Projects: Education

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. AFYA provides administrative and logistical support services to the following Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Offices and Centers within the U.S. Department of Education: Office of the Director, the National Board for Education Sciences (NBES), the National Center for Education Research (NCER), and the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE).

AFYA provides support in the areas of IES’s technical and scientific peer review processes and IES-sponsored meetings. Administrative and logistical support related to the IES peer view process includes enhancement and maintenance of peer review databases and payment of peer review honorarium for IES reports and products (including the Standards and Review Office, the NCEE’s What Works Clearinghouse, and special review of technical assistance products produced by the Regional Educational Laboratories).

AFYA provides logistical support for IES meetings, conferences, and events including the NCEE Principal Investigators Meetings, NCER Special Topic Meetings, NBES Board Meetings, NCEE Title 1 Independent Review Panel meeting, NCEE Regional Education Laboratory Outreach Meetings, NCEE Technical Method Meetings, Reading for Understanding Research Initiative Meetings, ARRA Advisory Group Meetings, and IES Speaker Series and Webinars. Support includes registration management, selection and contract negotiation for event venues and vendors, materials development and duplication, travel management and reimbursement of travel expenses for supported participants, payment of honoraria, and preparation of meeting summaries.

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U.S. Department of Education, National Assessment Governing Board. AFYA supports the contract, “Provide Technical, Subject Matter Expertise and Logistical Support Services for the National Assessment Governing Board’s (NAGB) Requirements,” which focuses upon NAGB’s objective to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). AFYA provides technical and staff expertise by developing and maintaining a database of experts who shall be called on to support the Board’s work requirements. AFYA provides logistical and administrative support for the expert panel meetings to include pre-conference, onsite and post-conference services. Additionally, AFYA prepares and submits monthly progress reports and an annual report of contract work.

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U.S. Department of Education, AbleData. AFYA supports the contract for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) “AbleData.” NIDRR’s mission is to generate new knowledge and promote its effective use to improve the abilities of people with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community. It also seeks to expand society’s capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for citizens with disabilities. The AbleData database provides information on aids and equipment used by persons with disabilities to assist with individual healing and well-being. To date, records of more than 34,000 commercially available devices associated with over 4,400 manufacturers and 770 distributors in the United States have been entered into AbleData. AFYA’s Publications Director manages abstracts of literature on assistive technology topics, selects publications for inclusion in the database, and reviews all new abstracts before they are added to the publicly available website. AFYA’s Publications Director also researches and writes new AbleData fact sheets and incorporates detailed information on consumer guides that discuss specific types of assistive products. AFYA’s Information Specialist serves as the primary contact with the public and responds to telephone inquiries and conducts searches for products or company data, providing each patron with the information that he or she needs to find assistive products or other resources. The Information Specialist also demonstrates sensitivity and care when dealing with every patron, many of whom are dealing with frustrating and alarming disability issues.