91990024R0019 Amendment 0001 SF30signed.pdf

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing items 8 and 15, and returning or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1. CONTRACT ID CODE

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQUISITION NUMBER 5. PROJECT NUMBER (If applicable)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6) CODE

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 11/2016)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

FACILITY CODE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended. is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required) copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS. IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER NUMBER

IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation data, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15C. DATE SIGNED

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16C. DATE SIGNED

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

PAGE OF PAGES

6. ISSUED BY CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (X)

CODE

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

Previous edition unusable

The purpose of this Amendment 0001 is to provide responses to the vendor asked questions. The due date for proposals remains unchanged at June 28, 2024 at 2:00PM ET.

1 3

91990024R00190001 JUN 13, 2024

CAMLBJ

US Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue SW, LBJ-2C274 Washington DC 20202

See Block 6

91990024R0019

MAY 31, 2024

See Schedule

Attachment Page

PAGE 2 OF 3 91990024R00190001

Question # Page

Number PWS / RFQ Reference Vendor Question Department Response

1 Pg 6 C.1 Task Order Procedures What are the specific criteria for issuing a task order on a Fixed Price, Cost-Reimbursement, or Time & Materials basis?

The Government will determine the most appropriate contract type for any future task order based on how a particular contract type, Cost-Reimbursement, Fixed Price, Time & Materials, or a hybrid approach, will best meet the Government's requirements, while also considering the respective risks. Task Order 0001 is anticipated to be Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF).

2 Pg 6 C.1 Task Order Procedures Could you provide examples of acceptable electronic commerce methods for task order requests?

Please refer to FAR 4.5 Electronic Commerce in Contracting.

3 Pg 9 C.2 IDIQ Performance Work Statement

What are the evaluation criteria for the Career Pathways Programs under Perkins V?

If the question is referring to the Government's evaluation criteria for awarding an Indefinite Delivery- Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, please see Section M in the Request for Proposal (RFP), "Evaluation Factors for Award," (pp. 80-85).

4 Pg 12 C.2 IDIQ Performance Work Statement

What is the process for gathering advice from the Technical Working Group (TWG)?

As noted on p. 14, the Technical Working Group (TWG) advises by providing feedback and suggestions to the contractor and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), typically as part of meetings where the contractor presents evaluation plans or results and seeks TWG input in real time, or by providing written feedback after a review of materials sent by the contractor.

5 Pg 39 C.3 Task Order 0001 Performance Work Statement

What are the expected outcomes of Task Order 0001 in relation to the evaluation of Career Pathways Programs?

Policy-relevant findings from Task Order 0001 will be used to inform the National Evaluation of Career and Technical Education under Perkins V (NECTEP), an evaluation mandated by the Strenghtening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (also referred to as Perkins V), and will be highlighted in a biennial update/report to Congress. The NECTEP is not the same as the "Evaluating Career Pathways Programs and Strategies," which is the title of this IDIQ contract and is intended to encompass a broader array of related career pathways programs across federal statutes.

6 Pg 41 C.3 Task Order 0001 Performance Work Statement

How should the contractor define a "course" for the purpose of this evaluation?

As noted on pp. 40-41, this is a key analytic consideration that the study contractor will need to address and that offerors should discuss in their proposal.

7 PWS

In the deliverables schedule, the subtask for Task 9 is labelled as

3.1 2019 NAEP data for 12th graders and 2019 HSTS data. Should this be labelled as 9.1 2019 NAEP data for 12th graders and 2019 HSTS data?

The deliverable number should read, "9.1" as "3.1" is an error.

8 Pg 75 RFQ

On p. 75, the RFP states, “To support the review of past performance, offerors shall submit identifying information such as the title, contract number, award date, end date, and client contact information for all projects cited in Part 1 and Part 2 as relevant corporate and staff experience, with the first three listed being the most relevant.” Could this information be included in an appendix and excluded from the page limit?

Otherwise, offerors that have many relevant projects will be penalized, with less space to devote to other aspects of the proposal than offerors with few relevant projects.

Per p. 75, offerors shall submit identifying informaton such as title, contract number, award date, end date and client contact information for all projects cited in Part 1. That information may be included in a table in the appendix and excluded from the page limit.

However, offerors are to be reminded that this appendix should not be used to provide details on how previous contracts are substantively relevant to the proposed IDIQ. That relevance needs to be established in and integrated into the main body of the proposal.

Specific relevant staff experience can also be further elaborated in the resumes, but should not exclusively be relegated to the resumes.

Attachment Page

PAGE 3 OF 3 91990024R00190001

9 Pg 75 RFQ

Technical, solicitation page 75: To support the review of past performance, offerors shall submit identifying information such as the title, contract number, award date, end date, and client contact information for all projects cited in Part 1 only as relevant corporate and staffing experience, with the first three listed being the most relevant.” Can this list go into an appendix?

Should this list include all projects cited in Part 1 or only projects named under “relevant corporate experience?

The identifying information (title, contract number, award date, end date, and client contact information) may be included in a table in the appendix and excluded from the page limit. However, offerors are to be reminded that this appendix should not be used to provide details on how previous contracts are substantively relevant to the proposed IDIQ. That relevance needs to be established in and integrated into the main body of the proposal. Specific relevant staff experience can also be further elaborated in the resumes, but should not exclusively be relegated to the resumes.

Offerors should include all projects cited in Part 1 as relevant corporate and staffing experience, with the first three listed being the most relevant.

10 RFQ

The IDIQ solicitation requires 508 compliant deliverables. Is there a requirement to submit a completed VPAT or accessibility checklist with the proposal?

The Government will require 508-compliant deliverables where noted in the RFP. A completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) or accessibility checklist is not a requirement of the RFP.

11 Pg 37 RFQ Page 37 of the IDIQ solicitation mentions using Government IT equipment. Will the use of Government IT equipment be required to fulfill any of the task orders under this IDIQ?

The use of Government information technology (IT) equipment will not be required for Task Order 0001.

Subsequent task orders issued under the IDIQ contract will specify whether Government IT equipment must be used.

12 Pg 80 Section M Evaluation Factors for Award

How will the cost or price reasonableness be determined for each task order?

Reasonable ness is determined in accordance with FAR 31.201-3.

13 Small Business Section What is the government's intent regarding small business awards for this contract? Are there specific set-aside goals or requirements?

Please refer to Section M - Evaluation Criteria as well as Attachment 3, Small Business Calculation Tool.

14 Pg 39-40 Task Order 0001 PWS Are credits and courses generally a 1:1 match under Perkins V definitions? Is it a fair assumption that the Perkins V change raised the threshold of what constitutes a concentrator?

Offerors are expected to demonstrate knowledge of program and policy context in their technical proposals.

15 Pg 41-42 Task Order 0001 PWS Are the specific tasks listed on pages 41-42 the only ones to be addressed in the Technical Report, or should all tasks listed in the body of the solicitation be addressed?

The Performance Work Statement (PWS) for Task Order 0001 is considered self-contained. The resulting evaluation report described in Task 10 will be based on the tasks described within the PWS for Task Order 0001.

16 Task Order 0001 PWS

What is an approximate timeframe for the contractor to achieve the required 85% response rate for surveys, observations, and learner records data? What is the initial number of observations or survey participants (n) from which to achieve the 85%?

For primary data collections in future task orders, the PWS will provide information about preliminary expectations around timing. There will be no primary data collection for Task Order 0001.

17 Task Order 0001 PWS

How many state departments of education or districts will the contractor engage with simultaneously? Will all state departments eventually be part of the evaluation by the end of the 60 months? Is there an established timetable or schedule?

A key objective of the IDIQ is to provide flexibility for ordering tasks depending on the Government's needs and priorities, which may include primary data collections of state departments of education or districts. However, there are no plans to collect data from these entitites in Task Order 0001.

18 Pg 9 Task Order Procedures Are oral authorizations for task orders only permitted in emergency situations? If so, what qualifies as an emergency?

Please refer to Task Order Procedures in the Solicitation.

19 Pg 40 TO 0001 In research question 2, IES discusses English language/arts achievement as an outcome of interest. Are there specific data sources we should consider?

Please see Task 9 on p. 42.

20 Pg 40 TO 0001

Research question 2 mentions use of technology among CTE concentrators as a potential outcome for measurement in the study. Can IES clarify what is considered "use of technology" and if there is a particular data element within the 2019 NAEP HSTS that is of interest?

Offerors are encouraged to propose what they think are the most policy-relevant analyses, including concerning the use of technology, and provide a rationale.