F02 STEM NFO Amd 04 Enhanced Civics Education 3Apr23.pdf

FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY: Washington Headquarters Services Acquisition Directorate

(WHS/AD)

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY TITLE: Department of Defense (DoD) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) National Defense

Education Program (NDEP) Notice of Funding

Opportunity (NFO)

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Amendment 04: Enhanced Civics Education

NOTICE OF FUNDING

OPPORTUNITY (NFO) NUMBER:

HQ003423NFOEASD01

ASSISTANCE LISTING: 12.006 National Defense Education Program

KEY DATES: Amendment Posted: 9 February 2023

White Papers: 6 March 2023, 2359 Eastern

Invitations for Full Technical Applications: 3 April 2023

Technical Applications Due: 8 May 2023, 2359 Eastern

Notification of Award (Tentative): 28 June 2023

Award Finalized (Tentative): 1 August 2023

AGENCY CONTACT: Jonathan Bertsch

Grants Officer, WHS/AD

E-mail: jonathan.e.bertsch.civ@mail.mil mailto:jonathan.e.bertsch.civ@mail.mil

I. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Education Program (NDEP) is seeking to strategically fund grants supporting Enhanced Civics Education, as per Topic of Interest five (5) in the DoD STEM NDEP NFO (Section 1.C.5.), and as directed by

Section 234 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 (in the Appendix of the NFO). The purpose of the pilot program is to provide enhanced civics education on the following topics:

(1) Critical thinking and media literacy

(2) Voting and other forms of political and civic engagement

(3) Interest in employment, and careers, in public service

(4) Understanding of United States law, history, and Government

(5) The ability of participants to collaborate and compromise with others to solve problems

Specifically, these capabilities or programs should contribute to the types of support authorized under Section 234 of FY2020 NDAA, which includes:

(1) the development or modification of curricula relating to civics education;

(2) classroom activities, thesis projects, individual or team projects, internships, or community service activities relating to civics;

(3) collaboration with government entities, nonprofit organizations, or consortia of such entities and organizations to provide participants with civics-related experiences;

(4) civics-related faculty development programs;

(5) recruitment of educators who are highly qualified in civics education to teach civics or to assist with the development of curricula for civics education;

(6) presentation of seminars, workshops, and training for the development of skills associated with civic engagement;

(7) activities that enable participants to interact with government officials and entities;

(8) expansion of civics education programs and outreach for members of the Armed

Forces, dependents and children of such members, and employees of the Department of Defense; and

(9) opportunities for participants to obtain work experience in fields relating to civics.

Such support as described can only be provided to eligible entities, which are limited to either a local education agency that hosts a unit of JROTC, or a school operated by

DoDEA (or some combination of these two).

Proposed endeavors should aim to support and enhance civics education for K-12 students.

Proposals targeting age groups outside of the K-12 range should be submitted under

Amendment 01: Civil Society.

Interested parties should submit a white paper in response to this amendment no later than 6 March 2023 at 11:59pm ET, following the instructions and template outlined in

Sections III.A., IV, and XII of the NFO. The white paper should be emailed to osd.dodstem@mail.mil with the subject line, “NFO White Paper Submission, Amendment 04: Enhanced Civics Education.” Applicants will be selected from the white paper submissions to be invited by the Government via email to submit a full technical application on Grants.gov for evaluation and possible award consideration.

II. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

The Department intends to award multiple grants with a maximum grant award of

$800,000 for a period of one (1) to two (2) years, subject to the availability of funds.

III. TECHNICAL APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Technical applications are accepted by invitation only and must adhere to all application guidelines and page limits, found in NFO Section IV. Note the turnaround time between invitations sent by the Government to submit full technical applications and when technical applications are due. Refer to timeline on the cover page.

The Project Narrative page limit is 28 pages, and is broken out as follows. Descriptions of each section are outlined in the NFO (Section IV.F.b.).

Cover Page – 1 page

Table of Contents – 1 page

Technical Approach and Justification – no more than 8 pages

Project Schedule and Milestones – no more than 2 pages

Financial Breakdown – no more than 2 pages

Reports – no more than 1 page

Management Approach – no more than 1 page

Metrics and Evaluation – no more than 2 pages

Qualifications – no more than 1 page

Responsibility – no more than 2 pages

Facilities & Equipment – 1 page

Work Plan – no more than 6 pages

IV. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Awards under this NFO will be made to Applicants on the basis of the evaluation criteria listed below. The weight or relative importance of each criterion is included in parentheses.

1) Overall technical merits (60%):

Overall technical merits of the applicant’s proposal shall clearly describe its creativity, innovation, feasibility, and efficacy to achieve the NFO objectives. Also considered is:

a. The quality of the program’s plan to execute proposed activity and assess effectiveness of the program and participant outcomes;

b. The Applicant’s capabilities, related experience, facilities, techniques or unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achieving the application objectives; and

c. The qualifications, capabilities and experience of the proposed Project Director /

Principal Investigator, team leader and key personnel who are critical to achieving the application objectives.

2) Relevance and Alignment (20%):

Application must address programs and capabilities listed in this Amendment, and specifically, must be aligned to Section 234 of the FY2020 NDAA (refer to the NFO

Appendix).

3) Cost Analysis (20%):

A cost analysis will be performed to determine reasonableness of the proposed budget. Long-term sustainability plan will also be evaluated under this criterion. The availability of funds to support the effort and long-term sustainability of the project will also be considered.