REL - RFI - final.pdf

Version Date: July 15th, 2020

REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL

LABORATORY

FY21/FY22 ACQUISITION

Solicitation No.: 91990020R0032

Request for Information & Notice of Vendor Engagement

Facilitated by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Contracts and

Acquisitions Management Office https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-aBA0GklOQ

Contents Introduction

Notice of Vendor Engagement

Contact Information

Request for Capability Statements

Vendor Questions

Draft Performance Work Statement

Draft Instructions to Offerors......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Draft Source Selection Criteria .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.4

Introduction

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) will issue a solicitation in FY21 from which nine of ten Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) contracts will issue1. In order to support the FY21 competition, the Department announces an extensive Request for Information and Vendor Engagement effort. Please read this document in its entirety. The information that you provide may play a substantial role in shaping this procurement and may affect the composition of the Performance Work Statement (PWS), Instructions to Offerors, and Source Selection Criteria.

Vendors are encouraged to provide feedback now so as to enable the Department to address as many questions as possible before release of the solicitation.

This document consists of four major information request components to be submitted in two parts:

(1) Request for requirement questions prior to the August 5, 2020 event.

(2) Request for capability statements for each REL region including REL Southwest2.

(3) Targeted vendor outreach questions and responses.

(4) Request for comment and feedback on the following solicitation components:

a. PWS

b. Instructions to Offerors

c. Source Selection Criteria

Detailed information for each request is located in the appropriate subsection below. In the event that vendors have questions, please note the contact information for Joseph Gibbs and Hope Whitfield listed below.

Please note that all solicitation-related documents in this RFI are draft versions. The content of each document may change substantially between release of this RFI and release of the final Solicitation. The final solicitation will be governed by the terms, conditions, instructions, and criteria in that document. Offerors should not rely on the contents of this RFI for preparing final proposals. To the extent that information provided in this document is inconsistent with or contradicts information contained in the final Solicitation, the Solicitation controls.

Submission Instructions

1 This procurement will result in contract awards for all RELs except REL Southwest. The Department will compete REL Southwest in FY22, and REL Southwest will be eleven months behind performance of the other nine REL contracts. The Department will likely utilize the same PWS, evaluation criteria, and solicitation instructions for the FY22 competition, so feedback from vendors interested in the potential Southwest competition is welcome and encouraged.

2 Even though REL Southwest will not be competed in the FY22 competition, the market research obtained now will inform the future acquisition strategy for REL Southwest.

I. Vendor Outreach Questions

Offerors should submit technical questions regarding the substantive work of the REL program and/or competition to Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov and Hope.Whitfield@ed.gov and cc NCEE.feedback@ed.gov no later than 5:00PM EDT July 24, 2020. IES may address these questions following formal presentations at the vendor outreach event.

Additional information regarding the event is provided on page 5 of this document.

II. Formal RFI Response

Detailed information for the required submission is provided below. Offerors should submit, via email, the following documents to Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov and Hope.Whitfield@ed.gov no later than August 26, 2020 at 2:00PM EDT.

I. One PDF document that contains your Capability Statement (PDF).

II. One PDF document that contains your response to vendor questions.

III. One Word document that contains any comments, track change revisions, or edits to the PWS, Instructions to Offerors, and Source Selection Criteria.

Narrative justifications for changes are also welcome if appropriate. If offerors have additional questions regarding any of the three documents please feel free to include this information in a separate heading in your Word document that contains these questions in addition to any narrative information.

Offerors should submit all three documents in one email. Please note that the Department imposes a 25MB file size limitation. This limitation accounts for potential file size increases associated with Microsoft Cloud services and may be different from earlier Department file size restrictions.

Participation in this vendor outreach effort is entirely voluntary. A response to this RFI is not required in order to respond to any solicitation that the Department issues.

mailto:Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov mailto:Hope.Whitfield@ed.gov mailto:NCEE.feedback@ed.gov

Notice of Vendor Engagement

IES invites you to view a vendor engagement event, which will be posted on August 5, 2020.

The event will be posted on the IES YouTube channel so as to provide equal access for all interested parties. The event will include presentations by IES staff about the REL program. A link to the recording will be posted as an amendment to this Request for Information.

Interested parties are encouraged to review the PWS below and submit questions regarding the PWS no later than 5:00PM EDT on July 24, 2020. These questions may concern the purpose and structure of existing RELs, requests for clarification about the purpose and mission of the REL program, or questions about how each task or subtask fits within the context of the broader REL program.

Members of the REL team will address questions following individual information presentations.

The event will not address any questions submitted after 5:00PM EDT on July 24, 2020. To the extent that we receive questions before the deadline that we are unable to answer, members of the acquisition team will post responses to beta.SAM.gov following the event.

Interested parties should submit questions in advance to Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov and Hope.Whitfield@ed.gov and cc NCEE.feedback@ed.gov.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRUCjPehBxFQ6lfZDqq_f7g/featured?disable_polymer=1 mailto:NCEE.feedback@ed.gov

Contact Information Please note that only the individuals listed below are authorized points of contact for this competition. No members of the IES staff (REL project staff or otherwise) will respond to inquiries even if the individual is responsible for technical direction under an existing REL contract.

The following members comprise the acquisition team for this procurement:

Primary Point of Contact Joseph Gibbs Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov

(202) 245-6016 Contracting Officer responsible for all operational/supervisory aspects of the procurement.

Secondary Point of Contact Hope Whitfield Hope.Whitfield@ed.gov

(202) 245-7105 Contracting Officer responsible for all operational/supervisory aspects of the procurement.

Emergency Point of Contact Christopher Rosier Chris.Rosier@ed.gov (202)245-6502 Contracting Officer/Group Manager responsible for high-level guidance and operates as an emergency point of contact if circumstances require.

Dissemination of Procurement Information

Offerors are strongly encouraged to communicate via email. All questions that the Department receives regarding the procurement will be disclosed to the public via betaSAM.gov. All announcements regarding the procurement will be beta.SAM.gov.

mailto:Chris.Rosier@ed.gov tel:2022456502;phone-context=us

Request for Capability Statements

Proposed NAICS Information: 541720 - Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities3 611710 – Educational Support Services Proposed Product Service Code: R499 – Support – Professional: Other

The Department requests capability statements in order to evaluate what, if any, set aside determinations are appropriate for each region. The Department will not make a small business set aside determination for the program as a whole. Rather, we will rely on the information provided for each region in order to determine whether a set aside is appropriate for each region that will result in a contract award. This means that if you intend to submit more than one proposal (i.e., a proposal for more than one region), you are strongly encouraged to submit a capability statement for each region for which you will be submitting a proposal. We reserve the right to use other resources and information to inform our acquisition strategy.

The Department will not review generic capability statements because generic capability statements tell us nothing about your ability to execute a REL contract. Rather, we will only review capability statements that conform to the specifications provided below.

Format and Instructions for Capability Statements

Capability statements are limited to 7 pages (not including the cover page) and must be submitted in PDF format. The Department will not consider material in excess of 7 pages.

1. Cover Page containing the following information:

Region Name Name of Company Primary Point of Contact (phone and email) DUNS Number Small Business Status for the applicable NAICS code (if not a small business, please indicate “OTSB” in this field)

2. Substantive Content

Your capability statement must provide the following information:

3 Please note that we welcome feedback on other appropriate NAICS and PSC codes.

I. Demonstrated understanding of the research and analytic needs of the region for which you are submitting a capability statement.

II. Demonstrated ability and capacity to provide tailored training and coaching on analytic and education topics.

III. Demonstrated experience coordinating and collaborating with policymakers, researchers, and practitioners, and the capacity to conduct this work within the scope of a particular REL region.

IV. Demonstrated expertise in conducting peer-reviewed education research and the capacity to conduct peer-reviewed education research within the scope of a particular REL region.

V. Demonstrated expertise in developing actionable, user-friendly, evidence-based toolkits, or toolkit components, to support educators.4

VI. Demonstrated ability to disseminate scientific findings in an accurate and easy to understand manner, and the capacity to disseminate such findings in a way that leads to uptake of the information by educators and policymakers.

VII. Demonstrated ability to manage large-scale government contracts.

4 Additional information on the purposes and components of a toolkit is discussed in the PWS under subtask 5.3.

Vendor Questions

(1) Have potential partners – particularly those at the LEA or SEA level – expressed concerns related to reduced capacity to partner with RELs due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there an expectation that potential parnters will express such concerns during the 2020-21 school year? If so, are there revisions to the RFI that could be made to better accommodate and eliminate any unnecessary burden on potential partners?

(2) What, if any, additional information should the Department provide in order to enable you to accurately estimate the cost of each task and subtask? This includes documents, research materials, more accurate task descriptions, policy information, or other content produced by or utilized by the Department.

(3) Are the NAICS and PSC codes appropriate for this procurement? If not, please justify an alternative.

(4) Do the three components of a toolkit based off of What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides described under subtask 5.3 in the PWS fully encompass the type of product that would be necessary to facilitate change at the classroom and school level? Are there any potential components to such a toolkit that are missing or inadequate as described?

(5) Can you identify any barriers to competition? If so, please identify and describe how the

Department could reduce or eliminate those barriers.

(6) Is there any other information that you wish to convey to the Department?

Performance Work Statement Regional Educational Laboratory Program, 2022 Cycle

I. Procurement Purpose and Authorizing Legislation

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) intends to award nine 60-month contracts to qualified entities to serve as the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) for nine of the 10 REL regions.5 See Appendix A for the names of the regions and their constituent states or jurisdictions. Each REL will be part of a program of 10 RELs 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)6 in the US Department of Education (the Department).

The authorizing legislation directs 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 technical assistance entities funded through the U.S. Department of Education, such as the Comprehensive Centers and the Equity Assistance Centers. REL products and services must be completed to the quality specifications required by IES.

5 The REL Southwest contract cycle is 11 months behind the other RELs and will be awarded in fall 2022.

6 http://www2.ed.gov/policy/rschstat/leg/PL107-279.pdf http://www2.ed.gov/policy/rschstat/leg/PL107-279.pdf

II. Introduction to the 2022 REL Cycle

The purpose of each REL is to assist practitioners and policymakers in their work to improve outcomes for learners in its region—from early childhood to adulthood—by supporting stakeholders in the generation and use of research, evidence, and evidence-based practices. To achieve that purpose, RELs: (1) conduct applied research and development; (2) design and implement training, coaching, and technical support activities that emphasize building capacity to use data and information to drive change; and (3) disseminate scientifically valid research, evidence-based practices, and supporting materials that allow stakeholders to apply this knowledge to their own practice.

All REL work must be both rigorous and high leverage.

REL research and development activities are rigorous when they meet IES’ standards for work that is scientifically valid. REL training, coaching, technical assistance, and dissemination activities are rigorous when they are (a) based on practices that are evidence-based, and (b) designed and delivered in ways that are consistent with what is known about high-quality adult learning and educator professional development experiences.

REL work is high leverage when it is change-oriented, supporting consequential local, regional or statewide decisions about policies, programs, and practices designed to improve learner outcomes.

RELs Work in Partnership with Key Stakeholders Working in partnership with practitioners and policymakers is central to the success of the REL program. RELs work in partnership with key stakeholders7, and are expected to engage partners in the design, execution, and evaluation8 of their activities. Projects that involve key stakeholders in defining their needs and co-designing activities to address these needs are best situated to develop high-quality products. An example of such a project is the development of a product that addresses pressing questions of practice, communicates technically accurate content in plain-

7 REL stakeholders include but are not limited to state education agencies (SEAs), local education agencies (LEAs), state and local school boards, institutes of higher education (IHEs), and schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 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. Additionally, Each REL has a Governing Board that is comprised of the region’s chief state school officer, or their designee, and other regional stakeholders. Governing Boards provide RELs strategic direction, including prioritizing which regional needs should be the focus of the REL’s work.

8 Evaluation of activities will be discussed in the Scope of Work/Requirements section.

spoken ways, and is useful for the intended audience. Similarly, high leverage work as defined above is not possible without RELs working in partnership with stakeholders.9

RELs have worked with state departments of education, school districts, and other education stakeholders for more than 50 years and have formed explicit partnerships with educators and policymakers with the purpose of bridging research and practice for nearly a decade. IES’ requirements for partnerships have changed over time. The 2012 REL cycle supported research alliances, defined as regional, cross-state, or cross-district groups of practitioners, policymakers, and researchers who worked together over time to use data and research to better understand and address a particular education concern. In the 2017 REL cycle, partnership was defined more broadly than research alliances had been as part of the previous cycle, emphasizing specific features of partnership work. Such features included clear, specific, and actionable outcomes for improvement of some aspect of education; clear strategies for building the capacity of members of the partnership; regular communication with partners; and a commitment to collaborate on a coherent, integrated, well-planned set of activities.

In the 2022 REL cycle, we emphasize working in partnership with stakeholders. This approach privileges no specific functional form, theory of change, or composition. Instead, the work of RELs should be purpose-built to meet stakeholders’ specific needs. So long as the stakeholder

(1) identifies the high leverage need to be addressed, and (2) is actively involved in the design, execution and evaluation of a project or set of related projects, work is considered to be within a partnership. We note that sets of REL projects done in partnership with stakeholders may take different forms and involve different members across the duration of the work. There are few restrictions on the groups with which RELs may partner, or how REL’s work in partnership with stakeholders is realized.

RELs Conduct Three Types of Activities The authorizing legislation for the REL Program requires that RELs conduct three main activities: (1) applied research, which in this cycle we explicitly extend to include development activities that translate scientifically valid evidence into tools for practitioners and interventions to meet unaddressed educator needs; (2) technical assistance related to application and use of scientifically valid research; and (3) dissemination of scientifically valid research. The Department expects most REL partnerships will leverage activities of each type to meet their outcomes.

Each type of activity is described here in an intentionally general manner; the Department allows flexibility for RELs and their partners to undertake work under each of these activities that best fits their needs. The Scope of Work/Requirements section provides additional detail on each activity type.

9 See the Expectations for the Implementation of the REL Program section for additional information on working in partnership with stakeholders.

Training, coaching, and technical support for use of research ESRA defines technical assistance as:

A) assistance in identifying, selecting, or designing solutions based on research, including professional development and high-quality training to implement solutions leading to— (i) improved educational and other practices and classroom instruction based on scientifically valid research; and (ii) improved planning, design, and administration of programs; (B) assistance in interpreting, analyzing, and utilizing statistics and evaluations; and (C) other assistance necessary to encourage the improvement of teaching and learning through the applications of techniques supported by scientifically valid research.10

RELs meet this mandate by conducting training, coaching, and technical support (TCTS) activities. In general, the REL program focuses its TCTS work on activities that leverage REL’s unique expertise in rigorous research, evaluation, and the design and use of evidence-based practices. All TCTS activities should be aligned to the existing evidence base or involve helping stakeholders build new evidence where little or none exists. TCTS that has as its primary aim the implementation of an “off-the-shelf” evidence-based practice, absent complementary activities that leverage REL capacities, should be supported by other education technical assistance providers.

TCTS projects may stand alone or be used in service of other activity types, such as applied research and development projects. For example, TCTS activities can occur before or during an applied research project to help partners understand existing evidence or collect local, relevant data on the high leverage topic of interest. TCTS activities should also occur after an applied research project is completed with the goal of exploring implications of, and next steps from, the research.

These activities are discussed in more detail in the Scope of Work/Requirements section under Task 4. Offerors should note that, through Subtask 4.2, the 2017 REL cycle’s “Ask-a-REL” service is recast as “Ask-an-Expert.” RELs shall develop and implement this service to provide real-time methodological expertise and evidence-based thought partnering to key stakeholders within their region. Requests for reference desk services may also be referred to the ERIC Helpdesk or National Library of Education.

10 See 20 USC § 9501 (23) https://eric.ed.gov/?contact https://eric.ed.gov/?contact https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/projects/nle/

Applied research and development ESRA describes applied research as directed to the advancement of practice in education. It addresses complex questions about teaching and learning; the organization of schools and systems; access to educational opportunity; learner success; and how education relates to, and prepares learners for, success in life and work. Development refers to the systematic use of knowledge to create products or processes; here, those products should support stakeholders’ efforts to improve learner outcomes.11

The applied research and development work conducted by RELs must be high leverage. That is, it should be change-oriented, supporting consequential local or regional decisions about policies, programs, and practices designed to improve learner outcomes. Ideally, the knowledge and tools developed by individual RELs would be generalizable to multiple contexts. However, this is not a requirement provided the research meets the needs of local or regional stakeholders. Similarly, applied research and development products may take any appropriate format so long as it is designed to be both useful to and used by decisionmakers or practitioners.

Applied research and development tasks are discussed in more detail in the Scope of Work/Requirements section under Task 5. Offerors should take special note of Subtask 5.3, which requires each REL to develop at least one research-based toolkit to support educators’ use of evidence-based practices found in What Works Clearinghouse™ Practice Guides.

Dissemination ESRA defines dissemination as:

the communication and transfer of the results of scientifically valid research, statistics, and evaluations, in forms that are understandable, easily accessible, and usable, or adaptable for use in, the improvement of educational practice by teachers, administrators, librarians, other practitioners, researchers, parents, policymakers, and the public, through technical assistance, publications, electronic transfer, and other means.12

RELs are honest brokers and effective synthesizers of scientifically valid information in an age where information of varying quality is ubiquitous and readily transmitted. The Department’s goal is for the REL “brand” of dissemination to convey quality, objectivity, and timeliness.

When possible, REL dissemination activities should include opportunities to learn and connect

11 ESRA contrasts applied research and development with basic research, which does not necessarily have immediate or obvious implications for practice. Both types of research differ 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.

12 See 20 USC § 9501 (10) https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuides with others. Dissemination products and activities should be understandable, easily accessible, and usable. Products should not require substantial additional adaptation by stakeholders for use in the improvement of educational practice or the informing of educational policy.

REL’s dissemination activities and products should also be strategic. Dissemination activities, products, and strategies should be developed and implemented in a way designed to advance partnership work and the outcomes key stakeholders intend to achieve in their locality, state, or region. Except where otherwise specified, dissemination activities specifically designed for national audiences are a secondary consideration of individual RELs.

These activities are discussed in more detail in the Scope of Work/Requirements section under Task 6, below.

III. Expectations for the Implementation of the REL Program

As stated in the Introduction to the 2022 REL Cycle section, the purpose of each REL is to support stakeholders in the use of research and evidence to improve outcomes for learners in its region from early childhood to adulthood. Current and previous REL cycles have demonstrated that there are many ways RELs can achieve this goal.

In general, REL project design should be primarily informed by the needs, desired outcomes, and context of their partners. As noted above, IES believes this way of working maximizes the chances that RELs meet partner needs and help partners realize their desired outcomes.

IES has identified a set of overarching expectations for how the work of the REL will be implemented, identified below. We begin by highlighting new or newly emphasized expectations (relative to the PWS for the 2017 REL cycle), and then reiterate expectations that have been typical across recent REL cycles.

Highlighted Expectations RELs shall conduct all (1) applied research and development and (2) training, coaching, and technical support work in partnership with stakeholders using the most effective structure possible. The structure and features of work done in partnership should be defined by the nature of the work RELs and their partners intend to complete and the outcomes they seek to accomplish. IES expects that RELs will engage all stakeholders whose participation is needed to realize the partnership’s outcomes. This includes but is not limited to individuals, regional or local organizations, and professional associations with the authority to set, influence, or implement policy and practice; access data; provide content or context expertise; or generate awareness of, or buy-in for, specific actions or outcomes identified by REL partners.

Regardless of the form work in partnership takes, IES expects good partnering behaviors in all relationships between RELs and their stakeholders. REL projects shall be co-developed with the stakeholders they are intended to serve. Additionally, REL work should be characterized by effective communication; genuine cooperation; and a mutual understanding of the context, content, outcomes and targets of the work. 13

Work done in partnership shall focus on concerns that are narrowly tailored to increase the likelihood of achieving partners’ desired outcomes. REL projects should emphasize deep work on a specific problem, rather than diffuse work across a broad topical area. For example, a REL project or set of projects should not focus broadly on “early childhood education” but rather

13 Outcomes are defined by the domains within which partners wish to see change – for example, improved math proficiency rates for middle school students in New Jersey. Targets are specific, measurable, time-bound metrics associated with long-term outcomes – for example, 85 percent of middle school students achieving proficiency on the statewide mathematics assessment by 2027.

on a particular issue such as “improving the skills and knowledge of early childhood educators related to 1) formatively assessing children’s language and mathematics development, and 2) applying that knowledge to practice.”

RELs shall work in partnership with stakeholder groups within a single state or jurisdiction. The work of REL partnerships should generally focus on statewide or local needs to increase the likelihood of achieving partners’ desired outcomes. IES expects that RELs will work to serve all states in their region; however, differences in state policy contexts and partner needs often make it difficult for multi-state partnerships to set specific shared targets and successfully execute high leverage work. Partners within a state may include statewide organizations (for example, SEAs, state boards of education, IHEs/teacher preparation programs, or professional organizations), regional organizations (for example, Intermediary Units that support groups of schools or districts within a state), districts, or individual schools. Work may be done in partnership with representatives from any combination of these levels if doing so is necessary to achieve their outcomes.

REL activities shall have a demonstrable, credible, and direct relationship to improved learner outcomes. The REL program’s purpose is to improve learner outcomes by supporting stakeholders in the generation and use of research, evidence, and evidence-based practices.

Therefore, the work of the REL shall be actionable. That is, oriented towards solving, rather than simply describing, high-leverage problems of practice. Specifically:

Activities should be in service of outcomes that are (a) co-designed with partners, (b) address authentic needs based on needs-sensing activities, (c) clear and measurable, and

(d) have achievable targets associated with these outcomes.

Outcomes should be classified as short-term, medium-term, or long-term. Details as to the types of outcomes that are appropriate for each are described below in the Key

Outcomes for REL Work and Logic Model section.

Stakeholders’ long-term outcomes and associated targets should serve as a “north star” for the work of RELs. REL work should be in service of their partners’ long-term targets

(e.g., “doubling the rate of math proficiency among 3rd graders in <partner’s LEA> over the next ten years”). RELs should set targets for their own work vis-à-vis those outcomes that are appropriate to the opportunities and constraints of the REL program.

All REL outcomes and their associated targets should be attainable within the REL cycle’s current period of performance. When partners have targets that extend beyond the period of performance (e.g., “by 2030, 95% of 3rd grade students in <district> will have achieved proficiency in math on the state test”), REL targets should be appropriately tuned to the Program’s opportunities and constraints (e.g., “At the end of the REL cycle, the REL and its partners hope to attain a <district> 3rd grade math proficiency rate of

80%, in route to the <district/state’s> 2030 goal of 95%.”)

Related projects developed in partnership with stakeholders will typically have the same long-term outcomes. Single projects and sets of projects co-developed with the same group may have distinct short- and medium-term outcomes, so long as they build on one another to help stakeholders achieve long-term outcomes.

RELs should be able to demonstrate—via logic models, theories of change, or their equivalent—how activities they propose to undertake in partnership with stakeholders will be arrayed to meet their short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes. REL activities are a means to an end, not ends unto themselves.

On-going monitoring of a REL’s performance will be informed in part by its attainment of targets associated with short-term and medium-term outcomes; summative evaluation of a REL’s performance will be informed in part by its attainment of targets associated with long-term outcomes.

RELs shall focus on activities that leverage their distinctiveness in the federal technical assistance space and develop strategies for collaboration with other federal service providers to meet needs that lie outside RELs’ core competencies. RELs’ distinctive value in the federal technical assistance community comes from their ability (a) to conduct applied research and development work that is rigorous and high leverage, and (b) to integrate that work with training, coaching, technical support, and dissemination that is of similarly high quality.

RELs must consider how stakeholder needs that do not leverage that distinctiveness—such as implementation support absent a discernable applied research and development component— should be referred to other technical assistance providers such as the Regional Comprehensive Centers.

RELs shall emphasize the scaling of What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guide recommendations and should amplify and leverage scientifically valid research built or synthesized elsewhere within the Department. Discovering what works in education and then ensuring that knowledge is used to improve learners’ education outcomes is central to the mission of IES and the REL Program. Similarly, evidence-based practice is a central tenet of the

Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In the 2022 cycle, RELs support the use of evidence-based practices in two ways.

First, each REL shall develop at least one toolkit that supports scaling of WWC Practice Guide recommendations. WWC Practice Guides have a unique role within the evidence-based practices space. Their recommendations represent the Department’s current and best understanding of evidence-based practice in a given domain. Some Practice Guides present a set of recommendations in which all recommendations should be implemented to achieve the intended outcomes while other Practice Guide recommendations may be implemented independently of the other recommendations.

Key features of this activity shall include working with state, district, or other relevant stakeholders to:

Identify a WWC Practice Guide that aligns to a specific stakeholder need14;

Design a toolkit15 that includes a coherent set of resources;

Conduct usability testing of the toolkit’s resources as they are developed; and

Evaluate the efficacy and implementation fidelity of the finished toolkit’s significant components, either individually, in related subsets, or as a whole, prior to the toolkit’s release by IES. Such an evaluation should examine short-term outcomes for both teachers

(e.g., teacher knowledge, self-efficacy or changes to practice) and learners (e.g., academic or behavioral outcomes). Said evaluation should also indicate ways that the toolkit could be improved to be more usable or effective. More information about this activity is described in the Scope of Work/Requirements section under Subtask 5.3.

Second, each REL shall seek to amplify evidence and evidence-based products developed by other IES programs such as the National Center for Education Research, the National Center for Special Education Research, and the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance when developing training, coaching, and technical support projects or related products.

RELs shall develop and employ strategic dissemination plans based on the products developed in partnership with key stakeholders and their intended outcomes. RELs will be expected to develop and continually refine dissemination plans related to each set of TCTS and

14 Offerors will be provided with three randomly selected, region-specific options, from which they must select one to base their proposed toolkit. Successful offerors will be expected to develop the toolkit they propose; however, the government retains the right to make changes to this Subtask after award.

15 See the Scope of Work/Requirements section under Subtask 5.3 for further discussion of the required components of a toolkit.

applied research activities developed in partnership with stakeholders. A strategic dissemination plan should incorporate the context and intended outcomes of the partners and projects as well as dissemination practices that are effective for reaching target audiences. In order to develop and execute these strategies, RELs must be able to identify key audiences positioned to support partners in achieving their intended outcomes, target dissemination products and activities towards these audiences in places these audience are likely to find them, and develop/disseminate products in formats that are accessible and actionable to these audiences.

IES expects that this will require coordination across tasks – in particular, between tasks three (Working in Partnership with Stakeholders), four (Training, Coaching and Technical Support for Evidence Use), five (Applied Research and Peer Reviewed Research-based Development Projects ) and six (Dissemination). IES also expects that dissemination strategies will be individualized and tailored to each set of projects developed in partnership with key stakeholders. Simply making products or activities available through the REL’s website or Twitter account is not sufficient, nor does it reflect the level of planning or effort IES expects RELs to put forth as part of a strategic dissemination effort.

Additional Expectations RELs shall employ strategies that integrate applied research; training, coaching, technical support; and dissemination in order to maximize the possibilities of partners meeting their short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes. REL activities can be fit discretely into one of the three categories of REL work – (1) applied research; (2) training, coaching, and technical support; or (3) dissemination. However, IES expects that RELs will realize the greatest impact for partners and stakeholders when they integrate multiple types of work within partnerships and across their entire portfolio of work. Examples of integration might include, but are not limited to developing infographics or hosting a webinar based on the findings of an applied research project; developing a coaching or training project to support partners’ collection of data for a future applied research project; developing a coaching project to help partners determine “what’s next” based on the implications of an applied research project; or developing a training project for instructional leaders based upon a toolkit or intervention developed by the REL.

The content and design of REL work shall be informed by, align with, build upon stakeholders’ existing initiatives and their efforts to improve policies and practices. RELs should (a) make all necessary efforts to understand the existing policy and practice context of their stakeholders; (b) reflect an awareness of those contexts when planning with partners about how new activities can move them closer to achieving their outcomes; and (c) build partner capacity to execute all phases of an evidence-informed process of change.

At a minimum, REL work should be developed with an understanding of the local context in order to avoid duplication of effort or contradiction with existing initiatives or practices. Beyond that, REL project proposals should demonstrate how the work is part of a logical and feasible pathway to achieving partners’ intended outcomes, in conjunction with other activities or initiatives taking place in partnership with, or outside of the REL. For example, a project in which the REL is supporting a networked improvement community of school curriculum leaders within a district in their efforts to help teachers identify, understand, and implement evidence-based instructional practices in early reading will be most successful if it builds upon existing teacher supports that the district provides and is followed by sustained district investment.

Projects that are unable to demonstrate this – in other words, “one-off” projects that are not supported by additional REL work or partner initiatives outside of their work with the REL – are unlikely to effectively support stakeholder change efforts and meet the criteria of high leverage.

Additionally, work in partnership with stakeholders should be designed to support stakeholders in identifying and acting on the necessary next steps to achieve their outcomes. Part of this could include RELs acting as a thought partner to plan for what partners will do once REL supports have concluded to continue their progress toward their outcomes. Another aspect of helping partners take next steps may involve reaching out to other stakeholder organizations partners may not typically work with. Partners for REL projects may include many, but not all, of the decisionmakers whose buy-in is necessary for achieving intended outcomes. In these cases, the REL could work in partnership to build the knowledge and capacity of partners to be able to clearly and persuasively champion potential evidence-based changes to outside decisionmakers.

Therefore, the REL will need to become knowledgeable not only of their partners and their partners’ contexts, but also of their partners’ relationships to other key decisionmakers and the organizational processes of each stakeholder group.

REL activities shall be designed and executed in a culturally responsive manner. RELs shall make all necessary efforts to understand the cultural context of their partners at the state, region, district, or school level and use that knowledge to design and conduct high leverage work.

Cultural context can have several meanings but generally relates to how stakeholders interact within education and social systems and their beliefs, values, norms and behaviors. RELs should recognize that these beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors are likely to be different across the various stakeholder groups within the system. As RELs think about how to best meet their stakeholders’ needs around a given topic, they should also seek to understand the answers to questions such as: What does each relevant stakeholder group believe is the problem? What current norms might support or inhibit the adoption of a new practice or policy? What role does tradition play and how can it be used to support change?

REL personnel shall include researchers with significant and demonstrated scholarly expertise in content areas and methodologies relevant to the work the REL undertakes as well as practitioners who have significant experience teaching and leading professional development in those content areas. RELs shall develop a team that includes experts of several types, listed below:

Content experts who possess a broad and deep perspective on what is known and what still is not settled in a research field. They enable the REL to frame important research questions and TCTS activities so that they both address immediate needs for evidence, as well as advance knowledge more broadly through applied research.

Lead authors of REL reports who shall have demonstrated expertise in the content area being addressed by the report, shown through a substantial portfolio of peer-reviewed, published work in that area.16

Methodological experts who ensure high leverage research questions are answered using appropriate methods and support the intended outcomes of the project.

Current or former practitioners who provide project staff additional context on problems of practice educators are facing.

Experts in adult learning or professional development whose expertise can inform the design and conduct of TCTS activities.

The Department expects that the REL shall seek content expertise from a variety of sources, including universities or other firms, and shall adjust its mix of content expertise as new regional needs arise.

REL products shall be clear, engaging, relevant, and actionable. Products should be written for an informed lay audience. Non-researchers with limited statistical backgrounds should be able to understand key takeaways and implications from all products, including applied research.

RELs shall incorporate formative feedback from at least one representative of the target audience when developing products to maximize their relevance, usability and actionability. RELs are encouraged to use multiple formats and to develop supplemental products to support research findings to make these findings as clear, engaging, relevant and actionable as possible to multiple audiences.

IES’ primary concern is that the REL products are actionable for partners towards achieving their outcomes (see earlier expectation related to strategic dissemination). However, REL products should also be nationally relevant whenever possible so that other states, districts, and schools can adapt and implement the research knowledge, tools and trainings created through the REL partnership. RELs shall provide contextual information as a part of each applied research product so that users may be able to compare the context in which the work was developed to their own when considering its relevance.

16 See https://eric.ed.gov/?selection for IES’ definition of peer-reviewed.

https://eric.ed.gov/?selection

Applied research products shall incorporate quantitative methodologies best suited to answer key stakeholders’ questions and address their high leverage needs. Applied research under the REL program may use any quantitative methods, ranging from descriptive statistics to causal models, that are appropriate to meet stakeholder needs. As discussed above, the department expects REL products to be actionable, with a focus on achieving partners’ medium-and long-term outcomes. Therefore, while descriptive research is permitted, IES expects that descriptive research will not be conducted as a stand-alone project and will instead be combined with other REL supports that help stakeholders apply research evidence to policy or practice. For the purposes of research under the REL program, qualitative research methods are typically best used in combination with quantitative methods rather than in isolation. For example, case study data can be used to provide examples of the types of implementation approaches that may be listed in survey response categories within an implementation evaluation.

In past contract cycles, RELs addressed partners’ needs by analyzing extant data in order to conduct correlational studies that identified the outcomes associated with a new policy or program. RELs should continue to do these types of studies, but IES also encourages RELs to look for opportunities to conduct studies that involve collecting data on implementation in real time in order to help stakeholders understand the variation in implementation, the challenges associated with implementation and educators’ strategies for overcoming these challenges. Such studies would need to be launched early in the contract cycle because they would likely require Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance after the study proposal was approved by IES before the study could begin, as well as additional time to recruit participants and collect data.17

17 The OMB clearance process takes a minimum of five months.

IV. Key outcomes for REL work and logic model

IES has identified several short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes anticipated from the work of RELs and the REL program (see Figure 1). Given the wide variety of topics and activities of REL projects, it would be nearly impossible to capture every potential input, activity, output, and outcome of REL work. The logic model depicted in Figure 1 represents a high-level overview of the work of RELs and of the REL program itself. We do not include arrows linking specific inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes in this model. However, IES’ expectation is that as each REL co-develops and executes their scope of work they will demonstrate through logic models how specific components of their models are linked for each set of projects developed in partnership with stakeholders (see Task 3 under Scope of Work for additional information).

As noted in the Expectations for Implementation of the REL Program section, RELs will be expected to work with their partners to co-develop and periodically update more specific logic models, theories of action or equivalent for each set of projects developed in partnership with key stakeholders.18 Measurement plans that allow the REL to quantify their progress toward achieving specified targets associated with short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes are also required. While the specific short- or medium-term outcomes in REL logic models might not match those in Figure 1, all applied research, coaching, training, and technical support activities shall be designed to support partners in meeting at least one of the five long-term outcomes listed in Figure 1.

Inputs Although each REL project will include distinct inputs, some inputs should be common across any REL project. These include the experience and expertise in research, policy, and practice that RELs and their partners bring to a project. Partners’ connections to other key stakeholders and their contextual knowledge is also a valuable input.

Buy-in on the part of partners, and the availability of REL and partner resources is also necessary.