Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

The U.S. Department of Education, through its Contracts and Acquisitions Management office in Washington, D.C., is seeking information for a firm fixed-price contract to support U.S. participation in the 2029 cycle of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), managed by the National Center for Education Statistics. The contractor will be responsible for executing end-to-end data collection and reporting activities in compliance with international standards from the OECD and domestic standards from NCES and IES, covering core assessment domains in Mathematics, Reading, and Science, with optional components including Media and Artificial Intelligence Literacy, Financial Literacy, and a Teacher Questionnaire. The performance period spans 48 months, structured as a 12-month base period with three 12-month option periods, with all deliverables—such as electronic data files, sampling frameworks, assessment instruments, and user guides—required to meet NCES statistical standards, Section 508 accessibility requirements, and international PISA technical specifications. All final products must be submitted to NCES in Washington, D.C., and are the sole property of the U.S. government. Contractor personnel must undergo federal background checks if assigned for 30 days or more, and those accessing sensitive data or visiting schools must obtain higher-level clearances and sign notarized affidavits of nondisclosure, with monthly reporting required to the Contracting Officer’s Representative. Security protocols mandate compliance with FISMA 2014, NIST SP 800-53, and FedRAMP Moderate baseline, along with prohibitions under Section 889 of the NDAA on telecommunications equipment from covered foreign entities. Physical and digital handling of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) must strictly avoid external markings on shipments, use encrypted storage, and separate sensitive data elements across multiple shipments to mitigate exposure; no bar-coding or MIL-STD requirements are specified. The submission deadline for responses is May 21, 2026, with offers due via email only to Alyson Allman, limited to a 10-page capability statement formatted in 12-point font with one-inch margins. No pricing details, evaluation factors, or formal contract clauses are included in this Request for Information, as it is a pre-solicitation market research tool intended to inform future competitive procurement; a unique entity identifier (UEI), size status, socioeconomic certifications, and feedback on the firm fixed-price structure and potential restrictive language in the draft Performance Work Statement are among the required