LImitedSourceJustification 7-6-23 signed print_Redacted.pdf

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF FINANCE AND OPERATIONS

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION, GRANTS, AND RISK MANAGEMENT

LIMITED SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

1)

Agency: U. S. Department of Education Contracting Activity: Contracts and Acquisitions Management

2)

Task Order 91990020A0017/91990021F0348, now known as the Enhancing Access for Refugees and New Americans (EARN) project, provides resources and technical assistance to adult education state agency staff, local programs, and instructors who serve or are aiming to serve English learners, including those with degrees and/or credentials earned in their country of origin, in Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE)/Integrated Education and Training (IET) programming and are interested in using an immigrant integration approach.

In August 2021, the Department awarded the Supporting Adult English Learners’ Participation in IET (now known as Enhancing Access for Refugees and New Americans) task order to RTI International, through the EDGMSS Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). The performance period started in August 2021. The award to RTI was made through a competitive process.

During the first year of the order the contractor was required to initiate an environmental scan (task 2) in order to guide the development and implementation activities. While conducting the environmental scan it was determined that there are gaps in instruction and in support services. Therefore, the government requires a modification to the existing order to allow for additional inquiry under Task 2 (conduct an immigrant integration landscape scan) and additional resources to be created (Task 3, Design and Develop comprehensive immigrant integration Technical Assistance). The additional work under Tasks 2 and 3 will allow educators to tailor IET offerings and serve Internationally Trained Professionals (ITPs) in IELCE activities.

This modification will cost . Task 2 will increase by ; Task 3 will increase by ; and the new Optional task will be for an estimated total of .

3)

The Department requires subject matter expertise to manage all tasks in this task order that include a variety of training and support services to states that include trainings and sessions that are necessary to ensure compliance with the provisions of WIOA with vendor support. Areas of expertise that are required in the PWS include: adult learning, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), IELCE and IET programming, professional learning for adult educators, educational technology and distance learning, digital literacy, implementation and scaling of evidence-based educational reforms, immigrant integration, and the preparation of adult learners for career pathways.

The primary goal of the EARN project is to provide resources and technical assistance to adult education state agency staff, local programs, and instructors who serve or are aiming to serve English learners in Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education /Integrated Education and Training programming and are interested in using an immigrant integration approach. EARN project deliverables will enable states, program administrators, and educators to design and deliver high-quality learning opportunities for adults so they can succeed in further education and training and successfully integrate into their communities. By leveraging available EARN resources, materials, and trainings to adult education practitioners at the state, programmatic, and local levels; states can expand their capacity to meet the state leadership requirements set forth in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 223, as well as implement IELCE programming under WIOA Section 243.

Supplies and services required to meet the agency’s goals and objectives outlined in the PWS require additional landscape scan and technical assistance resources to help tailor IET activities for English Learners (EL) and serve internationally trained professionals (ITPs).

Additional landscape review and technical assistance required were identified during the first year of the award, when the vendor completed a landscape scan and conducted an initial training seminar on serving ITPs in IELCE activities.

Lessons learned from these activities identified gaps in instruction and support services, which indicated the need for further inquiry and resources for educators to help them tailor IET offerings and serve ITPs in IELCE activities. To address identified needs and gaps in relevant career pathway support services, the vendor will conduct extensive investigation, identify new extant resources, and create a new publicly available resource guide, providing a level of tailored support to the field of adult educators not possible via the original task order.

The investigation will require the vendor to review relevant research and literature, as well as interview a range of states and programs who are serving IELCE participants in an individualized fashion and/or offering tailored IET opportunities to understand their process and their services. They will also interview programs who are struggling with offering tailored supports to ITPs to understand the roadblocks. The resulting deliverable will be an internal findings report, submitted to OCTAE, that could inform future OCTAE investments in this area, such as a IETs for ITPs Pilot Design Camp, which is included as an optional task in this modification. The vendor shall also leverage the findings report to inform the development of a public facing resource guide for states and programs interested in thinking about flexibilities in providing individualized career pathway supports. This guide will have a strong focus on intake and providing good advice to ITPs to figure out how to support them in the best programming for them, maximizing their foreign credentials to the greatest extent. It will also outline essential components for serving ITPs in individualized career pathways and developing tailored IET activities for diverse learner groups. The result of this work will be to distill processes and identify the essential components, including resources and strategies that can support individualized instruction and career pathways for ELs and ITPs in IELCE activities.

Funding the expanded landscape scan, findings report, resource guide, and optional pilot will enable adult educators to design and deliver high-quality learning opportunities for adults, specifically ITPs an ELs with unique needs in IELCE activities, so they can succeed in further education and training, maximizing their knowledge, degrees, and credentials earned in their countries of origin. By leveraging project resources, materials, and trainings to adult education practitioners at the state, program, and instructional level they can expand their capacity to meet the statutory requirements set forth in Section 243 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Supporting English learners with degrees and/or credentials earned in their country of origin and offering IET opportunities to ELs is an important part of the WIOA legislation and a critical component of many states and local providers’ adult education programs, as such DAEL leadership and EARN project team members determined that conducting additional inquiry and developing attendant TA materials on developing tailored IET programming/career pathway supports and serving ITPs in IELCE activities should be a priority. This additional work will also extend the period of performance by seven months to January 29, 2025.

In addition, OCTAE would like to add an optional task 7 to the task order, which would be the development and implementation of a IETs for ITPs pilot design camp, if warranted per the task 2 and 3 modification tasks. If exercised, the optional pilot task may involve selecting three programs from research activities found to be struggling to serve ITPs and offer tailored IET activities in an intensive, individualized manner, but would like substantive support in doing so. The optional task would provide customized TA in piloting the process and the