Attachment_B_-_Capability_Statement_Instructions.docx

Request for Capability Statements for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2022-23 (ECLS-K:2023)

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is conducting market research to support a requirement for 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 and will provide important information on children’s early learning and development, preschool/early care and education experiences, transition into kindergarten, and progress through the elementary grades. 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.

The 120-month contract will consist of the following overall activities: 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) national data 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 followed over time.

The Department needs to determine if there are small and large businesses with all the areas of capability listed below, as well as successful experiences conducting studies similar to the ECLS-K:2023. This notice is provided as information to the marketplace and is an invitation for potential offerors to express interest and provide information regarding their relevant capabilities and experiences. The Department is seeking information on whether small businesses that are certified as HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Women-owned (WO), 8(a), or Small Disadvantaged have the required capabilities to perform the Performance Work Statement tasks. The Department hereby solicits capability statements from eligible vendors based on the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). Interested parties should submit a single document (a “capability statement”) that consists of the sections listed below. Generic capability statements that do not address the specific needs of this procurement will not be reviewed.

• Section 1 shall be no longer than five pages, single-spaced with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12-point font. Section 1 shall address the firm’s capabilities in response to the requirements set forth in the PWS.

1) Demonstrate qualifications, knowledge and experience in

a. Managing national large-scale education sample surveys,

b. Recruiting schools for national large-scale sample surveys, preferably those including elementary grades,

c. Conducting large-scale national surveys for public and private education institutions and individuals that serve elementary students, and

d. Conducting assessments of young children using age-appropriate items and methods.

2) Demonstrate willingness to leverage relations with the elementary school level education community that have been built previously by NCES through outreach in order to

a. Gain the cooperation of schools and districts that are randomly selected into the study,

b. Specify ways that NCES can adapt to the needs of these diverse education settings in conducting its study, and

c. Collect the most relevant ECLS-K:2023 data to answer the topical and timely research and policy questions of these groups.

3) Demonstrate technical capacity for conducting computer-assisted interviewing (CAI) and web-based surveys.

4) Demonstrate expertise in survey development including

a. Use of cognitive laboratories to determine appropriate accommodations, instrument wording and screen design, and

b. Use of standard methods of general survey design and development for all questions.

5) Demonstrate expertise in psychometric methods to aid in the formulation of valid and reliable academic assessments, construct variables, and composites.

a. Application of multistage or other adaptive methods to reduce testing time,

b. Application of instrument blueprints and item specifications in the formulation of final forms of academic assessments in core academic subjects.

6) Demonstrate experience developing data files and documentation for dissemination to researchers with various levels of expertise in statistical methods and social science research.

• Section 2 shall be no longer than three pages, single-spaced with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12-point font. In Section 2 the interested party may discuss any comments, concerns, or confusion it has on the draft PWS and this procurement more generally. The Department will use this feedback to improve the quality of the PWS prior to the release of any solicitation.

Interested parties may submit a capability statement that proposes a teaming or subcontracting arrangement. Proposing such an arrangement in the capability statement does not obligate the interested party to later submit a proposal in accordance with the teaming arrangement proposed in the capability statement.

The capability statement shall start with a cover page (which does not count toward the page limit) that provides:

• The name of the company.

• The website address of the company (if applicable).

• The point of contact (name, phone number, email address) of a company representative who can answer any questions that the Department may have.

• The vendor’s DUNS number.

• A statement certifying that the vendor has active System for Award Management (SAM) registration, or a statement describing the current status and when the vendor expects to achieve active SAM status.

• If the vendor has any General Service Administration (GSA) schedule contracts, the contract numbers for those GSA agreements.

• Corporate structure (corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, professional corporation, etc.).

• A statement about whether or not the company has an approved Federal audited accounting system. If the responder has an approved accounting system, please provide the certification in which the accounting system was deemed adequate (e.g. the name of the audit agency and audit number).You may submit as an attachment, which will not count towards the overall page limit.

This Request for Capability Statements does not constitute a solicitation and in no way obligates the Department to issue a solicitation or award a contract. The Department will not pay for the provision of any information nor will it compensate any respondents for providing this information. Feedback will not be provided to any interested party who submits information to the Department in response to this notice.

Capability statements shall be submitted via email as a single document (including the cover page and all sections as a single document), either as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf document. Capability statements shall be submitted via email by 11:00am Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 to Pavan.Mehrotra@ed.gov, cc: Deila.Johnson@ed.gov. The file name of the capability statement shall be [Name of Company] Capability Statement (91990018R0012) ([Date submitted]), for example “ABC Company Capability Statement (91990018R0012) (March 21, 2018).pdf”. The subject line of the email submitting the capability statement shall be “Capability Statement for 91990018R0012 ([Name of Company]),” for example “Capability Statement for 91990018R0012(ABC Company).”

WEBINAR

The Department is conducting an informational webinar for this procurement at 1 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. During this webinar, the Department will discuss the PWS and our planned acquisition strategy.

If you plan to attend the webinar, please RSVP by sending an email with the subject line “RSVP for 91990018R0012 ECLS-K:2023 Vendor Collaboration Webinar ([Name of Company])” to Pavan.Mehrotra@ed.gov, cc: Deila.Johnson@ed.gov by 12:00 pm Eastern Time, Friday, March 9, 2018. You will not receive confirmation of receipt for this email. Failure to send an RSVP email will not prevent you from attending the webinar, but an RSVP email is requested so that the Department can track participation. The body of your email should contain the following information:

(a) Name of Company or Organization

(b) Business Size & socioeconomic standards

(c) Number of persons attending the webinar from company or organization

(d) Number of distinct phone lines that will be connecting to the webinar

Login information for the webinar is as follows: TBD