PRESTO Clarification Questions_Answers v.2.pdf

Change ID Changes

Solicitation Reference

Question Reference

1 Removed K.21 310-1 REPRESENTATION AUTHORITY (JANUARY 2005)from the solicitation.

Section K (Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors)

22; 135

2 Removed H.27 307-19 from the solicitation, as L.13 307-19a is sufficent. Section H (Special Contract Requirements) 50

3 Revised Phase I submission deadline: Tuesday, September 20 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time.

Section L.7.1 (Instructions to Offerors) 46

4 Revised file format requirements to clarify that cover letters are optional. Section L.7 (Instructions to Offerors) 36

5 Revised Price Volume instructions to clarify that Offerors may add columns to Attachment A as appropriate to list and describe additional rates for other contract types (e.g., Time & Materials, Reimbursement).

Section L.7.5 (Instructions to Offerors) 27; 52; 117

6 Resolved discrepancy between "Pricing Schedule," referenced in Section G, and "ID/IQ Pricing Template (Attachment A)," referenced in the Instructions to Offerors of this solicitation.

Section G (Ordering Procedures) 27

Procurement of Research and Evaluation Statistics Task Orders (PRESTO) Change Log

Question No. PRESTO Solicitation Question 1 Besides the page formatting information, are there any specific questions or any type of format that must be used to respond to Phase I?

2 May we assume that recent is defined as work that was completed in the last five years?

3 On page 23 in Sections 5.2.2 states, “providing information about IES products via e-mail, telephone, or regular mail;”, Does this require full-time phone support, or are these infrequent calls? Additionally, is the help desk support expected to provide information regarding how to use IES products to internal staff or is this referencing providing general information to external inquirers?

Response There are no additional formatting requirements other than those identified in Section L.7 of the Request for Proposals.

Please see Section M.4 for the definition of recency.

The specificity required to answer this question will be provided at the task order level. There is no current requirement for these specific services.

Procurement of Research and Evaluation Statistics Task Orders (PRESTO) Clarification Questions & Answers

4 On page 45 Section 5.2.2 states “Telephone help desk support for how to use statistical products”, is this referencing the need for full time phone support and additionally do we have a list of statistical products for which we need phone support SMEs?

5 Is receiving an Advisory Notice to Offerors equivalent to an IDIQ level award?

6 Will Phase 2 include task orders?

7 On page 10 of Solicitation Amendment 1 the Government uses the phrase, "recent, relevant,represents the highest quality of work, and demonstrates successful outcomes for that particular scope category," to define evaluation criteria. Criteria are listed that provide guidance on relevancy.

However, the instructions lack clear guidance necessary to respond. What specifically would the Government consider as the highest quality of work and successful outcomes?

No. Ordering will begin in early 2023, once the ID/IQ is awarded.

No. We are relying on the offeror to present the most compelling approach for each category, subcategory, and/or task.

The cited text on 5.2.2 is merely an example of work that could fall under Task 5. Please refer to the header of Appendix A, as it clarifies that the core requirements are outlined in the SOW, and the appendix offers examples of potential work and examples of what could constitute scope. As this does not reference an actual requirement, we cannot provide further context other than to note that if this requirement arises it will be further specified at the task order level.

No. ED will not issue ID/IQ contracts based on Phase I responses alone. An advisory notice following Phase I will be advice as to whether to proceed to Phase II. The ID/IQ contract may only issue after Phase II evaluations are completed.

8 Please confirm that the Phase I, Factor 1 Technical Volume I page limitation is one 10-page document for each scope category.

9 On page 135 of the Solicitation the government says, "high confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the contract". Will the Government please provide a definintion of aspects that demonstate an understanding of requirements and sound approach?

10 On page 135 of the Solicitation the government says, "high confidence that the Offeror understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the contract". Will the Government please provide a definintion of aspects that demonstate an understanding of requirements and sound approach?

11 Will specific feedback be provided on Factor 1 to help inform a response for Factors 2 and 3 or will bidders recieve a yes/no recommendation?

Confirmed. The 10-page limit for Phase I applies for each Category submission. Offerors responding to more than one Category are required to submit a Phase I proposal for each Category .

No. We are relying on the offeror to present the most compelling approach for each category, subcategory, and/or task.

No. We are relying on the offeror to present the most compelling approach for each category, subcategory, and/or task.

Specific feedback will not be provided. An advisory notice following Phase I will advise as to whether to proceed to Phase II.

12 Will additional instructions to offerors be provided to vendors if invited to participate in Phase 2?

13 Is a completed OCI Certification (I.200 on page 100) required with the proposal? If so, should it be included in Phase 1 or Phase 2 proposals?

14 Are completed Section K Representations and Certifications required with proposal submissions? If so, should they be included in Phase 1 or Phase 2 proposals?

15 The solicitation states “All personnel content (including resumes if the Offeror chooses to submit resumes) must conform to the formatting and page restrictions listed otherwise in these instructions.”

Would the Government allow resumes to be excluded from the page count for Phase II submission?

RFP Ref: L.6.2 Phase II-Volume II Submission Contents p.126.

No. Phase II instructions are included in the solicitation as released.

A completed OCI Certification is required with the proposal and should be included in the Phase 2 proposal submission (Business Volume).

Completed Section K (Representations and Certifications) are required with the proposal and should be included in the Phase 2 proposal submission (Business Volume).

No.

16 Would the government confirm that the Small Business Subcontracting Plan should be against subcontracting dollar amount?

RFP Reference: L.7.4 Business Volume, (iii) Master Small Business Subcontracting Plan (OTSB Offerors) p.130

17 What dollar amount should we assume to build the ID/IQ Level Small Business Subcontracting Plan against?

RFP Reference: L.7.4 Business Volume, (iii) Master Small Business Subcontracting Plan (OTSB Offerors) p.130

18 Which current ED contracts will Category 3, which is a new Category, replace?

RFP Reference: Overview, PRESTO Statement of Work p.12

19 Can the government provide a ceiling for each of the PRESTO scope categories?

RFP Reference: G.7 Task Order Procedures, VI. ID/IQ Minimum and Maximum p. 53 and 54

The plan should be expressed as a percentage of planned work to be subcontracted. Section L.7.4(iii) states: "The plan must reflect subcontracting goals as a percentage, and the plan must reflect goals for a three (3) year period."

ED has no predefined value. Offerors should express goals as a percentage of future work based on ED's listed subcontracting goals.

ED does not anticipate issuing orders under scope category 3 until PRESTO is awarded and operational.

There is no scope category ceiling. The only ceilings applicable are defined at the ID/IQ and task order level, irrespective of the scope category.

20 How many awardees does IES believe will be awarded for each scope category? Restricted and Unrestricted?

RFP Reference: L.2 General Information. p. 123

21 Will Offerors who submit responses to more than one category receive a separate IDIQ award for each category?

22 Would the government remove K.21 of the Reps and Certs referencing Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) since that portal is no longer in place?

RFP Reference: Section K Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors, K.21 p. 116

ED does not have a pre-defined number of awardees. The number of awardees depends on the quality of responses from Offerors.

No. Vendors who are awarded more than one category will only receive one IDIQ contract that identifies which categories they can respond to.

K.21 310-1 REPRESENTATION AUTHORITY (JANUARY 2005) has been removed from the solicitation.

23 Since Teaming Arrangements are not permitted at the ID/IQ level, would the government consider eliminating the requirement for a Master Small Business Subcontracting Plan? It presents an increased risk to large business contractors to sign up to goals, while at the same time being precluded from securing small business subcontractors at the IDIQ level.

RFP Reference: L.4. Joint Ventures and L.7.4 (iii) Master Small Business Subcontracting Plan (OTSB Offerors), Clauses I.67 - I.70 p. 124, 129 and 66

24 If the requirement for ID/IQ Level Small Business Subcontracting Plan remains in force for this RFP, would the government eliminate the prohibition against having Teaming Arrangements at the ID/IQ level?

RFP Reference: L.7.4 (iii) Master Small Business Subcontracting Plan (OTSB Offerors) Clauses I.67 - I.70 P.129 and P. 66

25 The Government defines the Restricted Pool as limited to small businesses.

The Government defines the Unrestricted Pool as “limited to successful Offerors which do not satisfy the small business size standards...”

Will the Government please confirm that small businesses are able to compete in the Unrestricted Pool?

Teaming arrangements may be subject to change over the life of the ID/IQ. For the purposes of proposing a small business subcontracting plan, nothing prohibits an offeror from establishing relationships for future subcontracting. An OTSB offeror may not rely on that predefined team as a substitute for its own experience and technical abilities.

Teaming arrangements may be subject to change over the life of the IDIQ. For the purposes of proposing a small business subcontracting plan, nothing prohibits an offeror from establishing relationships for future subcontracting. An OTSB offeror may not rely on that predefined team as a substitute for its own experience and technical abilities.

Confirmed. Pools only serve to provide an opportunity for future set-aside opportunities. There is no instance where Small Business X is awarded both an ID/IQ for Category One Restricted and Category 1 Unrestricted.

26 What does the Government mean by “if applicable”? In nearly all cases, as a subcontractor we do not have information regarding the total contract value (particularly when there are optional tasks that may/not be exercised) or information regarding our share as a percentage of the total contract value. How would the government like businesses to respond to this element if we are the subcontractor and do not know the Prime Contract Value with certainty?

27 L.7.5 Price Volume, Instructions to Offerors: The “PRESTO Instructions to Offerors” document references the ID/IQ Pricing Template (Attachment A) for delivery of labor categories and labor rates by individual Category.

Please confirm that the “pricing schedule” referred to in Section G is the same document, and clarify as to how rates for the 3 separate contract types (Firm-Fixed-Price, Time & Materials, and Cost-Reimbursable) are to be displayed.

28 Section K Representations, Certifications and Other Statements of Offerors:

The Department has provided an older Section K with this solicitation. If our information is current in SAM.gov, will so stating be sufficient to replace the Section K included with the proposal?

"If applicable" is intended to address the fact that not all subcontractors may know the total value for the reasons stated in the question. That information is not required if an offeror cannot provide it. For the purposes of responding, ED advises offerors to note that they do not possess the required information due to confidentiality agreements between the offeror and the subcontractor and it is left blank for that reason.

Pricing Schedule in Section G is the same as Attachment A of the solicitation. Offerors may add columns to Attachment A for labor rates for other than Firm-Fixed Price orders as appropriate.

Completed Section K (Representations and Certifications) are required with the proposal and should be included in Phase 2 proposal submission (Business Volume) if anything outside of SAM does not cover what is currently required and applicable.

29 The last bullet for Factor 3’s evaluation criteria states “For Other than Small Businesses Only: The scope and extent to which the Offeror successfully demonstrates an ability to recruit and engage small businesses for substantive work related to the subcategory or task.”

However, on page 124, the solicitation says Teaming Arrangements are not permitted at the ID/IQ level. Would the government remove the prohibition against having Teaming Arrangements so that Offerors may address the Factor 3 evaluation criteria properly?

RFP Reference: M.6.2 Phase II – Volume II, and L.4 Joint Ventures p. 135 and 124

30 For planning purposes, would the government share the anticipated timeline for when offerors should expect to receive Advisory Notice resultant from the evaluation of Phase I submission?

31 For pricing purposes, can the government provide an estimated number of products anticipated for Category 3, subtask 3.2?

RFP Reference: SOW; p.21

Offerors may present a plan to recruit and engage small businesses without a Teaming Arrangement.

We are unable to provide an estimate because we do not know how many proposals we will receive or how long evaluation will take once ED receives proposals.

The specificity required to answer this question would be provided at the task order level if the need arises.

32 Will a Q&A period be allowed during Phase 2?

33 Can the government provide insight into the category, subcategory, and task weighting for the evaluation of responses? For example, will an Offeror responding to 2 tasks in a subcategory have each task weighted 50% versus an Offeror responding to 1 task having the sole task weighted 100%?

RFP Reference: M.7.2 Content for Evaluation & Award Consideration p.136

34 Can vendors cite their own shelf products as examples of past experience?

35 Could ED/IES please clarify if the PRESTO Request for Proposal (RFP) Supplementary Information PDF document, included as an attachment alongside the amended RFP on September 2, 2022 replaces the RFP Supplementary Information Web form listed on page 126, or if offerors are expected to submit both the completed PDF as well as the web form?

ED does not anticipate allowing a subsequent question and answer period during Phase II.

There is no weighting based on the number of subcategories (within the restrictions provided in Section M.5.1) and tasks within each subcategory that an offeror selects for response. Offerors will receive one rating for each evaluation factor based on the totality of the written response provided.

Yes.

The PDF included in the amended RFP was included only as an example and is a PDF of the form linked on Page 126 of the solicitation. ED expects offerors to use the online, linked form cited on page 127 of the Request for Proposals.

36 Could ED/IES please clarify if a cover page, table of contents, and cover letter, as described in the File Format section on page 127 are expected for both Phase I and Phase II proposals? If so, is there specific content that offerors should include in their cover page and cover letter?

37 Does the 10-page total limit for Phase I apply for all submittals, regardless of how many scope categories offerors include in their submission?

38 Could ED/IES please clarify if there is a specific format or set of guidelines 'for each “prior experience” example to be included in the Technical Volume for Phase I beyond the list of bulleted information provided on page 125 – 126 (Phase I – Volume I Submission Contents)?

39 Could ED/IES please clarify the expected timing for Phase II (i.e., release date and deadline)?

Both a cover page and table of contents are required for Phase II, but note that we have made a cover letter optional.

The 10-page limit for Phase I applies for each Category submission.

Offerors responding to more than one Category are required to submit a Phase I proposal for each Category .

There is no guidance or formatting offered other than that which is included in the Request for Proposals.

ED can only state that offerors will have 30 days to put together Phase II responses so that offerors do not feel compelled to expend time, money, and effort on Phase II before receiving an advisory notification. Otherwise, please refer to the response to Question 30 for additional explanation as to why further timeline estimates are not possible at this time.

40 Which NAICS codes will be considered for Category 3? An initial list included 541611, 541613, 541612 and 541618. However, the current solicitation document only shows 541613 under "Small Business Size Standards and NAICS Code Designations by Scope Category”.

41 1. Will IES please consider Bibliography/references to be counted outside of the 20-page limitation? Section L.6 Proposal Contents: Table 3 - Multi- Phase Proposal Submission with Page Limits.

42 2. Please confirm bidders are to submit separate emails per Category submission. Section L.7.1 Phase 1 Proposal Submission Instructions.

43 3. Are Bidders required to submit the PRESTO RFP Supplemental Information form with their Phase 1 email proposals submission in addition to the webform entry? Amendment 1

ED previously released a Sources Sought Notice which may have included a list of NAICS codes. The current and final NAICS codes for each category are provided in Section L.3 of the solicitation.

No.

Separate emails are preferred but not required for each Category submission.

The PDF included in the amended RFP was included only as an example and is a PDF of the form linked on Page 127 of the solicitation. ED expects offerors to use the online, linked form cited on page 127 of the Request for Proposals.

44 May bidders add to or delete examples from the list of examples/projects referenced as "recent and relevant" for tasks/subcategories between Phase I and Phase II? For example, if we provide all the information requested (customer name, project title and type, value, etc) for projects A, B, and C in Phase I for task 1.1.1, can we discuss projects A, B, C, D, and E or projects A, D, and E in Phase II?

45 Does the Department of Education anticipate that they will want or require GSA MAS Schedules to be used in this procurement or future task orders?

46 Since responses to Offeror questions may be released just a week from when Phase 1 responses are due, would the Government be willing to grant an extension to the proposal deadline?

47 Should Offerors complete and include Standard Form 33 in the Phase 1 submission, or is this only to be included in Phase 2? If so, if this exempt from the page limit?

Yes, please see the revised submission deadline.

Completed SF33 is required with the Phase 2 proposal and should be included in Phase 2 proposal submission (Business Volume).

Yes. The only content restriction for Phase II is that offerors may not introduce new subcategories or tasks. That is, an offeror must speak to the same categories, subcategories, and tasks that it proposed in Phase I, but the content that it uses to response to Phase II for those same categories, subcategories, and tasks may differ from that which was presented in Phase I.

No. GSA prohibits the issuance of an ID/IQ vehicle against an existing Multiple Award Schedule vehicle. PRESTO will operate as a standalone vehicle in this respect.

48 Can the Government confirm if offerors should complete form L.16 3452.239-71 (p. 131 in the solicitation)? If yes, where should this be included?

49 For the Master Small Business Subcontracting Plan for OTSB Offerors in Phase 2 submission, is it permissible to use the same goals as the GSA Subcontracting plan?

50 Can the Government confirm if provision H.27 307-19 regarding redacted proposals (solicitation page 62) applies to Phase 1, Phase 2, and Task Order Proposal Submissions?

51 Can the Government confirm that Section K representations, certifications and other statements of Offerors (solicitation page number 112) should be completed and submitted with the Phase 2 proposal as part of the Business volume?

The Government confirms offerors are not required to complete form L.16 3452.239-71 (p. 131 in the solicitation). This will be required at the task order level.

Yes, an offeror may use its GSA subcontracting goals. However, offerors should be mindful of the inclusion of ED's own goals that are in no way related or associated with GSA's goals.

Please follow the requirements of L.13 307-19aREDACTED PROPOSALS, which require successful Offerors to submit redacted copy of its successful technical proposal for the original contract and any awarded task orders to the Contracting Officer within five (5) days after contract or task order award.

Completed Section K (Representations and Certifications) are required with the proposal and should be included in Phase 2 proposal submission (Business Volume).

52 Per p. 120 of the RFP, the Government notes that future Task Orders may be awarded on a Cost-Reimbursement, Fixed-Price, Time & Materials, and/or Labor-Hour contracts. Can the Government confirm if Offerors need to provide Labor rates for each of these potential contract types during Phase 2 proposal submission?

53 Can Past Performance cited include current projects that have been in performance for less than one year?

54 Is it required that all PII be stored on a FedRAMP cloud-based environment or would alternate solutions that balance risk and provide the best value to the government be considered?

55 On page 2 of Instructions to Offerors, NAICS codes are listed for each category. If an offeror is not on the listed NAICS code, are they precluded from bidding on that category?

Yes. Offerors are asked to add columns to Attachment A as appropriate to list and describe these additional rates.

Yes.

All PII must be stored on systems already authorized by ED/OCIO (e.g.

IES Data Center or PIVOT). A FedRAMP system alone is not sufficient.

Offerors must, at minimum self-certify their small business status through SAM.gov for the applicable NAICS for each category.

56 Will the government issue task for DEIA initiatives (4.4) that are not related to Category 4: Recruitment in one of the other four categories?

57 Please clarify which phase and volume we should submit Section K Reps and Certs.

58 On page 128 it states, “For planning purposes Offerors should assume that they will be afforded 30 days to prepare Phase II responses.” Is that 30 days after the release of the advisory notice and will all advisory notices be released at the same time?

59 Section M.8 states that “Fair and Reasonable labor rates proposed will be used to establish Maximum rates on the awarded IDIQ contracts…” Please clarify if T&M rates negotiated at the IDIQ level will also serve as a ceiling rates for Cost Reimbursement contracts.

The specificity required to answer this question would be provided in a task order Statement of Work if the need arises.

Completed Section K (Representations and Certifications) are required with the proposal and should be included in Phase 2 proposal submission (Business Volume).

Yes, we intend to provide offerors 30 days to prepare Phase II responses following the issuance of advisory notices. Advisory notices will be sent, at minimum, at the same time at the Category level. ED intends to issue all advisory notices for all categories at once if able, but there may be circumstances where advisory notices are issued on a rolling, category basis depending on the quantity of offers received and the speed at which the technical evaluation progresses.

Possibly. Please see the response to Question 52 above.

60 L.7.4 (iv) Description of Labor Rates, Is there a targeted annual escalation offerors should assume?

61 On page 56 it defines the conditions of “Post Award Small Business Program Re-Representation.” Will small businesses that re-represent as large remain contract vehicle holders under the full & open category?

62 For Phase 1, Technical Volume 1, can you confirm that offerors should submit a separate proposal for each category we are submitting for?

63 If an example of recent and relevant experience applies to multiple subcategories within a category, is it okay to list it once and indicate which subcategories are relevant?

No. Offerors must propose competitive pricing, and escalation is offered at the offeror's discretion.

Yes, with the exception of Category 5, which is dedicated to only small business vendors. Category 5 vendors would be excluded from ordering following re-representation.

Confirmed.

Yes.

64 For Phase 2, Factor 2 (technical capability & personnel qualifications) and Factor 3 (demonstrated problem solving, management, and small business engagement), since we are not responding to a specific PWS, do we simply describe these based on our recent, relevant work? Can more detailed instructions be provided?

65 Are non-IES examples of recent, relevant work acceptable?

66 5.1.1 – Project Program Integration and Coordination. On p. 12 (22 of 138) this task is described as “Coordinating work for multiple aspects of research project work (e.g., surveys, assessments, and evaluation data collection) when multiple vendors are developing separate components of the project.” Do these program integration and coordination activities include those where a contractor is coordinating with one or more subcontractors on separate components of the project? Where a contractor is coordinating separate components of the project within its own organization?

The specificity required to answer this question would be provided at the task order level if the need arises. IES anticipates that the contractor could propose coordinating with one or more subcontractors or propose coordinating separate components of the project within its own organization.

No. Offerors must use their best judgment to present work that aligns to the stated criteria.

67 5.1.2 – Business Case Quality Management Support. On p. 33 (43 of 138), the examples of this work relate to IT investment planning, processes, and performance reporting. Is work under this task limited to IT work? Can the government provide additional examples of work under this task outside of

IT?

68 5.1.3 – Institutional Monitoring and Modernization Activities (p. 33-34 or 43-44 of 138). For this task, does “institutional” refer to IES and the Department?

69 M.4 - Evaluation Criteria Definitions (p. 133 of 138). “Recency” is defined as work completed or ongoing during the past seven (7) years from the date of issues of this solicitation. Will all past performances undertaken within the 7-year period be evaluated the same way on this criteria, or will recent past performances receive be evaluated more favorably?

70 For Phase II, will documented agreements with small businesses for particular areas of work under PRESTO be counted as evidence of meeting the criteria under Factor 3 – Offeror’s ability to recruit and engage small businesses for substantive work related to the subcategory or task?

The cited text on 5.1.2 is merely an example of work that could fall under Task 5. Please refer to the header of Appendix A as it clarifies that the core requirements are outlined in the SOW, and the appendix offers examples of potential work and examples of what could constitute scope. As this does not reference an actual requirement, we cannot provide further context other than to note that if this requirement arises it will be further specified at the task order level.

The specificity required to answer this question would be provided at the task order level if the need arises. IES anticipates the work could be designed to meet the needs of IES as a whole, specific Centers, or other POCs within ED.

The threshold for recency is only that it must be within the last seven years. More recent experience is not more or less favorable than less recent experience within that timeframe.

There is no pre-defined manner for evaluation this criterion. It is up to the offeror to demonstrate the ability to engage small businesses for task orders that will issue for the life of PRESTO. ED does not offer further insight as to how the Technical Evaluation Panel will evaluate that response.

71 Does ED anticipate reaching out to Points of Contact for prior experience cited in either or both Phase 1 and/or Phase 2? If yes, will ED use information received from Points of Contact to inform ratings in Factors 1–3?

72 Factor 3 in the evaluation criteria notes that Other than Small Businesses will be evaluated on “the scope and extent to which the Offeror successfully demonstrates an ability to recruit and engage small businesses for substantive work related to the subcategory or task.” Given that teaming arrangements are not allowed for the IDIQ, can ED clarify how it will evaluate this criterion?

73 Will there be another opportunity for questions and answers for Phase 2?

It is highly unlikely that ED will need to contact any point of contact during the evaluation process. In the event that ED must verify information with a point of contact, then we reserve the right to do so.

Offerors may present a plan to recruit and engage small businesses without a Teaming Arrangement. There is no pre-defined manner for evaluation this criterion. It is up to the offeror to demonstrate the ability to engage small businesses for task orders that will issue for the life of PRESTO.

ED does not anticipate allowing a subsequent question and answer period during Phase II.

74 (1)Sec on L.7.4 (iv): The dra text states “Therefore rates shall not shi within one period of performance of a task order to the following year’s rates, until an option is exercised under the task order.”

Please clarify if ED’s intention is that if a task order base period of performance begins in during ID/IQ Year 2 and extends into ID/IQ Year 3, task order proposals are required to price the task order base period using ID/IQ Year 2 rates; only when the subsequent task order option period (beginning during ID/IQ Year 3) is exercised may labor be priced using ID/IQ Year 3 rates.

75 (2)Sec on L.7.4 (iv):

Please clarify if ED expects ID/IQ awardees to further discount their labor rates for task order proposals. If so, please confirm that such discounts may be applied to either individual labor categories or the total labor cost at the discretion of the offeror.

76 (3)Sec on M.6.1:

(a)The RFP states ED will use “represents the highest quality of work” as one of the criteria by which it will evaluate Phase I submission. Please explain what standards/basis ED will use for “quality of work” in making this assessment.

(b)The RFP states ED will use “relevant” as one of the criteria by which it will evaluate Phase I submission. Please explain whether work for ED and IES will be deemed more relevant than non-Federal and international work covering the same scope.

There are no pre-defined standards for quality of work. This is for the offeror to demonstrate to the best of its ability. There is no priority given to work performed for ED/IES over work performed for non- Federal entities.

Correct. Pricing is defined by the period of performance at the task order level, and the initial pricing (i.e., the Base Period) of the task order is tied to the current period of performance of the ID/IQ at the time the RFQ is submitted.

Each offeror is free to propose labor categories appropriate for the work that it anticipates supporting. It is highly likely that Ordering Contracting Officers will ask for discounts at the task order level each time a Request for Quote is issued against the PRESTO ID/IQ. That said, offerors are invited to propose their most competitive pricing at the ID/IQ level.

77 (4)FAQs 5.2 states that there is no advantage given to offerors who respond to the upper limit of subcategories/tasks.

(a)Please confirm that this response implies that offerors who respond to the minimum number of subcategories within a category will be evaluated on equal terms with offerors responding to more than the minimum number of subcategories. (In other words, an offeror responding to the minimum number of subcategories is not disadvantaged in any aspect of the evaluation criteria compared to offerors who respond to more than the minimum number of subcategories).

(b)Please confirm that this response implies that offerors who respond to only a single task within each of the minimum number of subcategories will be evaluated on equal terms with offerors responding to more than the one task per subcategory. In other words, taking Category 1 as an a example, if Offeror A responds to a single task in each of two subcategories (the minimum number of subcategories that must be addressed) for a total of two tasks, Offeror A id not disadvantaged in any aspect of the evaluation criteria compared to Offeror B, who responds to all 21 tasks across all three subcategories (i.e., demonstrated breadth of experience has no importance in the evaluation of offers).

78 (5)Sec on M.6.2:

Please clarify how ED will evaluate the “scope and extent to which the Offeror successfully demonstrates an ability to recruit and engage small businesses for substantive work related to the subcategory or risk.” For example, can this be demonstrated by prior work with small businesses or letters of commitment for future work.

An offeror responding to the minimum number of subcategories is not disadvantaged simply for responding to the minimum number of subcategories. ED will evaluate the content against the stated criterion.

There is no pre-defined manner for evaluation this criterion. It is up to the offeror to demonstrate the ability to engage small businesses for task orders that will issue for the life of PRESTO. ED does not offer further insight as to how the Technical Evaluation Panel will evaluate that response.

79 (6)Sec on C.2:

Please clarify whether technical capability for subcategory 4.4 on pages 41 and 42 will be evaluated on ability to conduct work in each of the bullets and sub-bullets or if the response can focus on a subset of the topics.

80 Please clarify whether the government is requesting separate submissions of 10 pages each per scope category (in reference to L.7 in the solicitation) for Phase I Demonstrated Prior Experience or one 10 page submission with all scope categories included.

81 We have recently received an updated DCAA audit letter marked “CUI:

PROPIN”. PROPIN is defined as “material and information relating to, or associated with, a company's products, business, or activities, including but not limited to financial information; data or statements; trade secrets;

product research and development; existing and future product designs and performance specifications. During Phase II, will the government accept an encrypted submission of our audit letter to verify our adequate accounting system?

The cited text on 4.4 is merely an example of work that could fall under Task 4. Please refer to the header of Appendix A as it clarifies that the core requirements are outlined in the SOW, and the appendix offers examples of potential work and examples of what could constitute scope. The response should focus on Section 4.4 of the SOW, and can address a subset of the requirements listed there.

The 10-page limit for Phase I applies for each Category submission.

Offerors responding to more than one Category are required to submit a Phase I proposal for each Category .

82 Relative to Section L – Instructions to Offerors: Can the Government provide the time frame anticipated to complete its evaluations of Phase I submissions?

83 Relative to Section L – Instructions to Offerors, Phase II-Volume II Submission Contents: The Volume II Submission Contents section of the instructions does not provide guidance on what will be required for Factors 2 and 3 beyond personnel information. The evaluation criteria provides basic insight into what will be evaluated however it is unclear what content the Government is expecting for these two factors. Will the government please clarify the instructions for Factors 2 and 3 with consideration that this is an IDIQ? For example, it may benefit the Government to consider requiring a scenario response tied to the Examples for PRESTO appendix for the technical approach.

84 Relative to Section L – Instructions to Offerors, L.3.1: Will the Government please confirm that the Small Business percentages represented in Table 2 are the percentage requirements of all subcontracted dollars at the specific Task Order level? For example, the percentage requirement for a Large Business Prime to subcontract to a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) is 8.25% of the total subcontracted dollars?

We are unable to provide an estimate because we do not know how many proposals we will receive or how long evaluation will take once ED receives proposals.

We decline to revise this section so as to afford the greatest degree of flexibility in response. Offerors must use their best judgment to propose content that is most appropriate for Phase II.

Confirmed. The subcontracting plan represents cumulative percentages of dollars across all issued task orders.

85 Relative to SOW, 3.1 Communications Planning and Management: With regard to supporting day-to-day functions of the CMO, does the government anticipate that these activities would include editorial planning support and/or stand-up of communications governance efforts?

86 Relative to SOW, 3.2.4 Social Media: With regard to section 3.2.4 Social Media: does the government anticipate needing support in overall management of the agency's social media channels (e.g. calendar management, posting of assets live to channels)? Furthermore, does the government anticipate needing support in designing the overall social media strategy?

87 Will the contractor be required to review, edit, and/or develop messages and materials in languages other than English? If so, please list the languages required.

88 Please confirm that the page limit for Phase I: Demonstrated Past Performance is 10 pages, not including the cover page and table of contents.

These activities would be in the scope of the contract; however if appropriate, these activities would defined at the task order level.

Other languages may be necessary but have not been identified.

These activities would be in the scope of the contract; however if appropriate, these activities would defined at the task order level.

The 10-page limit for Phase I applies for each Category submission.

Offerors responding to more than one Category are required to submit a Phase I proposal for each Category . Section L.7 - Item 6 defines further exclusions from the page limitation.

These activities would be in the scope of the contract; however if appropriate, these activities would defined at the task order level.

89 Please confirm that the offeror may include links to work samples within Phase I: Demonstrated Past Performance, to further illustrate work completed.

90 Please confirm that the page limit for Phase II Factor 2 (Technical Capability & Personal Qualifications) and Factor 3 (Demonstrated Problem Solving, Management, and Small Business Engagement) is 20 pages total, not including the cover pages and table of contents.

91 Please confirm that in the Phase II, Volume II submission, offers can include staff resumes as an appendix, excluded from the technical page limitations.

92 Please confirm that in the Phase II, Volume II submission, small business offerors are exempted from providing a response to small business engagement within Factor 3: Demonstrated Problem Solving, Management, and Small Business Engagement.

No. ED will not evaluate material outside of the four corners of the page proposal.

We confirm that the Phase II technical proposal (encompassing both Factors 2 and 3) is 20 pages as defined in Section L.6.

No. Please see Section L.6.2 - Personnel Information

Confirmed. Small business offerors must address all other elements of Factor 3, but are not required to address Small Business Engagement.

93 Please confirm that in the Business Volume submission, small business offerors are exempted from providing a master small business subcontracting plan.

94 What is the anticipated deadline for Phase II, and will the government provide an additional opportunity for offerors to ask questions prior to the Phase II submission deadline?

95 Please confirm that the Business Volume requires two separate files – a PDF file containing the business volume narrative and an excel file containing proposed ID/IQ labor rates.

96 When does the government expect to issue the advisory notifications?

Please confirm that ID/IQ awardees will have the opportunity to ask questions in advance of the proposal submission deadline for each Task Order solicitation issued under the ID/IQ.

We are unable to provide an estimate because we do not know how many proposals we will receive or how long evaluation will take once ED receives proposals. ED does not anticipate allowing a subsequent question and answer period during Phase II.

Confirmed.

We are unable to provide an estimate because we do not know how many proposals we will receive or how long evaluation will take once ED receives proposals. ED does not anticipate allowing a subsequent question and answer period during Phase II.

97 The PRESTO Instructions to Offerors, Section L.8.1 Phase I Proposal Submission Instructions document states, “The proposal submission for Phase I, Demonstrated Prior Experience, shall be received on or before 5:00 PM Eastern Time on September 13, 2022.” However, the Procurement Notice on the SAM.gov site and the “Description” field on the GovWin Procurement Notice site both state, “Please disregard the dates in Section L. at this time as this document is in draft form and the links to the MS Forms in Section L are not included intentionally at this time.” Please confirm that nothing needs to be submitted by September 13, 2022.

98 Will IES allow international project references to substantiate expertise for subtasks listed in PRESTO?

99 Please confirm which category and subtask would NAEP data releases and communications related to NAEP data releases be categorized?

This question is referring to the draft documents that were posted with the presolicitation notice to allow for industry to have more time to review the Department's documents prior to release of the Solicitation. L.7.1 Phase I Proposal Submission Instructions of the solicitation (P.128) has the most recent deadline. Please continue to monitor amendments for future date changes.

Yes. Please see L.6.1.

Depending on the aspects of the work involved, this could fall under categories 1 or 3. The specificity required to answer this question would be provided in a Task Order Statement of Work if the need arises.

100 Is security clearance for personnel a requirement for these categories?

101 Under which category would IES request machine learning research or assessment technology services?

102 As stated in L.4, teaming arrangements are only permitted at the task order level once the ID/IQ is established; therefore, how do we determine subcontractors, specifically small business partners, in Phase II?

103 Which small and socioeconomic business contract goals listed in L.3.1, Table 2, apply to an "Other Than Small Business" (OTSB)? Do these goals apply per Category?

Potentially. Clearances would be defined at the task order level depending on the level of access to students, PII, ED systems, or any other instance where policy would trigger the need for a clearance.

This would fall under Category 2. See subcategories 2.3 and 2.6

Offerors may present a plan to recruit and engage small businesses without a Teaming Arrangement.

Subcontracting goals. Yes, these apply across each category (except in Category 5 where a subcontracting plan is not required due to the small business set-aside).

104 As described in L.7.4, (iii), should the Master Small Business Subcontracting agreement cover all categories or are individual small business subcontracting plans required for each category?

105 How is an OTSB evaluated for “successfully demonstrates an ability to recruit and engage small businesses for substantive work related to the subcategory or task,” as stated in M.6.2, Factor 3?

106 In Phase I, will IES consider previous PRESTO work by bidders’ team members performed or completed for other contractors?

107 Once a contractor is awarded in Phase I under a specific category, is the contractor eligible to bid on task orders across all scope categories?

No. Demonstrated experience needs to come from the organization.

Individual experience may be highlighted in Phase II.

No contractor will be awarded in Phase I -- the ID/IQ will issue following Phase II. Once awarded, there may be opportunities to compete task orders across multiple scope categories. As an example, an ID/IQ holder in Category 5 may not bid on a Request for Quote issued only under Category 3. But, a Contracting Officer may open competition to more than one categories of all categories if appropriate for the individual requirement.

The Master Small Business Subcontracting agreement shall cover all categories an offeror proposes to if the offeror plans to utilize the same goals for each category. If an offeror plans to utilize different goals for multiple categories, those are to be illustrated in the plan and submitted in one subcontracting agreement.

There is no pre-defined manner for evaluation this criterion. It is up to the offeror to demonstrate the ability to engage small businesses for task orders that will issue for the life of PRESTO.

108 Given the length of the awarded contract will be five years, please clarify so we understand the approximate volume of work required for each task or subcategory. For example, for subcategory 2.3 Item Development (p. 8), the number of items the Government expects to develop over the five years or per year. Similarly for category 3: Communications and Outreach, the number of meetings and/or products for which the Government is expecting support, per year or over five years.

109 Please clarify the current structure of the Communications Management Office? Are you looking to change or expand it?

110 Given the potential breadth of the communications support needed in this solicitation, is there a better estimate of what/how many projects IES will need support with and a corresponding timeline so that we can best staff the team?

111 Will a downloaded version of the RFP Supplementary Information web form be provided in advance to view before final submission?

There is no pre-defined amount of work to be competed. Work will only be competed and acquired at the task order level.

If appropriate, this will be defined at the task order level.

If appropriate, this will be defined at the task order level.

A downloadable copy of the form was included in the solicitation (posted on September 2, 2022). You may also access the live form (linked on page 127 of the solicitation) now to view what data is required for submission.

112 What is the targeted date for the release of Phase II’s RFP?

113 Reading and interpretation of FAR 9.601 is confusing, as it appears that a partnership and joint venture are totally different business arrangements.

Prohibiting partnerships can limit a small business experience and past performance to quality for Phase I. For the purposes of this RFP, are teaming and partnership agreements considered as the same arrangement? Will you reconsider allowing small businesses to partner or have subcontractors for Phase I?

114 For Phase II – Volume II Submission Contents – does the example mean that each subtask within the category scope requires its own proposal submission?

115 Will questions be allowed for Phase II?

We are unable to provide an estimate because we do not know how many proposals we will receive or how long evaluation will take once ED receives proposals.

A partnership and a joint venture are different arrangements. ID/IQ holders, both OTSB and SBs, must demonstrate experience in category-specific content areas in order to join the ID/IQ. Teaming will be permitted at the task order level for specific requirements.

No. The Phase II Technical response is category-limited.

ED does not anticipate allowing a subsequent question and answer period during Phase II.

116 Can the government provide Attachment A: Labor Category Rate Card as an Excel file?

117 Are offerors to propose loaded rates for Contractor Site and/or Government Site locations?

118 Since Task Orders may be Cost Reimbursable, are offerors to submit unloaded and loaded rates for each proposed labor category to be included in the awarded IDIQ?

119 Will small business awardees be required to recertify small business status each year of the contract?

Attachment A has been provided as an excel file (uploaded August 30,2022).

If offerors have variable rates for on- and off-site rates, then offerors are free to add a column to Attachment A to provide those rates.

Offerors may submit rates for both Firm-Fixed Price, Time and Material, and Cost Reimbursable work in Attachment A. At the task order level, the Ordering Contracting Officer may request supporting information for direct and indirect costs.

Recertification may occur at the exercise of the ID/IQ option period, but…