Vendor Collaboration - Independent Review and Evaluation for Regional Educational Laboratories

CAPABILITY STATEMENT INSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA Independent Review and Evaluation for Regional Educational Laboratories The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is conducting market research. This sources sought 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. The National Center for Education Evaluation, within ED's Institute of Education Sciences, anticipates the award of a 2-year contract, with three one-year option periods, to provide external review of products produced by the ten Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs). ED seeks capability statements from small businesses only, including Hubzones, Service Disabled Veteran owned, Women owned, 8(a), and Small Disadvantaged businesses. Capability Statement Instructions In response to the attached Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS), ED hereby solicits capability statements from eligible contractors. These statements shall be no longer than 5 pages (single-spaced, with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12 point font). Contractors should include up to five resumes in the appendix. Only resumes for key personnel that would work on the contract are to be included. Each resume should clearly document that individuals have the experience and expertise described below. Each resume should be no longer than 5 pages. The resumes will not be counted as part of the 5 pages of the capability statement. The capability statement should describe the collective expertise of key personnel, in each of the following areas: - Experience in identifying research questions and conducting research that is relevant to policymakers. Interested contractors should provide evidence of key personnel's successful past experience in identifying research questions and conducting research that is relevant to policymakers. This should include planning and executing research that is actionable and has clear implications for policy. - Experience in executing descriptive and causal studies of education issues with the highest technical quality. Interested contractors should provide evidence of key personnel's successful past experience in executing studies of education issues using the most rigorous and appropriate methods to describe data and causal relationships. - Experience in writing about research and findings for a range of audiences, including practitioners and policymakers. Interested contractors should provide evidence of key personnel's successful past experience in writing research reports, briefs, and other documents that explain research findings for practitioners and policymakers as well as for other researchers. This should include experience preparing materials that are easily read and consumed by the intended audience while maintaining the highest standards. - Experience in developing tools, technical assistance, or data sets that can be used by researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. Interested contractors should provide evidence of key personnel's successful past experience in developing tools, technical assistance or data sets that can be used by a range of audiences. These items may include things such as data sets and related documentation for public use, programs that facilitate data analysis, or technical guides to assist with analyses that would be appropriate for educational settings. - Experience in designing and managing large-scale, long-term projects. Interested contractors should provide evidence of key personnel's successful past experience in providing steady and long-term management and guidance to large-scale projects. This should include evidence of successful experience in overseeing projects with staff members representing a range of experience and expertise and demonstration of successful outcomes over periods of two to five years. - Experience in designing and applying clear criteria to a range of research-based products. Interested contractors should provide evidence of key personnel's successful past experience in designing and applying criteria to judge the quality of research based products in categories that align with those outlined in the Draft PWS. - Experience in implementing and overseeing random assignment impact studies. Interested contractors should provide evidence of key personnel's successful past experience in implementing and overseeing random assignment impact studies. This should include all relevant technical knowledge and experience related to; subject recruitment, subject assignment, selection or design of appropriate data collection instruments, conducting appropriate single and multi-level modeling, strategies for dealing with attrition and missing data, and writing of clear and accurate impact reports. Interested contractors should provide evidence of successful collaborative work in this area and oversight of and guidance on the functions described above. In addition, the capability statement should address the following experience at the corporate level: - Experience being responsive to changing needs and deploying staff appropriately. Interested contractors should provide evidence of successful corporate experience in managing work that fluctuates over time and is somewhat unpredictable in terms of form and content area. Interested contractors should provide evidence of their ability to be responsive to those needs and to successfully match the project needs with a range of staff capabilities. - Experience conducting projects similar in nature to that described in the Draft PWS. Interested contractors should provide evidence of successful corporate experience with past projects that are similar to that described in the Draft PWS in terms of the specific tasks to be performed and the level of effort required. Interested contractors should provide evidence of corporate experience judging the quality of products and assuring appropriate application of review criteria and standards as described within the Draft PWS. 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 will change on March 12, 2012. All small businesses are encouraged to ensure their ORCA and CCR designations are correct. Firms/Individuals who are serving as prime contractors, subcontractors, and/or consultants for the current REL contracts must submit a justification detailing that no conflicts of interest exist should they be awarded the contract, since the purpose of this contract will be to evaluate the REL products. Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to Natasha Boyce, Contract Specialist at contact@example.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 Sources Sought 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. Please provide the following Business information: 1. DUNS Number 2. Company Name 3. Company Address 4. Company Point of Contact, phone number and email address 5. Type of company under NAICS, as validated via the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Additional information on NAICS codes can be found at www.sba.gov. Any potential government contract must be registered on the CCR located at http://www.ccr.gov/index.asp. 6. Corporate structure (corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, professional corporation, etc.); 7. Point of Contact, phone number and email address of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses 8. Responders should also include a statement about whether or not they have an approved Federal audited accounting system. If the responder has an approved accounting system, please provide the certification in which the accounting system was deemed adequate (e.g. the name of the audit agency and audit number).You may submit as an attachment, which will not count towards the overall page limit. Contracting Office Address: 550 12th Street, SW, 7th Floor Washington, District of Columbia 20202 Primary Point of Contact: Natasha Boyce, Contract Specialist contact@example.gov Phone: +1 (555) 000-0000 Fax: +1 (555) 000-0000 Secondary Point of Contact: Pamela Bone, Contracting Officer contact@example.gov Phone: +1 (555) 000-0000 Fax: +1 (555) 000-0000