REL_-_PWS.docx

Version Date: March 4, 2016 Performance Work Statement

I. Purpose and Authorizing Legislation

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) intends to enter into a 60-month contract with a qualified entity to serve as the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) for each of nine regions. See Appendix A for the names of the regions and their constituent states or jurisdictions. The REL will be part of a program of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories authorized under the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA) of 2002, Part D, Section 174, (20 U.S.C. 9564). The REL program is administered by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES)[footnoteRef:2]. [2: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/rschstat/leg/PL107-279.pdf ]

Authorizing legislation directs the RELs to carry out applied research and development, disseminate findings from scientifically-valid research, provide support for using research in education decision making, and coordinate their activities with other federally-funded technical assistance entities (such as the Comprehensive Centers and the Equity Assistance Centers). RELs serve state education agencies (SEAs), local education agencies (LEAs), state and local school boards, and schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as appropriate. RELs are required to allocate no less than 25 percent of their resources to meeting the needs of rural areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each REL has a Governing Board that provides strategic direction, including helping to prioritize which regional needs should be the focus of the REL’s work. A Governing Board is comprised of the region’s chief State school officers or their designees and other regional education stakeholders. Because REL work is carried out under contract to the Department, REL products and services must be completed to the quality specifications required by IES.

II. Background

Over the past decade, the REL program has contributed to a significant cultural change that continues to gain momentum in education – namely, the increasing focus on basing education decisions on high-quality research evidence. Evidence-based decision making in education has bipartisan support at the national level. Since 2002, the Department has made significant investments in an infrastructure to support building and using research evidence in education. In addition to offering the REL program, the Department has provided substantial support to states to develop longitudinal K-12 data systems; supported pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training of researchers capable of conducting rigorous studies; awarded grants for research ranging from exploratory and correlational studies to large-scale studies of effectiveness; conducted rigorous evaluations of federal programs; and established the What Works ClearinghouseTM (WWC) to search for, review, and summarize findings from studies of effectiveness in education. With the National Science Foundation, the Department’s Institute of Education Sciences articulated a set of Common Guidelines for Research and Development in Education (IES & NSF, 2013). Since 2008, the Department has added evidence-related requirements to a growing number of discretionary grant programs, of which the Investing in Innovation program is the most prominent example.

During this time, there arguably was more progress in training highly-skilled education researchers and producing high-quality research than in plainly communicating research results and providing support to policymakers and practitioners[footnoteRef:3] to engage with research and evidence, either as research partners or research consumers. The 2012-2017 REL program sought to address the disconnect between researchers and practitioners through researcher-practitioner partnerships known as research alliances. Research alliances were defined[footnoteRef:4] in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) as groups of practitioners, policymakers, and researchers who work together over time to use data and research to better understand and address a particular education concern. REL research alliances typically involved cross-state membership, groups of districts within a single state, or both state education agencies and several districts. The premise of this approach was that partnerships of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers would result in high quality research studies and products that answered pressing practical questions, communicated findings in plain-spoken but technically precise ways, were engaging and actionable for practitioners, and — most important — built the capacity in states and districts to apply research results. [3: Throughout this PWS, we refer to policymakers and practitioners. Our working definition of policymaker is an individual who has the authority to make policy choices for an education system. This definition, then, reasonably includes members of state or local boards of education, state education officials, and superintendents. Our working definition of practitioner is an individual whose responsibilities primarily are to carry out education practice, rather than to set broad policies. Practitioners, then, would include school principals, instructional coaches, and teachers. Our purpose in providing these working definitions is to indicate the various types of partners and audiences for REL activities. ] [4: See: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=1918ddb4c35fe795cb256350128f1365&tab=documents&tabmode=list ]

The Department intends for the 2017-2022 REL program to build on and extend its recent history of high-quality research, genuine partnership, and effective communication. Therefore, the 2017-2022 RELs are tasked with conducting rigorous research, working in partnership with state and district staff, and effectively communicating about research. In addition, the Department expects the RELs to apply these capabilities to high-leverage education problems in their regions. High-leverage problems are those that (1) if addressed could result in substantial improvements in education outcomes for many students or for key subgroups of students; (2) are priorities for regional policymakers, particularly at the state level; and (3) require research or research-related support to address well. Focusing on high-leverage problems increases the likelihood that REL support ultimately will contribute to improved student outcomes.

RELs conduct three types of activities

ESRA charges RELs with three main activities: (1) applied research; (2) dissemination of scientifically-valid research; and (3) technical assistance related to application and use of scientifically-valid research. While there are not always bright dividing lines between these three activities (for example, a research activity may also include support or training for staff at state or local education agencies), these categories are useful as general descriptors of activities that RELs may undertake to inform and increase the capacity of policymakers and practitioners in their regions to access, conduct, interpret, and apply research.

Applied research

ESRA describes applied research as specifically directed to the advancement of practice in education. The law implicitly contrasts applied research with basic research, which does not necessarily have immediate or obvious implications for practice. The Department envisions the applied research of the RELs as use-inspired research[footnoteRef:5] -- that is, research that seeks to solve practical problems but also, to the extent possible, advances fundamental understandings of education problems and processes. Whether basic or applied, quality research is informed by prior empirical and theoretical work and seeks to add new knowledge to that body of work. Importantly, research is concerned with generalizing results to multiple contexts. Research may involve careful descriptions of patterns, examination of associations, or rigorous empirical testing of models and hypotheses. In the education context, research addresses complex questions about teaching, learning, organization of schools and systems, education access, and education attainment. These characteristics separate research from other forms of information-gathering, such as compiling facts or statistics, documenting policies without analysis or scholarly interpretation, or generating and reporting on performance indicators. [5: Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation by Donald E. Stokes (1997). Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution ]

Dissemination of research findings

In ESRA, dissemination is characterized as the “communication and transfer” of research findings in ways that are “understandable, easily accessible, and usable, or adaptable for use in the improvement of educational practice.” RELs are to facilitate the flow of actionable, credible, up-to-date research evidence (and information, ideas, and approaches that are clearly based on credible research evidence) among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. The Department emphasizes that it does not envision a “transmission” model in which the “experts” (i.e. researchers) convey information to non-researchers. Rather, REL dissemination is to facilitate the wide sharing of research evidence and research-related information to spark new ideas, introduce individuals to others working on similar issues, and reduce unnecessary duplication. In an age when information is ubiquitous and readily transmitted, the value-added of the RELs is that they are honest brokers and effective synthesizers of information. The Department’s goal is for the “REL brand” of dissemination to convey quality, objectivity, timeliness, and engaging opportunities to learn and connect with others.

The Department recognizes that dissemination activities, on their own, are unlikely to bring about deep and lasting improvements in education practice. This is because changes in organizational and instructional routines and practices typically require more intensive support than can be provided in presentations, workshops, webinars, or other relatively brief interactions. But dissemination can alert policymakers and practitioners to new findings and approaches and, ideally, to resources that can support deeper engagement in content. To help audiences go beyond learning about research to applying research, RELs also are charged with providing more intensive, targeted training, coaching, and technical support to stakeholders, which is discussed below.

Training, coaching, and technical support for use of research

ESRA uses the term “technical assistance” to characterize a broad area of work that RELs conduct to support use of research evidence in practice and policy, including work to select and test solutions, improve classroom instruction and student learning, and assess programs. In the 2012-2017 RELs, this area of work was called “analytic technical assistance” to distinguish it from assistance for policy and program development and implementation offered by other federal education technical assistance centers. In this contract, the Department is calling this work training, coaching, and technical support (TCTS) for research use. A wide variety of activities and partnership models are allowable within this general area of work, but all must be designed intentionally to increase the capacity of individuals and/or organizations, and, when appropriate, the education research sector (see discussion of capacity-building later in this introductory section). The content of activities conducted within this area of work must be carefully assessed against the research base. Further, unlike the “light touch” envisioned by dissemination, these activities imply more extensive, ongoing, or customized support to meet the needs of particular stakeholders. Some of these activities are services that do not result in tangible products for wide distribution. However, published products for a broad audience such as guides, toolkits, or videos that arise from technical support activities are allowable in this area of work.

Examples of training, coaching, and technical support include but are not limited to: in-person or virtual consultation or training on research design, data collection or analysis, or approaches for selecting or adapting research-based interventions to new contexts; in-depth training or workshops on instructional approaches supported by rigorous research, including preparation of materials for these trainings or workshops; informal reviews of studies against WWC standards[footnoteRef:6] (see subtask 5.4); acting as a thought partner when evaluating a program or initiative, and reference searches in response to questions submitted by stakeholders through the Ask-A-REL service (see subtask 5.5). [6: The What Works Clearinghouse standards are available at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/reference_resources/wwc_procedures_v3_0_standards_handbook.pdf. ]

Supporting use of research evidence and building research evidence are defining features of REL work. Training, coaching, and technical support activities should build capacity for creating, accessing, interpreting, or applying research evidence. Though a key goal of research in education is promotion of evidence-informed policy making and practice, it is not within the mission of the REL to recommend, advocate for, or design policies.

Bridging Research and Practice in Education

The REL program serves as a bridge between the worlds of education research and education practice. Though these worlds share a common desire to improve education outcomes, they often differ in their incentive structures, time constraints, priorities, and communication practices. More than any other research-related program at the Department, the REL and its staff must be able to navigate comfortably between the two worlds and must understand the norms and requirements of both research and practice in education. Specific examples of how this requirement must be met include:

· Demonstrating rigor and relevance: The REL shall conduct research to the high standards expected by IES. However, the REL also shall be committed to co-creation and implementation of research agendas with its education partners and skilled at communicating research findings in an easily accessible manner to busy practitioners.

· Differentiating support based on need: The REL shall be able to provide its region with access to the most sophisticated research expertise. However, it also shall offer support on basic, introductory-level data and research topics when needed.

· Providing information in the short term, and developing evidence over the long term: The REL shall respond to immediate needs of practitioners and policymakers for products to inform decisions, usually within a short time horizon. However, REL researchers shall craft research projects so that they also make empirical and theoretical contributions to long-term, enduring issues in education research.

· Address local issues that can also benefit the nation: The REL shall respond to regional needs for research, dissemination, and technical support as articulated by its education stakeholders. However, as much as possible, it also shall design its activities to benefit practitioners and policymakers throughout the entire country. To the extent possible, the REL shall craft its work to address the research needs of local partners while also informing broader scholarly and policy debates.

Clientele The primary clients for the REL are the state and local education agencies, state and local boards of education, and schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in its region. However, to maximize the benefit of REL resources, the Department encourages RELs to consider how secondary clients can benefit from work initially designed to meet the needs of a primary client. Secondary clients include other education stakeholders in a region, such as parents, students, and the general public; a national audience of other state and local education agencies or boards of education; teacher and leader preparation programs; and education researchers throughout the country.

III. TOPICAL PRIORITIES

Priorities for the REL are described throughout this PWS, especially under Tasks 3, 4, and 5 where especially encouraged activities are listed. The Department emphasizes that the REL is to work on high-leverage issues in its region, as defined in Section II. However, to the extent possible, the Department also encourages the REL and its region to address the following four topics: (1) early childhood education and school readiness; (2) college and career readiness; (3) professional development and teacher preparation to deliver effective instruction, informed by the most credible, up-to-date research; and (4) increasing education access and attainment in high needs communities, schools, and subgroups of students. This set of priorities is offered as general encouragement. To the extent possible, the REL and its region should address these topics if they meet the regional needs, are high-leverage topics, and meet the other qualifications described throughout this performance work statement.

IV. EXPECTATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REL

1. The Department expects the REL to make efficient and effective use of its resources for greatest impact and broad benefit.

First and foremost, the REL serves its region by learning about, prioritizing, and addressing regional needs. The REL’s Governing Board, which includes but is not limited to the State chief or designee from each state in the region, helps the REL allocate its resources to various activities in the region and ensure equitable distribution of work across the jurisdictions. Governing Board members also can help the REL make connections with other regional and national entities that can co-sponsor, extend, or amplify the REL’s work in order to reach new audiences within the region. However, as directed in authorizing legislation, the REL also must seek to address national priorities (see Section III) and to benefit education policymakers and practitioners across the entire country.

Expectation: The REL shall thoughtfully and strategically use its resources to generate the greatest good for the greatest number of individuals and entities, both in the region and across the country. The first way that RELs shall accomplish this is through identifying high-leverage education problems on which to work, drawing on careful assessment of regional needs and opportunities and on the guidance of their Governing Boards. High-leverage problems are those that (1) if addressed could result in substantial improvements in education outcomes for many students or for key subgroups of students; (2) are priorities for regional policymakers (particularly at the state level); and (3) require research or research-related support to address well.

A second way that the REL shall use its resources strategically, efficiently, and in a non-duplicative manner is to involve larger audiences by offering virtual dissemination and technical support activities and making them widely available through electronic means. Vastly improved telecommunications networks already have allowed the REL program to invite a broad, national audience to participate in virtual events, either synchronously or asynchronously. To the extent possible, REL activities shall be recorded, archived, and posted in a user-friendly manner (for example, by breaking a long presentation into shorter segments) for later viewing by those who could not attend the event in-person. Videos from webinars and events held by the 2012-2017 RELs are posted on IES’s YouTube site.[footnoteRef:7] The Department anticipates that telecommunications capacity, including social media opportunities and electronic applications, will continue to evolve and improve during this contract cycle. The REL shall keep abreast of and take full advantage of these anticipated improvements to involve new audiences, engage them more deeply in generating and using research, and make REL products and activities widely accessible. [7: The YouTube site can be found at this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRUCjPehBxFQ6lfZDqq_f7g. ]

Third, the REL shall develop collaborations and partnerships with non-partisan regional and national entities that share the REL’s goal of increasing use of research evidence in education. These partnerships can allow costs to be shared and new audiences to learn about resources provided by the REL program. Examples of entities with which RELs may be able to partner are professional organizations that seek to improve instruction in particular school subjects; organizations that support principals, superintendents, or school boards; research and development (R&D) centers funded by IES; and other federally supported technical assistance entities.

Fourth, the REL shall make the most effective use of program dollars by creatively and strategically “getting more” from each technical support activity or report. Examples of “getting more” may include, but are not limited to:

· Formatting and sharing research-related materials such as surveys and codebooks for use by other states or localities.

· Creating a model analysis for a particular state or local education agency, and then offering opportunities for additional agencies to receive support for conducting a similar analysis, using research questions, variable definitions, and table shells developed for the original study.

· Widely sharing training materials and creating facilitators’ guides that enable others to offer similar training without “reinventing the wheel.”

· Producing companion documents or materials that present findings or ideas for different audiences.

2. The Department expects the REL to involve research experts in relevant content areas.

Through its dissemination and technical support, the REL is charged with enabling practitioners and policymakers to learn about and apply the most credible, up-to-date research in education. In turn, through its research projects, the REL adds new evidence to the body of research knowledge.

Expectation: The REL shall involve researchers with significant, demonstrated scholarly expertise in content areas relevant to the work it undertakes. These experts provide REL stakeholders with a broad and deep perspective on what is known and what still is not settled in a research field. Content experts also enable the REL to frame important research questions that both address immediate needs for evidence and advance knowledge more broadly.

For dissemination activities, the REL shall engage researchers with national reputations in the relevant content area. Lead authors of REL reports shall have demonstrated expertise in the content area being addressed by the report, ideally shown through a substantial portfolio of published work in that area. Since no single entity is likely to possess all of the expertise needed for the content needs of its region, the Department expects that the REL shall seek content expertise from a variety of sources, including other universities or firms, and shall adjust its mix of content expertise as new regional needs arise.

3. The Department expects the REL’s research to be methodologically rigorous.

The REL program is the Department’s primary and most comprehensive source of research support for state and local education agencies.

Expectation: The REL shall conduct a full range of types of studies to respond to regional needs. These include descriptive studies, correlational analyses, literature reviews, and studies of effectiveness. When called upon by its regional stakeholders, the REL also shall produce sophisticated technical analysis related to measurement and statistical modeling. For example, the 2012-2017 REL program produced studies of the validity and reliability of educator evaluation measures and systems, predictive validity of assessments, effects of modeling choices on schools identified as exceeding expectations, and usefulness of alternative statistical methods for estimating student risk of failure.

For research on the effectiveness of programs, policies, or practices, the REL shall prioritize research designs that involve randomization, with the goal of meeting WWC standards without reservations. With a compelling justification, and on a case-by-case basis, the Department will allow the REL to conduct low-cost, quasi-experimental studies that are designed to meet WWC standards with reservations.

All REL reports shall carefully document assumptions, data, and analytic methods, explain what can and cannot be concluded from the analysis, and indicate the limitations of the study. Regardless of study type, all REL studies will be peer reviewed for technical rigor as well as for relevance to a policymaker or practitioner audience and readability (see Appendix B Section I). IES determines and administers the peer review process for all REL products.

Methodologically rigorous research can take time to design, implement, and be scrutinized by peers for quality. This represents a conundrum for researchers as they seek to engage with the faster-paced world of education policy and practice. The Department recommends that RELs divide large research projects into smaller sub-projects that can be released sequentially, as appropriate. For example, some of the 2012-2017 RELs produced sequences of publications that included a literature review (report #1); early findings (report #2); and the full study (report #3).

4. The Department requires the REL’s products to be clear, engaging, and actionable for the intended audience, with appropriate brevity.

In response, education researchers have begun to organize, write, and design reports and graphics to make research questions and findings easier to understand. They also are using alternative formats – such as infographics, videos, and podcasts -- to highlight major findings and spark audience interest.

Expectation: The REL shall present research findings and technical support materials in clear and engaging ways. Over the course of the contract, the REL shall continuously identify and implement improvements to its presentation of research findings and technical assistance materials, drawing on customer feedback, the research base on effective communication, and embedded experiments as appropriate. The 2012-2017 REL program made important strides in producing concise reports that were organized to make the research questions and findings clear without sacrificing documentation of methods. For example, the main text of REL reports was limited to 20 pages, with accompanying appendices as needed. For reference, see the 2012-2017 REL Style Guide,[footnoteRef:8] as this will be the minimum expectation for research reporting. Offerors should note that federal law requires agencies to use plain language in all written communications. The Department interprets this to mean that research-related materials authored under contract to the government must use plain language.[footnoteRef:9] [8: The REL Program Writers and Style Guide can be found here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/relresources/pdf/REL_Program_Writers_and_Style_Guide_05262015.pdf ] [9: Information about the government’s Plain Language guidelines is available at: http://www.plainlanguage.gov/index.cfm. ]

5. The Department expects the REL to focus on capacity-building.

Fundamentally, the role of the REL is to work in such a way that the state and local education agencies in its region have notably more capacity to use research evidence to inform education decision making than they would have had without this support. This means that the REL must give careful attention to how its work is expected to change attitudes, build skills, and increase knowledge of research evidence. In the context of the REL program, building capacity can be conceptualized as having three dimensions.

Building individual capacity. Staff members at state and local education organizations bring varying levels of experience, knowledge, and skills to education decision making. A critical role of the REL is to further enhance existing human capital in state and local education agencies, building from whatever the starting point is among agency partners. The logic of the REL program is that state and local education agency staff who are better able to access, understand, interpret, critique, generate, and apply data and research are essential to education improvement.

Building organizational capacity. State and local education agencies are more than collections of individuals, each with a specific set of capacities. Rather, agencies are complex systems with their own organizational routines and technical solutions. Building organizations’ capacity to use research may involve work such as development of tools, routines for collecting and analyzing data to answer research questions, and models for regularly evaluating the effects of policies and practices.

Building education research sector capacity. In the process of building individual and organizational capacity as described above, the REL can build the capacity of the education research sector by modeling reciprocal and productive researcher-practitioner partnerships; contributing to denser and more cost-effective dissemination networks, by co-sponsoring learning opportunities with professional organizations and other federally-funded entities; and modeling and advancing the effective communication of research findings.

Expectation: The REL shall carry out its work intentionally and strategically so as to increase the skills, knowledge, commitment, effectiveness of organizational routines, and quality of tools of its education partners. Every activity of the REL shall be assessed through the following lens: Is this activity likely to build capacity, and if so, what kind of capacity, how, and for whom?

6. The Department expects the REL to engage in genuine, reciprocal partnerships with regional stakeholders.

The REL model brings together people with disparate areas of expertise and interest to produce research, technical support, and learning opportunities that can be genuinely useful to education practitioners and policymakers. Productive REL partnerships build on the varied knowledge, skills, experiences, and networks of the partners. To serve their regions, REL leadership and staff must engage in an ongoing way with key education partners in order to understand needs and priorities as articulated by those partners and to receive feedback on whether REL products and services have met those needs.

Partnership implies mutual respect and recognition between the REL and its regional partners. The REL looks to regional stakeholders for strategic direction, knowledge of the context, and priority setting. However, the REL is not to serve as a research assistant to state or local education agencies, nor is it the role of the REL to respond to large-scale, last-minute requests by stakeholders. Instead, with the guidance of its Governing Board (see Subtask 2.1), the Department expects that the REL will balance and prioritize competing needs and opportunities in the region and will develop a coherent, integrated, well-planned set of activities to address high-leverage problems. The REL must draw on the professional judgment and expertise of its staff in research, communication, and training to identify which course of action is most feasible, most likely to make a contribution to research and practice, and most cost-effective.

As described above, during the 2012-2017 REL contract cycle, REL work was conducted primarily through research alliances. Some research alliances involved a cross-state membership; others involved partnerships of districts; still others included both the state agency and several of its districts. Some alliances were newly formed, while in other instances RELs partnered with previously established groups.

These research alliances met face-to-face or virtually over a sustained period of time, were organized around a topic and a set of goals, and were the primary audience for RELs’ research and training activities.

In feedback on the REL program submitted to the Department in response to a July 2014 call for public comment, respondents were unanimous in support of the partnership that research alliances sought to build. Benefits of research alliances include research, dissemination, and technical support of more immediate relevance to practitioners and policymakers and a built-in primary audience for REL products. Research alliances required that RELs build trust with their partners and take time to listen to their education concerns.

However, a number of respondents who provided feedback argued that research alliances were not the only format in which genuine partnership can flourish, and the Department agrees with this perspective. Therefore, in the 2017-2022 REL contracts, partnership with education practitioners and policymakers is no less important than for the 2012-2017 RELs but is defined more broadly than research alliances were under the 2012-2017 REL contracts.

Expectation: The Department expects that, at all times throughout the contract, the REL will work with at least two research alliances, as defined above. However, outside of the context of research alliances, partnering may take various forms. The structure of partnership is less important than the characteristics embodied by the partnership. Partnerships – including but not limited to research alliances – shall demonstrate the following features, at a minimum:

· Clear, specific, and actionable goals for improvement of some aspect of education. Research, training, and dissemination are intended to inform decisions and actions in education. These decisions and actions shall be related to a goal determined by the members of the partnership. Partnerships with unclear, vague goals are unlikely to lead to evidence-informed decisions and action.

· Clear strategies for building the capacity of members of the partnership, building on a clear definition of the capacities to be built. Among other goals they may adopt, partnerships shall aim to enhance the skills of researchers to conduct research that is more relevant and useful to educators and policymakers and shall aim to enhance the knowledge and skills of educators and policymakers to implement more research-based policies and practices and to use data to inform practice and policy.

· A coherent agenda of work supported by the REL, including clear links to partnership goals and a plan for carrying out the work. Coherent agendas involve activities that build on and relate to each other. Activities may build on previous work of the partnership and/or may be a set of related work carried out at about the same time.

· A commitment to collaborate on one or more substantial projects involving applied research or training, coaching, and technical support for research. Partnerships may be short-term or long-term, depending on their goals. However, even relatively short-lived partnerships shall involve at least one substantial project, such as a research report, a set of workshops, or a complex technical support activity.

· Regular communication with partners. Regular communication between the REL and its partners is essential to plan and receive feedback on ongoing work and to identify new opportunities and challenges.

Partnerships that meet these criteria may become research alliances along the lines of those carried out by the 2012-2017 RELs. However, another example of a partnership would be sustained work over time with single office at a state education agency that is charged with addressing a high-leverage issue.

Partnerships do not necessarily need to include data or research offices. However, partnerships should include all stakeholders who are necessary to facilitate any applied research or training, coaching, or technical support that the partnership would like to undertake. For example, if a research project proposed by a partnership requires access to data from a state office of postsecondary education, that office should be invited to join the partnership.

7. The Department expects the REL to coordinate and collaborate with other REL and non-REL entities.

ESRA requires that RELs coordinate with each other in a networked program and that they coordinate with other federally-funded centers and technical assistance entities, including Research and Development (R&D) centers funded by IES. Key purposes for this coordination are to share information, ideas, and lessons learned; to enable each type of technical assistance entity to focus on its designated role; and to ensure that work is non-duplicative. At the most basic level, coordination can be demonstrated by co-sponsored events. The Department also strongly encourages deeper, more complex coordination that involves long-term projects in which each entity has a distinct role.

Expectation: The REL shall coordinate and collaborate on dissemination activities and – to the extent possible, given regional needs and opportunities – on substantial, long-term projects with other federally-funded centers and technical assistance entities both within and outside of its region.

8. The Department expects the RELs to demonstrate creativity, problem-solving, and a data-informed continuous improvement approach to their work.

The REL operates in a complex and ever-changing regional and national landscape. The REL is charged with bridging research and practice so that each informs the other for mutual benefit, but there is much that is yet unknown about the structures, routines, personnel, and communications strategies needed to support this connection.

Expectation: The REL shall respond flexibly and creatively to changes in regional priorities, shifts in state and local educational agencies staffing and policies, and to technological changes in communication. Succeeding in this dynamic landscape requires that the REL set clear goals and performance targets, adjust strategies, try new solutions, and use data to track its performance.

V. KEY OUTCOMES FOR REL WORK AND LOGIC MODEL

The Department has identified five key outcomes for each REL and for the REL program as a whole:

1. Development of sustained partnerships with policymakers and/or practitioners focused on using research to address substantial, high-leverage issues in education. Working in partnership with policymakers and/or practitioners to address critical problems of practice is central to the success of the REL program. Successful partnerships take time to establish, develop, and maintain. A sustained partnership is one that is well-rooted in both individuals and organizational structures, can withstand leadership or personnel changes, and adapts to the ever-changing needs and requirements of the context while still focusing on and achieving a specific goal of improvement.

2. Completion of ambitious, coherent, cumulative agendas of high-quality research, technical assistance, and dissemination. RELs undertake a variety of activities related to conducting research, providing technical assistance, and disseminating research findings and research-based information, but all must be in pursuit of a focused and coherent goal or set of related goals. To achieve this outcome, RELs must establish and complete a collection of ambitious, coherent, and cumulative work that is purposeful, interconnected, builds on existing high-quality work, and seeks to achieve an actionable outcome.

3. Widespread recognition among the region’s state and local education agency leaders of the REL as a key resource for credible research and support for using research in education. The REL program is the Department’s primary resource for supporting state and local education agencies to use research evidence in education decision making. For the program to achieve this goal, there must be widespread recognition among regional education leaders that the REL is a trusted and capable resource for identifying, producing, and supporting their use of research.

4. Increased individual and organizational capacity to access, understand, interpret, critique, apply, and/or conduct research, particularly at state education agencies in the region. A key required outcome for the REL is a demonstrable increase in the individual and organizational capacity of education entities in the region to use research evidence in education decision making. State education agencies in the regions are one of the key clients for this federally funded program, and therefore the Department expects, at a minimum, that there will be improvements in capacity at the state level.

5. Increased use of research findings in education decision making, particularly at state education agencies. If the REL is successful, there will be evidence that education decision makers in the region, particularly at state education agencies, have taken into account research evidence in education planning and decisions.

These key long-term outcomes are found in the far right column of the basic REL Program Logic Model displayed in Figure 1. In general, the model is read left to right, and for simplicity, all directional and connecting arrows have been excluded. The Department recognizes that the work of the REL Program is complex and interconnected. In addition, individual RELs may have multiple logic models for different situations, as well as more complex overall logic models. This logic model is provided as a sample for how the Department is thinking about a sustained long-term investment in the REL Program and the outcomes that will result if the investment strategy is successful. Offerors are encouraged to supplement, clarify, and enhance their individual logic models in support of this overall REL Program approach.

Figure 1. Basic REL Program Logic Model

VI. SCOPE OF WORK/REQUIREMENTS

Although the tasks are identified and described separately, they shall be addressed in a coherent, unified fashion, as actions from one task will inform and support other tasks. All deliverables shall be submitted to the Department’s Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), Contracting Officer (CO), and Contract Specialist (CS) electronically unless otherwise noted.

Task 1: Meet and Communicate with IES This task shall be firm fixed price.

Subtask 1.1 Attend a REL Kickoff Meeting.

Within two weeks after the effective date of the contract, the contractor shall bring 3 personnel, including the director and deputy director, to meet in Washington, DC with the CO, CS and the COR for the contract kick-off meeting. Within two weeks after the meeting, the contractor shall submit a summary of the meeting discussions, including any outstanding issues raised and plans to address these issues.

Subtask 1.2 Regular communication with the Department.

The contractor – at a minimum, the Director and Deputy Director – shall participate in regularly scheduled bi-monthly telephone calls with the COR to discuss issues related to the REL contract, including any anticipated problems and proposed solutions to those problems. The contractor shall send an agenda for the call at least two working days before each bi-monthly call so that both the contractor and COR are aware of the main issues that will be addressed during the call. Within five working days following each meeting, the contractor shall prepare a memo summarizing the key issues and concerns raised at the meeting and how each will be addressed.

The Director or Deputy Director shall communicate with the COR before and after each meeting or conference call to discuss main points and follow-up as needed. In addition to the regularly scheduled calls, the contractor shall furnish information as needed to keep the Department informed at all times of key accomplishments, progress in accomplishing tasks, major upcoming activities, actual or potential problem areas, and services and products completed.

Subtask 1.3 Attend Biannual REL Program meetings.

The contractor – specifically, the Director and Deputy Director – shall attend the REL Directors meetings, held over two days up to twice a year in Washington, DC, to discuss issues and accomplishments related to the REL and the REL program. IES will coordinate the logistics for this REL program meeting. Within one week after each meeting, the contractor shall submit a summary of specific issues raised at the meeting pertaining to the work of the REL and their plans to address these issues.

Task 2: Project Management and Reporting This task shall be firm fixed price.

The contractor shall effectively manage all tasks with guidance from a statutorily required governing board.

Subtask 2.1 Identify, establish, maintain, and convene the Governing Board.

The contractor shall appoint members to the Governing Board to meet the following requirements:

· The composition of the Governing Board shall represent the interests of all states and other appropriate constituencies in the region.

· The composition of the Governing Board shall include a diversity of expertise, including education research methods and practice, teachers, and individuals representing the interests of students in economically disadvantaged areas, both rural and urban.

· The contractor shall offer every State chief in the region the opportunity to serve on the Governing Board, or to designate a personal representative to serve.

The contractor shall ensure that members clearly understand the roles, responsibilities, and the procedures of the Governing Board, including:

· Convening at least two times each year, with the meetings conducted in person. Additional meetings may be conducted remotely or in-person. All in-person meetings shall be held at a location within the region.

· Providing strategic guidance on how the REL shall: carry out its activities for maximum effectiveness and efficiency; plan joint activities that include other REL regions beyond the Governing Board’s region; create a strategic plan to reduce unnecessary activities and/or activities redundant with other activities in the region, increase collaboration and resource sharing, and other activities as specified in Section 174(h) of ESRA.

· Annually providing independent assurances to IES that the REL’s updated annual plan (see Subtask 2.2) will address high-leverage problems in the region and that Governing Board members are in agreement with the plan of work as proposed by the REL. Beginning in the second year of the contract, a Governing Board member representing each state/territory in the region shall be asked to complete a brief template to indicate their level of agreement with the work planned by the REL, the extent to which the proposed work will address key needs in the region, and any concerns the Governing Board member has about the proposed work. When possible, the state chief or designee shall be asked to complete this template on behalf of the state/territory. These completed templates shall be appended to the Updated Annual Plan (Subtask 2.2).

· Annually providing an independent assessment to IES of the extent to which the work of the REL has contributed to the use of research evidence in education decision making in the region and increasing capacity for such use. Beginning in the second year of the contract, a Governing Board member representing each territory/state in the region shall be asked to complete a brief template that provides an assessment of the RELs contribution to research evidence in education decision making in the region and REL efforts to increase capacity for such use, including any concerns the Governing Board member has about REL work. When possible, the state chief or designee shall be asked to complete this template on behalf of the state/territory. These completed templates shall be part of the annual progress report and appended to the Updated Annual Plan (Subtask 2.2).

Within 5 weeks of the effective date of the contract, the contractor shall submit to the Department a report on the establishment of the Governing Board, board procedures, a list of members, and analysis of how the Board meets the representational requirements.

The first Governing Board meeting shall be held within the first twelve weeks of the contract effective date. After the initial meeting, meeting agendas shall be created in consultation with the Board members at least 2 months before the Board meeting occurs. The meeting agenda shall reflect a commitment by the contractor to engage the Board members actively in the decision making of the REL. The agenda and meeting materials shall be submitted for approval by the Department at least six weeks before the meetings. The contractor shall submit to the Department minutes and actions within two weeks after each meeting.

Subtask 2.2 Develop and implement an Updated Annual Plan.

The Updated Annual Plan shall include five documents: 1) a narrative description of the proposed work for the upcoming year by task, information on the goals and composition of each partnership, the names and qualifications of task leads and principal investigators for new research, training, coaching, and technical support projects, and a chart describing staff time commitments by task; 2) a single file containing five-page concept papers describing each new research, training, coaching, and technical support project proposed for the upcoming year.