22Q0023_SYN_PWS_130422.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Department of Defense Education Activity 4800 Mark Center Drive Alexandria, VA 22350

Advanced Academic Program & Services Aptitude Assessment

1. General Information and Scope of Work

1.1 Agency

1.1.1 For school year (SY) 2021-22, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) will provide PK-12 instruction to over 69,000 dependents of active-duty military and civilian employees. In the Americas, DoDEA operates 50 schools located in seven states, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. In Europe and the Middle East, DoDEA operates 64 schools located in Germany, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Bahrain. In the Pacific, DoDEA operates 45 schools located in Korea, Japan (mainland and Okinawa), and Guam. DoDEA also operates a full time K-12 virtual school option with teaching hubs in each DoDEA region: Americas, Europe, and Pacific. DoDEA's curriculum, resources and student achievement scores on standardized assessments compare favorably to those of high-performing US public school systems.

1.1.2 DoDEA schools have various grade configurations, with the most common being PK-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Of DoDEA’s 159 brick-and-mortar schools, 100 schools have students in at least three of the grades K-5; 57 schools have at least one grade 6-8. Of the 6-8 schools, five are part of a K-6 or PK-6 school. DoDEA also operates 41 high schools (which includes our virtual high school).

1.2 Background: In 2016 DoDEA conducted a review of Advanced Academic Programs and Services (AAPS). Findings indicated schools need a current assessment which measures aptitude in verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal areas. This assessment would ensure consistency in identifying students who qualify for the AAPS (gifted) program systemwide. The initial award, HE125417D0008, was made on a sole source basis to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The actual work was performed by its Riverside Insights division. Several years ago Riverside Insights became its own company, and the contract was transferred to it.

1.3 Scope of Work: The web-based assessment (1) measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning in group and individual settings, (2) provides test forms/levels for grades K-12, (3) provides evidence that the assessments are valid and reliable for the age/grade and constructs (verbal, quantitative, non-verbal) for which they are designed, (4) provides evidence of the assessment use in the identification of twice-exceptional and gifted English language learners, (5) provides instructional information based on student test results, and (6) has been normed in 2017 or later. In addition, the Contractor provides virtual professional development, digital assessment scoring, and assessment reporting from the student to the system levels. DoDEA requires the following number of assessments:

Estimated Quantities for CogAT7 & CogAT8 Requirement

* Figures are based on SY21-22 enrollment (04 Oct 21) and professional judgment

2 Requirements (Objectives)

2.1 (Objective 1) Gifted Aptitude Assessment and Related Services: The objective is to provide screening and post-screening assessments for all students in grades 2 and 6 with two different forms of the assessment and to provide the full battery of assessments, as required, to students in grades K-12. Related product training, technical support, and reporting are also required. Note: The CogAT7 is the primary assessment; the CogAT8 mirrors the CogAT7 and is used in atypical situations, especially when the initial test has been inadvertently compromised.

The tasks below are to help the Contractor gain a better understanding of the requirements in order to successfully meet the objective. The tasks are not all inclusive. The Contractor is expected to develop the total solution to meet all the requirements in accordance with a performance-based approach.

Supporting Tasks (Objective 1)—The Contractor shall:

Task 1, Web-Based Screening, Post-Screening, and Full Battery: Provide the CogAT7 and CogAT8 screening, post-screening, and full battery in the numbers requested. (See the table in the Scope of Work.) Deliver the assessments (such as access codes) within three days after receipt of delivery order. The Web-based solution shall include the following:

1) Scoring and Reporting including:

· Individual and aggregate online reports that contain numeric, verbal, and graphic representations of assessment results.

· Make assessment results available in a variety of formats to include but not limited to pdf and csv.

· Provide a digital student data file and file layout that corresponds to student, school, district, region, and system level reports

2) Product Training that digitally includes:

· Assessment Coordinator and Assessment Proctor Manual(s) which includes notes and scripts for the provision of accommodations that is updated within six weeks of changes.

· Technical manual that documents all technical components of each battery, including but not limited to scaling and equating procedures, reliability, and validity of individual and group scores, reliability of classification categories, and a glossary of terms.

· Instructional strategies for teachers based on student assessment results.

3) Technical Support and Upgrades including:

· Technical Support: Provide industry-standard technical support for its digital resources for the life of the contract via telephone or by email within one business day or less from the initial contact to include but not limited to assisting with service problems, product setup, upgrades, and troubleshooting.

· Upgrades: Submit detailed information of system requirements for subsequent software upgrades for each option year to DoDEA HQ and provide DoDEA HQ with complete copies of any upgrades for testing prior to dissemination to schools.

2.2 Meetings: Attend virtual meetings. Provide the medium through which each meeting occurs, record each meeting’s minutes. Submit the draft minutes to the COR within two business days of the event. Finalize the minutes two business days after receipt of written feedback from the COR. Note: Costs associated with attendance at face-to-face meetings, if any, shall be handled/paid for as stated in the contract.

1) Post-Award Conference: Participate in a video- or teleconference with the COR five business days after award IAW FAR Subpart 42.5.

2) IT Meeting: Convene a video- or teleconference with DoDEA Information Technology staff ten business days after award, per Technical Exhibit #1.

3) Other Post-Award Meetings: Meet with the Contracting Officer (KO), COR, and/or other Agency personnel, as appropriate, to review Contractor performance, as required by DoDEA. The KO may discuss the Agency’s view of Contractor performance, and the Contractor shall apprise the Agency of any problems being experienced. The Contractor shall take appropriate action to resolve any outstanding issues the Agency raises.

2.3 Performance Standards and Acceptable Quality Levels

2.3.1 Performance Standard: Tasks shall be completed by the required completion date.

2.3.2 Acceptable Quality Level: Ninety-five percent of tasks shall be completed by the required completion date. The remaining five percent shall be completed no later than ten business days after their due date.

3 Constraints

3.1 Place of Performance: Work shall be performed at the Contractor’s facilities.

3.2 Liaison/Alternate Liaison—The Contractor shall:

1) Provide a liaison and alternate liaison to be responsible for the performance of work. Their names shall be designated in writing to the Contracting Officer. The liaison/alternate liaison shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all contract matters relating to the daily operation of this contract. S/He shall have at least one year of experience working in a similar role.

2) Notify the COR in writing regarding any change in the liaison role ten business days in advance of the change If the liaison is changed post-award, the replacement shall meet or exceed the qualifications and experience of the person assigned upon contract award.

3.3 Holidays and Hours of Operation

1) The liaison and liaison alternate shall be available during the hours of 9AM to 3PM Eastern Standard Time (EST), except for Federal holidays and Federal government closures/shutdowns. The following list shows recognized Federal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

2) Although there are different time zones within Europe and the Pacific and different hours for specific schools throughout DoDEA, the normal business hours for the regions roughly correspond to the following: Americas, 0700-1500 EST; Europe, 1300-2100 EST; and Pacific, 2000-0400 EST.

3.4 Availability: The Contractor shall make all resources available for the life of the contract.

3.5 Anti-Bias, Diversity, and Inclusion—The Contractor shall provide resources free of age, racial, color, national origin, disabling conditions, sexual, gender, religious, and ethnic bias and present balanced coverage of multi-cultural contributions and representation, where appropriate.

3.6 Privacy—The Contractor shall:

1) User Accounts: Require, wherever applicable, that individual accounts possess unique usernames and passwords that do not require personally identifiable information (PII) to access online content, i.e., first & last name and any other unique personal information.

2) Contractor Personnel: Ensure personnel assigned to this contract take proper precautions to protect information from disclosure. Collect and/or store all agency-owned or agency-controlled PII in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C, which may be found at the following URL: http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/privacy-act-1974.html.

3) Privacy Training: Ensure Contractor staff who have access to DoDEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information successfully complete the DoD Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information (PA/PII) training before gaining access to the data and yearly thereafter. Provide copies of the certificates of completion to the COR which can be audited at any time by the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or his/her designee.

3.7 Section 508 Compliance—Ensure Contractor resources, wherever applicable, meet the following requirements:

1) IT Requirement: Ensure all electronic hardware and software that is procured under this contract/ purchase order comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (29 U.S.C. 794d) and the Architectural & Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Electronic Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Standards (36 CFR part 1194). For more information, see http://www.section508.gov.

2) Deliverable Requirement: Ensure the following occur:

· Outputs/deliverables do not adversely affect accessibility features of existing EIT technologies.

· EIT related to the requirements of the contract are accessible to people with disabilities, per 29 U.S.C 794(d).

· Outputs/deliverables including functional performance, information, documentation, and support requirements are considered. Standards from 36 CFR Part 1194 Subpart B, C and D apply to this acquisition.

3.8 Optical Character Resolution (OCR): The Contractor shall provide, upon request, two digital OCR copies of print materials in one or more of the following formats:

· Digital Accessible Information System/National Instructional Materials

· Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) with cascading style sheet

· HyperText Markup Language (HTML)

· Portable Document Format (PDF), (unlocked, embedded fonts, single page)

· Rich Text Format (RTF)/Word document

3.9 Data: All data developed as a result of any work awarded under this contract is and shall remain the property of the Government.

3.10 Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI): The Contractor (including any subcontractor) personnel performing work under this contract may receive, have access to, or participate in the development of, proprietary or Privacy Act information (e.g., personal information, education, etc.) may create a current or subsequent OCI as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5. Whenever the Contractor becomes aware that such access or participation may result in actual or potential OCI, the Contractor shall (1) immediately notify the Contracting Officer (KO) in writing and (2) promptly submit a plan to the KO to avoid or mitigate any such OCI. Note: The KO will unilaterally determine if the Contractor’s plan is acceptable. If the KO determines the plan cannot satisfactorily avoid or mitigate an OCI, s/he may implement other remedies to include prohibiting the Contractor’s further participation in contracted requirements.

4 Government-Furnished Resources

None

5 Contract Deliverables

Frequency

· Aggregate assessment results quarterly

· IT meeting: Ten business days after award

· Other meetings: As scheduled post-award

6 Acronyms and Definitions

Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) – Basic structural element in a procurement instrument describing and organizing the required product or service for pricing, delivery, inspection, acceptance, invoicing, and payment. The use of the term “line item” includes “subcontract line number”, (SLIN), as applicable.

Contracting Officer (KO) – The only individual with expressed authority to obligate (bind) the Government by means of entering, administering, and terminating contracts within the limits of the authority delegated via a Contracting Officer’s warrant.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) – Qualified and trained Government employee, nominated by the requiring activity (RA) and appointed in writing by a KO primarily to perform specific technical or administrative functions on a specific contract(s); serves as the ‘eyes and ears’ of a KO to assure the Government’s best interests are protected via the terms and conditions of the contract(s) appointed. COR’s do not have authority to obligate (i.e., bind) the Government.

Contractor - Supplier or vendor having a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the Government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

Deliverable – Usually physically delivered items but may include such items as digital documents/reports.

Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) – Tabular listing of performance objectives and standards that provides the basis for a meaningful QASP.

Performance Work Statement (PWS) - A statement of work for performance-based acquisitions describing the required results in clear, specific and objective terms with measurable outcomes.

7 Performance Requirement Summary (PRS)

Technical Exhibit #1 - TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall comply with the applicable technical requirements detailed below.

1.1 Software and Cloud Security Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.2 System Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.3 Data Management Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.4 DoDEA Software License Keys: The Contractor shall provide (1) license keys and electronic downloads for software required under this Contract to the COR and (2) software directly to DoDEA schools, districts, or regions only if explicitly required to do so in the contract or in writing by the COR.

1.5 Cybersecurity Supporting Elements/Requirements and Scalability—The Contractor shall:

1.5.1 Comply with the same Federal law and DoD policies and guidance to which DoDEA is subject. These requirements include but are not limited to the cybersecurity requirements defined in the following documentation:

· DoD Directive (DoDD) 8500.01E, Information Assurance, be found at the following URL: https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/850001_2014.pdf.

· DoD Security Technical Implementation Guidance (STIG), found at the following URL: https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/downloads/.

· DoD Risk Management Framework (DODRMF) per DoD Instruction 8510.01 found at https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/851001p.pdf?ver=2019-02-26-101520-3004.5.2.

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