters and in grantee profiles).

The PD shall have a Ph.D. or equivalent experience in Education or other relevant field. The PD shall be capable of representing the Center in substantive conferences and meetings. The PD shall be familiar with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), with the ARRA, with the TIF program, and with current administrative, research and policy issues related to educator compensation issues and K-12 education issues. The PD shall be the supervisor of all staff, and responsible for budget issues.

Deliverable 2.1: The contractor shall develop a detailed annual work plan within 30 working days after the effective date of the contract, (and subsequently, 30 working days into the beginning of each Option Period, if the options are exercised).

The work plan shall include:

· A detailed work chart describing how designated contractor personnel shall accomplish activities.

· A technical plan that shall describe the integration of the tasks described in the PWS.

· A plan for coordination of work with work accomplished by the CECR for TIF cohorts 1 and 2.

Deliverable 2.2: The contractor shall, in each monthly progress report (MPR) due the tenth work day of each month, report on its efforts to coordinate its activities with those of the CECR during the preceding month, problems encountered, and plans for the subsequent month.

Task 3: Provide Logistical Support for Annual Grantee Meetings

The contractor shall provide logistical support for an annual grantee meeting for 150-200 people. Participants will include 2-3 participants from each grantee, speakers, contractor staff, ED staff, etc. The first annual meeting will be held within 60 days after the effective date of the contract or within 60 days after the award of the grants funded through the ARRA, whichever is later. Dates for annual meetings to be held during option periods will be determined later. In future years it may be desirable to hold annual meetings for all TIF grantee cohorts at the same time, which would require the contractor to coordinate with the CECR.

No food shall be provided under this contract. The contractor shall only pay travel expenses for conference speakers and presenters (3-8 people). The contractor shall not include travel costs for grantees. The contractor shall be responsible for pre-meeting planning, logistical support for the meeting, and post-meeting follow-up.

The contractor shall provide pre-meeting services. These pre-meeting services shall include, but are not limited to,

· Planning and arranging the meeting agenda and activities,

· Identifying and confirming hotel space,

· Inviting and registering participants,

· Contacting speakers/experts,

· Arranging travel needs,

· Identifying and coordinating workshop handouts,

· Arranging for audio/visual needs, and

· Arranging for related logistical support.

The contractor shall provide support at each meeting, including but not limited to,

· Welcoming and registering participants,

· Ensuring that audio/visual needs are met,

· Coordinating workshop flow and break-out sessions,

· Collecting workshop evaluations,

· Preparing and processing papers and proceedings from meetings, and

· Arranging for related logistical support.

Deliverable 3.1: The contractor shall provide, within 10 working days after each meeting, a summary of the meeting and a summary of the meeting evaluations. The contractor shall complete other post-meeting services within 15 working days after each meeting, such as processing travel reimbursement needs of speakers/experts, identifying meeting resources to post on the Web site, and related services.

Task 4: Technical Assistance to Grantees The contractor shall provide and coordinate ongoing technical assistance to ARRA-funded TIF grantees. The contractor shall provide one-on-one technical assistance to grantees. These services shall be provided through site visits, phone calls, videoconferences, or other suitable methods. Technical assistance may also be provided in a group setting, if appropriate, although food and travel expenses for grantees will not be covered by the contract.

No technical assistance will be provided without prior approval from the COR.

Technical assistance shall be provided in key areas that determine project success, including, but not limited to

· Teacher/Principal Evaluation models

· Funding models for compensation systems

· Use of valid, reliable assessments by which projects can measure student achievement, particularly in grades and subjects where standardized State test data are not available

· Development and enhancement of staff and community support for system reform, including the production of effective communications plans

· Data Management

· Project evaluation—the contractor shall provide assistance to each grantee to develop site-based evaluation systems for both formative and summative purposes. Particular attention should be paid to assisting grantees in designing and implementing appropriate project evaluations that will also produce data suitable for use in a national evaluation.

The contractor shall conduct a needs assessment to determine which grantees require assistance and the nature of the support required. The needs assessment shall serve as the basis for the contractor’s technical assistance plan.

Deliverable 4.1: The contractor shall, within 30 working days after the effective date of contract, submit to the COR for approval a list of contractor staff that will provide technical assistance to grantees, including their specific areas of expertise.

Deliverable 4.2: The contractor shall conduct a needs assessment to determine grantees’ areas of greatest need for technical assistance. The assessment shall be submitted to the COR for approval within 30 working days of the first annual grantee meeting.

Deliverable 4.3: Based on the needs assessment, the contractor shall, within 30 working days after submitting the needs assessment, prepare a technical assistance plan.

Deliverable 4.4: The contractor shall include, in each MPR, due the tenth work day of each month, a report on its technical assistance efforts during the preceding month, problems encountered, and plans for the subsequent month.

Task 5: Monitoring Assistance

The contractor shall coordinate the monitoring of ARRA-funded TIF grantees. The contractor shall identify appropriate monitors and submit a list of the proposed monitors to the COR. No monitors shall be selected without prior approval from the COR.

The contractor shall conduct monthly monitoring telephone calls with each grantee.

The contractor shall prepare a monitoring schedule, and, if necessary, train monitors. The contractor shall also travel with ED staff on all monitoring visits, which will be conducted using the monitoring framework and protocol already developed by ED and the CECR. Each grantee shall receive a monitoring visit during the base period. Each visit will last 2-3 days. The contractor shall also, in coordination with ED program staff, write monitoring reports for each visit.

Grantees are required to submit annual program reports (APR). In conjunction with ED staff, the contractor shall provide technical assistance as needed to grantees in completing their reports, and conduct an analysis of the data through the APRs as part of monitoring.

The contractor shall also collect, analyze, and synthesize data on TIF projects collected during the monitoring process and from project annual reports.

Deliverable 5.1: The contractor shall, within 60 working days after the effective date of the contract, submit to the COR a list, for ED's approval, of contractor staff that will provide monitoring services.

Deliverable 5.2: The contractor shall, within 75 working days after the effective date of the contract or 75 days from when grants are awarded, whichever is later, submit to the COR a monitoring schedule that incorporates a strategy for training monitoring staff (if necessary), a plan for contacting grant recipients on a monthly basis, a monitoring chart, and a plan for conducting on-site monitoring visits with all grantees. Changes to the monitoring schedule shall be submitted for COR review as needed.

Deliverable 5.3: The contractor shall draft and submit monitoring reports after each on-site monitoring visit to the COR and to the ED program officer responsible for the grantee in question. Reports from each visit shall be submitted within 20 working days of the visit.

Deliverable 5.4: The contractor shall, within 60 working days after APRs are due, provide a written analysis to the COR and to each ED program officer (for grants for which the program officer is responsible) of each grantee’s APR.

Deliverable 5.5: The contractor shall, in each MPR due the tenth work day of each month, report on its monitoring efforts with each grantee, including information on the monthly telephone calls and on any other monitoring contacts with the grantees that occurred during the preceding month. These reports shall be printed so that the report for each grantee appears on its own page, so that these reports can be included in the official grant files. The reports shall include information on any problems encountered and on plans for the subsequent month.

Task 6: Development of Materials for the CECR Web Site Using the format provided by the ED and the CECR, the contractor shall prepare a profile for each grantee for posting on the CECR web site. The contractor shall also update TIF project profiles on an annual basis.

The contractor shall also, from time to time, work with CECR staff to provide items for the CECR newsletter (http://cecr.ed.gov/news/ ).

Deliverable 6.1: Within 45 working days after the effective date of the contract or 45 working days after the award of the grants, whichever is later, the contractor, in consultation with the COR , shall contact each grantee to gather information for Project Profiles. Profiles shall be submitted to the COR for approval. The COR shall review and approve each profile within 20 working days. If necessary, the contractor shall submit final Project Profiles within 20 working days of receiving the COR’s comments. Microsoft Word versions of each profile shall be submitted.

Deliverable 6.2: The contractor shall update project profiles annually, using the grantees annual reports. Updated profiles shall be submitted to the COR for approval. The COR will review and approve within 20 working days. If necessary, final updated Project Profiles shall be submitted within 20 working days after the contractor receives the COR’s comments. Microsoft Word versions of each updated profile shall be submitted.

Deliverable 6.3: The Contractor shall, as needed, prepare items for the monthly CECR newsletter. Items shall be submitted to the COR for approval. The COR shall review and approve each item within 5 working days. If necessary, the contractor shall submit final version of the items within 5 working days of receiving the COR’s comments. Microsoft Word versions of each item shall be submitted.

Task 7: Analyze and Report Project Information for GPRA and PART

The Contractor shall aggregate the findings from Project Annual Reports. The contractor, in consultation with ED, shall conduct analyses of these data to address Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) indicators and PART requirements for the TIF program, including descriptive data on projects.

Deliverable 7.1: The contractor shall provide required annual GPRA reports, as well as PART reports, as needed. The COR shall review and approve each report within 20 working days. If necessary, the contractor shall submit a final report within 20 working days of receiving the COR’s comments.

Task 8: Periodic Progress and Expenditure reports The contractor shall prepare and submit on a monthly basis: (1) a Monthly Progress Report (MPR); and (2) a monthly expenditure report (MER). All reports shall show the project title and contract number on the cover or first page. They shall state that the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is funding the project.

Deliverable 8.1: The contractor shall submit to the CO and the COR a concise MPR due on the tenth work day of each month. The contractor shall summarize major activities and accomplishments during the reporting period and provide information for each project task regarding significant findings and events, problems encountered, suggested solutions, and staff utilized. The contractor shall specify in the reports the extent to which the project is on schedule. The report shall also include items discussed in Deliverables 2.2, 4.4, and 5.5.

Deliverable 8.2: The contractor shall submit to the CO and the COR an itemized Monthly Expenditure Report (MER) due on the tenth work day of each month. The expenditure report shall be an exhibit of expenditures segregated by project costs by individual and by task. This shall include all invoices and personnel costs associated with a task. The contractor shall detail travel costs for the trips incurred, specifically, the report shall identify the people who traveled, where they went and the dates of arrival and departure.

Reporting Requirements:

The contractor shall submit all deliverables via e-mail to the COR and/or the CO. All reports shall show the project title and contract number on the cover or first page. They shall state that the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is funding the project.

The basic format for deliverables shall be Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access, as appropriate. In addition, the contractor shall submit all publications, draft and final, in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

The contractor shall prepare disabled-accessible HTML versions of final documents for publication on ED’s Web site. The contractor shall also prepare text descriptions of charts, theory of action models, and other graphics with content in final documents destined for the Web and public distribution.

The contract number shall be clearly identified on each deliverable.

Deliverables that are to be sent to the CO should be sent to

U.S. Department of Education

Contracts and Purchasing Operations

550 12th Street, SW

7th Floor

Washington, DC 20202

Attn: Alice Mihill, Contract Specialist

Deliverables that are to be sent to the COR should be sent to

Elizabeth A. Witt U.S. Department of Education

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, AITQ

400 Maryland Ave. SW

Room 3E306, Mail Stop 6200

Washington, DC 20202

Requirements for Option Periods 1-4

In Option Periods 1-4, if exercised, all tasks shall be repeated as in the Base Period. In the Option Periods, if deemed sufficient by the COR, the opening meeting (1.1) may be held by teleconference within the first 5 working days after exercise of the option period.

Schedule of Deliverables: Base Period

COR—1copy

Monthly report on coordination with CECR (in MPR) 30 working days after the award

Tenth working day of each month CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

Process travel reimbursements 10 working days after meeting

15 working days after meeting CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

NA

Technical assistance needs assessment

Technical Assistance Plan

Report on TA activities (in MPR) 30 working days after award

30 working days after first annual grantee meeting

30 working days after needs assessment

Tenth working day of each month CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

CO—1 copy COR—1 copy

5. Monitoring Assistance

List of staff to provide monitoring services

Monitoring Schedule Monitoring Reports

Analysis of APRs Report on monitoring activities (in MPR) 60 working days after award

75 working days after award 20 working days after each visit

60 working days after APRs are due Tenth working day of each month CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

ED program officer—1copy

CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

ED program officer(s)—1copy

CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

Updates to grantee profiles

Items for CECR Newsletter 45 working days after award or 45 working days after award of the grants Annually As needed CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

PART reports Annually

As needed CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

Monthly Expenditure Report Tenth working day of each month Tenth working day of each month CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

CO—1 copy

COR—1 copy

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