National Cooperative Education Statistics Systems (NCESS)

The Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences awarded a Master IDIQ on December 15, 2011, for logistics and technical support to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Cooperative Systems, with ordering authority extended through December 31, 2021. The vehicle is no longer active; the last task order was issued June 30, 2021, and the ordering period closed over four years ago.

The vehicle contracted for five categories of support: Technical Assistance, Training, Research, Development and Informational Support, General Administrative Support, and Conferences/Meetings/Workshops/Support. Work awarded under the vehicle centers on statistical surveys, data collection infrastructure, and analytical support—including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), Common Core of Data (CCD), Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), National Household Education Surveys (NHES), and longitudinal studies—alongside website maintenance, publication support, and methodological research across NCES divisions.

American Institutes For Research In The Behavioral Sciences dominates the vehicle, holding 13 of 38 task orders representing $280.6 million of the combined $406.3 million potential value—roughly 69% of the portfolio. Sanametrix Inc. is a distant second with nine orders worth $51.1 million. The top five primes account for 87% of awarded orders; beyond them sit four additional small business and consulting firms. All 38 task orders fund a single customer: the Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences.

Task-order values range widely, from research and development efforts under $1 million to major standing support contracts exceeding $30 million. The largest single order is a $113.9 million ceiling for NAEP Assessment Division Support. Other substantial orders include $35 million for International Activities Program support and roughly $23.6 million for National Household Education Surveys support. Of the 38 orders, 53% were unrestricted and 45% were small-business set-asides; one order was partially small-business. At award, the combined potential value was $406.3 million, with $364.3 million (90%) obligated as of the last task-order activity in mid-2021. Order frequency declined sharply after 2016, with only three orders placed between 2018 and 2021.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has awarded a Master IDIQ for the procurement of services for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to provide a broad spectrum of support to the two Cooperative Systems at NCES, the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) and the National Cooperative Education Statistics System (NCESS), and their deliberative and working entities including the National Forum on Education Statistics (Forum), the various other committees and subcommittees, task forces, and working groups that support the efforts of the Cooperative Systems and other meetings and conferences that support the development and collection of administrative record data, as the need arises. The expected work falls into five (5) types of logistics support: 1) Technical Assistance; 2) Training; 3) Research, Development and Informational Support; 4) General Administrative Support and 5) Conferences/Meetings/Workshops/Support.