Department of the Interior: Environmental Education Grant for Hands on Lands Program

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service¿s intention to fund the following project activities without full and open competition.

ABSTRACT
Funding Announcement P14AS00369
Project Title Hands on Lands
Recipient National Environmental Education & Training foundation
Principle Investigator / Program Manager Carol Watson
Total Anticipated Award Amount $400,000.00
Cost Share None
New Award or Continuation? Continuation of Cooperative Agreement P12AC031002
Anticipated Length of Agreement From date of award until September 30, 2015
Anticipated Period of Performance From date of award until September 30, 2015
Award Instrument Cooperative Agreement
Statutory Authority 16 USC 1(g)
CFDA # and Title 15.954 Conservation, Protection, Outreach & Education
Single Source Justification Criteria Cited (2) Continuation
NPS Point of Contact June Zastrow 303-987-6718 june_zastrow@nps.gov

OVERVIEW

Cooperative Agreement Number P12AC31002 was entered into by and between the Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), and National Environmental Education and Training Program (NEEF) to support, extend and enhance environmental, cultural and natural resource education programs that are of interest to NPS and NEEF and to assist the American public in its understanding of the mission and goals of the National Park Service through aligning interagency natural resource based educational tools that comprise the partnership `Hands on the Land¿. Unless otherwise specified herein, the terms and conditions as stated in the Cooperative Agreement will apply to this Task Agreement.

Interagency Partnership ¿ Hands on the Land (HOL) is a national network of field classrooms and agency resources that is managed by NEEF and connects students, teachers, families, and volunteers with public lands and waterways. HOL sites customize hands-on experiences using local natural, historical and archaeological settings to bring classroom learning to life. National Park sites monitor ecological and natural resources trends and specific biota. This type of work relies upon Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills and the data generated can be transferred, adapted and applied by students.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

NPS and US Department of Education (ED) wish to expand upon a partnership that supports and enhances STEM programming within ED’s 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) program. Through this collaboration, NPS and ED will continue to advance mutual STEM education goals by providing access to natural resource monitoring and citizen science programs in our national parks to students in Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) tribal grantee schools that are geographically close to NPS units..

In order to implement these programs, NPS will work with an environmental education organization such as HOL – a national program created by Partners in Resource Education and managed by the NEEF that connects schools with public land agencies for the purposes of exposing students to the environment. National park units, HOL, and ED¿s 21st CCLC grantees will work collaboratively to integrate STEM skills into 21st CCLC programming and offer students the opportunity to have authentic STEM experiences in a national park.

The overarching goal for the interagency collaboration is to align resources between the agencies to address the national need for a STEM-educated workforce. The objective of the project is to improve the retention of students in STEM disciplines by providing opportunities and activities that motivate and inspire students to take an interest in STEM. This goal and objective is to ¿provide multiple ways for children to learn about the national parks and what they reveal about nature, the nation¿s history, and issues central to our civic life the goal of ¿bringing our public lands to the classrooms and the classrooms to our public lands.¿ This is mutually beneficial to ED’s own mission to ¿promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness¿ by inspiring more of tomorrow’s workforce to pursue STEM-related subjects and fields. This work will be evaluated by a professional evaluator which is integrated into this plan.

A. Hands on the Land network agrees to:
¿ Select and support 5 NPS units within the HOL network that will provide afterschool STEM opportunities to BIE tribal schools that are 21st CCLC grantees;
¿ Provide a list of points of contact for each participating state and site to coordinate training, evaluation, and student work submission to ED;
¿ Provide environmental monitoring and citizen science training to 21 CCLC site staff members and park unit staff;
¿ In collaboration with NPS, create and deliver blended professional development for sites and park units around environmental monitoring and citizen science that reflect best practices for training. In person and online training sessions will begin in November 2014;
¿ Develop and/or expand monitoring and citizen science projects for park units and partner 21 CCLC sites.
¿ Collaborate with NPS in selecting, designing and implementing an evaluation of the program¿s effectiveness to be accomplished by an external evaluator;
¿ Develop best practice guidelines or standards for student environmental monitoring and citizen science participation to build capacity for educational excellence across the network;
¿ Expand HOL¿s online presence by developing or expanding monitoring projects, mentoring, linking within the Internet social networks and within federal agency websites.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT

Substantial involvement on the part the National Park Service is anticipated for the successful completion of the objectives to be funded by this award. In particular, the National Park Service will be responsible for the following:

NPS will continue to implement a STEM program that draws from science based monitoring work and similar activities that are ongoing in national parks. Specifically, NPS will:

¿ Collaborate with NEEF and HOL to determine selection criteria for external evaluator and input towards final approval of external evaluator.
¿ Coordinate biweekly calls with NEEF to discuss coordination, progress, challenges and associated mitigation strategies; and formally review performance data (Cost, Technical, Schedule) on a monthly basis.
¿ Modify existing programs and associated curriculum materials (educator guides, rubrics, student instructions) as needed to emphasize STEM skills, address 21st CCLC program objectives and meet the needs of 21st CCLC partner sites.
¿ Provide technical support and professional development to participating NPS HOL sites collaborating with ED’s 21st CCLC program. Assist participating 21st CCLC sites with integrating HOL and their local national park into programming.
¿ Develop a collaborative citizen science project to be undertaken by each park and its partner 21st CCLC site. One example would be to have students help expand the scope and reach of environmental monitoring that is ongoing in many of our national parks. Water quality monitoring, ground level ozone monitoring and conducting inventories of living species are examples of monitoring projects.
¿ Provide 21st CCLC sites with regular opportunities to interact in person with NPS STEM experts at their local partner park. NPS will work with ED, HOL, and the 21st CCLC sites to determine an engagement schedule that is mutually beneficial.
¿ Select exemplary student work to showcase in media advisories and on nps.gov

SINGLE-SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
SINGLE SOURCE POLICY REQUIREMENTS
Department of the Interior Policy (505 DM 2) requires a written justification which explains why competition is not practicable for each single-source award. The justification must address one or more of the following criteria as well as discussion of the program legislative history, unique capabilities of the proposed recipient, and cost-sharing contribution offered by the proposed recipient, as applicable.

In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Unsolicited Proposal ¿ The proposed award is the result of an unsolicited assistance application which represents a unique or innovative idea, method, or approach which is not the subject of a current or planned contract or assistance award, but which is deemed advantageous to the program objectives;

(2) Continuation ¿ The activity to be funded is necessary to the satisfactory completion of, or is a continuation of an activity presently being funded, and for which competition would have a significant adverse effect on the continuity or completion of the activity;

(3) Legislative intent ¿ The language in the applicable authorizing legislation or legislative history clearly indicates Congress¿ intent to restrict the award to a particular recipient of purpose;

(4) Unique Qualifications ¿ The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications;

(5) Emergencies ¿ Program/award where there is insufficient time available (due to a compelling and unusual urgency, or substantial danger to health or safety) for adequate competitive procedures to be followed.

The National Park Service did not solicit full and open competition for this award based the following criteria:

(2) CONTINUATION

SINGLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION DESCRIPTION:

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD
This is a Task Agreement (P14AC01723) under Cooperative Agreement (P12AC31002) in the amount of $400,000.00 with a period of performance from date of award until 09/15/20145.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

16 U.S.C. §1g authorizes the NPS to enter into cooperative agreements that involve the transfer of NPS appropriated funds to state, local and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations for the public purpose of carrying out National Park Service programs.

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service¿s intention to fund the following project activities without full and open competition.

ABSTRACT
Funding Announcement P14AS00369
Project Title Hands on Lands
Recipient National Environmental Education & Training foundation
Principle Investigator / Program Manager Carol Watson
Total Anticipated Award Amount $400,000.00
Cost Share None
New Award or Continuation? Continuation of Cooperative Agreement P12AC031002
Anticipated Length of Agreement From date of award until September 30, 2015
Anticipated Period of Performance From date of award until September 30, 2015
Award Instrument Cooperative Agreement
Statutory Authority 16 USC 1(g)
CFDA # and Title 15.954 Conservation, Protection, Outreach & Education
Single Source Justification Criteria Cited (2) Continuation
NPS Point of Contact June Zastrow 303-987-6718 june_zastrow@nps.gov

OVERVIEW

Cooperative Agreement Number P12AC31002 was entered into by and between the Department of the Interior, National Park Service (NPS), and National Environmental Education and Training Program (NEEF) to support, extend and enhance environmental, cultural and natural resource education programs that are of interest to NPS and NEEF and to assist the American public in its understanding of the mission and goals of the National Park Service through aligning interagency natural resource based educational tools that comprise the partnership `Hands on the Land¿. Unless otherwise specified herein, the terms and conditions as stated in the Cooperative Agreement will apply to this Task Agreement.

Interagency Partnership ¿ Hands on the Land (HOL) is a national network of field classrooms and agency resources that is managed by NEEF and connects students, teachers, families, and volunteers with public lands and waterways. HOL sites customize hands-on experiences using local natural, historical and archaeological settings to bring classroom learning to life. National Park sites monitor ecological and natural resources trends and specific biota. This type of work relies upon Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills and the data generated can be transferred, adapted and applied by students.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

NPS and US Department of Education (ED) wish to expand upon a partnership that supports and enhances STEM programming within ED’s 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) program. Through this collaboration, NPS and ED will continue to advance mutual STEM education goals by providing access to natural resource monitoring and citizen science programs in our national parks to students in Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) tribal grantee schools that are geographically close to NPS units..

In order to implement these programs, NPS will work with an environmental education organization such as HOL – a national program created by Partners in Resource Education and managed by the NEEF that connects schools with public land agencies for the purposes of exposing students to the environment. National park units, HOL, and ED¿s 21st CCLC grantees will work collaboratively to integrate STEM skills into 21st CCLC programming and offer students the opportunity to have authentic STEM experiences in a national park.

The overarching goal for the interagency collaboration is to align resources between the agencies to address the national need for a STEM-educated workforce. The objective of the project is to improve the retention of students in STEM disciplines by providing opportunities and activities that motivate and inspire students to take an interest in STEM. This goal and objective is to ¿provide multiple ways for children to learn about the national parks and what they reveal about nature, the nation¿s history, and issues central to our civic life the goal of ¿bringing our public lands to the classrooms and the classrooms to our public lands.¿ This is mutually beneficial to ED’s own mission to ¿promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness¿ by inspiring more of tomorrow’s workforce to pursue STEM-related subjects and fields. This work will be evaluated by a professional evaluator which is integrated into this plan.

A. Hands on the Land network agrees to:
¿ Select and support 5 NPS units within the HOL network that will provide afterschool STEM opportunities to BIE tribal schools that are 21st CCLC grantees;
¿ Provide a list of points of contact for each participating state and site to coordinate training, evaluation, and student work submission to ED;
¿ Provide environmental monitoring and citizen science training to 21 CCLC site staff members and park unit staff;
¿ In collaboration with NPS, create and deliver blended professional development for sites and park units around environmental monitoring and citizen science that reflect best practices for training. In person and online training sessions will begin in November 2014;
¿ Develop and/or expand monitoring and citizen science projects for park units and partner 21 CCLC sites.
¿ Collaborate with NPS in selecting, designing and implementing an evaluation of the program¿s effectiveness to be accomplished by an external evaluator;
¿ Develop best practice guidelines or standards for student environmental monitoring and citizen science participation to build capacity for educational excellence across the network;
¿ Expand HOL¿s online presence by developing or expanding monitoring projects, mentoring, linking within the Internet social networks and within federal agency websites.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE INVOLVEMENT

Substantial involvement on the part the National Park Service is anticipated for the successful completion of the objectives to be funded by this award. In particular, the National Park Service will be responsible for the following:

NPS will continue to implement a STEM program that draws from science based monitoring work and similar activities that are ongoing in national parks. Specifically, NPS will:

¿ Collaborate with NEEF and HOL to determine selection criteria for external evaluator and input towards final approval of external evaluator.
¿ Coordinate biweekly calls with NEEF to discuss coordination, progress, challenges and associated mitigation strategies; and formally review performance data (Cost, Technical, Schedule) on a monthly basis.
¿ Modify existing programs and associated curriculum materials (educator guides, rubrics, student instructions) as needed to emphasize STEM skills, address 21st CCLC program objectives and meet the needs of 21st CCLC partner sites.
¿ Provide technical support and professional development to participating NPS HOL sites collaborating with ED’s 21st CCLC program. Assist participating 21st CCLC sites with integrating HOL and their local national park into programming.
¿ Develop a collaborative citizen science project to be undertaken by each park and its partner 21st CCLC site. One example would be to have students help expand the scope and reach of environmental monitoring that is ongoing in many of our national parks. Water quality monitoring, ground level ozone monitoring and conducting inventories of living species are examples of monitoring projects.
¿ Provide 21st CCLC sites with regular opportunities to interact in person with NPS STEM experts at their local partner park. NPS will work with ED, HOL, and the 21st CCLC sites to determine an engagement schedule that is mutually beneficial.
¿ Select exemplary student work to showcase in media advisories and on nps.gov

SINGLE-SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
SINGLE SOURCE POLICY REQUIREMENTS
Department of the Interior Policy (505 DM 2) requires a written justification which explains why competition is not practicable for each single-source award. The justification must address one or more of the following criteria as well as discussion of the program legislative history, unique capabilities of the proposed recipient, and cost-sharing contribution offered by the proposed recipient, as applicable.

In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Unsolicited Proposal ¿ The proposed award is the result of an unsolicited assistance application which represents a unique or innovative idea, method, or approach which is not the subject of a current or planned contract or assistance award, but which is deemed advantageous to the program objectives;

(2) Continuation ¿ The activity to be funded is necessary to the satisfactory completion of, or is a continuation of an activity presently being funded, and for which competition would have a significant adverse effect on the continuity or completion of the activity;

(3) Legislative intent ¿ The language in the applicable authorizing legislation or legislative history clearly indicates Congress¿ intent to restrict the award to a particular recipient of purpose;

(4) Unique Qualifications ¿ The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications;

(5) Emergencies ¿ Program/award where there is insufficient time available (due to a compelling and unusual urgency, or substantial danger to health or safety) for adequate competitive procedures to be followed.

The National Park Service did not solicit full and open competition for this award based the following criteria:

(2) CONTINUATION

SINGLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION DESCRIPTION:

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD
This is a Task Agreement (P14AC01723) under Cooperative Agreement (P12AC31002) in the amount of $400,000.00 with a period of performance from date of award until 09/15/20145.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

16 U.S.C. §1g authorizes the NPS to enter into cooperative agreements that involve the transfer of NPS appropriated funds to state, local and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations for the public purpose of carrying out National Park Service programs.