Contractors To Help ED Implement Stimulus Reforms
When I talked to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan earlier this week about the transition in his chief of staff post, he talked about the broader shift in the department: from policy formation to policy implementation.
Designing and executing the competitions around Race to the Top and the Investing in Innovation Fund are only a small part of the battle for the department as it pursues its reform agenda. Next comes implementation. States and i3 winners must make these reforms happen, and the department must hold them accountable.
To that end, the department needs some outside help.
For Race to the Top, the department wants a contractor to help build a "technical assistance network" for the states that win these grants. I am not an expert in federal procurement, but it looks like the department istargeting specific consulting firms for this work, such as Westat, American Institutes for Research, and KPMG.
Designing and executing the competitions around Race to the Top and the Investing in Innovation Fund are only a small part of the battle for the department as it pursues its reform agenda. Next comes implementation. States and i3 winners must make these reforms happen, and the department must hold them accountable.
To that end, the department needs some outside help.
For Race to the Top, the department wants a contractor to help build a "technical assistance network" for the states that win these grants. I am not an expert in federal procurement, but it looks like the department istargeting specific consulting firms for this work, such as Westat, American Institutes for Research, and KPMG.