Vendor Collaboration: The Middle Grades Longitudinal Study of 2016-17 (MGLS:2017)

WEBINAR POWERPOINT PRESENTATION Attached is the PowerPoint Presentation from the Webinar held on March 16, 2015 for the MGLS:2017. Additionally, the Capability statements submission deadline remains via email by 11:00am Eastern Time on March 24, 2015. See the section below - Request for Information (RFI) for details. __________________________________________________________ Request for Information (RFI) REQUEST FOR CAPABILITY STATEMENTS & WEBINAR for The Middle Grades Longitudinal Study of 2016-17 (MGLS:2017) The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is conducting market research to support a requirement for the Conduct of the Middle Grades Longitudinal Study of 2016-17 (MGLS:2017). This large, complex data collection will collect data on academic achievement in mathematics and reading, student executive function, socioemotional functioning, middle school experiences, out of school activities, and family background of a nationally representative sample of 6th graders selected in 2016-17, with additional focus on students in three disability categories. Data will be collected from students, their parents, teachers and school administrators via web-based instruments, with phone and in-person interview as backup. This contract covers two field test data collections in 2016 and two nationally-representative full-scale data collections in 2017 and 2018 at the 6th and 7th grades. This contract follows on previous contracts such as the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study to develop and field national data collections for students in general education schools. The Department needs to determine if there are small and large business sources with all of the following areas of capabilities, and successful experiences. 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 and experiences. Small businesses are encouraged to team with other large or small businesses for this requirement. The Department is seeking information on whether small businesses that are certified as HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Women-owned (WO), 8(a), or Small Disadvantaged have the required capabilities to perform the Performance Work Statement tasks. The NAICS code is 541720 (Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities). Businesses are requested to provide capability statements that address the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). The Department hereby solicits capability statements from eligible contractors. Interested parties should submit a single document (a "capability statement") that consists of the following sections: - Section 1 shall be no longer than five pages, single-spaced with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12 point font. Section 1 shall address the firm's capabilities in response to the requirements set forth in the PWS and shall personnel and institutional experience and capacity to address the following requirements: 1) Demonstrate qualifications, knowledge and experience in a. Managing national large scale education sample surveys, b. Recruiting schools in general education national large scale sample surveys, preferably those including the 6th grade, c. Obtaining rosters from districts for developing a sample frame of students in specified IEP categories, d. Gaining the cooperation of parents of middle grades students in general education national large scale sample surveys, and, optimally, parents of students in selected IEP categories, e. Conducting large scale national surveys for public and private education institutions and individuals that serve students in the 10-15 year old age range, as well as, the key staff, consultants or subcontractors. 2) Demonstrate willingness to leverage relations with the middle level education community built previously by NCES through outreach in order to a. Gain the cooperation of schools and districts that are randomly selected into the study and known to these "opinion leaders", b. Specify ways that NCES can adapt to the needs of these diverse education settings in conducting its study, c. Optimize MGLS data to answer the topical and timely research and policy questions of these groups, d. Further grow the MGLS name recognition in and engage the middle level education community. 3) Demonstrate technical capacity in web programming and database management in a. Translating web surveys from an authoring system application into a .net framework or other native html/sql programming, b. Creating a survey management system that can track all respondents for item level and form level response status, c. Deliver monetary incentives through an instant, on-line credit or reimbursement method, d. Implement a variety of screen design and navigational accommodations for students with disabilities in order to include the maximum number of students with disabilities that are cognitively capable of participating in those questionnaires and assessments. 4) Demonstrate expertise in test development including a. Use of cognitive laboratories to determine appropriate accommodations and screen design. b. Application of instrument blueprints and item specifications in the formulation of final forms of academic assessments in mathematics and reading. c. Measures of executive function, socioemotional functioning and other theory-based constructs. d. A measure of mathematics skill appropriate to predict success in 9th grade Algebra. e. A measure of reading comprehension based upon research conducted in two federal projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. The first project called Developing Reading Comprehension Assessments Targeting Struggling Readers, designed to explore the role of reading components and text complexity on student reading ability. The second project, Assessing Reading for Understanding: A Theory-Based, Developmental Approach, designed to create innovative assessments of reading comprehension for students in grades k-12. f. Standard methods of general survey design and development for all variables. 5) Demonstrate expertise in psychometric methods to aid in the formulation of valid and reliable academic assessments, construct variables and composites. Application of multistage or other adaptive methods to reduce testing time. 6) Demonstrate experience with administrative and student record collection and/or data systems to support collection of student data to reduce the burden of direct collection on students, teachers and parents, 7) Provide documentation of past projects conducted of similar scale and scope, and complexity. 8) Provide scenarios for how the awarded contractor could recruit at least half of the field test schools and/or students by November 2015, given that the sample has been previously drawn and supplied to the contractor by NCES, given an award date of July 2015. NOTE: No conflicts of interest shall exist (See EDAR CLAUSE 3452.209-71, Conflict of Interest). - Section 2 shall be no longer than five pages, single-spaced with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12 point font. In Section 2 the interested party may discuss any comments, concerns, or confusion it has on the draft PWS and this procurement more generally. The Department will use this feedback to improve the quality of the PWS prior to the release of any solicitation. - Section 3. In this section, the interested party may provide resumes for "key personnel" (not personnel generally) who would work on the contract. Only resumes for key personnel that would work on the contract may be included. Up to five resumes may be included in Section 3, but no resume may be longer than 3 pages. There are no other formatting restrictions for Section 3. Interested parties may submit a capability statement that proposes a teaming or subcontracting arrangement. Any teaming arrangement proposed in the capability statement does not obligate the interested party to later submit a proposal in accordance with the teaming arrangement proposed in the capability statement. The capability statement shall start with a cover page (which does not count toward the page limit) that provides: - The name of the company. - The website address of the company (if applicable). - The point of contact (name, phone number, email address) of a company representative who can answer any questions that the Department may have. - The vendor's DUNS number. - A statement certifying that the vendor has active System for Award Management (SAM) registration, or a statement describing the current status and when the vendor expects to achieve active SAM status. - A statement certifying that the vendor qualifies as a small business under NAICS 541720 (i.e., size standard of $20,500,000). - A statement as to whether the vendor qualifies as any of the following small business categories: small disadvantaged; women-owned; service-disabled veteran owned; or HUBZone. - If the vendor has any General Service Administration (GSA) schedule contracts, the contract numbers for those GSA agreements. - Corporate structure (corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, professional corporation, etc.). - 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. This Request for Capability Statements does not constitute a solicitation and in no way obligates the Department to issue a solicitation or award a contract. Capability statements shall be submitted via email as a single document (including the cover page and all sections as a single document), either as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf document. Capability statements shall be submitted via email by 11:00am Eastern Time on March 24, 2015 to Stephen.Madsen@ed.gov, cc: Deila.Johnson@ed.gov. The file name of the capability statement shall be [Name of Company] Capability Statement (IESE150218AP) ([Date submitted]), for example "ABC Company Capability Statement (IESE150218AP) (March 24, 2015).pdf". The subject line of the email submitting the capability statement shall be "Capability Statement for IESE150218AP ([Name of Company])," for example "Capability Statement for IESE150218AP (ABC Company)." WEBINAR The Department is conducting an informational webinar for this procurement from 1:00pm-3:00pm Eastern Time on March 16, 2015. During this webinar, the Department will discuss the PWS and our planned acquisition strategy. After the Department has finished its presentation, there may be time for some questions from webinar participants. If you plan to attend the webinar, please RSVP by sending an email with the subject line "RSVP for IESE150218AP Webinar ([Name of Company])" to Stephen.Madsen@ed.gov, cc: Deila.Johnson@ed.gov. You will not receive confirmation of receipt for this email. Failure to send an RSVP email will not prevent you from attending the webinar, but an RSVP email is requested so that the Department can track participation. The body of your email should contain the following information: (a) Name of Company or Organization, (b) Number of persons attending the webinar from company or organization. Login information for the webinar is as follows: Topic: MGLS Full scale Collection Pre-solicitation Webinar Date: Monday, March 16, 2015 Time: 1:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00) Meeting Number: 273 693 101 Meeting Password: mgls2017 ------------------------------------------------------- To join the online meeting (Now from mobile devices!) ------------------------------------------------------- 1. Go to https://educate.webex.com/educate/j.php?MTID=m9bc7151c3a20233a4a41d1eddb487e5c 2. If requested, enter your name and email address. 3. If a password is required, enter the meeting password: mgls2017 4. Click "Join". 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