Advancing Equity in Career and Technical Education

Added: Jul 08, 2015 9:46 am The purpose of this amendment to the Pre-Solicitation Notice is to formally issue Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 for Advancing Equity in Career and Technical Education. This Solicitation is issued as a 100% small business set-aside pursuant to the provisions of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Sub-Part 13.5 - Test Program for Certain Commercial Items.

Questions regarding Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 shall be submitted via e-mail no later than 10:00 a.m. July 14, 2015.  Questions shall be submitted electronically via e-mail to Alice Mihill, Contract Specialist, at alice.mihill@ed.gov, with copy to Ryan Battad, Contracting Officer, at ryan.battad@ed.gov.

Responses to Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 must be submitted in sufficient time to be fully received by Alice Mihill, Contract Specialist, no later than 10:00 a.m. July 31, 2015. Responses to Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 must be submitted electronically via e-mail to Alice Mihill, Contract Specialist, with copy to Ryan Battad, Contracting Officer, at ryan.battad@ed.gov.

Please note that the Department will not receive e-mails containing files that are 20MB or larger.  Interested parties submitting responses to Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 must be aware of this requirement and submit multiple transmissions, if necessary, to avoid sending an e-mail that contains files larger than 20MB.  Interested parties shall also make note that the Solicitation contains direction that responses must be submitted in separate volumes for technical proposals and business proposals.  In the event you need to submit your response to Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 in multiple transmissions, please include the Solicitation Number in the subject line along with some indicator about the sequence of the transmission based on the total number of transmissions, e.g. Company Name Response to Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037  1 of 2 and Company Name Response to Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 2 of 2.  Please also provide clear names for the files that comprise your response to Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 to enable the Department to easily differentiate the Technical Proposal files from the Business Proposal files.

Added: Jul 06, 2015 10:46 am This Pre-Solicitation Notice is to formally announce the U.S. Department of Education's (Department's) intent to issue Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 to Advance Equity in Careern and Technical Education (CTE).

Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 will be issued in the near term as a 100% total small business set-aside under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 13.5 - Test Program for Certain Commercial Items.  Responses to Solicitation ED-VAE-15-R-0037 will be required to be submitted in sufficient time to be fully received by the Department no later than 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, July 31, 2015.

A description of this procurement is provided below:
 
The Advancing Equity in CTE project will complement the current activities of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and related organizations by proactively investing in activities and programs that will better help the Department identify local, State, and national trends in CTE affecting students from underserved subpopulations. The Office of Career, Technical and Adult Eduction (OCTAE) seeks to advance programs and activities in CTE to serve all students; ensure the needs of underserved student subpopulations are being met; and increase student diversity in CTE programs.
 
In order to achieve the objectives set forth by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, OCTAE plans to use this project to provide the Department with information regarding strategies and promising practices in advancing equity in CTE programs across the nation. OCTAE plans to share the information obtained (via electronic means) from this project with the field via a comprehensive literature review that identifies the causes of inequity that impede access to education, resources and jobs for CTE students. The literature review will provide an evidence base to help inform internal and external stakeholders’ understanding of “equity” and “equity barriers,” which will become the foundation for the development of policies and program proposals, as well as for the identification of policies and practices to be eliminated that currently hinder equity in career, technical and adult education programs and services.
 
Additionally, the Department will develop methods to identify and disseminate practices in equity that have the potential for replication to advance and/or improve access and opportunity for career, technical, and adult education learners.  These emerging or promising practices will be made available for public consumption via electronic access.
 
The Department will also develop and disseminate an advancing equity in CTE toolkit that will serve primarily as a resource, particularly for state and local education agencies, academic staff, school administrators and counselors, parents and equity coordinators, to introduce issues of equality that fosters excellence in the development and delivery of programs, services and teaching and learning practices. The toolkit will assist education providers to promote accessible and inclusive learning environments for career, technical, and adult education learners.