11.08.23 Appendix History Civics RFP EDSITEment.docx

APPENDIX

EDSITEMENT AMERICAN HISTORY, CIVICS, AND WORLD HISTORY CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

I. STATEMENT OF WORK

A. OVERVIEW OF PROJECT

A.1. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) seeks proposals to design and develop educational resources for the agency’s EDSITEment website [http://edsitement.neh.gov/]. The organization NEH awards this contract to will:

· Design, revise, and deliver original lesson planning and related materials (i.e., primary sources, maps, images, etc.) to be published on selected subjects and topics in U.S. history, civics, and world history for K-12 and Advanced Placement education on the EDSITEment website.

· Utilize EDSITEment’s current templates and formatting structures for lessons and related materials (and multimedia content where appropriate).

· Incorporate, where appropriate, NEH-funded projects, articles, and resources.

A.2. These lesson planning materials may not incorporate:

· Advocacy of a particular program of social or political action.

· Promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view, and politically partisan rhetoric.

· Support of specific public policies or legislation.

A.3. NEH, an independent agency of the Federal government, provides grants to individuals and organizations for projects in the humanities, which include such disciplines as ancient and modern languages and literature, history, philosophy, and religion. Grants support conservation of and access to the nation’s cultural resources; research and educational opportunities for humanities professors, independent scholars, and elementary and secondary school teachers; the writing of scholarly texts; museum exhibitions, television and radio programs, and other public programs that examine humanities’ ideas and themes.

A.4. EDSITEment is a website of NEH that offers an ever-expanding collection of resources for teachers, after-school providers, students, and parents in the subject areas of literature and language arts, foreign languages, art and culture, and history and social studies.

Begun in 1997 as a compendium of educational websites judged by humanities specialists to be of high intellectual quality and covering a wide range of subjects, from American history to literature, world history and culture, language, art, and archaeology, EDSITEment has grown to include an extensive collection of more than 500 lesson plans as well as links to other teaching resources.

EDSITEment commissions, creates, and publishes online lesson-planning content designed for teachers, and interactive links on historical, literary, and cultural topics. EDSITEment also publicizes humanities content, grant products, and teacher development opportunities available from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

EDSITEment’s constituents include K–12 teachers, librarians, and administrators; K–12 students; teachers and students in Advanced Placement courses; parents and after-school providers; and post-secondary academics and academic administrators.

EDSITEment’s peer organizations are: Smithsonian Learning Lab (https://learninglab.si.edu/ ); National Humanities Center (https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/education-programs/); The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection); and ReadWriteThink (National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association http://www.readwritethink.org/).

B. OBJECTIVES

Working in conjunction with EDSITEment staff and in alignment with EDSITEment website templates and concept models, the contractor will design, develop, revise, and deliver lesson planning and related resources to meet the following objectives:

· Provide materials that are professional, engaging, accessible, and in keeping with EDSITEment’s mission of excellence in humanities resources for K-12 education.

· Develop materials that will ensure that EDSITEment’s mission, programs, and resources are accessible and comprehensible to our constituents and compliant with Section 508 best practices.

· Address subjects and topics relevant to the teaching and learning of U.S. history, civics, and world history courses for K-12 education, including materials for Advanced Placement U.S. History, Advanced Placement U.S. Government, and Advanced Placement European History. (Please see Appendix A for the list of topics).

· Incorporate, where appropriate, perspectives and experiences of underrepresented communities with attention to questions of racial equity, gender equality, the evolution of the American landscape, and America’s place in the world.

· Incorporate primary sources that address multiple perspectives, subject specific standards, inquiry-based learning activities, and formative and summative assessments. Incorporate, where available and appropriate, relevant digital media, including videos, podcasts, recorded audio, and digital archives.

· Include differentiated learning activities and projects appropriate for grade bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, and Advanced Placement such as, but not limited to, station activities, flipped classrooms, jigsaw activities, Socratic seminars, and digital learning environments.

· Provide supplementary materials that include, but are not restricted to, handouts, graphic organizers, photographs, illustrations, and maps.

· Incorporate, where appropriate, NEH-funded projects, articles, and other resources.

· Ensure that all content and content-based resources, including images, video and film, created and/or incorporated into deliverable for site are freely available for educational use. This includes, but is not restricted to, content in the public domain, open-source content, or content that can be copied, modified, and reused by the general public without cost or restriction. Video and audio media should be produced by non-profit, non-partisan organizations and institutions.

· Other requirements that may arise within the time limits of this contract.

C. PROJECT UNDERSTANDING AND METHODOLOGY

Please provide all application materials other than resumes, letters of commitment, and media resources on numbered pages in single-spaced, 11-point type.

C.1. PROJECT RATIONALE. Provide an overview describing:

· How the proposed project will cover the selected topics in U.S. history, civics, and/or world history and how the materials will address teaching and learning needs across the K-12 and Advanced Placement grade bands (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, and Advanced Placement).

· Explain how the proposed project will incorporate differentiated learning and assessments, media and technology, and/or dynamic pedagogical practices.

· Describe how the proposed materials will enhance and expand EDSITEment’s coverage of U.S. history, civics, and world history.

C.2. CONTENT AND DESIGN. Informed by a) materials in Supplement A, which includes a list of topics; b) Supplement B, which includes a template for content type descriptors, and c) a thorough review of EDSITEment website content:

· Identify how the proposed project approaches the specific topics to be explored in Appendix A for the academic levels noted.

· Identify up-to-date scholarship and teaching methodologies the proposed project would employ in resource design and creation, and how educators might use them. Resources would include lesson plans, teaching guides, and/or student activities.

· In an appendix, provide sample lists of the topics, potential texts, media resources, and the grade levels these materials will address.

C.3. PROJECT STAFF. Identify key staff, including writers, editors, and consultants, who will coordinate and oversee the development and review of the materials your organization will create.

· Describe the expertise key staff will bring to the project.

· Explain the process for soliciting additional writers and editors for lesson planning materials and identify how many writers will be involved.

· Include brief resumes of key staff (no more than one page).

C.4. REFERENCES. List the names and addresses of three references. These may be former clients.

C.5. CAPABILITIES. Discuss your qualifications for the project, including organizational resources, flexibility, and experience. Include your recent previous contracts or projects that addressed similar issues and objectives. Attach overviews or samples of similar projects and other supporting materials, including URLs, if applicable.

[PLEASE FILL IN GENERAL MILESTONES. FEEL FREE TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS AND FILL IN EXPECTED GOALS FOR EACH STEP. BULLETED ITEMS IN D.2.A, BELOW, ARE NOT NEGOTIABLE.]

D. WORKPLAN. EDSITEment intends to make newly created content for U.S. history, civics, and world history available on its website no later than 36 weeks from the start of contract. Referring to the Appendix, Supplements A-C, provide a detailed draft workplan for developing lesson plans, online student interactive tools, and/or companion student exercises, according to the milestones’ guidelines, below. A table format for a combined workplan/timetable is recommended.

D.1. MILESTONE: The contractor will meet with the EDSITEment Project staff and relevant NEH Education Division staff within ten (10) calendar days of the contract award.

D.1.A. REQUIREMENT: Meeting to discuss the project goals and exchange specific information about moving forward to meet the project requirements within acceptable parameters. Establishment of a timeline for deliverables in draft form at agreed upon intervals not to exceed twenty (20) weeks in total.

D.2. MILESTONE: Draft of all materials due from contractor within twenty (20) weeks after contract award.

D.2.A. REQUIREMENT: The contractor will assist EDSITEment with the development of content and resources that align with the following components and requirements:

· Lesson Plans will include a title, learning objectives, compelling questions, discussion questions, primary source and inquiry-based activities, incorporation of digital media where available and appropriate, differentiated learning and assessment activities, and supplemental resources aligned with teaching and learning needs for relevant grade levels.

· Student Activities will include a title, discussion questions, primary source and inquiry-based activities, incorporation of digital media where available and appropriate, differentiated learning and assessment activities aligned with teaching and learning needs for relevant grade levels. Three or more lesson plans may be grouped thematically to comprise a curriculum.

· Teacher’s Guides will include a title, essential questions, discussion questions, strategies for incorporating free and on-line resource collections, inquiry-based learning activities and project ideas, identification of essential themes and concepts relevant to the study of a given topic, person, or era, and incorporation of NEH funded projects where available and appropriate.

· Ensure that all content and content-based resources created and/or incorporated into deliverable for site are freely available for educational use. This includes, but is not restricted to, content in the public domain, open-source content, or content that can be copied, modified, and reused by the general public without cost or restriction. Video and audio media should be produced by non-profit, non-partisan organizations and institutions.

· Materials cannot contain advocacy for or against an issue, institutions, political affiliations, or individuals, or any other bulleted item as described in A.2., above.

· All materials, including handouts, charts, graphs, student readings, maps, etc., must be Section 508 compliant.

· All content for the site shall be revised and updated by EDSITEment staff as needed.

D.2.B. MILESTONE: Progress meeting between the NEH and the contractor on all materials developed within five (5) weeks of Milestone D.1.A.

· REQUIREMENT: The contractor will meet with EDSITEment staff to discuss progress with the development of content and resources that align with the components and requirements outlined under Milestone D.2.A.

D.3. MILESTONE: Revised content based on outside expert reviewers and EDSITEment feedback due from contractor within six (6) weeks of return of materials and comments to contractor.

D.3.A. REQUIREMENT: The contractor will assist EDSITEment with the revision of content and resources that align with the following components and requirements:

· Materials created by contractor will be reviewed by external content and pedagogical experts, along with EDSITEment staff, following submission of draft materials in alignment with Milestone D.2.A.

· Contractor and EDSITEment staff will meet to discuss feedback and reviewer comments, along with how best to incorporate feedback and revisions, within one (1) week of return of reviewer comments.

· Revised materials with all accompanying materials will be submitted by contractor to EDSITEment staff within six (6) weeks of revision and feedback meeting.

D.4. MILESTONE: contractor will provide additional materials and clarification within six (6) weeks, and assist, as needed, during the upload and finalization process.

E. SUPPLEMENTS. Supplements A through C provide additional information to assist offerors in preparing their proposals.

F. TERM OF CONTRACT. EDSITEment’s projected date for publication of content for U.S. history, civics, and world history on the EDSITEment website is no later than 36 weeks from the start of contract (See Supplement C).

A. GENERAL

A.1. NEH has defined the requirements and proposed timetables for the various tasks. However, we rely on those submitting proposals to provide alternative or additional tasks and/or milestones if they believe the approach contained in this Statement of Work is too incomplete or unrealistic to meet the stated goals of NEH.

A.2. The contractor will incorporate existing EDSITEment and NEH staff and website contractors as part of the overall ‘team,’ as these individuals will be critical to the project.

A.3. Oral Presentations. The NEH evaluators may decide to hear oral presentations from each offeror. If that occurs, offerors will be provided specific information regarding issues to be discussed and provided sufficient time to prepare for the interview.

B. TECHNICAL PROPOSALS – EVALUATION CRITERIA. Each of the sections in Section I.C and I.D above should be addressed in terms of the criteria shown here.

B.1. Project understanding and methodology. The content proposal should be specific, detailed, and complete so as to clearly and fully demonstrate that the offeror has a thorough understanding of all the requirements of this project. The proposal should present as complete and detailed a plan as possible for accomplishing each of the tasks in Section I.C within the contract term contained in Section I.D. It must show how the offeror proposes to comply with these requirements, as well as identify any problems envisioned in performance of the services and provide specific plans for overcoming these problems.

Simple statements that the offeror understands the problems, and can or will comply with the requirements, are in themselves not acceptable or sufficient for evaluation purposed, nor are proposals which merely repeat the information contained in Section I.B. It is the offeror's obligation to submit an adequately written initial proposal in order to establish that what it proposes will meet the Government's needs.

B.2. Project Staff and References. Provide evidence of staff qualifications to perform the tasks described above including resumes of all personnel who will be assigned. A discussion of how their expertise will support this project should be included. [Offerors should state that if different people are assigned at any time, their names and resumes will be submitted for approval immediately].

B.3. Organization’s Capabilities. Demonstration of sufficient organizational resources, flexibility, and experience (include references and a list of similar projects completed within the past two years [include in an Appendix]), which exhibit the offeror’s capabilities. Provide evidence of capability by demonstrating:

· Two recent examples of projects that combine depth of intellectual content and skill etc.

B.4. Workplan. Incorporate a schedule [timeline] for completion of the principal tasks described above with associated staff assignments. This should be a detailed approach and process for content development that adheres to industry-standard methodologies and includes iterative cycles with EDSITEment, frequent interim deliverables, as well as a testing plan. Describe the management controls which will be utilized to ensure effective coordination and the timely and acceptable completion of each task, including any proposed contingency plans.

C. BUSINESS [PRICE] PROPOSALS. The business proposal will incorporate prices for all anticipated services necessary to accomplish all the tasks described in Section I above. We anticipate that this will be a labor-hour contract, so estimated hours and hourly rates should be provided and associated with each labor category proposed for each task. Price will be evaluated in terms of the proposal's overall value to the Government. The proposal should demonstrate that the budget for the project is adequate to support the proposed activities, and costs must be reasonable in relation to the objectives of the project.

D. CONTRACT. NEH will award the contract to the company or institution whose proposal represents the combination of technical merit and price most favorable to the Government. Technical consideration will be of paramount importance, and price will be evaluated in terms of the proposal's overall value to the Government. Since factors other than price are of greater importance, the Government also reserves the right to award to other than the lowest offer.

SUPPLEMENT A: SUBJECT AREA TOPICS AND THEMES

GROUP ONE

The tables below identify those topics that will be given priority when evaluating content development proposals for EDSITEment under this RFQ. The tables are organized by subject, topic, and grade levels and agreement to create materials for a given topic will include assigned grade levels and content types.

I. U.S. History and Advanced Placement U.S. History

II. Civics and Government, AP U.S. Government

Constitutional Amendments (First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth) 3-5

Lesson Plans, Student Activity

6-8

Lesson Plans, Student Activity

9-12

Lesson Plans, Student Activity

III. World History and AP European History

Civilizations/Empires (Rome, Greece, Tigris/Euphrates)

Civilizations/Empires (China, India, Mongols)

SUPPLEMENT B: INDIVIDUAL LESSON PLAN

This lesson template provided, below, and the model provided here include each of the following sections to assist with organizing your lessons: https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/harriet-tubman-and-underground-railroad

Title: A colon can be included, however, shorter is better. Keep keywords in mind for search purposes.

Excerpt: This appears when someone searches on EDSITEment or an external search engine. The excerpt should be no more than three (3) sentences. This does not appear on the lesson plan page.

Introduction: This short paragraph introduces the topic and lesson and appears under the image on the lesson page. The introduction often borrows from or is the same as the excerpt. This should be no longer than one (1) paragraph.

Compelling Questions: A Compelling Question operates as a broad, overarching question that students construct arguments in response to during the course of a lesson or unit of study. Compelling Questions require research and consideration of multiple perspectives on a topic. Compelling Questions are designed to elicit multiple answers. Please provide two to four (2-4) questions.

Learning objectives: No more than four (4) learning objectives that combine content, concepts, and skills addressed through the activities and assessments included within the lesson.

Standards: History and Social Studies lessons utilize the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework. Literature and Language Arts lessons utilize the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Arts and Culture lessons utilize the National Core Arts Standards. Interdisciplinary lessons may incorporate standards from more than one organization.

Background: This is a space for information a teacher can use to deepen their knowledge of the topic and contextualize the lesson/topics of a single lesson within a sequence of lessons. What teachers may need for a given activity or aspect of the lesson can be included here. Including links to resources is recommended.

Preparation: This is used as the opening of the lesson and the students are the audience. How will the lesson and activities begin? What questions will students respond to at the outset? What prior learning is relevant for this lesson? This will likely align with the first learning objective for the lesson. If you do not think this is necessary, you can move directly to the “Activities” section.

Activities: Students are the audience for this section, and it includes the steps and directions they can follow. As the writer, communicate with students directly rather than what a teacher would do/say. Guiding questions, prompts for analysis, specific texts, media, and sequencing of how students apply their learning are all included here.

Activities are designed for inquiry-based learning and can be divided into stages (Activity 1, Activity 2, etc.), groups (group 1, group 2, etc.), stations for individuals or pairs, or any other activity for student engagement. See model provided above.

Assessments: What are students making? How do they apply what they are learning? Provide prompts and tasks that are ready to use. More than one summative assessment is recommended and incorporating technology for at least one assessment option is encouraged.

Handouts: Handouts for activities and assessments are recommended. Please format these documents using Microsoft Word.

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Title

Excerpt

Introduction

Background

Compelling Questions

Learning Objectives

Standards

Background

Preparation

Activities

Assessments

SUPPLEMENT C: MILESTONES FOR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

The following represents a timeline for content production and achievement of Milestones outlined in section I.D of the RFP.

I.D.2. The contractor will assist EDSITEment with the development of content and resources.

· Lesson Plans will include a title, learning objectives, compelling questions, discussion questions, primary source and inquiry-based activities, incorporation of digital media where available and appropriate, differentiated learning and assessment activities, and supplemental resources aligned with teaching and learning needs for relevant grade levels.

· Student Activities will include a title, discussion questions, primary source and inquiry-based activities, incorporation of digital media where available and appropriate, differentiated learning and assessment activities aligned with teaching and learning needs for relevant grade levels.

· Teacher’s Guides will include a title, essential questions, discussion questions, strategies for incorporating free and on-line resource collections, inquiry-based learning activities and project ideas, identification of essential themes and concepts relevant to the study of a given topic, person, or era, and incorporation of NEH funded projects where available and appropriate.

· All content and content-based resources created and/or incorporated into deliverable for site must be freely available for educational use. This includes, but is not restricted to, content in the public domain, open-source content, or content that can be copied, modified, and reused by the general public without cost or restriction. Video and audio media should be produced by non-profit, non-partisan organizations and institutions.

· Materials cannot contain advocacy for or against an issue, institutions, political affiliation, or individual, or any other bulleted item as described in I.A.2. of the SOW.

· All materials, including handouts, charts, graphs, student readings, maps, etc. must be Section 508 compliant.

· All content for the site shall be revised and updated by EDSITEment staff as needed.

I.D.2.B Progress meeting on materials development.

· Contractor and EDSITEment staff will meet to discuss feedback and reviewer comments, along with how best to incorporate feedback and revisions, within one week of return of reviewer comments.

· Revised materials with all accompanying materials will be submitted to EDSITEment staff within six (6) weeks of revision and feedback meeting.