Attachment 1 Performance Work Statement 0001.pdf

Performance Work Statement U.S. Department of Education

Office of Communications and Outreach Media Relations and Strategic Communications

Daily News Digest for the U.S. Department of Education

1. Scope of Work

The contractor must provide story gathering and news production services to complete all phases of work associated with the tasks outlined in this Performance Work Statement. The daily news digest service must provide up-to-date news to include what’s being said in state houses, school board rooms, and on the streets around the country, in order to react and determine Department actions best suited to promote educational excellence.

2. Tasks

2.1 Email and Print Version of the Daily News Digest

The Contractor must produce a daily news digest on key education topics in a downloadable Microsoft Word format emailed to a list of Department employees by 6:30 a.m. weekdays, excluding federal holidays. Stories collected after 6:30 a.m. must be added to the next day’s issue. Weekend articles will appear in Monday's edition.

The email distribution must be mobile phone friendly and feature an index, listing headlines and page numbers for all articles in the digest. Links to the actual news stories must be included to the maximum extent possible. The digest must include human-curated abstracts or summaries of at least 40 education articles per issue gathered from newspapers, wire services, network newscasts, news magazines, education trade press, education blogs, college papers and other news outlets. Additionally, the digest must include an English summary of news articles published in Spanish.

Organize the daily news digest into thematic sections (Leading the National News Today, Secretary and Department News, Elementary and Secondary Education, Teaching & Learning, Operations, Digital Learning, School Finance, Safety & Security, Special Needs, American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, Post-Secondary Education, Statistics, Other Topics), then archived by date with a keyword search capability that enables users to retrieve summaries of specific articles and links to the actual stories.

Emphasis must be placed on content that includes education articles from the following news outlets:

Network TV, including Univision and Telemundo, and radio newscasts National papers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA

Today, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.

Wire services, such as the AP, Reuters and Bloomberg.

Major social media news sources, where stories are trending, such as Twitter (X), Facebook, Medium, Instagram, and others.

Leading news websites such as Yahoo! News, HuffingtonPost, CNN, Google News, Fox News, NBC News, CBS News and ABC News.

National news magazines such as Atlantic, National Review, New Republic, Politico, Time, Newsweek News outlets writing articles in Spanish such as, La Opinión, El Diario NY, Al Día News, El

Tiempo Latino.

Puerto Rico news outlets writing articles in Spanish such as, WIPR, WAPA Puerto Rico, El Nuevo Día, El Vocero, MetroPR, Primera Hora, NotiCel, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo

(CPI)

Additional sources for stories include:

Education Week Chronicle of Higher Education Inside Higher Ed The 74 Washington Times, Washington Examiner and WTOP radio.

Education blogs.

All other 100 largest newspapers, state capital papers, local broadcast stations, college papers and other news outlets.

The Secretary’s schedule for speaking engagements, etc.

Follow ED press releases and media advisories to see where the ED officials are making news.

In addition, the daily news digest must display education articles that refer to the President, White House, administration officials, members of Congress, and any significant developments at the state and local level.

2.1.1 Features of the Print Daily News Digest

2.1.1.1 Media Analytics Dashboard:

The Contractor must provide on a daily basis:

Tonality, whether the reader considers the article positive, neutral or negative, and to what degree;

Prominence, the extent to which a given topic was the focus of each story (e.g., primary, secondary, mention);

Coverage Type, such as front page, interview, etc.;

Key messages, whether important Education messaging is present in news coverage.

The data can be sorted by date, media type, top sources, and Education-defined topics and subtopics.

Ability to toggle between metrics and date ranges Ability to export

2.1.1.2 Other features:

The Contractor must provide on a daily basis:

“What’s happening today” or this-week sidebar to tell staff of scheduled Department or education related White House events, congressional committee hearings and testimony, major education trade association conferences, and other events.

2.1.2 Types of Stories Required

The news digest must include stories that mention the Department and its employees, especially senior staff listed at https://www2.ed.gov/news/staff/bios/index.html?src=rt. To assure that the Contractor's list of Department senior staff is current, the site must be monitored for possible changes in senior officers at least weekly.

2.1.3 Copyrights

Articles must be obtained through means that meet copyright laws and regulations.

2.1.4 Special Requests

The contractor must perform special searches for news stories upon request. The Department anticipates perhaps three up to six special searches a year. For example, the Department may seek stories that have appeared on issues related to a national education news development during the past month or recent education articles in a community that the Secretary of Education plans to visit. Additionally, a travel briefing to the Secretary of local news stories may be needed to be emailed to OCO leadership throughout the performance period.

2.2 Online Version of the Daily News Digest

The Contractor must produce an online version of the daily news digest that meets the requirements outlined in PWS 2.1. The online version must be available for viewing by Department employees by computer or mobile device by 6:30 a.m. weekdays, excluding federal holidays. The online version must have a doc link to generate the daily Microsoft Word file for users who prefer a print version.

2.2.1 Features of the Online Daily News Digest

The online version of the daily news digest must include all of the articles in the print version.

Links to original articles must be included to the maximum extent possible. Social media, YouTube, or other news site video links are recommended for the online version. Features must include:

An index hyperlinked to the news summaries in the daily news digest.

A search feature allowing the user to retrieve stories from previous issues by key words and phrases, sorting by date or relevance. Previous issues of the daily news digests and news summaries must be archived for access by Department employees through the course of this contract.

Capability for Department employees to sign up for access to the print and online versions of the daily news digest.

Contractor may suggest additional features and analytics for the online viewing.

Online presentations developed under this work statement must meet the technical standards for accessibility under Section 508 located at 36 CFR 1194.22. These presentations are subject to testing by the Department’s Assistive Technology program and all Section 508 violations discovered during this testing process are remediated at no additional cost to the Department.

3. Deliverables

3.1 The Department will review the deliverable and accept or reject the deliverable within one business day, excluding federal holidays. The COR will monitor the Contractor’s efforts to ensure the technical suitability of deliverables. If a deliverable is rejected because it does not meet the specified criteria, the COR will notify the Contractor with written notification (Deliverable Rejection Notice) advising the Contractor that the deliverable did not meet the acceptance criteria. If applicable, the Deliverable Rejection Notice will enumerate the deficiencies of the deliverable and/or corrections that must be made.

The Contractor must update the deliverable and confirm with the COR on conformity to the requirement within 4 hours. Upon Contractor’s re-submission of the deliverable, the Department will follow the process above. If the deliverable does not meet the acceptance criteria for the re-submitted deliverable, the Department may consider the Contractor as having deficient performance.

3.2 All deliverables must be compliant with Enclosure 1.

Table 1: Deliverables

Deliverable # PWS Deliverable Description Due Date

Reference # 1 2.1 Email and Print Daily News

Digest 6:30 a.m. weekdays, excluding federal holidays

2 2.2 Online Daily News Digest 6:30 a.m. weekdays, excluding federal holidays

4. Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) The PRS establishes key elements of Contractor performance. The table below contains “mission essential” service requirements, which are identified in the “Service Output” column. The “Performance Objective” column in the table identifies the standard against which Contractor performance will be measured in relation to accomplishment of the corresponding service output. The “standard” describes the minimum acceptable level of service by the Contractor for satisfactory performance. The “Acceptable Quality Level” column identifies the maximum allowable deviation from the performance objective for acceptance.

Service Output Performance Objective Acceptable Quality Level

1. On-time Deliverables

The Contractor must submit all deliverables on time as defined in the applicable

PWS.

No deliverable submission is delayed without prior notification and COR approval (unless Department causes delay).

2. Comprehensive Deliverables

The Contractor must provide comprehensive deliverables that that utilize known best practices.

The deliverables must:

meet all requirements set forth in the PWS;

be prepared in accordance with Department procedures; be written in a clear and logical manner;

and be free of grammatical errors

3. Business Relations

The Contractor must provide integration and coordination of all activities needed to execute the Purchase Order.

Timely and proper submission of accurate invoices in accordance with FAR Clause 52.212-4 (g).

Following all applicable security protocols and procedures and protection of information standards.

4. Program Management

Purchase Order is managed to achieve goals on time and meet standards.

Communication is proactive, clear, and integrated across teams.

Program Manager organizes and assigns work;

oversees and evaluates completion of tasks; briefs OCO on progress of tasks; and anticipates problems and develops solutions to ensure tasks are completed on schedule.

5. Government Furnished Information (GFI)

5.1 The Contractor must furnish all facilities, materials, equipment, and services necessary to fulfill the requirements of this contract, except for the Government Furnished Information specified within this

PWS.

5.2 The Department will provide to the contractor a list of employees who currently subscribe to the daily news digest.

6. Security Requirements The Contractor must comply with the documentation found at the site “Security Requirements for Contractors Doing Business with the Department of Education” as amended.

Enclosure 1

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

“INFORMATION MANAGEMENT CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS”

The purpose of this document is to impart requirements for managing and ensuring accessibility to Federal records (on any medium such as paper, systems, applications, etc.) that is made or received in connection with the transaction of Department business as part of a contract. The following requirements are divided into two sections, which are mandatory: (1) Records and CUI, (2) Accessibility requirements related to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

RECORDS AND CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION (CUI)

"Federal record" as defined in 44 U.S.C. § 3301, includes all information, made or received by a Federal agency in connection with the transaction of public business. The Department owns the rights to all records produced as part of this contract. Any Contractor rights must be identified as required by FAR 52.227-11 through FAR 52.227-20.

Federal records must be managed according to the applicable records management laws and regulations, to include the Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. chs. 21, 29, 31, 33), 36 CFR Chapter XII Subchapter B, and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a).

Federal records which are CUI must additionally be managed in accordance with any applicable laws, regulations and government-wide policies (LRGWP) to include EO 13556, 32 CFR Part 2002, ED Directive OCIO 3-113, and NIST-800-171 Revision 2 (or current version).

Applicability: This clause applies to all Contractors and sub-Contractors (hereafter referred to as “Contractors”) and must be incorporated into all subcontracts.

Training Requirements: All Contractors are required to take the annual Information Management Requirements training. If the contract includes CUI, the CUI Identification and Marking Training is required. Additional Category or POC specific trainings may be assigned. Contractor will maintain completion certificates and provide upon request.

Electronic Information System Requirements: Any electronic information system should address at minimum the following regulations in 36 CFR 1236.10. Agencies must incorporate controls into the system or integrate them into a recordkeeping system that is external to the information system itself (see 36 CFR 1236.20 for recordkeeping system functionalities). Information systems that process, store, or transmit CUI must fulfill the requirements outlined in 32 CFR 2002.14(g).

Marking Requirements: The Contractor will mark CUI as outlined in Department training.

Handling and Safeguarding Requirements: The Contractor will ensure that CUI is managed appropriately. The requirements include safeguarding, controlled environments, shipping and mailing or transporting protections, and reproduction protections (see 32 CFR 2002.14(a-e)).

Contract Completion Requirements: Removal or destruction of records must be in accordance with assigned ED records schedule and must include written concurrence from the CO/COR. If records are removed or destroyed the Contractor must report the incident to ED immediately. Destruction or removal of records without the above requirements is subject to fines and penalties imposed by 18 U.S.C. 2701.

Compliance with Information Protection Requirements: ED reserves the right to verify compliance with information security requirements established by this contract. The Contractor will fully comply with all ED-initiated inspections as permissible by law.

Information Security Incidents (ISI) Requirements: Contractors must immediately report any and all suspected security incidents, breaches, and events involving ED information to ED’s Computer Incident Response Center (EDCIRC) and ED’s Security Operations Center (EDSOC); EDCIRC@ED.GOV;

EDSOC voice: 202-243-6550, regardless of whether the ISI is suspected, known, or determined to involve IT systems operated in support of this contract. In the event of an ISI, ED must be provided immediate access to all IT systems used in support of this contract for inspection and analysis.

IT ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS (SECTION 508 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT)

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended by P.L. 105-220, requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use information and communication technology (ICT), it must be accessible to people with disabilities. Products, platforms and services delivered as part of this work statement that are or contain ICT, must conform to the Revised 508 Standards, at 36 C.F.R. § 1194.1 & Apps. A, C & D.

Applicable Functional Performance Criteria: When using an alternative design or technology that achieves substantially equivalent or greater accessibility and usability by individuals with disabilities than would be provided by conformance to one or more of the requirements in Chapters 4-6 of the Revised 508 Standards, or when Chapters 4-6 do not address one or more functions of ICT. – All requirements apply

Applicable requirements for software features and components: All WCAG Level AA Success Criteria, 502 Interoperability with Assistive Technology, 503 Application – Applies if client server software (installed on a computer) is a part of the procurement.

Applicable requirements to Webpage and Web Applications: All WCAG Level AA Success Criteria

– Applies if websites or a web-based application (browser based) is part of the procurement.

Applicable requirements for hardware features and components: Applies if hardware is part of the procurement. (e.g., copiers, fax machines, phones, scanner etc.)

Applicable support services and documentation: All requirements apply.

Appendix A – Department Resources

The following Department resources are provided in support of this requirement:

The Secretary’s schedule is posted at: https://www.ed.gov/news/events/calendars/secschedule.html.

ED press releases are posted at: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases.

ED media advisories are posted at: https://www.ed.gov/news/media-advisories.