26QE070_PWS-Work Ethic-v8_061526.pdf

CUI

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION – SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104

DEPARTMENT OF WAR EDUCATION ACTIVITY (DoWEA)

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

FOR

WORK ETHICS FIRST

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

The Department of War Education Activity (DoWEA) is one of only two federally operated school systems.

DoWEA plans, directs, coordinates, and manages prekindergarten through grade 12 educational programs in 160 fully accredited schools that serve over 65,000 children of active-duty military and DoW civilian families. Our curriculum, resources and student achievement scores on standardized assessments compare favorably to those of high-performing US public school systems.

Operating as a field activity of the Office of the Secretary of War (Personnel and Readiness), DoWEA is overseen by a director located at our headquarters in Alexandria, VA. Our schools are organized into three geographic areas:

Americas, Europe, and Pacific. In the Americas, DoWEA operates 50 schools located in seven states, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. In Europe and the Middle East, DoWEA operates 64 schools located in Germany, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Bahrain. In the Pacific, DoWEA operates 45 schools located in South Korea, Japan (mainland and Okinawa), and Guam. DoWEA also operates one fully accredited virtual high school with teaching hubs in the Americas, Europe, and Pacific.

There are many non-university-track, postsecondary careers options in skilled trades. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, these skilled trades have millions of job openings and will likely have even more in the future. Although DoWEA has a Career Technical Education (CTE) Program, DoWEA’s curriculum does not have a course focused on a positive work ethic as the foundation for any career track that a student pursues. DoWEA has never awarded a contract for a work ethics-focused course.

1.2 Scope

DoWEA requires an established high school, semester-long Career and Technical Education (CTE) work-ethics-focused curriculum—provisionally named Work Ethics First—with a proven track record of successful implementation, to be delivered by educators. An established, ready-to-use curriculum and resources empower students to make career choices based on the following:

Balancing the Career Narrative: Curriculum highlights the dignity, demand, and good-paying, life-long employment in the skilled trades as an alternative to a career requiring a university-degree.

Focusing on Character over Compliance: Instilling a proactive work ethic as a primary life skill, framing gratitude for the freedoms that those living in America enjoy and personal accountability as core components of career success regardless of the chosen career path—not job-specific work ethics that focus on punctuality, attention to detail, etc.

Without doing a student survey, DoWEA estimates the number of students taking the course at 10-15 percent per year—1250-1875 students. The table below has data for either a per student or per school price estimate.

DoWEA High School Sizes and Enrollment* Est. Number of Teachers for the Proposed Course

School Size # of

Schools Enrollment

Base Year # of Instructors

Option Years # of Instructors

0-100 students 0 537 0 0

101-250 students 12 2,098 12 6

251-500 students 12 4,337 12 7

501-750 students 4 2,481 4 1

751-1000 students 4 3,274 4 1

Above School Level Staff -- -- 7 1 Totals 40 12,727 39 16

* Projected enrollment for the 26-27 school year

2.0 Requirement Objectives

2.1 Student Resources (Objective #1)

The objective of this requirement is to equip DoWEA educators with the specific instructional resources for a ½-credit high school course that delivers work-ethic-focused curriculum, culminating in an industry-recognized certification that carries brand weight among employers in the skilled trades. The proposed solution shall be a commercial, off-the-shelf course that has been successfully delivered to high school students. The following tasks help the Contractor understand the requirements to meet the objective but are not exhaustive. The Contractor shall develop a complete solution using a performance-based approach.

Supporting Tasks for Requirement - Objective #1 – The Contractor shall:

2.1.1 Provide instructional resources focusing on life skills such as the following:

- Personal responsibility

- Financial responsibility

- Individual effort

- Gratitude

- Punctuality

- Productivity

- Team-oriented mindset

- Initiative

- Lifelong learning

- Attitude

- Resilience

- Tenacity

- Character

- Integrity

- Workplace safety

2.1.2 Provide instructional resources that promote the skilled trades as a viable career path that students should consider.

2.1.3 Provide (1) formative quizzes, (2) a summative assessment and (3) an industry-recognized certificate for successful completion of the course.

Performance Standards (PS) and Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) - Objective #1

PS: Provide the required instructional resources.

AQL: At least 75 percent of the students pass the summative assessment.

2.2 Instructor Resources and Professional Learning (Objective #2)

The objective is to ensure that DoWEA teachers have the resources and training to implement instruction with fidelity. The following tasks help the Contractor understand the requirements to meet the objective but are not exhaustive. The Contractor shall develop a complete solution using a performance-based approach:

Supporting Tasks for Requirement - Objective #2 – The Contractor shall:

2.2.1 Instructor Resources: Provide instructional resources for each instructor to teach the proposed course with fidelity.

Performance Standards (PS) and Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) - Objective #2

PS: Provide the instructional resources.

AQL: Access 24/7/365 except for scheduled downtimes and no more than one unscheduled downtime per year.

2.2.2 Instructor Professional Learning: Provide comprehensive instructor enablement materials and/or virtual onboarding for all participating educators, participating educators, district CTE Instructional System Specialists, and HQ CTE Instructional System Specialists.

2.2.2.1 Professional learning delivery shall be conducted via one of the following methods, determined by the contracting officer’s representative (COR) in consultation with the Contractor:

1) Multi-Regional Virtual Delivery: Synchronous virtual onboarding sessions provided for each of the three DoWEA geographic areas (Americas, Europe, and Pacific) during their respective normal business hours as defined in Section 3.4.2.

2) In-Person Delivery: On-site professional learning conducted at a physical location mutually agreed upon by the Contractor and DoWEA.

Performance Standards (PS) and Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) - Objective #2

PS: Provide the required professional learning and related instructor enablement materials.

AQL: At least 80 percent of participants rate the teacher training as satisfactory or better via a

DoWEA-administered evaluation.

2.2.3 Instructor Certification: This preparation shall include, at a minimum:

1) Educator guides.

2) Standardized discussion prompts and classroom activities to facilitate student engagement.

3) Instruction on navigating the curriculum platform and administering final certification.

4) Instruction on the use of teacher resources cited in PWS 2.2.1.

5) Instructor-level examination to demonstrate their ability to teach the curriculum and to validate student competency of the same.

Performance Standards (PS) and Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) - Objective #2

PS: Provide instructor certification preparation and examination.

AQL: At least 80 percent of the instructors pass the examination on the first attempt. At least 90 percent of the remaining instructors pass the examination on the second attempt.

2.3 General Requirements (Objective #3)

The objective is to ensure requirements for technical support, third-party digital resources, and meetings are met. The following tasks help the Contractor understand the requirements to meet the objective but are not exhaustive. The Contractor must develop a complete solution using a performance-based approach:

Supporting Tasks for Requirement - Objective #3 – The Contractor shall:

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

Performance Standards (PS) and Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) - Objective #3

PS: Each technical support issue is resolved within one business day or a plan of action and timeline is communicated to the user.

AQL: Acknowledge receipt of request within two hours. Resolve 90 percent of requests in one business day. Resolve the remaining ten percent in five business days.

2.3.2 Third-Party Programs, Software, and Applications: Ensure its own and its subcontractors’ (third-party) programs, software, and applications meet—at a minimum—the same technical requirements as the Contractor must meet, such as single sign on (SSO) and Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Level 2, etc. On a case-by-case basis, DoWEA may honor requests to waive the FedRAMP Level 2 requirement.

Performance Standards and Acceptable Quality Levels - Objective #3

PS: Ensure its own and its subcontractors’ (third-party) programs, software, and applications meet—at a minimum—the same technical requirements the Contractor must meet.

AQL: Zero deviations. All software/applications must be fully compliant prior to use, or possess an explicitly approved, documented DoWEA waiver.

2.3.3 Delivery of Digital Resources

2.3.3.1 Deliver digital materials with instructions detailing how the resources can be accessed by teachers, students, and above-school-level educators, using DoWEA’s LMS and/or single-sign on rostering platform (ClassLink).

2.3.3.2 Allow DoWEA to download resources as needed. For example, a teacher may want to provide a printed worksheet for students or a student with an individual educational program (IEP) may require the textbook in print form. Note: All printed resources will be for internal use only.

Performance Standards (PS) and Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) - Objective #3

PS: Digital access and accompanying instructions are provided within three days of receipt of the initial delivery order.

AQL: Ongoing access 24/7/365, except for scheduled downtimes and one unscheduled downtime per semester.

2.3.4 Delivery of Print Resources: The Contractor shall ship print/physical materials, according to the directions in the latest version of DoWEA’s shipping guide, which may be found at the following URL: https://webapps.dodea.edu/dodaac/DoDEA_Shipping_Guide.pdf. Unless specified otherwise in the shipping guide, ship materials to the Americas by commercial carrier or USPS and to Europe and the Pacific only by commercial carrier. Delivery orders use door-to-door addresses. Provide, upon shipment of materials, a digital shipment notification that includes the following:

Contract number and delivery order number Contract line item number (CLIN) indicating materials and quantities being shipped Destination and date of shipment Shipping carrier name and the tracking number of each shipment Estimated date of arrival of shipment and, if applicable, shipping slip

Performance Standards (PS) and Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) - Objective #3

PS: Print resources adhere to the Shipping Guide’s instructions and are delivered after receipt of a delivery order to US sites in 30 business days and to overseas sites in 45 business days.

AQL: Ninety-five percent of resources received on time and undamaged. The remaining five percent received ten business days after due date..

2.3.5 Meetings: Attend virtual meetings at no additional cost to the Government and 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 and finalize the minutes two business days after receiving written feedback from the COR. Note: Costs associated with attending any face-to-face meetings shall be handled/ paid for as stated in the contract.

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

2.3.5.2 IT Meeting: Convene a video- or teleconference with the Agency’s Information Technology staff ten business days after award, per Technical Exhibit #1.

2.3.5.3 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 the Agency.

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 DoWEA raises.

Performance Standards and Acceptable Quality Levels - Objective #3

PS: Hosts virtual meetings and delivers draft meeting minutes in the timeframe stated above.

AQL: No more than one meeting per year rescheduled due to Contractor issues.

3.0 Constraints

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

3.2 Privacy—The Contractor shall:

3.2.1 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.

3.2.2 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.

All Contractor personnel that have access or may potentially have access to Agency data in any form shall be US citizens, including any third-party penetration (PEN)/security testers.

3.2.3 Privacy Training: Ensure Contractor staff who have access to DoWEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information successfully complete the DoW 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.

3.2.4 Privacy Verification: Provide the COR written verification of compliance with the Privacy requirements (listed above) 120 calendar days prior to the expiration of each year’s contract option period or annually, as required. Note: After reviewing the Contractor’s verification, DoWEA reserves the right to ask for additional verification data so the Agency can comply with DoW’s evolving privacy mandates.

3.3 Liaison and Alternate Liaison—The Contractor shall:

3.3.1 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. They shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all contract matters relating to the daily operation of this contract. Each shall have at least one year of experience working in a similar role.

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

3.4 Holidays and Hours of Operation

3.4.1 The liaison or alternate liaison shall be available during the hours of 9AM to 3PM Eastern Standard

Time (EST), except for Federal holidays. The following list shows recognized Federal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

3.4.2 Although there are different time zones within Europe and the Pacific and different hours for specific schools, 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.

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

3.6 Nondiscrimination: The Contractor shall provide resources free of bias regarding race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or disability.

3.7 Section 508 Compliance—The Contractor shall:

3.7.1 Background: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of

1998 (P.L. 105-220) requires Federal agencies that develop, procure, maintain, or use information and communication technology (ICT) to ensure they are accessible to people with disabilities. Federal employees and members of the public who have disabilities must have access to and use of information/ data that is comparable to people without disabilities.

3.7.2 Requirement: Ensure that products, platforms, and services delivered as part of this work statement that are ICT or contain ICT conform to the Revised 508 Standards, 36 C.F.R. § 1194.1 & Apps. A, C & D which are located at the following URL: https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-ict-refresh/final-rule/text-of-the-standards-and-guidelines.

3.7.3 ARS: See the attached ICT Accessibility Requirements Document (ARD). All functional performance criteria apply when using an alternative design or technology that achieves substantially equivalent or greater accessibility and usability by individuals with disabilities, than would be provided by conformance to one or more of the requirements in Chapters 4-6 of the Revised 508 Standards or when Chapters 4-6 do not address one or more functions of ICT.

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 five 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); and Rich Text Format (RTF)/Word document.

3.9 Sharable Content Object Reference Model® (SCORM®) Compliance: Provide digital modules, if included among the proposed/required resources, that are SCORM®-compliant. Note: The Department of War Instruction (DoWI) 1322.26 mandates that modules comply with the latest possible version of SCORM®, per https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/132226_dodi_2017.pdf?ver=2017- 10-05-073235-400.

3.10 Data & Data Rights: All data developed from any work awarded under this contract is and shall remain the property of the Government. The Contractor shall ensure that digital rights to all visual materials embedded in the resources will be given so that DoWEA—for our internal use only—may use resources without incurring copyright costs or infringing on copyright laws. All data developed from any work awarded under this contract is and shall remain the property of the Government.

3.11 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.

4.0 Government-Furnished Resources

4.1 Government Furnished Property/Equipment (GFP/GFE): None

4.2 Government Furnished Information/Materials (GFI/GFM): None

5.0 Contract Data Deliverables

Milestone/Deliverable Format No. of Copies

PWS

Ref.

Frequency/Delivery Date Submit To

Work Ethics Certification Word 1 2.1.2 Score notification in 15 minutes of certification test completion

COR &

customers

Instructor Certification Digital -- 2.2.3 Certification test administered upon completion of the professional learning

COR &

customers

Privacy Training Virtual -- 3.2.3 Three business days after receipt of a written request from the COR

COR

Privacy Verification Digital -- 3.2.4 Received 120 calendar days before the end of each contract year

COR

Optical Character Resolution (if requested)

Word or Excel

1 3.8 Five business days after receipt of a written request from the COR

COR

6.0 Definitions/Acronyms

PA/PII Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information

SCORM® Shareable Content Object Reference Model®

Contracting Officer (KO): Only individuals with the expressed authority to obligate (bind) the Government by means of entering, administering, and terminating contracts within the limits of the authority delegated via the KO’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. CORs do not have the authority to obligate (bind) the Government.

Contractor: Supplier or vendor contracted to provide specific supplies or services to the Government—may also be referred to as “the prime”.

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

7.0 Performance Requirement Summary (PRS)

Objective Performance

Standard

AQL

Method of Surveillance

Inspector

Instructor Resources, PWS 2.2.1

PWS-compliant

Access 24/7/365 except for scheduled downtimes and no more than one unscheduled downtime per year

Normal usage by COR & customers

COR

Work Ethics Certifi-cation, PWS 2.1.2

PWS-compliant

At least 75% of the students pass the summative assess-ment and sign the document affirming the values presented in the course

Normal usage by COR & customers

COR

Instructor Resources, PWS 2.2.1

PWS-compliant

Access 24/7/365 except for scheduled downtimes and no more than one unscheduled downtime per year

Normal usage by COR & customers

COR

Instructor Professional Learning, PWS 2.2.2

PWS-compliant At least 80% of participants rate the professional learning as satisfactory or better.

Attendance by

COR &

customers

COR

Instructor Certification, PWS 2.2.3

PWS-compliant

At least 80% of instructors pass the examination on the first attempt. At least 90% of the remaining instructors pass the examination on the second attempt.

COR COR

Technical Support, PWS 2.3.1

Completed in the required timeframe

Acknowledge receipt of request within two hours.

Resolve 90% of requests in one business day. Resolve the remaining 10% in five business days

Normal usage by COR & customers

COR

Third-Party Programs, Software, and Appli-cations, PWS 2.3.2

Completed in the required timeframe

100% PWS-compliant COR and DoWEA IT review

COR

Objective Performance

Standard

AQL

Method of Surveillance

Inspector

Delivery of Digital Resources, PWS 2.3.3

Completed in the required timeframe

Ongoing access 24/7/365, except for scheduled down-times and one unscheduled downtime per semester

Normal usage by COR & customers

COR

Privacy Training, PWS 3.2.3

Completed in the required timeframe

100% PWS-compliant COR review COR

Privacy Verification, PWS 3.2.4

Completed in the required timeframe

100% PWS-compliant COR review COR

Optical Character Resolution, PWS 3.8

Completed in the required timeframe

100% PWS-compliant COR review COR

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:

1.1.1 Ensure all online resources, cloud-based services and instructional software meet Department of War

(DoW) and DoWEA cybersecurity requirements as defined below. Note: Software, cloud services and associated websites are rigorously tested to ensure no security risks are posed to DoWEA infrastructure and its users.

1.1.2 Complete the Cloud Services questionnaire that was submitted as part of the proposal submission and provide copies of and/or access to any software listed in the proposed solution.

1.1.3 Ensure its content accessible from the web is compatible with the following browser platforms: Google Chrome, and Edge. Ensure that any applicable STIGs are implemented.

1.1.4 Provide a plan of actions and milestones (POA&M) to mitigate any cybersecurity findings resulting from non-compliant and/or vulnerable components in 30 calendar days of written notification from DoWEA.

1.1.5 Be able to meet Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Level 2 standards for all proposed software/digital resources and ensure that any third-party resources that are part of its proposed solution also meet the FedRAMP Level 2 standard. For more information on FedRAMP, see the following URL: www.fedramp.gov. Participate, if required, in interviews and deep system architecture inspections.

Per DoW policy for cloud-based services, DoWEA conducts a supplemental series of validations, which closely mirror the FedRAMP Internet Cloud vetting processes. Contractor participation/cooperation is normally required to complete this process.

On a case-by-case basis, DoWEA may honor requests to waive the FedRAMP Level 2 requirement.

1.2 System Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.2.1 Provide, per Section 1.1 (above), any software installed and/or accessed in or by a DoWEA system, network whether stand-alone or web-based, is compatible with the standards cited herein.

1.2.2 Provide minimum desktop/server system technical specifications, reference architectures, networking specifications and diagrams, and applicable systems configuration documentation for the proposed solution.

1.2.3 Provide software that is compatible with the following minimum baseline:

Specifications Minimum

Memory 4 GB Hard Drive 100 GB

Processor Intel® Core™ i5-8365U Processor 8th Generation (up to 4.1GHz, 6MB cache) equivalent or better (Must show benchmark/passmark scores)

Video Graphics Integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 (1920x1080) equivalent or better Operating System Windows 11

Browser Environment Chrome, Edge, Edge Chromium

1.2.4 Provide software that is completely functional on a standard DoWEA desktop without the need or requirement for administrative-level user rights and/or permissions or the requirement to use or insert external media to execute the software.

1.2.5 Provide software that does not require modifications to folder permissions while executing.

1.2.6 Provide, if applicable, software packages that support unattended installation methods used by enterprise software packaging and deployment systems.

DoWEA currently distributes software packages via Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager

(SCCM) and Microsoft Intune.

All older 16-bit software are automatically denied.

1.3 Data Management Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.3.1 Provide a mechanism for batch administration and automation of routine data management tasks via flat file import, or representational state transfer (REST) based web service application programming interfaces (APIs). The mechanism shall provision and manage data objects within the Contractor’s system, including but not limited to organizational structures, student accounts, staff accounts, courses, and class rosters.

1.3.2 Provide all necessary documentation and assets to facilitate batch administration and automation of routine data management tasks, including but not limited to roster template files (i.e., comma separated value templates); data element/field definitions documentation; data interchange formats and schemas (XML/ JSON); and/or data dictionaries for the purpose of mapping organizational student information system (SIS) data to the Contractor’s required input formats.

1.3.3 Provide a single point of contact to support DoWEA in performing the required data integration activities within the Contractor’s system.

1.3.4 Configure DoWEA enterprise within its system and/or databases as the appropriate organizational entity (i.e., region, district, school) upon a request in writing from the contracting officer’s representative (COR).

Note: DoWEA’s organization hierarchy consists of the following: one system, three regions, nine districts, 62 communities, and 161 schools, including the K-12 virtual school programs.

1.3.5 Participate in a technical meeting with DoWEA within ten business days after award for the purposes of preparing for onboarding of new services and initial configuration of administrator-level accounts.

1.3.6 Ensure the transfer of any Sensitive, Confidential data including but not limited to PII data be transferred in a secure means meeting any requirements set by DoWEA’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

1.4 DoWEA 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 DoWEA 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 DoW policies and guidance to which DoWEA is subject that include but are not limited to the cybersecurity requirements defined in the following documents:

DoW Directive (DoWD) 8500.01E, Information Assurance, be found at the following URL:

https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/850001_2014.pdf.

DoW Security Technical Implementation Guidance (STIG), which may be found at the following

URL: https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/downloads/.

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

1.5.2 Provide security patches/upgrades to include third-party applications in response to public-released security vulnerabilities associated with its software solution. Provide a POA&M for any security vulnerabilities within five business days of discovery. Software upgrades/patches shall be included in the licensing cost and be performed at the least disruptive times as determined by DoWEA in writing. Note: Any exception to this requirement must be approved in advance and in writing by DoWEA’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) or designated official.

1.5.3 Protect DoWEA data against all cyberattacks, notifying DoWEA within 72 hours of an identified and confirmed breach/intrusion.

1.5.4 Perform security incident investigations upon identification of an event or at the request of DoWEA.

1.5.5 Address all information assurance vulnerability messages (IAVM) in the defined timelines to include IA vulnerability alerts (IAVA), IA vulnerability bulletins (IAVB), and technical advisories (TA).

1.5.6 User passwords must not be readable by anyone having access to the system.

1.5.7 Ensure any portion of its solution that involves Internet access by DoWEA students complies with the relevant requirements of the Children's Internet Protection Act, Public Law 106-554, § 1(a)(4) [Div. B, Title XVII, § 1701], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-335. All Contractor personnel that have access or may potentially have access to DoWEA data in any form shall be US citizens. Note: If its solution does not involve Internet access by DoWEA students, please ensure the following are included:

1) Maintaining system security IAW the latest versions of the (1) DoW Cloud Computing Security

Requirements Guide, (2) Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and (3) Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA).

2) Providing a solution robust enough to serve the needs of a large community of learners dispersed across the world using a variety of bandwidths and scalable to meet future growth, both in terms of instruction and the number of users. In addition, provided solutions shall be applicable to the digital learning environment of the DoWEA Virtual School.

3) Ensuring Contractor staff who have access to DoWEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information take the DoW Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information (PA and PPI/PII) training before gaining access to the data and yearly thereafter. Provide copies of the certificates to the COR which can be audited at any time by the CISO or his/her designee.

1.6 Program and System Integration—The Contractor’s solution shall:

1.6.1 Provide Single Sign-On (SSO) Capabilities / Platform which (1) integrates with an Industry Standard SSO login solution. (ClassLink, Google, Azure, etc.); (2) supports Oauth 2.0, Security Assertions Markup Language (SAML) for integration with Azure, or Google; and (3) authenticates using Azure Active Directory (AD) or Google AD. Authenticates using Azure Active Directory (AD) or Google AD.

1.6.2. Support industry-standard data rostering standards via ClassLink and standard data formats such as OneRoster.

1.6.3. Ensure that data storage, handling, and security meet the following minimum standards:

1) DoWEA’s information and data shall be secured in data center located in the United States.

2) The system, including its server(s) and network devices, shall be in an environmentally controlled and secure facility under controlled circumstances (e.g., using authorized personnel access lists, ID cards, entry logs, etc.).

3) All Contractor personnel that have access or may potentially have access to DoWEA data in any form shall be US citizens, including any third-party penetration (PEN)/security testers.

4) All data transit shall be secured with Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption.

5) All data at rest shall be secured with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)-256 encryption.

1.6.4 Ensure that data integration includes the following:

1) Automated industry standard form of data integration using Representational State Transfer Application

Program Interface (RESTful API), Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI), or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) data sets (ClassLink, OneRoster, etc.).

2) Encryption of DoWEA’s data at rest to include unique encryption keys for each customer on systems hosting multiple customers.

3) Notification of DoWEA in writing within 72 hours of any changes made to corporate policies for data protection.

4) Use of only masked student data in a non-production environment.

5) Integration scheduling that meets DoWEA’s required timeframes.

6) Provision of fully automated data uploads per Agency schedule(s) and Agency requirements.

7) Support of SFTP capabilities using a single set of login credentials.

8) Provision of a single data set of DoWEA information. Note: The Contractor’s solution shall support

DoWEA at all levels: school, community, district, region, and HQ.

9) Maintenance of a backup and restore plan for DoWEA data in the event of a disaster.

10) Provision of detailed feedback of what caused errors if an integration transmission results in errors.

1.6.5 System Features—The system shall:

1) Allow user accounts to be created automatically based on a file provided by DoWEA either nightly or on another pre-determined scheduled feed.

2) Allow DoWEA to be able to choose the format of user login identification, e.g., an email address, and be able to create manual accounts, if needed.

3) Require the user—for manually created accounts—to reset the password on the user’s initial login or, upon request, a password reset.