P-12

Prekindergarten through Grade 12 Education


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RFQ #19-028

Smart Start Grant
Qualifications of Professional Development and Support Services Providers


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Overview

To Assist New York State School Districts in Increasing K-5 Educator Expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Subject Areas, Including Computer Science, as well as Educational Technology

Application Period: Fall 2018 for the 2019 - 2020 School Year
Due Date: November 9, 2018

Program Summary

To implement Capital Projects Enacted Budget Bill (S.7504-D, A9504-D) (the “statute”), the New York State Education Department (NYSED) is soliciting applications from non-profit partners or institutions of higher education qualified to serve as Professional Development and Support Services Providers to assist New York State School Districts in increasing K-5 educator expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Subject Areas, including Computer Science, as well as Educational Technology. Though, over the course of its implementation, the Smart Start Grant program will build expertise among K-8 educators, the program’s initial rollout will be targeted to K-5 educators to enable a phase-in of opportunities for students as they advance in grade levels. Applications in future years will include professional development and support services for K-5 as well as middle-level (6-8) educators.

THIS SOLICITATION WILL NOT RESULT IN A CONTRACT WITH THE NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. NYSED will use the criteria specified within this RFQ to review and approve applications, and to generate a List of Approved Providers of Professional Development and Support Services for the Smart Start Grant Program (the “List”).

This is not a competitive procurement. All providers who meet the criteria specified in this RFQ will be included on the List. The List will be maintained by NYSED and will indicate approved providers that may be selected by local education agencies (LEAs) to provide professional development and support services for Smart Start Grant-funded programs. No funding is directly associated with this application for approval.

Background

The New York State school system is one of the most comprehensive educational systems in the country. It comprises over 700 school districts, 37 Board of Cooperative Educational Services, over 7,000 public/private elementary and secondary schools including 140 charters, and serves the educational needs of over 3.1 million students. Additionally, there are currently over 220,000 certified public school teachers and administrators employed by New York State schools who directly support the educational needs and achievement of our student population.

A total of $6M annually, for a period of five (5) years, has been authorized for the Smart Start Program. Funds will be distributed through a competitive grant process and be used to provide professional development and support services to increase expertise in STEM, including computer science, and/or educational technology among teachers of grades K-8, to enable such teachers to become in-house experts in their schools. For elementary and middle school students, computer science concepts and skills may be integrated into teaching science and mathematics as well as art and music, or other core classes.

Per the statute, professional development and support services must be provided by qualified non-profit partners or institutions of higher education. Though, over the course of its implementation, the Smart Start Grant program will build expertise among K-8 educators, the program’s initial rollout will be targeted to K-5 educators to enable a phase-in of opportunities for students as they advance in grade levels.

This RFQ has been established to identify qualified providers of professional development and support services and to create a List of Approved Providers of Professional Development and Support Services for the Smart Start Grant Program (the “List”). Public School Districts, when applying for Smart Start funding, will be required to select and partner with one or more Professional Development and Support Services Provider(s) from the List to be eligible to receive grant funding.

NYSED will review the applications submitted for this RFQ and evaluate them on the degree to which they meet criteria established in this RFQ. Approved providers of professional development and support services will be notified and placed on the List. Once approved, providers will be on the List until the provider is disqualified by NYSED for cause or upon the request of a provider for removal from the list. See Section 2.4 for information on Approval Period and Section 2.5 for information on Termination of Approval of Providers.

Eligible Applicants

To the extent authorized by Capital Projects Enacted Budget Bill (S.7504-D, A9504-D), entities eligible to apply to provide professional development and support services include:

  • Non-Profit Organizations; and
  • Institutions of Higher Education.

BOCES and for-profit companies are not eligible to apply.

Application Timeline

All applicants shall submit all required materials as follows. All required materials must be received by NYSED no later than 3:00pm on the due date of November 9, 2018 in order to be considered by districts for use in the 2019-2020 school year.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION METHOD

Applicants must adhere to the submission method detailed below:

Submit one (1) original and one (1) electronic version of the application. 
Mail original copy to:

New York State Education Department
Attn:  Smart Start RFQ# 19-028
Office of Educational Design and Technology, Room 880 EBA
89 Washington Ave
Albany, New York 12234

Email the electronic version of the application by the due date to SmartStartRFQ@nysed.gov.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Any questions concerning this RFQ must be emailed by October 10, 2018 to: SmartStartRFQ@nysed.gov. Questions and responses thereto will be posted on NYSED’s website by October 17, 2018. No individual written responses will be provided.


RFQ Documents

Questions and AnswersPDF icon – Posted 10/17/18

Smart Start RFQ Document in PDF PDF icon | Smart Start RFQ Document in Word Word document icon

Last Updated: October 18, 2018 2:57 PM