Additional Instructions to Offerors.docx

Section L – Instructions to Offerors

Instructions to Offerors

Support for National Center for Education Research (NCER) and National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) Technical Working Group (TWG) Meetings

1. INTRODUCTION

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

The following instructions are for the preparation and submission of Request for Proposal (RFP) responses. Offerors are instructed to read the entire solicitation document, including all attachments as applicable, prior to submitting questions and/or preparing your proposal for submission. The Government reserves the right to make award based on initial proposals; therefore, Offerors are encouraged to submit their best proposal from both a technical and price aspect, and not assume that the Government will hold discussions.

The Offeror is expected to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the proposed task as specified in the Performance Work Statement (PWS). The proposal should be written in enough detail so that a review panel can adequately judge its full merits. Any exceptions to the solicitation’s terms and conditions must be fully explained and justified.

The Government is not obligated to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a proposal. The Contracting Officer (CO) is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this acquisition.

Anticipated Award Date: The anticipated award date of this procurement is July 2024.

Points of Contact

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Offerors shall submit their proposal in three separate volumes: (i) Technical Volume, (ii) Price Volume, and (iii) Past Performance. The technical volume must not contain reference to specific costs/prices, although resource information may be included so that the Offeror’s understanding of the scope of work may be evaluated. Cost/price information is restricted to the price volume. The technical, price, and past performance volumes must be separate and complete so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of the other.

All volumes must be submitted in PDF format. In addition, the price volume spreadsheets document must be submitted as an MS Excel document. Appendices to the technical proposal should be contained in the technical proposal document, unless there is a problem keeping the file size below 25MB. With the qualification set forth above, the Department prefers document consolidation.

NOTE: The Department’s email system cannot handle emails larger than 25MB. Submissions should be broken up into separate emails if necessary. Electronic file names must not contain special characters (e.g. #, *, ?, (,), {,}, %, >, <, /, \, $, |).

Proposals must be submitted electronically, via e-mail to the Points of Contact stated above by 1:00PM (Eastern Time) on July 15, 2024. Proposals must be submitted with the email subject line “Support for NCER & NCSER Technical Working Group (TWG) Meetings”. Each volume must be signed by an official authorized to bind the offerors organization.

CLARIFICATION QUESTIONS

Contractors must submit all clarification questions concerning this solicitation in writing to the Points of Contact listed above. Questions shall be submitted via E-Mail in an MS Excel file following the format in the table below:

Questions Format

The Department will accept clarification questions until 1:00 PM (Eastern Time) on June 20, 2024. After this date, the Department does not guarantee that a response will be given.

General Formatting Requirements:

1. Font: All font shall be Times New Roman twelve (12) point, except for diagrams and drawings where impractical. Fonts in graphics, charts, tables, and other exhibits shall be no smaller than eight (8) point, and each page within each attachment shall be numbered consecutively. Organizational charts and logic models within the technical proposal may be single spaced and ten (10) point font, using landscape orientation.

2. Table of Contents: The proposal should include a Table of Contents as a means of quickly accessing important points of discussion in the proposal. The table of contents must also provide the name of the senior author (and coauthors, if applicable) of each section. (Does not count towards page count)

3. Footnotes: Footnotes shall be no smaller than size ten (10) point font and single-spaced.

4. Page Numbering: Pages shall be numbered consecutively within each volume.

5. Spacing: Line spacing should be no larger or smaller than double-spaced.

6. Margins: Files shall be submitted in PDF format, margins shall be set at 1” for the top and bottom and .75” for the left and right, and the documents shall be submitted so that each page will print on 8.5” x 11” paper.

7. File Size: Email attachments cannot exceed 25 megabytes (MB) in total. Compressed or “zip” files are acceptable.

8. Markings: Each page containing proprietary information should be marked so, and each page shall contain the following legend at the bottom of each sheet: This Document is Source Selection Sensitive Information in accordance with (IAW) FAR 2.101 and 3.104.

9. Exclusions: The cover page, table of contents, and cover letter, and letters of staff commitment are excluded from the page limit in responses (cover letters are optional). ED will not review or consider any technical information included in the cover page, table of contents, or cover letter for the purpose of technical evaluation.

10. Resumes: Résumés should be included for all key staff for this contract, including key staff from subcontractors, and consultants, and must be no more than four single-spaced pages each and shall include educational and professional background and should highlight experience relevant to the PWS. If key staff are unknown at the time of submission, a position description (including job duties, qualifications required, and selection criteria) should be substituted for resumes. Resumes must use 12-point font. References are not required. Resumes do not count against page counts noted below.

11. File Type: Offerors must submit technical and price proposals in PDF formats. An Excel workbook must accompany the price proposal.

2. TECHNICAL VOLUME

The technical volume must not exceed 15 pages. This page limit does not include cover pages, abstract, tables of contents, resumes, and letters of intent and agreement from subcontractors. Pages submitted in excess of these limits, shall not be considered in the Government’s evaluation of the proposal. No other appendices shall be submitted or considered.

The Offeror’s technical proposal shall contain the following sections:

1. Cover page: The cover page shall include the project title, name of the Offeror, Unique Entity ID number, GSA schedule number, list of subcontractors (if applicable), and contract information of the Offeror’s authorized official for contract administration, and the name and contact information for the Offeror’s negotiators for the technical proposal. The cover page should also be signed by an officer of the firm. (Does not count towards page count)

2. Abstract: A one-page summary is to be provided abstracting the proposal contents in language understandable to an informed layperson. The abstract shall indicate full acceptance of the solicitation requirements or note any exceptions justified in the text. (Does not count towards page count)

3. Introduction: The Introduction should briefly describe the Offeror’s overall plan for achieving the objectives of this contract, the scope of work, intended products, and the applicability of these products to the objectives. Additionally, the introduction shall include a short summary of the Offeror’s qualifications and unique strengths relevant to this contract.

4. Technical Approach: This section fully describes the technical approach that the Offeror shall employ in accordance with the requirements outlined in the PWS. The Offeror’s proposed technical approach shall provide a comprehensive and quality solution to achieving the goals/objectives of each task and subtask, as outlined in the PWS, in a timely manner. These task descriptions shall completely and concisely explain the strategies, operations, and procedures the offerors propose to achieve the objectives of the task order, addressing each subtask, in the order presented in the PWS. In the deliverable schedule, the Offeror shall note any adjustments to the proposed schedule that are considered necessary for success of the project.

5. Management Plan. The Offeror’s proposed management plan shall provide sufficient and adequate managerial oversight to ensure that the proposed technical solution is properly managed and monitored and that all deliverables and services are of high quality and supplied in a timely delivery, in accordance with the PWS.

This section shall describe the management approach and quality assurance process including the following information:

· Proposed lines of communication, organizational structure, responsibility, and authority for planning, execution and management, of the tasks in the PWS.

· Proposed policies, procedures and plan for quality control and assurance to ensure deliverables are timely and of high-quality.

· Proposed policies and procedures for managing and directing the effort for cost control and cost management.

In summary, the management plan should provide a clear indication that all tasks can be completed on time, and with a high level of quality.

6. Proposed Personnel. The Offeror’s proposed personnel shall satisfy the stated requirements, as outlined in the PWS, and possess the qualifications, experience, and skills necessary to successfully fulfill the roles as designated in the proposed solution. In addition to the overall technical approach, Offeror’s must include the names of the proposed project director, other key personnel, subcontractors, and consultants. By listing key staff as part of the proposal, the Offeror is making a firm commitment to use said personnel to carry out the activities in the PWS. Any changes to the named personnel must be approved by the Contracting Officer.

The Offeror must include specifics about the level of effort invested in the project by each staff person (including subcontractors and consultants) for this project, as well as on all other projects, and should describe the specific responsibilities of each proposed staff person. Offeror’s should consider concisely including this in a table (see below for example).

Staff/Consultant Name

% FTE on This Project

% FTE on All Other Projects

Use of Subcontractor and Consultants. Proposals may include plans to subcontract part of the work, provided that evidence is presented that any proposed subcontractor is fully capable of performing the assigned tasks, and that the offeror has effective control of the participation of the subcontractor(s) in the project. The proposal should identify the roles in which consultants would serve on this contract. Letters from proposed subcontractors/consultants indicating their willingness to serve, if selected, must be included with the offeror’s proposal. All proposed subcontractors and consultants shall sign a Conflict of Interest Certificate, and this shall be included in the technical proposal submission.

3. PRICE VOLUME

Offerors shall fill out and submit the attached Volume II - Price Sheet. In this worksheet, Contractors shall only input Price in the yellow cells (column E) for each CLIN. All totals will be automatically calculated.

In addition to submitting the attached Volume II – Price Sheet, the contractor shall submit detailed pricing in the form of an Excel workbook. The detailed pricing must show the details of the prices proposed in the Volume II – Price Sheet and shall include individual labor rates, estimated labor hours, and associated PWS requirement(s) for each proposed employee. Detailed pricing shall also be provided for any partners or subcontractors. Partners and subcontractors may submit detailed pricing directly to the Contract Administrator and Contract Officer to avoid releasing proprietary pricing information.

The Government intends to award a contract without conducting discussions. Contractors are therefore encouraged to propose their best and final offer with their initial proposal. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions after receipt of proposals if determined to be in the best interest of the Government.

4. PAST PERFORMANCE

Volume III should demonstrate the Offeror’s organizational capacity and ability to carry out all phases of work associated with the activities described in the PWS.

Offerors shall submit at least three examples of projects related to those in the PWS and all experiences included must have been completed within the past five years of quote submittal. Brief summaries of such work should be submitted, including the names, current affiliations, and current telephone numbers of appropriate references. The Offeror shall also include: (1) vehicle number and type, if applicable; (2) funding agency (DOL, HHS, etc.); (3) original awarded dollar value and final dollar value (broken down by options if a contract); (4) original contracted period of performance completion date and final (or current) completion date; (5) the scope of the effort; (6) relevance of the work to this contract; (7) performance experience summary; (8) methodology and tools used; (9) challenges in the effort and how they were overcome; and (10) explanation as to why the effort was considered “successful.”

NOTE: The Department also reserves the right to obtain past performance information from other sources, such as the Contractor Performance Assessment Rating System (CPARS).

SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION SEE FAR 2.101 AND 3.104