23Q0002 DRAFT JNA 101922.pdf

FAR Part 13.5, Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION - See FAR 2.101 & 3.104 – CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED

INFORMATION

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EDUCATION ACTIVITY

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) for

Social, Emotional, and Behavioral (SEB) Support and

Services in Secondary Schools Serving Military-Connected Students

1. Agency/Contracting Activity: Department of Defense Education Activity, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22350-

2. Description of Action: A firm fixed price contract is planned with a total estimated value of $4,305,286.50. The period of performance is a 12-month base year and four 12-month option years. FY23 Operating and Maintenance (O&M) funds are available for the estimated amount of $475,015.00.

3. Description of Supplies and Services: The Contractor shall support DoDEA in implementing a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) for social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) support and services. As part of the Penn State Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness on MTSS for SEB support and services, the program’s main components are listed below:

a) Ongoing community-based participatory research and development that expands the existing K-5 MTSS pilot program to include two secondary schools at each of the following installations: Camp Humphreys, South Korea;

Spangdahlem Air Force Base, Germany; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina—a total of six schools.

b) Evidence-based professional learning, consultation, and coaching that builds the MTSS for SEB capacity of school-level professionals and leaders working with DoDEA’s secondary students and schools.

c) Ongoing development and dissemination of MTSS-related evidenced-based school resource materials that address the SEB needs of secondary schools serving primarily military-connected students and which will, thereby, expand the portfolio of materials currently found on the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness website.

d) Evaluation of the coaching and consultation model to determine its effectiveness, acceptability, and impact on secondary school personnel and students and to provide data-driven evidence for senior leadership regarding the feasibility of expanding the pilot program systemwide.

4. Authority: FAR 13.501(a), a sole source acquisition under the authority of the special program for commercial items.

Only one responsible entity can meet DoDEA’s requirements, and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency’s requirements.

5. Demonstration of Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or Nature of Acquisition Requiring the Authority Cited

Background

1) The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) Schools Empowering At-Risk Students (SEAS) Team, part of the

Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, was awarded a National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) US

Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant (DoDEA award #HE12541910009) to support research development on the emerging topic of harmful behaviors for military-connected students (e.g., suicide, problematic-sexual behavior in children and youth, etc.).

2) In August 2019, DoDEA identified the need to develop an evidenced-based PK-5 framework in which the social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) support and service needs of military-connected students and schools could be identified and intervened upon effectively.

3) Since the 2020-21 school year, Penn State’s SEAS in collaboration with DoDEA HQ’s Student Services Division has piloted a participatory coaching model for the implementation of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) for SEB support/services in four elementary schools. The coaching and implementation have demonstrated positive initial results to include building trust, expanding knowledge, and increasing implementation capacity for a sustainable

INFORMATION

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EDUCATION ACTIVITY

framework of practice. The pilot program has improved equity, access, and academic engagement for the students who received support/services.

Rationale

The proposed project expands the successful pilot elementary school program to the secondary level, expands the development of online materials for military-connected schools to the secondary level and builds DoDEA’s capacity to sustain the program after the contract expires. The Penn State staff will provide continuity, consistency, and coherence in assisting DoDEA to expand the program to the secondary level. They are familiar with many DoDEA personnel who will be working with them and with many of the installation personnel, both educators and military. No other entity can provide this level of knowledge and experience to the project. There are other vendors that provide school-wide training support and multi-tiered systems of support; however only the Penn State SEAs team has developed and implemented the MTSS

Check-up Model which is critical to the success of the framework. Although another university or company could, theoretically, provide the similar training services, they would require an inordinate amount of time to familiarize themselves with the elementary pilot project, military-connected schools, DoDEA and military stakeholders at the three installations, and the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness. The climate and culture across a community is inextricable from community norms in each grade-level setting. Thus, it is crucial for the continuation of the PK-5 pilot work to have continuity of service and deliver into the secondary educational setting. Building and maintaining in

Community-Based Participatory Research, the cornerstone of the research model used by Penn State, is a significant predictor of overall positive change. To reestablish this relationship, trust, knowledge, and cooperation with another organization would take years to build. That is, any other organization would need an inordinate amount of time to “catch up” to the point that Penn State has already attained. If this contract were awarded to another organization, there would be an inevitable and unpreventable loss of continuity, consistency, and coherence, which would negatively impact and possibly jeopardize this pilot project. In the worst case scenario, what would have been a program that should be expand systemwide would lack the data-driven evidence to justify its expansion. Even if implementation were successful, the elementary and secondary MTSS systems would likely be substantially disjointed.

Penn State’s program of MTSS for SEB support and services is the only one of its kind that focuses on schools that serve predominantly military-connected students, including such schools in overseas locations, whose students are more isolated than those in typical American schools. Since this program builds on Penn State’s successful pilot program at the elementary level, no other business or university can provide the continuity, consistency, and coherence of MTSS for SEB support and services that Penn State can. The continuity, consistency, and coherence that only Penn State can provide might make the difference between obtaining positive results and expanding the program systemwide or getting negative results and not expanding the program.

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Contracting Officer, approve this justification for the proposed contract action pursuant to the authority cited above because the Multi-Tiered System of Support for Social, Emotional, and

Behavioral Support and Services in Secondary Schools Serving Military-Connected Students is essential to the Agency’s requirements and because market research indicates no other entity can meet the Agency's needs.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: DoDEA has done market research and will publicize a notice as required by FAR Subpart 5.2.

7. Fair and Reasonable Determination: The contracting officer has determined the anticipated costs will be fair and reasonable.

8. Market Research

The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), University Park, PA. Cristin Hall, POC, crissymariehall@gmail.com, 814-

232-0008. Not a small business, per SAM.gov. CAGE code 7A720

The Penn State grant for the elementary program did not include a NAICS code. However, both an educational program aimed at elementary educators, HE125422D0013 and a professional learning and membership program aimed at mathematics education, HE125419P0007 used NAICS code 617110 (Educational Support Resources), which is appropriate for this requirement. The keywords, MTSS and social and emotional, were used.

▪ Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS): Under both keywords there were no matches.

▪ Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS): Under MTSS there were no matches. Under social and emotional were 58 matches, none of which appear able to meet DoDEA’s requirement. They consist of a wide variety of small businesses, dealing with mental health problems, violence prevention, teacher wellness, student wellness, digital wellness, grief recovery, Afrocentric music, emotional intelligence awareness/training, changing management behavior, book

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EDUCATION ACTIVITY

publishing, counseling, coaching, and consulting. Based on their capability narratives, not one of the 58 small businesses focuses on the social, emotional, and behavioral support and services of secondary students in military-connected schools. None mention MTSS for SEB support and services in such schools.

9. Other Supporting Facts: No

10. Interested Sources: The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)

11. Effort to remove barriers to/increase competition: DoDEA subject-matter experts continually monitor developments in student information system software. DoDEA will perform market research prior to each option exercise to determine whether new sources may result in competition. If a new entity that meets DoDEA’s requirements comes on the market, DoDEA will ensure that full and open competition occurs.