Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

ABE Professional Development RFP and RFR Are Released.

ACLS is pleased to announce the release of a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) and Request for Response (RFR) for the adult basic education professional development system for FY 2012 - FY 2014. The RFP is posted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's grants webpage http://www.doe.mass.edu/grants/, for five professional development Regional Support Centers (RSCs), one each in Western MA, Central MA, Northeastern MA, Southeastern MA, and Greater Boston. A separate RFR is posted to the Commonwealth Procurement Access and Solicitation Site (Comm-PASS) http://www.comm-pass.com/, for a contractor to operate a Central Resource Center (CRC) that will coordinate, support, and evaluate the system's work. Projected funding for FY 2012 for each of five professional development Regional Support Centers is approximately $350,000 ($1.8 million statewide) in state and federal grants; for the Central Resource Center contract, projected FY 2012 funding is $514,000. Both RSC grants and the CRC contract will be renewable for up to two additional years, pending performance and allocation of state and federal funds. ESE intends for professional development providers to offer a more streamlined and in-depth set of services than in the past. With that goal, the following priorities have been set for this grant program:

Deliver professional development to cohorts of ABE/ESOL teachers in the content areas that adult learners need to become college and career ready: i.e., mathematics, ESOL, and reading/writing. Evaluate the professional development with measures that include teachers' pre- and post- self-assessments of content knowledge.
Strengthen educational leadership, student advising, and other program support needed for effective ABE/ESOL instruction by providing self-assessment tools, training, technical assistance and other deliverables.
Deliver ongoing training and technical assistance in each region that will a) orient new practitioners to the ABE field as well as to their specific job roles, and b) help teachers meet the state's Professional Standards for Adult Basic Education Teachers.
Provide on-site, customized technical assistance to underperforming programs identified by ESE.

Questions about the RFP for the Regional Support Centers may be sent to FY12ProgramandStaffRFP@doe.mass.edu. Answers to those questions will be posted to the ACLS webpage (http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls/ ) under "Hot Topics." Questions about the RFR for the Central Resource Center may be posted to the CommPASS website noted above; answers will be posted to CommPASS as well. More information will be available at the website links above, on the ACLS webpage, and at a Bidders' Conference to be held on Friday, February 25, 2011 at the Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board, 44 Front Street, Suite 300, Worcester, MA 01689 from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM for the RFP and from 1:00- 2:00 PM for the RFR. In case of inclement weather, please call 781-338-3823 after 7:30 a.m. to learn whether the Bidders' Conference will be held or rescheduled for Tuesday, March 1, 2011 in Malden.

Last Updated: February 18, 2011