Quality Assurance of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2014-2018

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is conducting market research. This request for information notice is being used to determine if sufficient interest and capability exists regarding a potential future solicitation. This notice is provided as information to the marketplace and is an invitation for potential offerors to express interest and provide information regarding their relevant capabilities. Information submitted in response to this notice may be used as a basis for a future solicitation and/or as a basis for more in-depth research of an organization's capability. This is a request for information only. This RFI is issued as market research, solely for information and planning purposes. It shall not be considered as an invitation for bid (IFB), request for quotation (RFQ), request for proposal (RFP), or as an obligation on the part of the government to acquire any products or services. Any response to this RFI is purely voluntary and will be treated as information only. The government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. The information provided may be used by the Department in developing its acquisition strategy and the related statement of work, statement of objectives or performance specifications. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, RFQ or IFB, if issued. Request for Comments Interested parties are requested to submit comments to the draft PWS, and identify competition barriers. We are particularly interested in your feedback on the following question: - Based upon your experience with large scale assessment programs and quality assurance, does the PWS, as written, present any barriers to your participation? If so, how? Request for Capability Statements In response to this draft PWS, the U.S. Department of Education hereby solicits capability statements from eligible contractors. These statements shall be no longer than 20 pages, including resumes of proposed key staff. Offerors shall include no more than six (2-page resumes) for key staff and the proposal should explicitly state the role(s) for each individual whose is included. Interested contractors must have experience with conducting quality assurance projects for large scale assessment programs, and must not be a prime contractor on a current NAEP contract conducted under the Institute for Education Sciences. The capability statement should address the following areas of expertise (i.e., qualifications and experience) of key staff: - Time commitment, relevant experience, knowledge, and education or training of the Project Director with assessment programs of a similar size and complexity to NAEP and with coordinating quality assurance activities across multiple contractors. - Breadth and depth of relevant experience, knowledge, and education or training of team leaders, other key staff, and project consultants or subcontractors. - Experience and capacity to hire and train additional technical and quality assurance staff as needed, especially for expanded size, complexity, and uses of the NAEP data. - Appropriateness of the proposed staff for the proposal requirements. Note: Prior experience with NAEP in particular is not required, but knowledge of large assessments and assessment design used in NAEP is desired. Personnel This work will require the contractor to maintain a staff or have access to subcontractor(s) that includes at a minimum a psychometrician, sampling statistician, researcher/analyst, and project director. The project director, psychometrician, and sampling statistician shall have familiarity with the assessment design used in NAEP, processes, and operations, and at least one should have experience in large-scale assessment. The staff should demonstrate expertise in educational assessments. In addition, NCES expects a senior staff member to act as the project director to take responsibility for all the activities described in the contract and remain head for the entire life cycle of the contract. The labor categories described above shall be considered the minimum key personnel necessary for the proposed contract. Contractors shall propose a staffing plan with roles with accompanying reasonable justifications. The staffing plan must designate one individual who will serve as a project director and the main contact on this project. Contractors may submit different staffing plans for each major activity, provided that the project director remains the same across all activities. The contractor will determine all the labor categories and staffing levels appropriate for completing the goals of the project. All contractor staff shall be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. Project Director: This position requires experience in managing research and program evaluation projects. The project director must possess a thorough understanding of contract policy, procedures, and requirements, and acquisition funding; and must be familiar with Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) policies (in relation to NAEP) and the design and processes used in NAEP. Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent level of education plus experience in education or a field related to the requirements of this contract. Experience: This position requires a minimum of 8 to 10 years of recent management experience in government contracts similar in size and complexity. The project director must have experience developing and executing complex technical tasks and allocating project resources effectively. The project director shall have experience working as an effective liaison with government personnel, contracting staff, and technical authorities in the field. In addition, the proposed project director and key staff (psychometrician, sampling statistician, and researcher) must possess a demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and produce high quality products within budget, and have a long-term commitment to the study. The contractor shall demonstrate capacity to provide and maintain both the specified qualifications and these more general requirements. Corporate Capabilities The contractor shall maintain the required corporate capacity to carry out the requirements contained in the statement of work. This includes adequate resources (such as facilities and equipment), staffing (both professional and support), and fiscal accountability needed to carry out the required activities for a program of NAEP's magnitude and scope. The contractor shall advise the COR of any changes in facilities, equipment, or staff involved in the work described in this statement of work at least 1 month prior to such change. Offerors shall have performed well on other projects of similar size, scope, and complexity. Offerors shall be able to demonstrate: low turnover of key staff, high quality control standards, adherence to budget limitations, responsiveness to the Government contract or grant specialist and project director(s), and timeliness and acceptability of project deliverables. A demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and produce high quality products within budget is of utmost importance. Offerors shall describe available facilities and equipment and their past and current experience in similar work that will demonstrate such key characteristics as those described above. Achieving a Goal of Diversity at all levels of staffing NCES is especially interested in having diversity represented at every level of professional responsibility within each of the NAEP contractors. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that important perspectives that might otherwise be overlooked be brought to light so as to better serve all the constituencies that have a stake in NAEP. These diverse perspectives may be based on gender, race/ethnicity, and educational qualifications. To this end, Offerors shall describe the proposed distribution of staff that reflects this diversity and provide a plan for reaching this goal. Teaming Arrangements: All teaming arrangements shall include the above-cited information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team. Teaming arrangements are encouraged. NAICS codes: SBA size standards changed on March 12, 2012. All small businesses are encouraged to ensure their ORCA and CCR designations are correct. Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to Natasha Boyce, Contract Specialist at Natasha.Boyce@ed.gov . Please address each requirement in the order listed above. This is not an invitation for bid, request for proposal or other solicitation and in no way obligates the Department to award a contract. The Request for Information Notice is part of the Department's Vendor Communication plan and the sole intent is to obtain capabilities for set-aside and procurement planning purposes. This notice is open to all offerors. However, responses from the small business community will be used in part to make a decision on whether this will be a set-aside procurement. The Department anticpates procuring this requirement through GSA MOBIS 874-1 Consulting Services.