SOW.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK

EDUCATION LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

MISSION

The mission of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) Education

Branch is to provide mandatory literacy programs, as required by Federal laws and rules language, which meet the needs and interests of the inmate population, provide options for the positive use of inmate time, and enhance successful reintegration into the community. In an effort to comply with federal mandates 28 CFR § 544.71 which states an inmate confined in a federal institution who does not have a verified

General Education Development (GED) credential or high school diploma is required to attend an adult literacy program for minimum of 240 instructional hours or until a GED is achieved, whichever occurs first and § 544.71 (b) which states all yearly awards of good conduct time will vest for inmate who have earned, or are making satisfactory progress toward earning a

General Education Development (GED) credential. The FBOP will provide educational services which potentially lead to a nationally and internationally recognized high school equivalency (HSE) credential for all Federal prisoners who participate in the literacy program.

FBOP recognizes the importance of job training for the inmate population. With few exceptions, all BOP institutions offer occupational training programs. Program offerings vary from institution to institution, due to the graphical location and mission of the location, number of vocational instructors, etc.

Certified production technician, logistics technician, cook, baker, machinist, heating, ventilation and air conditioning specialist, automotive mechanic, electrician, plumber, mason, welder, carpenter, and forklift operator are among some of the job training programs available.

BACKGROUND

Attachment II 15BNAS19RCA0130

The FBOP current network infrastructure is comprised of 200 test centers across 122 institutions via virtual servers.

These test centers deliver the GED test series via an inmate zero client local area networks (LAN) which are individually managed from a centralized location.

PURPOSE

The FBOP intends to make multiple awards for a SCORM compliant

Learning Management System (LMS) which supports, even extends, the literacy, as well as, Career Technical Education programming, classroom instruction, and HSE and Career

Technical Education certification testing bureau-wide to one or more qualified vendors. The intent is to have multiple awards for a SCORM compliant LMS with the option of multiple vendor awards for content and/or LMS (K – 12 literacy (ABE, Pre-HSE, HSE)), reading intervention, assessment/adult academic baseline assessment, ESL, CTE, etc.). The vendor must clearly demonstrate literacy (K – 12, ABE, Pre-HSE, HSE) product is aligned with Common Core Standards

(http://www.corestandards.org/) and College and Career

Readiness Standards

(https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/CCRStandardsAdultEd.pdf)

, K through Grade 12. It is critical that this product, though covering K – 12 skills, is appropriate and caters to the needs of adult learners in a corrections setting, including those with special learning needs. The LMS must be Section 508 compliant. This product must adhere to performance and accountability requirements of the Workforce Innovation and

Opportunity Act. The product must be available in both English and Spanish. The LMS shall equip learners to demonstrate measurable skills gains or attainment of a HSE credential.

The LMS must have measurable behavioral objectives and procedures, as well as clear criteria which establishes minimum expectations for program completion and pre and post testing to measure learner educational and functional gains.

Comprehensive learner progress tracking with analytics which provide data disaggregation of assessments and assignments http://www.corestandards.org/ shall be a component of the LMS.

The content (K – 12 literacy (ABE, Pre-HSE, HSE)), reading intervention, and assessment/adult academic baseline assessment) the LMS provides must also have supports and supplements which are assessable via the platform and printable for all standards. The vendor shall provide a SCORM compliant platform which is flexible and customizable allowing for other content to be ingested meeting the FBOP’s diverse programming needs, such as Career and Technical Education, reading interventions, soft skills, consumer education, life skills, health, wellness, leisure activities, post-secondary programming etc.

The following BOP Program Statements, which are available electronically at http://www.bop.gov/, are applicable to this contract.

1. Program Statement 5300.21 – Education, Training, and Leisure Time Program Standards.

2. Program Statement 5350.28 – Literacy Program

(GED Standard)

3. Program Statement 5310.15 – Minimum Standards for

Administration, Interpretation, and Use of

Education Tests

4. Program Statement 5353.01 – Occupational Education

Programs

Reference the Functioning Level Table (Exhibit 2.2, pg. 17 –

22) of the Technical Assistance Guide for Performance

Accountability under the Workforce Innovation and

Opportunity Act published by The National Reporting System of the Division of Adult Education and Literacy Office of

Career, Technical, and Adult Education or the U.S.

Department of Education which can be accessed at

(https://nrsweb.org/sites/default/files/NRS-TA-January-2018-

508.pdf).

http://www.bop.gov/

LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

1. CONTENT

Content for Math, Reading, Writing, Science, and Social

Studies Common Core and College and Career Readiness

Standards for adult learners from K – 12 literacy (ABE, Pre-HSE, HSE) suitable for correctional setting and is adaptable for learners with special learning needs. It is critical that all standards are addressed through the content provided via the LMS. Skill practice, assignments, and assessments shall provide variation through regular and periodic content updates, question banks, and randomization. Skill practice, assignments, and assessments shall utilize, but is not limited to, the following question types:

A. Multiple choice

B. Hot spot

C. Drag and Drop

D. Drop Down

E. Fill in the Blank

Skill practice, assignments, and assessments must also be progressive, allowing the learner to progress through skills and literacy levels. Content shall equip the learner with critical thinking skills and focus on skills across the content areas. All skill practice, assignments, assessments, instructions and platform environment shall be available in English and Spanish.

2. READING INTERVENTION

Reading intervention shall address some or all the following reading skills with research-based methods, activities, lessons, resources, suitable for adult learners reading below a seventh grade level:

A. Phonemic Awareness

B. Phonics

C. Fluency

D. Word Recognition

E. Decoding

F. Spelling

G. Vocabulary

H. Comprehension

Reading intervention shall have a placement test to determine at what lesson level learners should begin.

There should be incremental/unit skills assessment to determine learners progress in the some or all of the identified skill areas.

Reading intervention solutions shall provide remediation, teacher support and training, progress tracking, and reports.

Reading intervention should make available supportive enhancement printed teacher and/or student material.

3. CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION

BOP offers eligible inmates the opportunity to participate in occupational training (OT) for the purposes of obtaining marketable skills designed to enhance post-release employment opportunities. A marketable level OT program should prepare inmates to work at least in an entry-level position of employment in a specific occupation, industry, or trade. On-premise or cloud-based instruction and assessment shall be provided which leads to industry accepted skills and certifications. Occupational training programs shall possess accreditation levels, instructional resources, and an ability/potential for outreach to potential employers unavailable to the BOP. Credentials and credits issued to students must be industry-recognize.

Additionally, the curriculum will include resume development directly related to the industry and/or career.

The vendors OT program must provide assessment which results in industry recognized and accepted certification. This testing can be provided within the LMS or some other means of proctored official test (online testing portal/platform, paper-based testing, etc). Testing must measure the students understanding of the specific trade or career skills. The vendor may require or provide several incremental test prior to final certification.

4. ASSESSMENT

Pre and Post Assessments to determine education and functional gains. The LMS shall provide benchmark/placement assessment which the system shall use to determine which skills and associated assignments the learner has mastered. Benchmark/placement assessment should record and report students strengths and weaknesses by skill area and should be printable for classroom/program placement. This shall allow learners to be assigned to areas that mastery is not evident. In addition to assignments, each unit shall be assessed via unit assessment.

All assessments must provide the following:

randomization of questions and answer selections culturally diverse test material/content

Availability of different test forms for pre and post testing

Measures academic achievement in reading, math, and language arts using timed and untimed tests

Identifies strengths and weaknesses in relation to foundational reading, math, and language arts

Offers options for testing non-readers in reading, math, and language arts

Offers optional advanced subject area testing:

Science, Social Studies, Algebra, Geometry, etc.

Administration options allow for flexible testing of all or specific tests based on student needs

Administration options include paper-based and online testing

Various modes of test delivery for students with visual and hearing impairments; tools for test accommodation

Scoring options include scanner, online, and hand scoring

Assists with measuring academic growth

Generates a student report of strengths and weaknesses: raw scores, scaled scores, age and grade equivalent scores

Addresses potential HSE test readiness

5. REMEDIATION

The assignment of practice for remediation within the LMS shall be assigned to the learner with and without teacher/administrator intervention. Remediation without teacher/administrator should be determined by the learner not meeting mastery thresholds set within the platform

(the LMS should have a mastery/passing threshold which may also be reset by a teacher/administrator).

Flexibility within the LMS shall allow teachers to reassign skill areas and assignments deemed necessary.

Remediation should provide variation from the previously failed practice and assignments.

6. REPORTING

Reporting features of the LMS shall provide the following:

A. Learner reports shall include but are not limited to learner progress with percentages for individual assignments, units, average, etc., time on task, assessments, and summary of learner progress with scores for all assignments.

B. Teacher reports shall include but are not limited to class grade book, all learners report, assigned but incomplete assignments, assigned but failed assignments, and common missed and mastered skills.

C. Other reporting views with the ability to create customizable reports are required of the LMS, such as:

Institution, some locations shall require

Complex (multiple institutions at one location) reporting

Regional reporting

Agency-wide reporting

7. ADDITIONAL LMS FEATURES

The LMS shall also provide the following

The LMS shall have a scientific calculator embedded and available when necessary for Math, Science, and

Social Studies content.

Use of multimedia instruction to engage students.

Courses are created with engaging content, including full-color graphics, animation, sound, video, and interactivity (allowing two-way flow of information between the user and platform, where the platform responds to user input).

Skill practice and assignments are designed to be independent and self-paced, in cooperation with teacher oversight and guidance by giving teachers the ability to control and adjust student progress.

SUPPORT

The vendor shall provide teachers and LMS administrators with technical and content support via portal, email, chat, and phone Monday – Saturday from 7:00 am – 11:00 pm

EST. Technical support may utilize some automation but must have the option to contact a professional equipped to provide support the platform version running for BOP sites. Moreover, printed or printable guides for the LMS shall be made available to FBOP. Available to the learner within the LMS shall be end user tutorials/help files. The embedded LMS tutorial shall be graphically and visually rich, utilizing video vignettes, screen shots, gifs, etc. All learner support shall be available in English and Spanish.

Vendors shall notify the Government of content and platform updates 5 business days prior to implementation.

Unless the Government objects, the vendor is responsible to implement all updates within 30 days of release.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The vendor shall provide the following professional development for FBOP staff:

Teacher Training – this professional development shall focus on but is not limited to how to navigate the platform, entering learners, reports, assigning and bypassing learner assignments, the use of assessments, running and customizing reports, using the LMS to create a blended learning classroom model, and other educational/instructional skills

(best practices, andragogy, coding and decoding, phonics, CTE, etc.).

Administrators Training – this professional development shall cover any items necessary for administrative functions required for the LMS beyond the Teacher Training, such as setting up classes, adding teachers, granting permissions, resetting teacher and learner passwords, etc.

Provides for teacher/test administrator continual professional development that addresses:

o Student prep for testing o Correct test administration o Review of student and teacher accessibility/navigational tools (online) o Complete interpretation and explanation of student test scores

Raw Score

Scaled Scores

Age Equivalent

Grade Equivalent (relevance in adult education)

Etc.

o Correlation of student test results to classroom instruction o Interpretation of student test results to assist with classroom interventions and accommodations o Aggregation of test data to monitor and review academic trends o List of support resources to assist with remediating student weaknesses and strategic lesson planning

The FBOP shall decide with the vendor the mode of delivery for all professional development, to include but not limited to, in person, remotely/webinar, train the trainer, and/or recorded live training.

MISCELLANEOUS

The LMS content (skill practice, assignments, and assessments) shall be updated no less than once a year for all learning leaves and subject areas.

All data and learner personal information are the property of the FBOP and cannot be shared or disposed of without prior consent of the Bureau.

The vendor is required to adhere to agency record retention schedules. The LMS must maintain the ability to freeze or put on hold records and delete once retention is over.

The FBOP shall retain ownership of any on-premise

LMS platform(s), content, data, updates, etc. The agency shall retain the platform, content, data, etc. post award. The agency shall retain ownership of any cloud-based LMS data and may access and take possession of data at any time.

The vendor shall provide the option for multiple forms of delivery, to include but not limited to, zero clients, tablets, handheld devices, and laptops.

The content of the LMS shall prepare learners to earn one of the three HSE tests, GED, HiSET, and

TASC.

The vendor shall present the FBOP no less than three licensing options, such as concurrent user license, enterprise license, named user license, etc.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Key Business Objectives/Intended Results:

• Make learning & development opportunities more accessible by providing additional educational programming for inmates, to be distributed via a Learning Management System;

Learning Management System for consideration:

o A cloud-based managed application delivery system

(cloud-based solution/platform), or o Proposed solution must function on a centralized private virtual network (on-premise solution/platform) delivering content to 122 sites nationwide.

The proposed LMS solution shall support up to 5,000 concurrent users.

Provide additional courses and programs to inmates for vocational skillsets for job market placement beyond GED skills or learning;

Leverage technology to streamline processes and enhance efficiency of training administration;

Leadership may envision rapid expansion in the coming years.

If so, they will want an LMS that can support that growth.

Support adequate separation of duties between the education administrators and the IT support staff; and

Allow for improved delegation of administration, maintenance, and provisioning activities to local site educators and learning administrators.

The vendor shall provide a method(s) for chargeback (LMS content) and show-back for user and site usage of the service and resource consumption. Describe method(s) resource consumption, how long users are logged in, time on task, usage, usage by site, module/content usage, etc. in detail.

Scalability

The vendor shall provide a detailed description of its LMS platform o on-premise hosted virtual environment (supported hypervisors) o cloud-based environment

The vendor shall provide interfaces (consoles, portals, etc.) and tools for administration of the LMS. Describe these interfaces and tools in detail.

The vendor shall provide management and administrative tools (i.e., consoles, portals, etc.) for the cloud-based environment. Describe these tools in detail.

The LMS architecture shall support an estimated 100,000 named user accounts. The platform shall allow the government the capability to create new accounts, as well as bulk user account creation and deletion in Active

Directory. Describe the provisioning process for establishing new user accounts. Describe the process for bulk uploads for account creation in Active Directory.

Describe the process for bulk user account purge/deletion.

For on-premise solutions, the vendor shall provide the government a single centralized backend administrative management interface. The backend administrative management interface shall provide management from multiple levels by class, teacher, institution, complex, and region. Describe the backend administrative management interface in detail.

For on premise solutions, the vendor shall provide minimum/recommended system requirements (CPU, memory, disk storage capacity, etc.). Identify the requirements needed for the back-end LMS server environment, as well as any front-end client requirements. Please identify any dependencies or limitations that confine the deployment options to specific hardware types, operating systems, or deployment modes (e.g., appliances or endpoints).

For cloud-based solutions, provide user session average bandwidth usage/consumption based upon educational content type (audio, video, etc.). Additionally, indicate any hardware and/or software requirements for content delivery

(i.e., caching equipment, plug-ins, etc.) at customer location.

Performance

Both on-prem and cloud-based solutions must support an estimated 5,000 concurrent users/sessions.

Solution must be browser based and browser agnostic.

Reliability / Availability

The LMS shall support high availability configurations for an on-premise solution.

For any cloud-provisioned environment offered as-a-

Service, please identify any Service Level Agreements

(SLAs) that relate to system availability.

For cloud solutions, the LMS publisher/developer shall be

FedRAMP authorized or an accredited environment.

The LMS shall provide a process of moving user accounts and data between organizational units while accurately maintaining progress and performance data.

In the case of migration from on-prem to cloud-based platforms, the vendor shall provide a migration plan to ensure the continuity of user accounts, data, and progress.

Service Level Agreements shall be adhered to for cloud-based and on-prem environments o System Availability - 98% availability for users accessing the LMS via the Internet 365 days/year, from 6:00 AM EST – 11:59 PM EST, 7 days /week.

o In measuring the availability, the platform must not be down, nor functioning at an unacceptable level of service, for more than 10.8 hours (total) every month. Time associated with prior scheduled and approved maintenance must not be included in the downtime availability determination. Unacceptable level is defined as <98% availability for users accessing the system via the Internet 365 days/year, from 6:00 AM EST – 11:59 PM EST, 7 days /week.

o Cloud-based solutions shall provide written affirmations identifying upgrades and patches that have been applied to the system or that are scheduled to be applied by COB on Monday for the prior week.

o Cloud-based solutions shall provide daily data backups of FBOP data outside of service hours.

o Provide weekly report on statistics on LMS usage NLT

COB on Tuesday for the prior week.

o Provide weekly report on numbers of simultaneous users and system response time NLT COB on Tuesday for the prior week.

o Provide monthly synopsis of problems encountered during the month, by NLT five (5) business days after the end of the month.

o For LMS problems during hours of service (365 days/year, from 6:00 AM EST – 11:59 PM EST, 7 days

/week) a qualified technician with access to the necessary systems, skills, and resources to troubleshoot should be available with a delay of no more than 10 minutes via telephone or email.

o For unplanned/unexpected LMS outages during hours of service (365 days/year, from 6:00 AM EST – 11:59 PM

EST, 7 days /week) platform experts with access to the necessary systems, skills, and resources to troubleshoot should be available with a delay of no more than 10 minutes via telephone or email for

Central Office Education Branch and i-Connect Support

Team. For outages a target resolution of 24 hours or less depending on the corrective actions required to return the system to normal operations. For on-premise solutions, platform experts will be on-site at either Washington D.C. or Grand Prairie in 48 hours of complete outage.

Security

The LMS shall support integration with Active Directory for user account management.

The LMS shall support role-based access control (RBAC).

Describe access control and permissions assignment within the application.

Application event logging is required to include user transactions logs (system access, duration of general access, time spent per course, etc.). Application logs must be exportable to a syslog database for forensics and analysis. If the LMS accesses external feeds or integrations with third-party software or services, those interactions shall be logged. The government reserves the right to deny any third-party software or services.

The vendor shall provide a method(s) provide methods for publishing courses and tests to students. Describe this method in detail.

The vendor shall provide a secured isolated space/domain for the government (i.e., BOP specific URL).

Authentication controls must fail securely and deny access.

The vendor’s LMS shall support multi-factor authentication for administrative users. Describe this process.

The LMS shall provide the user self-service feature for password or account reset.

Credentials shall be transported using a suitable protocol

(minimal 256 bit) for encrypted link.

The LMS shall provide a failed login attempt threshold with government notification.

The vendor shall provide a session management auditing features up to but not limited to viewing student screen and/or activity remotely. Describe the auditing features in detail.

Cryptographic libraries shall meet or exceed the FIPS 140-

2 standard.

The vendor’s LMS shall provide a key management system

(KMS). Describe the KMS in detail.

The LMS application shall support binary digital signature by a publicly trusted Certificate Authority.

The LMS shall use encryption for all application traffic.

Please describe. Additionally, define which ports and protocols are used for communication.

Additional client software will not require additional licensing (i.e., OpenJava, Adobe Flash, etc.). If additional client software is required the vendor will assume all cost. Please list additional client software required, if any.

Isolation and segregation of all authenticated user accounts, to include data, and organizational units is required. Please describe.

For cloud solutions, public access is not authorized.

If the LMS contains tools used for communication (student to teacher or teacher to student announcement, email, other), this function must have the option to be disabled.

Interoperability

For an on-premise deployment model, the LMS must be compatible with the current Microsoft supported server operating system version.

Solution must be browser based and browser agnostic.

The LMS must provide 508 compliance. Please provide 508

VPATs with the proposal.

The BOP reserves the right to provide its own licensing for operating systems, databases, etc.

Other

The vendor shall provide customized interfaces and consoles for Bureau-specific content, appearance, and functionality. Describe the extent to which the platform can be customization

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The LMS shall be developed at the Contractor’s location. If the platform is an on-premise solution, the platform shall be tested in an inmate education network lab to ensure compatibility to the FBOP standardized inmate education network servers. Inmate education network labs are located at the following locations:

FBOP HOLC

400 1st St, N.W.

Washington, DC 20534

Grand Prarie FBOP Office

346 MARINE FORCES RESERVE COMPLEX

Grand Prairie, TX 75051

In addition, the LMS must be tested in more than one federal correctional institution(s) (locations to be determined by

COR).

All professional development shall be created at the awardee’s location and delivered to FBOP staff either in-person, long distance (via video conference, webinar, or an agreed upon delivery method compatible with BOP technology) and/or Train the Trainer.

SCHEDULE OF PERFORMANCE

The contract performance period is as follows:

Base Period:

Learning Management System and content: Date of award through 90 days (on-premise solutions must be delivered and cloud-based solutions operational/accessible).

Professional Development (Teacher Training and

Administrators Training). Development and Delivery:

Date of award through 90 days.

Learning Management System, Support (Teacher Support and Manuals). Development and Delivery: Date of award through 90 days.

Option Year 1:

Learning Management System and content (cloud-based solutions): 13 months from the date of award through

24 months.

Professional Development (Teacher Training and

Administrators Training). Development and Delivery:

13 months from the date of award through 24 months.

Learning Management System, Teacher Support.

Development and Delivery: 13 months from the date of award through 24 months.

Option Year 2:

solutions): 25 months from the date of award through

36 months.

Professional Development (Teacher Training and

Administrators Training). Development and Delivery:

25 months from the date of award through 36 months.

Learning Management System, Teacher Support.

Development and Delivery: 25 months from the date of award through 36 months.

Option Year 3:

solutions): 37 months from the date of award through

48 months.

Professional Development (Teacher Training and

Administrators Training). Development and Delivery:

37 months from the date of award through 48 months.

Learning Management System, Teacher Support.

Development and Delivery: 37 months from the date of award through 48 months.

Option Year 4:

solutions): 49 months from the date of award through

60 months.

Professional Development (Teacher Training and

Administrators Training). Development and Delivery:

49 months from the date of award through 60 months.

Learning Management System, Teacher Support.

Development and Delivery: 49 months from the date of award through 60 months.