DESIGN AND FEASIBILITY OF AN IMPACT EVALUATION OF TEACHER RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES STUDY

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is conducting Market Research. This REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) is being used to determine if sufficient interest and capability exists among small businesses regarding the design and feasibility of an impact evaluation of teacher recruitment strategies. This notice is provided as information to the marketplace to determine if there are potential small businesses capable of performing the requirement. Information submitted in response to this RFI may be used as a basis for a future solicitation and/or as a basis for more in-depth research. ED's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), National Center for Education Evaluation (NCEE) anticipates the award of a fixed price contract for the design of an impact evaluation of teacher recruitment strategies. In response to the Draft Performance Work Statement (subject to change), ED hereby solicits capability statements from qualified SMALL BUSINESSES. Please confirm your company's status as a small business. Capability Statement Instructions: In response to this performance work statement, the U.S. Department of Education hereby solicits capability statements from eligible small business contractors. These statements shall be no longer than 6 pages. Interested parties should include resumes in the appendix (no more than 5 resumes shall be included and only resumes for key personnel that will work on the task order are to be included); these resumes will not be counted as one of the 6 pages of the capability statement. Interested parties (the primary contractor and/or partners such as consultants) must have experience with designing and conducting large-scale, multi-site random assignment impact evaluations with preference for prior study experience in schools. Corporate experience in conducting random assignment impact evaluations in schools is required. Interested parties should have prior demonstrated experience, at the corporate level, with rigorous research on relevant teacher issues, knowledge of teacher recruitment strategies, and experience with the Human Resources aspect of hiring teachers. If any of this experience is met through consultants, the contractor must provide evidence of commitment to work on this project. The capability statement should address the following qualifications and experience of key staff: - Designing and conducting large-scale, multi-site experimental studies in educational settings. Interested parties should describe the multi-site studies in educational settings that have been conducted. The size of the studies (sites, teachers, students, etc.) should be included, as well as the specific role that key proposed staff played within these studies. Interested parties should also document their random assignment expertise, including experience with study design and site recruitment. The Project Director, and/or Co-Project Director, and/or Principal Investigator must have significant expertise in these areas. Preference will be given to contractors who have experience with conducting cluster random assignment impact evaluations in schools. - Research on teacher quality and teacher recruitment. Interested parties should document their experience with research on teacher issues with an emphasis on teacher recruitment strategies. A preference will be exhibited for experience related to offerors with team members with knowledge of and implementation of teacher recruitment strategies and research. Interested parties are asked when submitting the Capability Statements to include the following information: 1) Company Name and Mailing Address; 2) Point of contact (name, title, email address, and telephone number. Note: The government will not pay for the provision of any information nor will it compensate any respondents for providing this information. THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL AND IN NO WAY OBLIGATES THE GOVERNMENT TO AWARD ANY CONTRACT. ED WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY COSTS INCURRED IN RESPONDING TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. The deadline for submitting capability statements (electronically) is Tuesday, May 18, 2010 by 2 pm EDT via email to the following: Lenox.Coles@ed.gov and Sharon.Masciana@ed.gov . Attachment: DRAFT PWS - Design And Feasibility Of An Impact Evaluation Of Teacher Recruitment Strategies Study