Request for Fund Development Proposals
Request for Fund Development Proposals for the
New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning
A. Statement of Purpose
The New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is seeking proposals from individuals or organizations with significant experience and expertise in fund development to assist CTL in securing funds to support its mission and programs. This Request for Proposals (RFP) provides project background and describes specific tasks to be accomplished by the fund developer. These must be discussed and priced by all respondents according to the instructions given in this RFP.
B. Background and Mission
CTL was founded in 2006 by the New Jersey Education Association. It is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering teachers to lead school transformation. Its two major programs, PSI-PMI, focus on significantly improving student performance in mathematics and science. CTL is governed by an independent board make up of leaders in education, business, and philanthropy. CTL has 5 full time and about 50 part time staff.
Programs
The Progressive Science Initiative (PSI) is an international award winning program as a result of its demonstrated success in both effective learning and teacher training. The pedagogical methods used are based on research that has demonstrated the efficacy of direct instruction interwoven with social constructivism. The approach is mastery based with continuous formative evaluation of classroom success.
Using the same research-based, successful approaches as PSI, the Progressive Mathematics Initiative (PMI) was developed by teachers to support all of K-12 mathematics. Developed first to support the teaching of Algebra, these courses now span from kindergarten mathematics to AP Calculus.
PSI and PMI offer free open source science and mathematics course content on its website: www.njctl.org. In addition, CTL offers professional development, on a fee basis, for teachers who want to learn how to best use these materials. The goal is to dramatically improve student achievement in science and mathematics, while positioning students for success in the 21st Century.
CTL is positioned for remarkable growth as an increasing number of school systems nationally and internationally recognize the benefits of the PSI-PMI and adopts its materials and training. (http://njctl.org/what-is-psi-pmi/).
The use of PSI-PMI has grown exponentially since it was first launched in New Jersey. To date, CTL has provided training for teachers in New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Rhode Island, as well as Argentina and an increasing number of school systems both in the United States and internationally have adopted the PSI-PMI approach.
Each program consist of the same core philosophy, pedagogies, assessment strategies and technology while each has its own set of free open source digital materials to support the teaching of more than 25 courses in mathematics and science. These materials are available in the “free courseware” section of CTL’s website (http://njctl.org/courses/).
PSI and PMI represent a paradigm shift in education. Under the old model, teachers work independently and in isolation to create individual lesson plans and course materials. With the PSI-PMI approach, a single open source digital curriculum has been created by teachers working collaboratively that can be freely shared and used by teaches everywhere using Interactive White Board Technology and Student Responses Systems.
Primary Service Areas
CTL plays an important role in the field of Open Educational Resources (OER). CTL creates and supports free open source course content in math and science for teachers to use around the world. To date, CTL has 25 complete courses developed with about 44,000 slides, written by more than 50 teachers. In the last 12 months, the website has been viewed by more than 41,000 unique visitors who visited more than 100,000 times and viewed nearly 700,000 pages. These visitors have come from all 50 states and 131 countries.
CTL’s Endorsement programs are designed to take New Jersey teachers from any existing certification area (English, social studies, etc.) and lead them to endorsement in physics or chemistry. CTL has trained more than 100 teachers through its physics and chemistry endorsement programs since 2009. The endorsement programs are offered in collaboration with Kean University. The goal is to get the best teachers to become the best science teachers. There is a dramatic shortage of skilled mathematics, physics and chemistry teachers in New Jersey, the United States and around the world. PSI-PMI is perhaps the only program that has proven successful in creating large numbers of new teachers in any of these fields.
CTL works directly with schools in New Jersey to improve student achievement in mathematics and science by providing face-to-face professional development and teaching endorsement programs to facilitate effective PSI-PMI implementation and support. There are opportunities to expand this work into more New Jersey schools.
CTL is providing face-to-face professional development in Colorado with funding support from the Morgridge Family Foundation. There are specifically identified opportunities to expand training into other states that see the need to improve student achievement in mathematics and science.
CTL is providing teachers providing professional development in San Luis, Argentina which is funded by a local university, the Universidad de la Punta. Opportunities exist to expand throughout Argentina and South America.
CTL is also hopeful of getting funding from the World Bank for a pilot project implementing PSI-PMI in The Gambia, in Africa. There are major opportunities to expand into other countries in Africa. This is a critical need for the development of Africa. This same need exists in countries around the world.
Providers are encouraged to explore information found on CTL’s Web site at www.njctl.org for additional background information. A brochure version of this information will be available, and posted on the site, soon.
C. Tasks to Be Accomplished
The goal of your proposal should be to research and secure possible funding sources for CTL and its programs. At this proposal stage, providers should propose all approaches that would match the strengths of CTL and its programs with the interests of potential funders and donors and indicate how the provider would:
- Identify possible local, national and international funding sources.
- Prepare presentations for potential donors and plan how we will successfully approach these donors
- Network with potential funders to establish, grow, and maintain client relationships
- Effectively communicate to donors and CTL management, donor sources and the impact of donor contributions on student learning
D. Contract Details
CTL is interested in developing a long-term relationship with one or more providers of fund development services. Our operational philosophy is to develop strategic relationships with partners who can complement our strengths and with whom we can grow together, creating a virtual organization that extends beyond the boundaries of our foundation. This is the basis of all our work.
At this stage, we will consider all possible avenues which potential providers propose. Proposals, should be conceptual and strategic in nature and the specifics of a contract would emerge from working together with the potential partner(s) whose ideas seem most promising.
While it would be ideal to find a single provider which could meet all our needs, we are open about whether one organization would be best suited to do that, until we have explored the possibilities regarding which avenues we should be pursuing and which organization(s) are best suited to assist us in pursuing those avenues. We do not want to limit ourselves to organizations which can provide all services if we would all be better served by working with smaller organizations with specific strengths.
Consistent with the open perspective described above, we cannot specify a budget until we understand the approaches being pursued, their cost, and their potential. Since we are looking for a long-term relationship, we would be looking to grow together with our partners, so proposals that allow for that possibility, rather than large up front commitments, will be preferred.
E. How to Submit a Proposal
Please submit the following, no later than May 11th, to Dr. Robert Goodman at bob@njclt.org.
Proposals should include a narrative describing each approach that your organization believes would be fruitful for CTL to pursue. Beyond a general explanation of the approach and why it would be a good match to CTL, the proposal should explain how the provider’s organization is best suited to develop that approach in conjunction with CTL. That might include:
1. A summary of your organization’s recent and relevant projects.
2. A description of how you would pursue each proposed approach over time; approaches that build over time are most interesting as continuous improvement is fundamental to CTL’s philosophy.
3. A firm estimate of the fees to be charged, and an estimate of expenses that would be incurred, for each year of the proposed project.
4. If more than one approach is recommended, any synergistic benefits of pursuing more than one approach at a time, and indications of the capabilities of your organization to do that.
5. Resumes of all consultants who would be involved in the project.
6. Names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of individuals at three nonprofit organizations who have been your clients during the last eighteen months, whom we can contact as references.
We will hold interviews with finalists during the week of May 21, 2012. If you have any questions, please e-mail them to jobs@njctl.org.
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