[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 199 (Friday, October 16, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53300-53302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-24841]


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NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LITERACY


Notice Inviting Proposals for Ownership and Operation of 
America's Literacy Directory

AGENCY: National Institute for Literacy.

ACTION: Notice inviting proposals for ownership and operation of 
America's Literacy Directory.

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SUMMARY: America's Literacy Directory (ALD) provides information about 
adult literacy, preparation for General Educational Development (GED) 
tests and other testing, and English language learning programs for 
individuals in need of those services through an easy-to-use, extensive 
nationwide database.
    As authorized by 20 U.S.C. 9252(c), the National Institute for 
Literacy (NIFL) developed and created ALD and has been operating it 
since 2004. NIFL now plans to turn over ownership and operation of ALD 
to one or more entities outside of the Federal Government that would, 
with its or their own resources, continue the maintenance and upkeep of 
ALD, make improvements to it, and continue to make it readily available 
at no cost to the public. Through this notice, we are inviting 
proposals from an entity or entities interested in owning and operating 
ALD in this manner. NIFL believes that the effectiveness of ALD will be 
enhanced by being owned by a non-Federal entity or entities, which 
would take responsibility for its continued operation.
    ALD is currently supported in part through both an interagency 
agreement and a contract for data verification and technical support, 
respectively. To the extent possible, consistent with the terms of 
those agreements, NIFL plans to provide the entity or entities 
ultimately selected through the selection process outlined in this 
notice with non-proprietary information on the design, use, and 
maintenance of ALD in order to help the selected entity or entities 
maintain, operate, and enhance ALD. A text file providing the technical 
data to ALD is available to prospective bidders in ``Structured Query 
Language'' (SQL) format. This SQL data would assist the selected entity 
or entities in building a database containing all ALD tables and 
relationships of those tables. Prospective bidder(s) may request the 
text file by contacting NIFL at [email protected].
    NIFL believes that turning over ownership and operation of the 
Directory to a non-Federal entity or entities will provide long-lasting 
benefits to the intended audience and to the nation.

DATES: To receive consideration, proposals must be submitted to NIFL no 
later than 5 p.m. (EST) on November 9, 2009. NIFL's goal is to turn 
over ownership and operation of ALD on or about December 30, 2009.
    Address for Submission of Proposals: Interested entities should 
submit a proposal for owning and operating ALD, addressing the factors 
and associated criteria outlined in this notice, by an express carrier 
or by e-mail to: Daniel J. Miller, Acting Director, National Institute 
for Literacy, 1775 I Street, NW., 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20006-2050, 
or at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Daniel Miller, (202) 245-7731, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    America's Literacy Directory (ALD) is an effective, national online 
site for the referral of adults to local literacy programs. The site is 
currently housed on the NIFL Web site at http://www.nifl.gov or at 
http://literacydirectory.org. From the site, adults and young adults 
can find assistance with reading or writing, study for the GED or other 
high school equivalency program(s), find an official GED test center, 
learn English, and get help with mathematics. Adults can enter their 
zip code or city and State and find programs within a selected 
geographic range. Through the site, and a toll-free telephone number, 
providers of adult literacy services may add program information to the 
ALD database.
    NIFL intends, through an appropriate agreement or agreements signed 
by NIFL and the selected entity or entities, to set forth the rights 
and responsibilities of each party, and to transfer ownership and 
operation of ALD to a non-Federal entity or entities, which would 
support ALD with the entity's or entities' own resources. The agreement 
will include, among other things, a privacy policy that protects the 
privacy of the users of ALD, and limits the use of data about the users 
by the entity or entities selected.

Responsibilities of the Selected Entity or Entities

    NIFL anticipates that the duties of the ALD owner will include: 
Maintaining and enhancing the ALD database of approximately 5,000 
literacy programs as appropriate; providing technical assistance via 
email, phone, and online training sessions to States to assist them in 
integrating State and local program data into ALD (5-10 questions or

[[Page 53301]]

requests for inclusion on the site per month are anticipated); 
providing technical assistance in implementing the ALD administration 
features for the national, regional, and State end users through e-mail 
and telephone (3-5 such questions or requests are anticipated per 
month); providing technical assistance and training support to literacy 
programs on maintaining, updating, and adding records or additional 
fields through email or online forms; providing technical assistance 
for special features of the ALD infrastructure, such as the capability 
for State and national organizations to share data and to customize ALD 
to aggregate data; making ALD available to the public at no cost; 
solving any implementation problems; maintaining and enhancing the 
quality of the operation of ALD and the content made available through 
ALD; and making improvements, as appropriate, to make ALD more 
effective.
    Based on these general expectations, a non-Federal entity or 
entities interested in acquiring ownership of ALD should submit a 
proposal that addresses the following key factors, which will help 
demonstrate the organization's or organizations' commitment to adult 
literacy and to the effective management of ALD:

Key Factors

    The entity demonstrates the following:
     A commitment to helping improve adult literacy.
     A substantive interest in the goals of ALD (the 
recruitment and referral of adult learners into high-quality literacy 
programs) and in assisting adults in need of basic skills acquisition, 
secondary preparation, and English language acquisition.
     A demonstrated history of national involvement in the 
service delivery system, either as a direct provider of services to 
adult learners or as a provider of services to State and/or local 
providers of adult literacy programs.
     The technological infrastructure and other resources to 
operate and maintain ALD and make it available to the public free of 
charge.
     Staff expertise in Web site development, maintenance, and 
appropriate telephone support.
     A plan to use an advisory committee with appropriate 
expertise to help the entity administer ALD.
     A demonstrated history of fiscal and management 
responsibility over a sustained period of time.
    NIFL will use the following criteria to evaluate how well the 
proposals submitted in response to this notice address these factors:

    Note: The maximum total score any proposal can receive is 100 
points. The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in 
parentheses below.

Technical Approach (35 Points)

     The extent to which the entity or entities that submit a 
proposal (the ``offeror'') demonstrates a commitment to adult literacy 
through previous projects and thorough knowledge of the field. (15 
points)
     The extent to which the offeror demonstrates a thorough 
understanding of the target population that needs the services of ALD, 
and of how to provide appropriate resources to that target population. 
(10 points)
     The extent to which the offeror describes a clear vision 
for ALD and plans for its enhancement and continued operation. (10 
points)

Organizational Capacity (30 Points)

     The quality of the proposed project personnel, and the 
extent to which the personnel have the appropriate qualifications, 
competencies, and experience in the management of this type of project. 
(15 points)
     The extent to which the offeror has the technological and 
financial resources to maintain and operate ALD and ensure that it is 
made available to the public free of charge and that it is improved, as 
appropriate. (15 points)

Management Plan (35 Points)

     The extent to which the offeror provides a description of 
its plan for managing the project in a clear and sequential fashion, 
and the extent to which that plan provides credible evidence that the 
management of personnel, physical resources, activities, and work 
production will result in a readily available and robust directory 
containing current program information with a 99.99 percent ``uptime 
rate.'' (20 points)
     The quality of the offeror's plans to establish and work 
with an outside advisory committee that has appropriate expertise to 
advise the offeror on its implementation of the project. (5 points)
     The extent to which the time commitments of the offeror's 
staff are appropriate to operating, maintaining, and as appropriate, 
improving, ALD. (5 points)
     The extent to which the offeror submitted a summary of a 
plan to evaluate the use of ALD and the accuracy of its content. (5 
points)

Other Requirements for the Content of Proposals

    Proposals submitted in response to this notice also must include 
the following information:
     The name, address, and contact information for the entity 
or entities submitting the proposal;
     The names, addresses, and contact information for the 
persons within the entity or entities that would be primarily 
responsible for the operation of ALD within the entity or entities 
submitting the proposal;
     Mission statement of the entity or entities;
     Capability statement (must address the key factors and 
each component of the selection criteria);
     Entity's or entities' Web site URL;
     Annual report or similar report on the condition of the 
entity or entities; and,
     A signed assurance by an appropriate officer(s) of the 
entity or entities indicating that the entity or entities agree to own 
and operate ALD consistent with their proposal and with the purposes 
and provisions of this notice, and understand that if they do not do 
so, the ownership of ALD, all content therein provided by NIFL, and all 
databases needed to operate ALD will revert to NIFL or to its surviving 
entity, which can award it to another entity or entities in accordance 
with a notice published in the Federal Register. If there is no 
surviving entity, then all content provided by the Institute, and all 
databases needed to operate ALD will revert to the U.S. Department of 
Education which can award it to another entity or entities in 
accordance with a notice published in the Federal Register. The 
assurance must indicate the entity's or entities' intent to enter into 
a signed agreement with NIFL for the transfer of the ownership and 
operation of ALD; this agreement shall acknowledge that NIFL shall 
transfer its specific rights and interest in data and content of ALD. 
In addition, the agreement shall acknowledge that, in the event of any 
reversion of ALD to NIFL or to its successor agency, NIFL or its 
successor agency shall possess the rights and interest in data and 
content of ALD provided by NIFL, including all databases needed to 
operate ALD. Finally, in the assurance the entity or entities must also 
agree to submit semi-annual reports on the operation and use of ALD in 
such detail as NIFL or its successor specifies in the agreement that 
the parties will sign. If there is no successor to NIFL, these reports 
will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education as specified 
above.

[[Page 53302]]

Availability of Funds

    There are no Federal funds available to support ALD once ownership 
and operation have been transferred from the Federal Government. It 
will be the sole responsibility of the selected entity or entities to 
bear all costs associated with ownership and operation of ALD.

Interests of the Federal Government

    NIFL will transfer ownership of ALD and its content to the entity 
or entities selected. NIFL will transfer the rights and interest it 
possesses in data and content transferred to the entity or entities. In 
addition, as noted above, if the entity or entities selected operate 
ALD in a manner that is not consistent with its proposal and with the 
purposes and provisions of this notice, or if the entity or entities 
cease to operate ALD or suffer a loss of funding or support for ALD 
such that the quality of the ALD data declines, the ownership of ALD, 
all content therein provided by NIFL, and all databases needed to 
operate ALD will revert to NIFL or to its successor agency, and the 
entity or entities will not be authorized to operate ALD. If there is 
no surviving entity, then all content provided by the Institute, and 
all databases needed to operate ALD will revert to the U.S. Department 
of Education, which can award it to another entity or entities in 
accordance with a notice published in the Federal Register. Upon such a 
reversion, the Federal Government shall possess the rights and interest 
in data and content of ALD originally provided by NIFL, including all 
databases needed to operate ALD. Under these circumstances, NIFL may 
award the ownership of the Directory to another entity or entities in 
accordance with a notice published in the Federal Register.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You can view this document, as 
well as all other documents of NIFL published in the Federal Register, 
in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the 
following site: http://www.nifl.gov.
    To use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in 
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


Daniel J. Miller,
Acting Director, National Institute for Literacy.
[FR Doc. E9-24841 Filed 10-15-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6055-01-P