Attachment_A_-_Draft_PWS_ECLSK2023_(March_1,_2018).docx

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Design and Conduct of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2022-23 (ECLS-K:2023) Contract

DRAFT Performance Work Statement

Attachment A

National Center for Education Statistics

The performance work statement (PWS) is written in four sections. The first section provides an overview and general goals of the work to be done under this contract. The second section describes the core tasks associated with this work and delineates the specifications of the tasks and associated deliverables. The third section describes a set of options and study supplements to enhance the design of the Early Childhood Kindergarten Class of 2022-23 (ECLS-K:2023). The fourth section delineates deliverable specifications. Appendix A discusses some of the specific issues in education policy that the ECLS-K:2023 will address. Appendix B provides information on data confidentiality and data security requirements as well as the security procedures that all contractors must pledge to follow upon award of contract. Appendix C outlines the current NCES review process for publications. Appendix D discusses issues related to policies and standards. Appendix E outlines required staff qualifications.

I. Introduction and Overview

I.A.1 Purpose of Study

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the United States Department of Education’s (ED) Institute of Education Sciences (IES) requires a cost reimbursement contract to design and conduct the assessments and data collections for the preschool, kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade years, as well as the design of the fifth-grade year,[footnoteRef:1] of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2022-23 (ECLS-K:2023). The ECLS-K:2023 will be the fourth cohort in the series of early childhood longitudinal studies that began with the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) and continued with the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011). [1: Study convention is to refer to the waves of data collection by the grade level of the majority of the study’s students at the time of data collection (e.g., the first-grade wave is the spring 2024 collection). However, the study will follow all children who participated in the kindergarten year regardless of their grade level in later rounds of data collection. Therefore, the study will include students who have been retained at some point prior to the wave of interest, students who are on grade level, and students who have been advanced to a higher grade. ]

The purpose of the ECLS-K:2023 will be to provide important information on children’s early learning and development, preschool[footnoteRef:2]/early care and education experiences, transition into kindergarten, and progress through the elementary grades, building upon knowledge acquired from the previous Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies. Data from the ECLS-K:2023 cohort will yield policy-relevant information by (1) providing current data on the cohort of students to be selected in the early 2020’s and their progress through the elementary grades, (2) providing data relevant to emerging policy-related domains not measured fully in the prior ECLS studies, and (3) allowing cross-cohort comparisons of the educational experiences of children attending school before and after the advent of new federal laws and policies. Appendix A discusses some of the specific issues in education policy that the ECLS-K:2023 will address. [2: It is important to note that when the term “preschool” is used in this document, it refers to all early care and education experiences that children have during the academic year prior to kindergarten. ]

The ECLS-K:2023 will collect data about the child and the child’s early care and education environment, school, classroom, teacher(s), before- and after-school care providers, and family. Information must be collected directly from the child (including through the use of direct cognitive assessments with the children in reading and math, and in the later rounds, child questionnaires), the child’s parents/guardians, teachers, and school administrators. While all of these components will be included in the study, the ECLS-K:2023 will be designed such that the child is the unit of analysis; the one exception is that the study will also be representative at the school level at the kindergarten year. The methods of data collection will include computer assisted two-stage adaptive testing of children to allow comparability with ECLS-K and ECLS-K:2011, paper and pencil questionnaires, and computer assisted telephone and in-person interviews (CAI). If deemed comparable to prior ECLS studies and feasible for the ECLS-K:2023, child assessments may be administered electronically, and web-based instruments may be considered for adult respondents.

The ECLS-K:2023 will be a kindergarten cohort study (as such, “ base year” for the study is considered the students’ kindergarten year); however, NCES plans to include a data collection in the school year before the study children begin kindergarten (also referred to as the preschool supplement round of data collection) if the preschool field test included within the scope of this contract is successful. The ECLS-K:2023 data collections will be modeled largely after those of its sister studies, the ECLS-K and the ECLS-K:2011. While conceptualized as most similar to the ECLS-K and the ECLS-K:2011, the ECLS-K:2023 is unique among the NCES kindergarten cohort studies in that it includes a data collection during the academic year prior to kindergarten. As such, the ECLS-B will also be used as a model, given its inclusion of a data collection at this point (i.e., the “preschool round”). The sample design for the ECLS-K:2023 preschool and kindergarten years was developed under a previous contract and when executed must result in a nationally representative sample of kindergartners that can be compared to kindergartners from the ECLS-K and ECLS-K:2011.

The ECLS-K:2023 will begin following the cohort of 2022-23 kindergartners (and kindergarten-aged children in ungraded schools or classrooms) in the spring of the 2021-22 school year; that is, the year prior to kindergarten entry. In this spring preschool collection, data will be collected from the study children’s parents. Data will next be collected in both the fall and spring of the children’s kindergarten year. The children and the children’s parents, teachers, and schools/school administrators will participate in the study in the kindergarten year. Follow-up collections for the full sample will be conducted in the spring of the first-grade (spring 2024), third-grade (spring 2026), and fifth-grade (spring 2028)[footnoteRef:3] years, including collection from the children, their parents, their teachers, and their schools/school administrators. [3: The fifth-grade data collection will be conducted under a different contract.]

Because of the complexity of the ECLS-K:2023, the Department is executing the study through a series of overlapping contracts.

1. Two contracts that focused on the study’s sample design were awarded in August 2017.

2. The current PWS outlines the requirements for the study’s second contract, which will focus on the data collections for the preschool, kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade years (study design, data collection, and the production of study data files and documentation) and includes field test activities for these data collections as well as the study’s fifth-grade year (i.e., field test of assumptions for the preschool round, field tests for the development of direct child assessments, and field tests for other study instruments). Work to track children between the rounds of data collection is also included in this contract.

3. It is anticipated that the final ECLS-K:2023 contract will focus on fifth-grade data collection, data release, and report writing.

The following summarizes the primary activities covered by his PWS: 1) recruit children, families, and schools in order to follow the progress of the cohort as it moves from preschool through the third grade; 2) develop the parent interviews for all rounds of the ECLS-K:2023; 3) develop the teacher questionnaires and school administrator questionnaires for the kindergarten, first-grade, third-grade, and fifth-grade years; 4) field test the assumptions for the preschool collection such as sample movement into kindergarten schools; 5) field test the direct cognitive assessments in the domains of reading and math (or some other domain as agreed up by NCES) to be conducted in all rounds except for preschool; 6) field test the non-assessment instruments for all ECLS-K:2023 rounds; 7) develop and field test the third- and fifth-grade child questionnaires; 8) plan and conduct the preschool (spring 2022), kindergarten (fall 2022 and spring 2023), first-grade (spring 2024), and third-grade (spring 2026) collections; 9) create restricted-use and public-use data files containing all data collected from rounds through the third grade, along with associated documentation; and 10) update child locating information (e.g., home address and telephone number, last school attended) at least annually to allow children to be traced over time.

The contractor shall use procedures, instruments, and questionnaire items similar to those used in the ECLS-K, the ECLS-B, and the ECLS-K:2011, with updates and improvements made as necessary and any mode changes as approved by NCES. Information about these studies can be found on the NCES web site at https://nces.ed.gov/ecls. All activities for the base period under this contract shall be completed and delivered within 120 months (i.e., 10 years) of the award date.

The work will be monitored by NCES within the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.

I.A.2. Legislation

The Longitudinal Studies program at NCES is authorized by law under Title 20, USC, Section 9543a, 2006:

The Statistics Center shall collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to education in the United States and in other nations, including --

(7) conducting longitudinal and special data collections necessary to report on the condition and progress of education;

I.A.3. Program Overview

The ECLS-K:2023 is the fourth cohort longitudinal study of young children supported by NCES. Information about the three prior studies (ECLS-K, ECLS-B, and ECLS-K:2011) can be found at https://nces.ed.gov/ecls. Materials on the site provide examples of the work needed for this contract except the direct assessments. Examples of the direct assessments and associated materials will be provided to offerors separately upon request. Additionally, offerors may want to reference the description of the ECLS-K:2011 assessments available online at https://nces.ed.gov/ecls/assessments2011.asp.

I.A.4. ECLS-K:2023 Core Survey Components

The ECLS-K:2023 will collect data about the child and the child’s early care and education, school, classroom, teacher(s), and family. At all rounds except for the preschool round, data will be collected from the child, the child’s parents/guardians, teachers, and school administrators. During the preschool supplement round, data will be collected only from children’s parents.

Children: At each round of data collection with the exception of the preschool supplement round, children will participate in individually administered cognitive assessments. One-on-one assessments shall be administered using hard-copy easels; if electronic administration (such as use of electronic/tablet-based easels) is instead proposed, the offeror must demonstrate the comparability of the assessments with prior ECLS administrations. Measures of children’s cognitive knowledge and skills (i.e., reading and math, although offerors may suggest an alternative domain for math) shall be collected through an approximately 30- 5 minute two-stage adaptive computer assisted assessment. An English language screener is anticipated to be used in the kindergarten and first-grade rounds, and Spanish translations will be developed and administered for the math (or alternative domain) assessment in these rounds. The reading assessments will be designed such that a reading score will be obtained for all study children regardless of English language proficiency. Beginning in the third-grade round, a child questionnaire will also be administered.

Parents/guardians: At the preschool round, following being screened into the study via a mail questionnaire, parents shall be interviewed using a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); for parents/guardians without a telephone or for whom a face-to-face interview is preferred, an in-person computer assisted interview (CAPI) shall be conducted. At every other round of data collection, again the child’s parent/guardian shall be interviewed using CATI or CAPI. Other modes, such as web-based, may be considered for the parent interviews. Regardless of mode of data collection, the parent interview shall be limited to 30 minutes in the preschool and fall kindergarten rounds and 45 minutes in later rounds, on average. The parent/guardian to be interviewed shall be the individual who is most knowledgeable about the sampled child’s care and education, with preference in the later rounds given to the parental figure interviewed in previous waves of the study. At the preschool round, the parent interview shall be developed from the National Household Education Survey (NHES) Early Child Program Participation (ECCP; see https://nces.ed.gov/nhes/questionnaires.asp) questionnaire, the ECLS-B and ECLS-K:2011 parent interviews, and other relevant item sources. Later rounds’ interviews shall primarily include items adapted from prior ECLS collections (please see interviews and questionnaires from the ECLS-K and ECLS-K:2011 at the following websites for examples - https://nces.ed.gov/ecls/kinderinstruments.asp and https://nces.ed.gov/ecls/instruments2011.asp).

Teachers: Beginning in the fall of 2022 (fall kindergarten) round, teachers shall be asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire about their own professional background, curriculum and instructional practices, and their views on teaching and the school environment, as well as an evaluation of each sampled child on a number of critical cognitive and non-cognitive domains including (but not limited to) the child’s academic and social skills and development, physical activity, program placements, and attendance. As in past ECLS collections, it is anticipated that questionnaires will be hard copy, but alternative modes such as web-based may be considered. Total burden time for questions at the teacher and classroom levels shall be approximately 20 minutes, and total burden time for the evaluation of the study children shall be no more than 10 minutes per child.

School administrators (directors, principals, and headmasters): In each spring round of data collection beginning with the spring 2023 (spring kindergarten) round, school administrators shall be asked to complete an approximately 30-minute self-administered questionnaire about the school’s physical and organizational characteristics, school policies, and other school-level characteristics that are associated with children’s educational experiences and learning. The questionnaire will also include questions about the administrator’s background. As in past ECLS collections, it is anticipated that questionnaires will be hard copy, but alternative modes such as web-based may be considered.

I.A.5 Optional Studies and Supplements

The ECLS-K:2023 may be expanded in scope or enhanced with optional studies and supplements. Some of these optional studies and supplements may be supported by NCES depending on the availability of funds and approval from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, while other offices in the U.S. Department of Education and other Federal agencies may sponsor others.

The optional studies and supplements that NCES is considering for the ECLS-K:2023 during the collections covered by this contract are described in section III of this PWS. The final decision on whether or not to incorporate one or all of these optional components and their final design specifications will be at the discretion of the government and is contingent on funds available to NCES.

I.B. Quality Control

NCES is firmly committed to assuring that each project meets the project goals and that the data collected are of high quality. Project quality control shall be integrated into every phase of the project. For instance, potential problems for data collection shall be identified early so that possible solutions are tested as part of field testing. Item reliability and validity tests for questionnaires, interviews, and child assessments shall be built into the data collection efforts, and results from these tests shall inform data collection and processing. Nonresponse analyses shall be conducted as part of the weighting process, and information about the survey methodology and sample design effects shall be made available to data users. As part of quality control, the offeror shall institute procedures relevant to confidentiality and protection of data (including the secure transmittal of confidential data and using server applications that are written to be hosted in the IES Data Center environment) (see appendix B).

In addition, deliverables shall be submitted on time and be of sufficient quality (in terms of accuracy, coherence, clarity, and comprehensiveness) to meet NCES statistical standards, professional standards, and NCES and IES style guidelines. NCES expects that only minor changes to drafts will be needed for products to become final deliverables. All deliverables except data sets and computer assisted interview (CAI) programs shall be delivered in electronic format to the contracting officer’s representative (COR) in WORD or WORD compatible format, unless prior approval for a different format is received from the COR. Certain deliverables shall be submitted in hard-copy format as specified under the specific tasks outlined in Part II of this PWS.

I.C. NCES Statistical Standards

NCES has developed and implemented a set of statistical standards that set guidelines to ensure the quality of NCES' work (see https://nces.ed.gov/statprog/2012/). These standards (as amended) are to be followed by NCES staff and their contractors in performing the day-to-day work of NCES. The contractor shall adhere to these standards. A copy of the 2012 currently approved standards are available at the website noted above. In the event that NCES updates these statistical standards during the period of performance of this contract, the contractor shall adhere to the revised standards. In addition, contractors shall follow content and format guidelines described in the IES style guide, found at:

https://nces.ed.gov/statprog/styleguide/pdf/styleguide.pdf

I.D. Background Documents and Materials

A number of documents and materials (user’s manuals, data file documentation, and methodology reports) from prior NCES early childhood longitudinal surveys are available on the NCES website as noted above. ECLS-K and ECLS-K:2011 materials are the most readily accessible as the ECLS-B materials are primarily restricted-use materials that are accessible only through licensing agreements with NCES. Information about the ECLS-K:2011 can be found at https://nces.ed.gov/ecls/kindergarten2010.asp. Materials for the ECLS-K can be found at https://nces.ed.gov/ecls/kindergarten.asp. Copies of assessment easels used in the ECLS-K and rounds of the ECLS-K:2011 that have been conducted to date may be viewed at NCES offices on 550 12th St SW, Washington, DC upon request.

I.E. Confidentiality

Appendix B provides a guide to issues of confidentiality.

I.G. Contract Type

The contract type is Cost Reimbursement.

I.H. Period of performance

The base period of performance for this contract is 120 months. The estimated years covering the period of performance for the tasks in the Performance Work Statement are displayed in Table 1.

Table 1: Period of performance for the major tasks in the ECLS-K:2023 contract by year.

Years

X

X

Task 5: Sample Recruiting and Locating

Task 6: RIMS/OMB Forms Clearance Packages

Task 7: Assessment Battery and Administration Procedures

Task 8: Non-assessment Instruments and Procedures

Task 10: Production/Acquisition of Instruments and Materials

Task 11: Hire and Train National Data Collection Field Staff

X

Task 12: National Data Collections

X

Task 13: Data Files and Documentation

Task 14: Methodology and Psychometric Reports

Optional Task 15: Nationally Representative Sample of Kindergarten Teachers

Optional Task 16: Charter Schools Oversample

Optional Task 18: Increased Subsampling Rate

X

X

Optional Task 19: Special Education Teacher/Service Provider Questionnaires

Optional Task 20: Development and Administration of a Set of Policy-Relevant Items

X

X

Optional Task 21: Screening for Auditory Impairments

Optional Task 22: Production of Analytic Base Weights, Replicate Weights, and Taylor Series Adjustment Strata and Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) Variables

X

X

Optional Task 23: Sample Freshening

Optional Task 24: Kindergarten Before- and After-School Care Provider Data Collection

Optional Task 25: District Reports

Optional Task 27: 6-Month Contract Extension

X

II. Work Statement

Independently and not as an agent of the United States Government, the Contractor shall provide all personnel, materials, services, and facilities necessary for the project and perform the tasks as described below.

The period of performance for this contract is one hundred twenty (120) months. The base period of this contract includes: 1) recruit children, families, and schools in order to follow the progress of the cohort as it moves from preschool through the third grade; 2) develop the parent interviews for all rounds of the ECLS-K:2023; 3) develop the teacher questionnaires and school administrator questionnaires for the kindergarten, first-grade, third-grade, and fifth-grade years; 4) field test the assumptions for the preschool collection such as sample movement into kindergarten schools; 5) field test the direct cognitive assessments in the domains of reading and math (or some other domain as agreed up by NCES) to be conducted in all rounds except for preschool; 6) field test the non-assessment instruments for all ECLS-K:2023 rounds; 7) develop and field test the third- and fifth-grade child questionnaires; 8) plan and conduct the preschool (spring 2022), kindergarten (fall 2022 and spring 2023), first-grade (spring 2024), and third-grade (spring 2026) collections; 9) create restricted-use and public-use data files containing all data collected from rounds through the third grade, along with associated documentation; and 10) update child locating information (e.g., home address and telephone number, last school attended) at least annually to allow children to be traced over time.

The activities included in the optional tasks are described in section III of this PWS.

Data Collection Schedule

The ECLS-K:2023 will begin data collection in the spring of the 2021-22 school year; that is, the year prior to kindergarten entry. In this spring preschool collection, data will be collected from the children’s parents. Data will then be collected in both the fall and spring of the children’s kindergarten year (i.e., fall 2022, spring 2023). The children as well as the children’s parents, teachers, and schools/school administrators will participate in the study in the kindergarten year. Follow-up collections for the full sample containing the same respondents as in kindergarten will be conducted in the spring of the first-grade (spring 2024) and the spring of third-grade (spring 2026). It is currently anticipated that the final ECLS-K:2023 data collection round will be conducted in the spring of the fifth-grade (spring 2028) year.

Data in the fall and spring of the children’s kindergarten year (the 2022-23 school year) serve as the baseline data for the study. Spring preschool (the preschool supplement round), fall kindergarten, spring kindergarten, spring first-grade, and spring third-grade data collections will be conducted during the base period of this procurement, along with the field test activities involved in the full-scale administrations. Design and field testing for the fifth-grade collection is also included in this contract. Children who are off track of the standard grade progression schedule shall be included in every collection beginning with the spring 2024 collection (e.g., children in the cohort who are still in kindergarten or have advanced to second grade in the spring of 2024). Cognitive assessments in the domains of reading and math (or another domain as proposed by the offeror) as well the parent interviews and school staff questionnaires to be used in each national data collection shall be completed sufficiently far in advance of the data collection to allow for adequate review and testing and sufficient time to seek and receive clearance from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The project schedule must allow sufficient time for hard-copy materials (e.g., assessment easels and hard-copy study instruments) to be printed by the Government Printing Office (GPO). Additionally, the project schedule must allow sufficient time for in-person field staff training (including hotel or meeting/conference space arrangements) to be approved by the Department. The contractor shall expect the training review and approval process to take approximately 60 days; no contracts may be signed by the contractor with hotels or meeting/conference centers until approval from the government is received.

Tasks

Core tasks listed below describe the tasks necessary for developing the ECLS-K:2023 preschool, kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade rounds including: field test activities for these rounds of data collection; conduct of the national data collections for these rounds; release of the national collection data for these rounds; and panel maintenance.

The specifications for all deliverables to be generated by the tasks are described below. Unless otherwise specified, deliverables shall not be physically delivered to the NCES COR. Instead, the CO, CS, and NCES COR shall be notified of the deliverable's placement within an Integrated Management System (IMS) or, if requested, delivered electronically to the COR through e-mail. An important function of the IMS from the NCES COR's viewpoint is the capability to retrieve deliverables from the IMS. All documents shall be delivered as WORD or WORD compatible files unless otherwise specified. In situations where materials are not readily available in WORD or WORD compatible format, the contractor shall verify with the COR that NCES has appropriate software to read or access the materials well before delivery (e.g., PDF formats of graphically complex materials, access to CAI programs needed to test CAI instruments, database formats for data files, etc.).

The products that the contractor shall prepare and submit to NCES/the Department are indicated in the descriptions of the core tasks and the optional study tasks. While there may be other possible schedules for completing the tasks associated with the ECLS-K:2023, several activities must take place at the specific times indicated during the conduct of the project. RIMS/OMB clearance package dates must be set to allow for sufficient review and approval time, allowing of the field tests and the national data collections to start on time. All study instruments and materials necessary for data collection shall be delivered to NCES with sufficient time for revision and approval before submission of the study clearance request to RIMS/OMB.

In addition to the importance of the overall quality of the data collected, deliverables such as documents and manuscripts shall be submitted on time and as complete products that meet or exceed standards in the NCES statistical standards, professional standards, and NCES and IES style guidelines. NCES expects that only minor changes to drafts will be needed for the drafts to become final deliverables. The times to complete and submit in this work statement are shown in business days from the preceding event whereby business days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays. There are references to calendar days in some situations where that reference period is more suitable for the task. Unless so noted, days means business days in the schedule. Unless otherwise stated, the contractor shall assume 10 business days for each round of NCES review of all submitted deliverables.

Several deliverables associated with staff Affidavits of Nondisclosure and E-QIP related security forms are not specified in the schedule below but are detailed in appendix B.

The estimated years covering each task is listed next to the task name.

Task 1. Management (Years 1-10)

The contractor shall manage the collection of ECLS-K:2023 data in an efficient manner that fosters communications with contractor staff, subcontractors, the NCES Contract Officer’s Representative (COR), the Department’s Contract Officer (CO), the Department’s Contract Specialist (CS), and NCES ECLS-K:2023 project staff.

Subtask 1.1 Post Award Conference

Within 2 weeks of the contract award, as approved by the COR, the contractor’s project director and four other key staff members who would be able to answer questions about sampling issues, data collection processes, costs, etc., from the contractor project team shall hold a virtual meeting or, if contractor staff are local to the Washington, D.C. area, in Washington, D.C. at facilities made available by the Department. The meeting will include the COR, key NCES project staff, the CO, and the CS. The contractor shall focus the meeting to review the overall contract tasks, identify information needed from NCES, identify potential problems and possible solutions in the project and contract, and discuss areas of concern related to the proposed project staffing plan and other management requirements. The primary purpose of this meeting is to refine the management, staffing, and scheduling plans. These refinements shall provide management information for use by both the contractor and the government in monitoring the work to be performed.

Deliverables: 1.1.1 Post award meeting agenda and revised draft contract schedule

1.1.2 Post award meeting minutes and revised final contract schedule

Deliverable Submission Timing and Specifics: The contractor shall submit an agenda and proposed schedule 5 business days before the meeting and the minutes from the meeting and revised contract schedule 5 business days after the meeting.

Subtask 1.2 Monthly Reports and Schedules

The contractor shall report monthly on the progress made in accomplishing the project tasks including delivery dates for contract deliverables, the hours worked by project staff by task, the consumption of funds by task, cost of work conducted by subcontractors, problems encountered and any NCES-approved solutions, issues related to confidentiality, and plans for the next month. The financial status of the project, including detailed monthly charges by named staff, costs incurred by subcontractors (or projected costs if subcontractors’ billing lags such that current month spending is not billed until later months) shall be described in an attachment submitted with the monthly report. The financial report shall also indicate the amount spent on IT in the month being reported. IT costs shall be defined as labor and computing costs associated with the development of CAI systems developed under task 8 and the production of Electronic Codebook (ECB) software developed under task 11.

The contractor’s monthly report must include a list of who is being billed that month along with their eQip status. This list must contain all contractor and subcontractor employees. The staff titles used in the list must either match the titles NCES provides (which are used on security position designation forms) or a crosswalk of NCES titles and the contractor’s corporate titles.

The contractor shall immediately notify the COR of problems encountered and proposed solutions. The reports shall be delivered with the monthly invoices, which must have costs submitted in IT costs and non-IT costs categories. Incurred costs and costs to completion must be included. If there are delays in invoicing, monthly reports shall still be delivered unless otherwise agreed to in advance with the NCES COR.

Due to the uncertainties of large data collection projects, the contractor shall develop and maintain a schedule for all activities of the project that is more detailed than the contract schedule of deliverables. The detailed schedule shall be updated monthly and submitted with the monthly report. For all activities within the project, the schedule shall detail the key staff assigned, and the projected start and end dates. For each monthly schedule, actual completion dates shall be entered for products completed that month. Any changes to the contract schedule of deliverables must be approved by the Contracting Officer.

Deliverables: 1.2 Monthly reports with schedules and invoices

Deliverable Submission Timing and Specifics: The contractor shall submit the monthly progress report and schedule no later than the 10th business day of each month.

Subtask 1.3 Integrated Monitoring System

The contractor shall implement and maintain an Integrated Monitoring System (IMS) to foster communications with staff and the CO, CS, and COR. The IMS is an archive of all the documents and data files generated during the life of the contract. The archive shall include drafts (with date), E-mail communications, meeting notes, final products, etc. The archive shall identify file name, date saved, author(s), format, and key words corresponding to each document. The contractor shall design the IMS to routinely produce information about the project and enable the CO, CS, and COR access to this information remotely in a secure environment. At the end of the contract, the contractor shall submit electronic files of all archived products in a portable media format (e.g., DVDs, portable hard drive) that meets the Department’s security guidelines for data storage and transmittal, and agreed to by the NCES COR.

Deliverables: 1.3 (IMS) Document Archive

Deliverable Submission Timing and Specifics: The archive shall be updated as needed throughout the life of the contract. The contractor shall deliver the complete archive to NCES/the Department at the end of the contract.

Subtask 1.4 Security and Security Plan

Security is a major concern of NCES: integrity of data; confidentiality of information; privacy and security of personally identifiable information (PII); security of assessment items; and security of data collected from respondents. The threats can be from accidental or intentional disclosure of information to unauthorized persons, and from unauthorized modification or destruction of data. The contractor shall assure the security of the systems used to collect, process, and store data and other information for the study and follow procedures that conform to federal privacy laws and NCES privacy standards.

Please refer to Appendix B for detailed information on Compliance with ED IT Security Policy, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and Reporting of Data Security Breaches for more information on security requirements.

The contractor shall develop and maintain a system security plan (SSP) that details the security and confidentiality measures that shall guide the operation of this contract. The plan should include the components addressed in appendix B including materials necessary for the Department’s Certification and Accreditation (C&A) or Security Authorization (SA) process. Once accepted by NCES, the contractor shall execute the provisions of the plan. Data collection systems shall not be used until the C&A/SA process is completed.

In addition to the SSP, the contractor shall develop and annually update other documents required to obtain and maintain Authority to Operate (ATO), including the following: System Contingency Plan, Contingency Plan Test Results, Configuration Management Plan, Incidence Response Plan, System Architecture Documentation, and a Continuity of Service Plan.

After receipt of Authority to Operate (ATO) the systems used to collect and process data for the ECLS-K:2023, the contractor shall complete an annual self-assessment of the system as required by the Department, shall provide the results of this assessment to the NCES COR, and shall remedy all issues uncovered during the self-assessment or any Department-led assessments in the timeframe required by the Department. The contractor shall also implement all necessary changes to their systems that may be required by a Department of Homeland Security Binding Operational Directive issued during the period of performance for this contract.

The contractor shall respond to periodic data calls from the Department’s Office of the Chief Information Officer by the due date specified. The contractor shall anticipate receiving one data call per month.

The contractor shall submit confidentiality reports that have three parts. Part 1 shall be a list of all project staff that will have access to restricted data. Part 2 shall be a completed (signed and notarized) set of NCES Affidavits of Nondisclosure for all project staff listed (in part 1). The contractor should refer to appendix B for other confidentiality requirements. Part 3 shall be a summary of staff members who are in the E-QIP clearance process. See appendix B for more information about the E-QIP process.

Each NCES Affidavit of Nondisclosure shall be completed before allowing access to restricted data. The contractor shall hold original copies, deliverable upon request from NCES, and shall provide NCES pdf versions of the affidavits on a monthly flow basis or as requested. If staff do not have a clearance for access to restricted data issued through the E-QIP system, staff shall apply for clearance before they access restricted data. Please note that part of the data security requirements include provisions that staff with access to personally identifiable information have clearances in place upon assignment to the contract or very soon thereafter. Contractors will not be paid for work carried out by staff members who are required to have clearances but who have not met requirements to obtain them by the time invoices are submitted.

Deliverables: 1.4.1 Confidentiality reports, contractor staff security (NACI) forms related to E-QIP (see appendix B), and Affidavits of Nondisclosure;

1.4.2 Data security plan and other documents required for ATO

1.4.3 Annual self-assessment

1.4.4 Responses to Department data calls and required assessments

Deliverable Submission Timing and Specifics: The contractor shall deliver the first confidentiality report within 1 week of contract award. Part 1 shall be included within the IMS. Copies of the completed NCES Affidavits of Nondisclosure shall be sent to the NCES COR in monthly batches at the same time as the monthly report. Forms for E-QIP clearances shall be delivered as necessary on a flow basis. Part 1 shall be updated on a flow basis.

The contractor shall deliver the data security plan and other documents required for ATO 20 days after contract award. The contractor shall revise the plan in accordance with NCES/Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) comments within 10 days of receiving comments from the COR.

The contractor shall complete all activities necessary to obtain Authority to Operate before any data are collected from sample members.

The contractor shall complete a self-assessment and provide the results to the NCES COR on an annual basis, with the due date being 51 weeks from the date ATO was initially provided (that is, a week prior to the annual assessment due date).

The contractor shall respond to all data calls or Department-initiated assessments by the date specified by the Department OCIO.

Subtask 1.5 Weekly Project Meetings

The contractor shall meet with Department staff and other personnel brought to the meetings by the Department’s staff on a weekly basis. The meetings shall be by conference call (unless the Department determines that there are extraordinary challenges or problems that indicate the need for in person meetings) and shall focus on issues associated with current work, and on organizing and discussing issues foreseen for upcoming work. The meetings shall be used to maintain open communications between the contractor and the Department.

Deliverables: 1.5 Weekly management meeting, weekly meeting agenda, and weekly meeting minutes

Deliverable Submission Timing and Specifics: Meetings shall be held on a weekly basis unless the NCES COR indicates a meeting will not occur. An agenda for the weekly meeting shall be delivered to the NCES COR no later than 1 business day before the meeting in order to permit NCES revisions and additions. Meeting minutes outlining the content of the weekly meeting shall be submitted to the NCES COR 2 business days after the meetings for approval and/or revisions.

Task 2. Technical and Content Review Panels (Years 1, 2, 6)

The contractor shall plan, organize, conduct, and summarize two Technical Review Panel (TRP) and three Content Review Panel (CRP) meetings for the purpose of obtaining peer review of project plans and products and fostering communications with potential users of the data. The contractor shall be responsible for the logistics of these meetings including travel for attendees.

The TRP meetings will consist of 10 national experts in the substantive and methodological matters associated with the study of the education and development of children in the preschool and elementary grades. The first TRP meeting should be conducted sufficiently in advance of the kindergarten round to inform the kindergarten and first-grade rounds; the TRP may also inform the preschool round. The second TRP meeting should be conducted sufficiently in advance of the third-grade round to inform the data collections for the third- and fifth-grade rounds.

The CRPs will consist of 4 subject matter experts for each of the three panels, with each CRP being in a separate area proposed by the contractor and approved by NCES. It is currently anticipated that the first two CRP meetings shall inform the kindergarten and first-grade rounds, while the last CRP meeting shall inform the third- and fifth-grade rounds. However, proposals may be considered for different timings for the CRP meetings (e.g., to inform the preschool round).

The contractor shall develop materials for, present at, and attend two 2-day TRP meetings, one informing the earlier rounds and one informing the later rounds of the ECLS-K:2023. The contractor shall develop materials for, present at, and attend one 1-day CRP meeting per CRP panel (i.e., a total of three, 1-day CRP meetings). The contractor shall prepare pre-meeting documents with information that attendees should read or have access to before each meeting, emailing materials to panelists following NCES approval; it is currently assumed that these materials will be delivered to panelists via email. The TRP meetings will be in-person meetings held in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The CRP meetings will be virtual meetings. All meetings will be held sufficiently far in advance of RIMS/OMB clearance requests to allow input to affect the relevant field test and national data collection designs and materials as described in the clearance requests. The contractor shall take detailed notes and summarize and evaluate the opinions and recommendations expressed by the panels and provide recommendations to NCES. The contractor shall use the input from the experts to make recommendations for the design and conduct of the study.

2.1.4 Conduct TRP #1 in-person meeting;

2.1.5 Draft TRP #1 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.1.6 Final TRP #1 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.1.7 Draft TRP meeting #2 materials including agenda, draft presentations, and pre-meeting materials for panelists

2.1.8 Final TRP meeting #2 materials including agenda, presentations, and pre-meeting materials for panelists

2.1.9 Conduct TRP #2 in-person meeting;

2.1.10 Draft TRP #2 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.1.11 Final TRP #2 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.2.1 List of potential CRP #1 panelists;

2.2.4 Conduct CRP #1 virtual meeting;

2.2.5 Draft CRP #1 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.2.6 Final CRP #1 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.3.1 List of potential CRP #2 panelists;

2.3.4 Conduct CRP #2 virtual meeting;

2.3.5 Draft CRP #2 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.3.6 Final CRP #2 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.3.1 List of potential CRP #3 panelists;

2.3.4 Conduct CRP #3 virtual meeting;

2.3.5 Draft CRP #3 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations;

2.3.6 Final CRP #3 meeting minutes, summaries, and recommendations.

Deliverable Submission Timing and Specifics: For each meeting, the contractor shall submit the potential list of participants at least 60 days prior to the meeting; pre-meeting materials shall be submitted at least 30 days prior to the meeting. For each meeting, the contractor shall attend the entire meeting and then submit draft meeting minutes, a summary, and recommendations 10 days after the meeting for NCES review. The meeting minutes, summary, and recommendations shall be revised per NCES comments, if any are received, and submitted within 10 days of receipt of those comments.

Task 3. Sample Design Plan and Specifications (Years 1, 2, 6)

Using a preschool and kindergarten sample design plan provided by NCES from a separate ECLS-K:2023 sample design contract, the contractor shall refine and finalize the sample design plan for the preschool and kindergarten rounds, develop the sample design plan for the first-grade round, and develop the sample design plan for the third-grade round. (Note, sample designs for the field tests are incorporated into task 9 separately.)

The proposed design must result in a nationally representative sample of kindergartners that can be compared to kindergartners from the ECLS-K and ECLS-K:2011. Additionally, the contractor shall expand the plan to include the sample design for the preschool and first-grade data collections. Note that for the ECLS-K:2023, children shall be followed from collection to collection regardless of the specific grade in which they are enrolled in a given data collection year. The one exception has to do with the preschool round; it is expected that children who are not part of the kindergarten class of 2022-23 will not be followed. The design must allow for all children who change schools between the fall and spring kindergarten rounds to be included in the sample; there will be no subsampling of mover students between these two rounds, as the final ECLS-K:2023 sample will be for the complete kindergarten base year. Although some students may be excluded from taking certain components of the assessments because of specific disabilities or limited English language proficiency as determined on a case-by-case basis, no group of students attending the sampled schools will be systematically excluded from the study. Note that freshening of the sample to be representative of all children in a particular grade is not anticipated and is not part of the core contract. The contractor shall not draw samples until NCES approves of the sample designs.

As with the sample designs for the ECLS-K and ECLS-K:2011, the sampling procedures for the ECLS-K:2023 must be designed to obtain a minimum level of reliability for estimates pertaining to the most common analytical subgroups, such as the five standard NCES ethnic categories (Blacks, Hispanics, White, Asian and, to the extent practical, Pacific Islanders and American Indians) and private school students. If NCES ethnic categories change (e.g., due to a new OMB directive on race/ethnicity data), this must be accounted for in the design.