Analytic Support and Research Management for Advancing Education Research

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION OR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. NO PROPOSALS ARE SOUGHT. Introduction The U.S. Department of Education issues a Request for Information (RFI) about the subject potential procurement. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes and does NOT constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP). It is issued under the authority of FAR 15.201("Exchanges of information before receipt of proposals"). Background The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The primary education research programs at IES are supported by the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). The Department is issuing this RFI to solicit ideas and strategies to maximize and enhance ED's management of education and special education research through cataloguing. Specifically, ED is considering support services that will catalogue products from and details about IES grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. In order to understand the complexity of IES projects, it is estimated that approximately 250 new projects, including education grants, training grants, Research and Development Centers, and Small Business Innovation Research projects, are awarded each year across NCER and NCSER, in addition to over 700 projects that are ongoing. ED is exploring the need to develop a catalogue of its funded projects to better guide its efforts in identifying areas of future research and manage ongoing projects. [For more information about IES and its funded products, go to the website http://ies.ed.gov/funding.] Purpose The purpose of this notice is to request information from interested parties, including potential offerors (ESPECIALLY SMALL BUSINESSES), about the feasibility of alternative contract arrangements for the development of a catalogue. The Department requests information related to the following areas: - Interest in a performance-based contract for the creation of a catalogue; - Personnel required for the creation of a catalogue; - Number of hours required to complete a catalogue and revise or update the catalogue; - Pricing information related to completing a catalogue and revising or updating the catalogue; and - How the development and revising or updating the catalogue should be managed. Areas in Which Information is Sought Information and comments are solicited regarding the following Discussion Areas: Discussion Area 1: Interest in a Performance-Based contract for the creation of a catalogue 1.1 Is there interest in Performance-Based contract arrangements for catalogue development? 1.2 What benefits, problems and/or risks might exist in utilizing Performance-Based contracting techniques for developing catalogues? Discussion Area 2: Measuring Performance 2.1 What are the key elements of the process of catalogue development that are critical to successful outcomes and results? 2.2 What performance requirements, e.g., tasks and deliverables, are amendable to measurement? 2.3 What standards can or should be used to measure unsatisfactory, satisfactory, and outstanding achievement of the performance requirements identified? [Please provide source of information, i.e., where did the standards shared in this response originate?] Discussion Area 3: Personnel and time requirements 3.1 Please indicate how much is required to design and populate a catalogue from the resources listed below: 3.1.a Types of personnel; 3.1.b Number of personnel; 3.1.c Level of expertise required; and 3.1.d Amount of effort. 3.2 Assuming that data are provided and a basic framework for parts of a catalogue is provided, what additional steps might be required to design a complete catalogue? 3.3 How much time might it take to complete the core tasks for developing a catalogue based on the potential size of the catalogue, e.g., "small" which would have approximately 300 items with 20 tags each, "medium" which would have approximately 500 items with 30 tags each, or "large" which would have approximately 800 items with 50 tags each? 3.4 How much time might it take to complete the core tasks of updating and revising a catalogue based on the following parameters: 3.4.a Update a catalogue (e.g., changing "in press" to the year of publication) at least once but no more than six times per year; and 3.4.b Revise a catalogue with the addition of 10 tags or identifiers (e.g., adding a new column to each existing entry)? Discussion Area 4: Pricing Information 4.1 How much would it cost to complete the core tasks for developing a catalogue based on the potential size of the catalogue, e.g., "small" which would have approximately 300 items with 20 tags each, "medium" which would have approximately 500 items with 30 tags each, or "large" which would have approximately 800 items with 50 tags each? 4.2 How much would it cost to revise or update a catalogue? Specifically, 4.2.a How much would it cost to update a catalogue once per year? 4.2.b How much would it cost to update a catalogue quarterly? 4.2.c How much would it cost to revise a catalogue with the addition of 10 tags or identifiers (e.g., adding a new column to each existing entry)? Discussion 5: Management of Developing and Maintaining Catalogue 5.1 What is the best, most cost-effective method to manage the development and revising or updating a catalogue? Specifically, should these tasks be accomplished by a single contractor or go through multiple contractors? Instructions for Responding to this Notice Please submit your information and comments, whether supportive or critical, to the Contract Specialist electronically no later than April 6, 2012. Small businesses interested in this procurement should submit an email stating their interest, as well as a brief description of their capabilities in the areas of the attached draft statement of work. Please submit the replies electronically to Jennifer.Arthur@ed.gov. Electronic submissions should be submitted as an e-mail attachment in Microsoft Word. Please repeat each Discussion Area with questions and provide the response beneath. Please submit the information in the same order and using the same numbering scheme in this notice. Please limit responses to 10 pages. Replies will be separated from, and have no bearing on, subsequent evaluation of proposals submitted in response to any resulting formal Requests for Proposals (RFPs). The use of information received in response to this notice may be used by ED for acquisition planning and solicitation preparation activities. Eligibility in participating in a future acquisition does not depend upon a response to this notice. ED will not critique the responses to this notice and the notice should not be used by Offerors to market their products/services. ED does not intend to pay for the information solicited and will not recognize any costs associated with responding to this RFI. Proprietary information is neither sought nor desired by ED. If such information is submitted, it must clearly be marked "proprietary" on every sheet containing such information, and the proprietary information must be segregated to the maximum extent practicable from other portions of the response (e.g., use an attachment or exhibit). Contracting Office Address: 550 12th Street, SW, 7th Floor Washington, District of Columbia 20536 United States