The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (“CPB”) intends to contract with a Consultant (“the Consultant”) with the goal of increasing public media stations’ capacity to effectively communicate to funders and state-level partners, including state agencies and nonprofits with statewide reach, the impacts of their work to improve young children’s school readiness and early school success.
CPB, with support from a Ready To Learn programming award from the U.S. Department of Education and in partnership with the Public Broadcasting Service (“PBS”), is working with twenty public media stations to maximize the impacts of Ready To Learn resources through collaborations with state agencies and other organizations with statewide reach in early childhood education (“RTL State Project”). The Ready To Learn program aims to improve school readiness and school success in early grades for all children and especially for children in low-income households. The goal of the RTL State Project is to scale access to, and high-quality use of, educational children’s media, family engagement programs, educator professional learning courses, and other resources developed by CPB and PBS and designed to improve children’s educational outcomes.
The Consultant will develop and offer training workshops and coaching to support leadership teams from participating stations to identify, select, and use data to effectively communicate the impact of the RTL State Project to funders and state-level partners, including state agencies and nonprofits with statewide reach.
The Consultant will collaborate with CPB and PBS in summer 2024 to develop and lead approximately 6-8 hours of virtual training. Training will take place approximately during July – December 2024 and may occur over multiple sessions with approximately 90-110 participants. The Consultant will respond to follow-up requests from participating stations between sessions and for up to two months following the last session.
Respondents should demonstrate relevant expertise, and organizational and proposed staff experience, in these areas:
- Effective strategies for identifying and selecting data and developing concise, engaging data-driven narratives about organizational impacts
- Effective communication with leaders and staff of state agencies and nonprofits, and other stakeholders, especially related to improving educational outcomes for young children in low-income families
- Experience leading and developing similar trainings, knowledge of adult learning principles, and experience in asset-based approaches
- Knowledge of education and education policy, particularly in early learning through early elementary grades
- Knowledge of public media for children, family and community engagement, and community partnerships.
The RTL State Project is funded through a Ready To Learn Programming grant by the U.S. Department of Education for a project entitled, “Learn Together: Connecting Children's Media and Learning Environments to Build Key Skills for Success” (PR Award No. S295A200004/ CFDA No. 84.295A). The total amount of funds available for the Consultant’s work is $49,560.