Deadline:  June 30, 2021 at 11:59 PM EST (or until filled)

Great Lakes Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program & Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Background

The NOAA B-WET program is an environmental education program that promotes locally-relevant, authentic experiential learning focused on K-12 audiences.  The primary delivery of B-WET is through competitive funding that promotes Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). B-WET serves seven areas of the country: including the Great Lakes. Great Lakes B-WET supports projects across the Great Lakes basin watershed, specifically in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

The Great Lakes B-WET region’s awards are made in partnership with the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Working with the EPA and other partner agencies that collaborate on implementing the GLRI, funding for the Great Lakes B-WET program awards are made possible through the GLRI’s Action Plan: Focus Area 5: Foundations for Future Restoration Actions. A goal of Focus Areas 5 is to support experience-based learning opportunities for youth to promote Great Lakes stewardship. Great Lakes B-WET achieves this goal through supporting MWEEs across the basin.

Great Lakes B-WET also works closely with GLRI agency partners to align educational opportunities and resources, and to build capacity throughout the basin for teaching Great Lakes Literacy, and providing environmental/place-based/experiential education and watershed stewardship opportunities. Some of GLRI Focus Area 5 education partners include EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office, DOI’s Fish & Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, and Sea Grant’s Center for Great Lakes Literacy.

Additional information about MWEEs: to support educators in developing MWEEs across B-WET regions a suite of resources have been developed. These resources are available online and some pieces can be downloaded and printed for use as workbooks. More information about these resources is included below in E. Scope of Services and available at  https://www.baybackpack.com.

Great Lakes B-WET seeks to meet GLRI Focus Area 5 capacity building goals through creation and implementation of a similar suite of MWEE resources that have a Great Lakes watershed focus for educators in this region.   

Work Statement

The North American Association of Environmental Education (NAAEE) and NOAA are seeking a consultant to assess and compile a list of currently available educational resources from Great Lakes B-WET partners (ex. curriculum, field experiences) and create content for a suite of website platform-ready tools (ex. guidebook, worksheet templates, narrative examples of successful MWEEs). The tools must support formal and informal educators in creating MWEEs in the Great Lakes region. The graphic design for the suite of tools must be 508 compliant for accessibility.  

Scope of Services

Through this RFP, the consultant will be selected to work collaboratively with Great Lakes B-WET program staff and NAAEE. The consultant may identify subcontractors to help complete the deliverables. The consultant will facilitate meetings with a group of partners assembled by Great Lakes B-WET to provide input on the content. Final product drafts will be reviewed by a panel of educators convened by NAAEE. 

Products developed as part of this project will build on and complement these existing resources:

• Chesapeake Educator’s Guide to the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE)
• National NOAA B-WET Educator’s Guide to the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) *in development, TBD Summer 2021
• MWEE Facilitators Guide, a companion text to the Educator’s Guide to the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience to support effective MWEE professional learning experiences for teachers and educators

Specific content to be provided by the consultant:

The Great Lakes B-WET staff, partners, and the existing resources will provide much of the content (for example MWEE definition language, etc) and the consultant will assemble Great Lakes region-specific content. The consultant will suggest ways to fit this region-specific material into a similar framework as shown in the existing resources (see 1-3 above). The consultant will work with NOAA and NAAEE to finalize the scope of materials to be developed, to include the following elements: 

1. MWEE Facilitators Guide that includes relevant Great Lakes regional and state-specific information:
   • Develop information about the drivers of environmental literacy in the region (including state and regional policies, state standards, and other efforts/initiatives)
   • Develop case stories of regionally relevant MWEEs with completed tools from the MWEE Guide Toolbox - at least one example for each state (8)
   • Incorporate information about local issues pertinent to the Great Lakes Region.
   • Final resources should be downloadable and Google Classroom platform compatible
2. Content for Great Lakes website pages. *Note: The consultant will not be responsible for uploading content to the website.  Examples:
   • About/Resources landing page(s), including information about GLRI & Great Lakes B-WET partnership
   • Action Projects landing page with one or more examples from: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
   • Field Experiences landing page with one or more examples by state
   • Funding landing page with one or more examples by state
   • Curated collection of existing teaching resource links by grade/theme from Great Lakes B-WET partners (ex. COSEE Great Lakes curriculum, CGLL Curriculum) *est. 200 resource links
3. Presentation (virtual/webinar format) or pre-recorded presentation introducing final resource products for use in promoting final products—a walk through of the resources.

The drivers for Great Lakes content will be basin wide, but with state-by-state examples drawn from Great Lakes B-WET grantees (derived from written grantee project reports). Some phone or email conversations may be required between the consultant and the lead teachers or program staff from these projects. There are no travel expectations. 

Place-based environmental education goals of GLRI Focus Area 5 will be reflected through examples of outdoor field experiences, stewardship actions, or other MWEE support provided by those agencies and organizations. Designed for formal or informal educators with a focus on teaching grades K-12, the intent is for these web-based tools to serve as resources for best practices in building MWEEs as an educator in the Great Lakes basin.  

Both the Great Lakes MWEE Guide and Toolbox PDF documents should also include a version compatible with the Google Classroom platform. The functionality, user experience, features, and style/layout of all content should be designed to meet the needs of the target audience of educators. Final materials should be provided to Great Lakes B-WET that are platform-ready for website hosting. All content should be 508 accessibility compliant to the extent practicable.

Additional requirements 

• Ensure working links to videos, documents, interactives, activities, etc.
• Graphic elements are recognizable, effective, and show thought to the collaborative branding of the partners 
• Content is navigable, easy to find, and organized to meet educator needs
• As the hosting platform is TBD, final content should be organized, easy to find, and navigable for a web developer to use

Period of Performance 

Anticipated full project completion date is TBD but expected to be completed no later than one year after contract is awarded. The consultant(s) will work remotely and communicate with Great Lakes B-WET program staff, NAAEE staff, and a group of GLRI Focus Area 5 partners—organized by Great Lakes B-WET—working as a steering committee for content, through video meetings, conference calls, email, and/or online collaborative tools at least monthly or when requested by either party. An NAAEE project manager will serve as the primary point of contact with the consultant(s) for billing purposes and adherence to deliverables.

Start date: Immediate 

Information Required from Proposal Submitters:

Preferred qualifications:

• Professional STEM, STEAM, and/or environmental education knowledge/experience
• Experience/knowledge in curriculum development  
• Experience in teacher training
• Experience with online teaching/learning, including being able to make documents/tools accessible through the Google Classroom platform
• Experience creating visually exciting virtual learning resources 
• Knowledge of the Great Lakes region  
• Knowledge or experience in graphic design for educational products, including experience in creating 508 accessibility compliant content
• Website content development or management experience 

In order to be considered for selection and a possible agreement, your proposal must be complete and include the items listed below:

• Cover page with individual or firm’s name, date, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and website (if applicable)
• A concise description of the contractor’s principal expertise including education, experience, clients, knowledge strengths, and products and services offered (1 page limit)
• A proposal explaining how you would meet the Scope of Services listed in the RFP, including a summary, examples of and links to work similar or relevant to what is requested (3 page limit)
• Contact information for three references (include email address and telephone number)
• Approximate budget. Your price quote should cover the full scope of services and define estimated expenses for project management and design. Anticipated funding available to support the project is approximately $25,000.

Submission of Proposal

Please submit your proposal (no more than 20 pages) using this Google form: https://forms.gle/QNryaU14ZjQbYQ4v8 

Selection

Proposals will be evaluated based on experience, proposal, and price quote. Each submission will be evaluated for how well the proposal meets project’s goals, quality of the presentation, and the qualifications of the proposed contractor.