Attachment 01 PWS 11_05_2021.pdf

80NSSC22R0001 NSTEM Services Attachment 01

NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) Stennis Space Center, MS 39529

NASA SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND

MATHEMATHICS (NSTEM) SERVICES

SOLICITATION No. 80NSSC22R0001

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

November 5, 2021

NASA Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (NSTEM)

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Attachment 01

I. INTRODUCTIONS

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA or Agency) founding legislation, the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, 51 U.S. Code (U.S.C.) §20101 et. seq. directs the agency to expand human knowledge of Earth and space phenomena and to preserve the role of the United States as a leader in aeronautics, space science, and technology. In carrying out this directive, the NASA Office of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Engagement’s (OSTEM) development of a high-quality STEM enterprise and its strategic deployment is essential to lead the Agency’s STEM investments. The vision, mission, and strategic goals for STEM engagement drive a systematic approach to move students across a continuum of learning to inspire, engage, educate, and eventually, for these students to be employed in STEM fields.

NASA contributes to national efforts for achieving excellence in STEM engagement through a comprehensive education portfolio comprised of a broad and diverse set of programs, projects, activities, and products implemented by the OSTEM, the NASA Mission Directorates, and the NASA Centers and NASA facilities located across the country. The scope of NASA’s STEM enterprise encompasses all endeavors Agency-wide to attract, engage, and educate students and to support educators, educational institutions, and professional and student organizations.

The NASA Strategy for STEM Engagement 2020-2023 serves as the roadmap for the Agency’s work devoted to STEM engagement. This strategy defines objectives and strategies to drive requirements and alignment of all STEM engagement efforts, including programs, projects, activities, and products. This strategy aligns with the Federal Strategy for STEM Education and Engagement Charting a Course for Success: America’s Strategy for STEM Education and contributes to a STEM education ecosystem that consists of multi-sector partners united by a collective vision to support participation in STEM through the creation of accessible and inclusive STEM learning opportunities spanning all education stages and career pathways.

II. OVERVIEW

NASA makes valuable contributions to the Federal sector’s goals for STEM education by providing mission-driven opportunities that attract students to STEM and help build a vibrant and diverse next generation STEM workforce. NASA’s goals for contributing to the next generation STEM workforce are to:

• Create unique opportunities for a diverse set of students to contribute to NASA’s work in exploration and discovery.

• Build a diverse future STEM workforce by engaging students in authentic learning experiences with NASA’s people, content and facilities.

• Attract diverse groups of students to STEM through learning opportunities that spark interest and provide connections to NASA’s mission and work.

NASA STEM Engagement vision, mission, and strategic goals are implemented through four main projects:

1. Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) establishes partnerships with government, higher education, and industry that are designed to effect sustainable improvements in research infrastructure, research and development capacity and competitiveness in eligible jurisdictions.

EPSCoR is directed at those jurisdictions that have not participated equably in competitive research and development activities. Twenty-five states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U .S. Virgin Islands and Guam currently participate. Five federal agencies, including NASA, conduct EPSCoR programs.

For more information, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/epscor/home.

2. Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) provides financial assistance via competitive awards to minority-serving institutions, or MSIs. These opportunities are available to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNH), American Indian Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI), Predominately Black Institutions (PBI) and others. MUREP investments enhance the research, academic and technology capabilities of MSIs through multiyear cooperative agreements. Awards assist faculty and students in research and provide authentic STEM engagement opportunities related to NASA missions, affording NASA-specific knowledge and skills to students from groups that have historically been underrepresented and underserved in STEM. For more information, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/murep.

3. National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant) is a national network of colleges and universities with over 1,000 affiliate institutions and organizations working to expand opportunities for students to participate in NASA’s aeronautics and space projects. Space Grant is made up of 52 consortia located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The project funds internships, fellowships, and scholarships and offers programs and learning opportunities that enable and support STEM education, research, and student engagement. Space Grant also engages students and educators from elementary to secondary levels through hands-on experiences, faculty development, curriculum enhancement, and precollege education. For more information, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/spacegrant/about.

4. Next Generation STEM (Next Gen STEM) project provides a platform for students to contribute to

NASA’s endeavors in exploration and discovery through mission-driven activities, evidence-based education products, and authentic STEM experiences. With its primary focus on K-12 and informal education, Next Gen STEM aims to help attract and retain students toward building a vibrant next-generation STEM workforce, focusing on reaching underrepresented and underserved populations. Next Gen STEM conducts competitive opportunities for informal educational institutions through Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II). Next Gen STEM also operates the Museum and Informal Education (MIE) Alliance, which offers learning institutions educational resources and services. For more information, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/.

https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/epscor/home https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/murep https://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/spacegrant/about https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/

NASA requires critical knowledge, capabilities, skills, and expertise to deliver STEM learning experiences across these four projects in collaboration with the OSTEM project/functional managers and staff across the Agency. OSTEM also works in close collaboration with NASA’s STEM workforce to provide exceptional experiences for students and with NASA’s public engagement workforce to leverage opportunities to reach students and to promote NASA’s commitment to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive workforce. NASA’s work in STEM engagement is focused on providing opportunities for students, especially those underrepresented and underserved, in STEM fields.

The project management functions required to support OSTEM programs, projects, and activities are known but are not always applied in the same manner. In addition to pedagogical consistency, culturally relevant engagement, and a focus on diversity and inclusion, the success of NASA’s STEM engagement also depends on the continuous integration and optimization of business processes across the portfolio of work. This acquisition is combining efforts from multiple contracts and cooperative agreements into a single, comprehensive contract.

Attachment 16, Historical Data, is intended to provide a snapshot of general average efforts in each of the areas identified in the Performance Work Statement. This addendum is only intended to give an idea of historical scope and is not a definitive statement of work required.

III. SCOPE

To successfully execute NASA’s vision and mission to immerse students, especially those underrepresented and underserved, in NASA’s work, enhance STEM literacy, and inspire the next generation to explore, the contractor will lead the development, execution or support for NASA internships and fellowships; career and workforce training experiences; challenges and competitions; K-12 and college STEM experiences; faculty and educator support; institutional capacity building; and development of STEM content and materials for the OSTEM, the NASA Mission Directorates, and the NASA Centers and facilities. The contractor shall ensure continuous integration and optimization of business processes, practices, and strategies across the OSTEM portfolio of work. The Contractor shall deliver these enterprise functions virtually, in a physical location or a combination of both.

The contractor shall conduct and support the following, but not limited to:

1. Administer a semester and year-round internship and fellowship program to engage national and international students, educators, and faculty, with a special emphasis on outreach to those from underrepresented and underserved groups, in authentic NASA learning opportunities.

2. Design and administer authentic learning experiences for students, educators and faculty to gain real-world NASA STEM experience, professional development and career enhancement.

3. Provide and coordinate resources, expertise, and tools necessary to implement NASA K-12 and collegiate level competitions and challenges aligned with NASA technical disciplines.

4. Design, implement, or support a variety of K-12 and college STEM experiences encompassing formal and informal learning environments, after-school and summer programs, youth serving organizations, science centers, and museums to provide NASA unique STEM learning opportunities for students.

5. Design, implement, or support strategies, methodologies, and technologies that promote pre-service, in-service, informal educators and higher education faculty use of NASA-related content in their instructional environments.

6. Provide resources and expertise to support and strengthen NASA’s collaborations and partnerships with higher education institutions through sustained investments in research and technology development critical to NASA’s future and America’s technological and economic competitiveness.

7. Provide resources and expertise for creating, designing, developing, and publishing STEM content and products aligned with NASA’s missions, national learning standards, research-based pedagogy, instructional design and learning theory.

8. Provide award and grant management, support and coordination for project managers, technical officers in accordance with NASA Shared Services (NSSC) requirements.

9. Develop and implement strategies to inform, engage, promote and recruit a diverse pool of applicants, with a focus on underrepresented and underserved, for NASA Office of STEM Engagement activities,

10. Execute data collections, performance monitoring and evaluation services for the OSTEM enterprise utilizing government systems.

IV. Performance Work Statement Structure

The Performance Work Statement (PWS) contains Core Requirements (CLIN I) and Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) (CLIN II) functional requirements that describe the work to be performed by the contractor in terms of NASA-required outcomes and/or results. The contractor shall be responsible and accountable for achieving the required results. Policy and procedure documents referenced throughout the PWS are listed in Attachment 15, References.

The Core Requirements defines requirements for baseline services to support the Agency and Center programs, projects and activities administered by OSTEM. Core requirements are 1) OSTEM internships and fellowships program, 2) awards and grants support, 3) STEM content and products, and 4) participant recruitment. The contractor shall provide contract management and administration to deliver and sustain day-to-day implementation of these core requirements. NASA receives approximately 50,000-70,000 internship applications on a yearly basis with an average of 2000 interns placed across 3 terms (16-week fall and spring sessions and 10-week summer session). Approximately 100-150 fellowship applications are received annually with 20 awarded. In FY2021, 95 educational institutions were awarded 1-5 year competitive grants and cooperative agreements across 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands under four congressionally appropriated projects; MUREP, Space Grant, EPSCoR, and Next Gen STEM. Over 1,000 STEM resources are available to student and educators including, but not limited to, bookmarks, educator guides, image galleries, interactive multimedia, lesson plans and activities, lithographs, mobile apps, posters, and toolkits. Annually, an average of 30 K-12 STEM learning products are created. In FY2020, over a million students and educators engaged in NASA unique STEM opportunities.

Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity task orders will be issued when OSTEM cannot determine, above a specified minimum, the precise quantities of supplies or services required during the contract period. This work includes, but is not limited to, internships and fellowships program support, workforce and career learning experiences, K-12 STEM engagement, K-16 educator professional development, K-12 and collegiate challenges and competitions, institutional support for research and development, and performance assessments and evaluations. Task orders issued will support the design, development, and enhancement of current and new opportunities.

The Contractor shall provide all management, labor, supervision, material, and equipment to successfully manage all project activities described herein. The contractor staff shall have the skills necessary to lead the development, execution or support the planning and implementation of the Enterprise model—student, teacher and educator, and general public—STEM education programs, projects and activities.

V. CLIN I – CORE REQUIREMENTS

A. NASA INTERNSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS

1) Internship Model

a) The Contractor shall administer an agency enterprise, self-sustaining, semester and year-round career learning/workforce development internship program to engage students, educators, and faculty, with a special emphasis on recruitment to those from underrepresented and underserved groups, in authentic NASA learning opportunities.

b) The contractor shall execute a competitive internship model that integrates knowledge and theory with practical application and skill development in a professional/research setting with a special emphasis on underrepresented and underserved participation.

c) The contractor shall coordinate real-world experiences and professional development experiences contributing to the advancement of NASA’s missions and alignment to NASA’s values and its principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

2) Fellowship Model

a) The contractor shall execute a competitive fellowship model to support student-authored and independently conceived graduate research proposals. While supporting all institution types, the NASA Fellowship Activity will focus on increasing underrepresented and underserved participation in research disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s missions.

b) The contractor shall provide academic institutions the ability to enhance graduate-level learning and development.

c) The contractor shall implement Fellowships as an integral part of a research team resulting in relevant research experience, expanded professional networking, development and strengthening of research ethics, and an understanding of specific research processes.

3) Support Services and Technical Assistance

a) The contractor shall provide support and assistance in the use of NASA-provided online application and registration system for NASA internships, fellowships, academic, research, professional development opportunities, and other learning experiences.

b) The contractor shall identify and recruit mentors, engagement opportunities, receive and review applications, aid in the selection of participants, and provide metrics and updates to the agency in accordance with DRD-MA-08, Workforce Experience Reporting.

c) The contractor shall provide approaches to increase broader participation, enhance management efficiencies, lower overhead costs, and maximize implementation.

d) The contractor shall provide performance reports demonstrating progress of approaches and participant data in alignment with performance assessment and evaluation requirements.

e) The contractor shall support agency and center functional offices, secure necessary access to NASA facilities, badges and IT assets including on and off-boarding of participants, on-site enrollment and issuance of NASA credentials, IT and security training, government equipment, and workspace.

f) The contractor shall implement and support government special requirements for international students’ pre-arrival activities, visa applications, and security clearance.

4) Developmental Opportunities

a) The contractor shall design and execute professional development opportunities for interns and fellows to increase understanding, competence, skills, and effectiveness in the mentor relationship.

b) The contractor shall design and implement opportunities to increase participant appreciation and interpersonal skills needed for working in a complex science and research organization that represents various ages, races, cultural backgrounds, professional roles, and stages of career development.

5) Specialized Training for Mentors

a) The contractor shall design and execute professional development for mentors and stakeholders to increase professional understanding, competence, skill, and effectiveness in mentorship.

6) Collaborations and Partnerships

a) The contractor shall maintain and leverage a network of relationships on behalf of NASA internships and fellowships with STEM education stakeholders, partners, and organizations.

b) The contractor shall cultivate, sustain and leverage new professional relationships on behalf of NASA internships and fellowships with faculty and higher education institutions, with an emphasis on Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), to support NASA’s work and career learning experiences.

c) The contractor shall broker between NASA’s mission directorates, centers, employee resource groups, universities, and STEM organizations to ensure mission driven, distinctive learning experiences for students and educators.

B. AWARDS AND GRANT SUPPORT

1) Awards and Grants

a) The Contractor shall provide management and administrative support for the four OSTEM programs’ grants and cooperative agreements in accordance with the NASA Proposers Guide, and the NASA Grants and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM).

b) The Contractor shall support pre-award processes including, but not limited to:

(1) Announcing and soliciting applications or proposals for funding under assistance awards.

(2) Overseeing, coordinating, reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating grants/assistance applications.

(3) Determining awardee eligibility using formulas, methodology and established eligibility criteria, such as competitive rating factors.

(4) Supporting risk assessments, business, and budget reviews.

(5) Supporting and coordinating technical review packages for government review.

c) The Contractor shall support post-award processes including, but not limited to:

(1) Preparing, processing, issuing, and tracking grants/assistance awards and compliance with reporting requirements.

(2) Monitoring and assessing awardee performance, and establishing performance measures,

(3) Monitoring, assessing, and ensuring awardee compliance with terms and conditions of award,

(4) Conducting resolution of audit findings or monitoring audit resolution in partnership with resolution officials,

(5) Conducting post-award reviews and analyses to identify management, financial, and administrative issues,

(6) Performing final review of completed awards, making appropriate adjustments or disallowances, and processing close-outs; and ensuring compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements; and

(7) Performing the necessary database collections, coordination, entry, verification, validation, maintenance and integration with agency data performance assessment and evaluation collections.

C. NASA STEM CONTENT AND PRODUCTS

1) STEM Content and Product Stakeholders

a) The contractor shall design, develop, and publish STEM content and products aligned with NASA’s missions, research and strategic goals.

b) The contractor shall leverage the STEM workforce of NASA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in planning, designing, and implementing student-focused events, opportunities, and engagements to ensure student engagement is authentic and connects students to NASA’s missions, people and facilities.

c) Contract deliverables shall address requirements for NASA projects and activities implemented by HQ functional Offices, Mission Directorates, and Centers.

d) The contractor shall prepare and deliver STEM content and products for a variety of learning environments including digital, virtual, hybrid, and on-site.

e) The contractor shall develop and deliver STEM content and products that are accessible and address Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and meet The Americans with Disability Act (ADA), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) 2800.2 requirements to ensure that all students and educators have equal access to NASA STEM goods, services, and communications.

2) STEM Content and Product Development

a) The contractor shall implement an evidence-based or research-based educational framework for teaching and learning, lesson planning, curriculum development and supporting STEM materials.

b) The contractor shall provide instructional strategies, pedagogy and curriculum development expertise integrating NASA research, technology and engineering that is compatible with school science and mathematics curriculums and promotes scientific inquiry and the engineering design process.

c) The contractor shall align STEM content and products with, among other things NASA Strategy for STEM Engagement, the Federal Strategy for STEM Education and Engagement Charting a Course for Success: America’s Strategy for STEM Education, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the National Education Technology Plan, and National Standards for Quality (NSQ) Online Learning.

d) The contractor shall adhere to the NASA Communication Style guide for STEM content and products

D. NASA STEM ENGAGEMENT RECRUITMENT

1) Recruitment, Selection and Placement

a) The contractor shall create and implement strategies to inform, engage, promote and recruit applicants who represent the diversity of the nation, specifically focusing on the underserved and underrepresented, to participate in NASA OSTEM activities.

b) The contractor shall organize, coordinate, and support recruitment and public engagement events including, but not limited to; national and regional STEM conferences, related conferences, workshops, and exhibits; in-person and virtual career fairs; and competitions and challenges designed to attract students, educators and faculty to NASA unique STEM engagement, and potential career opportunities.

c) The contractor shall provide resources, communication strategies, engagement analysis, and products to promote recruiting with an emphasis on underserved populations, leveraging and delivering STEM content, in partnership with NASA OSTEM, Office of Communications, Mission Directorates, and program offices.

VI. CLIN II – Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Task Orders

This is a firm fixed price Contract with an indefinite-quantity portion for the supplies or services specified, and effective for the period stated, in the Schedule. Except for any limitations on quantities in the Order Limitations clause or in the Schedule, there is no limit on the number of task orders that may be issued. This acquisition is combining efforts from multiple contracts and cooperative agreements into a single, comprehensive contract.

Attachment 16, Historical Data, is intended to provide a snapshot of general average efforts in each of the areas identified in the Performance Work Statement that may be issued task order. This addendum is only intended to give an idea of historical scope and is not a definitive statement of work required.

The Government may issue task orders requiring delivery to multiple destinations or performance at multiple locations. Specific supplies and services include, but are not limited to, the following:

A. NASA INTERNSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM SUPPORT

1) Internship and Fellowship Program Support

a) The Contractor shall provide the knowledge, capabilities, skills, and expertise to coordinate internship and fellowship selection and placement, including, but not limited to, foreign nationals associated with International space agency agreements, NASA Space Act Agreements, Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) and other types of external partnerships and collaborations periodically incurring under the OSTEM enterprise internship and fellowship structures.

B. NASA WORKFORCE AND CAREER LEARNING EXPERIENCES

1) Support and Technical Assistance

a) The Contractor shall design and administer non-internship learning experiences for students, educators, and higher education faculty to gain NASA-related experience, professional development and career enhancement while contributing to the advancement of NASA’s missions.

b) The contractor shall provide approaches to increase broader participation, enhance management efficiencies, and lower overhead costs

2) High School and University Student Opportunities

a) The contractor shall, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3111 and 51 U.S.C. § 20113, offer unpaid workforce experiences and career training opportunities (non-internships and fellowships) for high school and university students and educators.

b) The contractor shall design education, or advanced professional learning for administrators, teachers, and other educators to increase professional knowledge, competence, skill, and effectiveness in STEM careers. Learning experiences integrate knowledge and theory with practical application and skill development in a professional setting.

c) The contractor shall provide activities which increase participant appreciation, awareness and interpersonal skills required for working in a complex science and research organization that represents various ages, races, cultural backgrounds, professional roles, and stages of career development.

3) Collaborations and Partnerships

a) The contractor shall form, maintain, and leverage a network of relationships with STEM education stakeholders, partners, and organizations for increasing student participation in STEM disciplines.

b) The contractor shall cultivate, sustain and leverage professional relationships with faculty and higher education institutions, with an emphasis on Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), to support NASA workforce and career learning experiences for students and educators.

c) The contractor shall broker between NASA’s mission directorates, center-specific programs, employee resource groups and students, universities, museums and other STEM engagement institutions to ensure mission driven, distinctive learning experiences for students and educators in non-internship and fellowship experiences.

C. NASA K-12 STEM ENGAGEMENT

1) K-12 Interdisciplinary Approach

a) The contractor shall design and execute a NASA STEM education ecosystem encompassing formal and informal learning environments, after-school and summer programs, youth serving organizations, science centers, museums, and informal experiences to provide a variety of K-12, NASA unique STEM learning opportunities for students.

b) The contractor shall create a K-12 interdisciplinary approach for NASA unique STEM learning in formal and informal education settings applying academic concepts coupled with real-world lessons for students to apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in contexts that make connections between school, community, and work and enables the development of STEM literacy.

c) The contractor shall design, create, and execute a suite of K-12 STEM learning products, student engagement experiences, challenges and competitions aligned with NASA missions, national education standards and effective learning strategies in STEM.

d) The contractor shall address the following:

(1) Unique learning challenges of student communities historically underrepresented and underserved in STEM.

(2) Focus on advancing students’ conceptual understanding in science and strengthening students’ positive dispositions towards science.

(3) Advancing teachers’ conceptual understanding in science and helping teachers to integrate the inquiry process and new materials to their classrooms.

2) K-12 STEM Education Networks

a) The contractor shall leverage formal and informal education partnerships and networks of K-12 schools, universities, minority serving institutions, industry, professional education organizations, public libraries, after-school providers, non-profit STEM organizations, government, and philanthropy to engage and increase student participation in NASA-unique learning opportunities and to engage, empower and support informal educators, including parents and caregivers, and formal, pre-service and in-service K-12 educators.

b) The contractor shall work across the Agency, Mission Directorates and functional offices in preparing authentic K-12 STEM learning opportunities that provide NASA-related experiences for K-12 students and educators, formal and informal, to gain real-world experience, professional development and career enhancement while contributing to the advancement of NASA’s missions.

c) The contractor shall utilize Agency websites, databases, virtual environments, digital media, and educational simulations to engage students and educators in NASA

STEM.

d) The contractor shall coordinate partnerships and networks to assist in recruiting and increasing participation of K-12 students across all demographics for NASA STEM challenges, competitions, STEM engagement activities, trainings, academic research, and events.

3) Research-Based Networks, Collaborations and Partnerships

a) The contractor shall leverage partnerships, networks and collaboration with STEM education research organizations to develop and implement research-based STEM education content and opportunities that focus on NASA missions and research, align to national learning standards and deliver via virtual and physical learning environments.

4) NASA STEM Subject Matter Experts

a) The contractor shall leverage the STEM workforce of NASA civil servants and contractors across the Agency, in devising and executing student-focused events, opportunities to ensure student engagement is authentic and connects students to NASA’s missions, people and facilities.

b) The contractor shall provide support to NASA SMEs including student recruitment, placement, scheduling, and training.

D. NASA K-16 EDUCATORS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1) Educator Professional Development Model

a) The contractor shall provide an enterprise model for uniformly designing and delivering Educator Professional Development (EPD) across NASA Centers/facilities and diverse geographic and demographic learning environments that uses research-based technologies and approaches to integrate NASA-unique content at grade appropriate levels. The model must include onsite, partner-delivered, virtual and distance learning, synchronous and asynchronous learning strategies.

b) The contractor shall develop strategies for on-going access to formal and informal networks of academic leaders, seasoned classroom practitioners and other communities of learning.

c) The contractor shall create capability to award continuing education units or credit hours to educators receiving NASA EPD.

2) K-16 Pedagogical Expertise

a) The contractor shall provide pedagogical expertise to design, produce, deliver, and evaluate educator professional learning to enhance and improve educators’ instructional skills and STEM identity by effectively integrating NASA STEM-related content into educators’ learning environments.

b) The contractor shall implement an evidence-based or research-based education framework to ensure optimal use of content by all learners, regardless of ability, disability, age, gender, or cultural and linguistic background.

E. NASA K-12 AND COLLEGIATE COMPETITIONS AND CHALLENGES

1) Project Coordination

a) The contractor shall provide enterprise resources, expertise and tools necessary to implement NASA K-12 and collegiate level competitions and challenges that provide opportunities for students to create, design, build and work on authentic NASA technical and simulated challenges seeking solutions that align with NASA technical disciplines.

b) The contractor shall provide technical expertise in coordination with NASA or industry SMEs to develop and execute NASA K-12 and collegiate level competitions and challenges working in close coordination with NASA project management.

c) The contractor shall coordinate with Mission Directorates and OSTEM project management and center offices to identify technical content material for solving real-world problems to execute learner-driven solutions through student competitions and challenges, that align with NASA technical disciplines and K-12 national educational standards.

d) The contractor shall support the performance of pre-established or on-going NASA relevant collaborations performed at universities and colleges as part of NASA competitions, challenges, or collegiate experiences.

2) Competition and Challenges Logistical Support

a) The contractor shall provide logistics and planning expertise for the NASA challenges and competitions. Logistics include, but are not limited to, meeting space, transportation, Information Technology assets, lodging, and shipment of plaques, certificates and/or trophies to attendees/participants/teams.

b) The contractor shall provide a work plan and implementation schedule to the NASA project manager, with major milestones and deliverables including meeting space, transportation, Information Technology assets, lodging, and shipment of plaques, certificates and/or trophies to attendees/participants/teams.

c) The contractor shall provide registration support using government universal application and registration system.

d) The contractor shall coordinate with center OSTEM offices and Mission Directorates to provide content material as needed in coordination with the designated NASA project manager including attendee or participant orientations or training, mentor and judge training and webinar presentations to include subject matter experts.

e) The contractor shall collect team deliverables, such as reports, assessments, and planning documents, and maintain them electronically to facilitate access as needed by judges or NASA project management.

F. NASA INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

OPPORTUNITIES

1) Institutional Networking

a) The Contractor shall provide enterprise resources to support NASA research and development opportunities that strengthen NASA’s ties to the academic community through sustained investments critical to NASA’s future and that increase the talent base of skilled engineers, scientists, and technologists to improve America’s technological and economic competitiveness.

b) The contractor shall support Principal Investigator (PI) and awardee institutions through dissemination of activity information, response to requests, and networking and integration opportunities within NASA.

c) The contractor shall establish and support educational opportunities to enhance activities and projects approved and sponsored by NASA. These include activities in higher education (HE), and institutional capacity building, student and faculty programs, educator professional development (EPD), and STEM engagement (SE) in formal and informal education settings.

d) The contractor shall use direct and indirect recruitment methods, technology and social media, in coordination with OSTEM communications and IT POCs, to raise the awareness of NASA programs and opportunities with target audiences.

e) The contractor shall support building of MSIs’ capacity to submit proposals for NASA challenges, activities, and funding opportunities.

2) Collaboration with Colleges and Universities

a) The contractor shall connect NASA SMEs with colleges and universities that meet agency research capability needs.

b) The contractor shall strategize higher education engagement strategies with potential partners, create plans and communications in support of those strategies, and develop relationships and opportunities for collaboration with other Federal Agencies.

c) The contractor shall create plans and communication strategies to engage the higher education community and to develop relationships and opportunities for collaboration.

3) Research

a) The contractor shall support a network of space research institutions, minority institutions, NASA STEM Engagement Enterprise, and partners to work with institutions to strengthen research capabilities, improve research collaboration with NASA, and to provide opportunities that attract and prepare an increasing number of students, especially those underrepresented in the STEM fields and veterans, for NASA-related career opportunities.

b) The contractor shall use peer-reviewed educational research to identify and recommend new implementation strategies or to optimize existing implementation plans.

4) Project Coordination

a) The contractor shall provide support for strategic planning and performance monitoring of operational engagement at the Agency and inter-agency level. This includes initiating and tracking multiple ongoing activities and managing progress (resources, schedule and product deliverables) of large higher education investments.

b) The contractor shall support the implementation of the planned activities and solicitation coordination, annual meetings, internal and external reviews, site visits, center visits, and PI meetings and OSTEM summits.

c) The contractor shall assist and support management of grants, cooperative agreements, and requests for proposals, including but not limited to, implementing review procedures, finalizing awards consistent with NASA HQ procedures and guidance, and reporting on meeting of award conditions.

d) The contractor shall document and provide records management support to meet programmatic requirements such as agreements, forms, deliverables, rosters.

e) The contractor shall assist in the development of proposal technical data packages, evaluation letters, purchase requests and other support as required to transfer funds and products to the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC).

G. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION SERVICES

1) Performance and Evaluation Management

a) The Contractor shall assist in developing and executing a NASA OSTEM enterprise performance and evaluation strategies, frameworks and learning agendas for internal assessment and external (independent) evaluation of the portfolio of STEM Engagement activities.

b) The Contractor shall develop and execute an enterprise approach to data collection, performance monitoring, data visualization dashboards, community of practice, presentation briefings and reporting.

c) The Contractor shall develop and execute an evidence-based decision-making process with internal and external stakeholders

d) The Contractor shall coordinate expert review panels (ERP) to provide feedback on NASA STEM Engagement performance and evaluation activities.

2) Project Design Support

a) The Contractor shall support the development of logic models, theory of change documents, evidence-based decision-making benchmarks, literature reviews and syntheses, performance data analysis and lessons learned reviews.

3) Evaluation Studies

a) The Contractor shall facilitate a process to develop evidence-based evaluation plans in alignment with executed enterprise performance and evaluation strategies, frameworks and learning agendas.

b) The Contractor shall deploy enterprise evaluation techniques, needs assessments, formative, process/implementation, and outcome evaluations and/or other special studies.

c) The Contractor shall execute internal evaluations and external (independent) evaluations utilizing design methodologies, data collections and analysis in alignment with executed enterprise performance and evaluation strategies, frameworks and learning agendas.

d) The contractor shall ensure external (independent) evaluations obtain all applicable clearances and approvals prior to commencement of data collection activities.

4) Collection of Data

a) The Contractor shall support NASA OSTEM enterprise data collection, analysis, and reporting, including but not limited to, development of performance goals, data validation and verification, focus group discussions and site visits.

b) The Contractor shall conduct a review of existing documentation, prepare detailed research procedures, including detailed statistical plans that include plans for sampling, power analyses, response rate calculation, and non-response bias analyses.

c) The Contractor shall execute data collection strategies in accordance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved information collections and approved government systems for record and data collections.

d) The Contractor shall oversee the collection of data and reporting on performance goals and other performance indicators throughout the lifecycle of STEM Engagement program/projects.

5) Regulatory Compliance

a) The Contractor shall provide technical support in compliance with regulations, requirements, policies, and processes for information collections involving human participants pertinent to performance assessment and evaluation activities.

b) The Contractor shall develop and coordinate submission of information in alignment with NASA’s Privacy Act policy, the Paperwork Reduction Act information collection request (ICR) clearance packages, NASA Institutional Review Board (IRB) or an independent IRB, including an IRB provided by the Contractor.

c) The Contractor shall develop guidance, business processes and training materials to ensure awareness and compliance with regulations, policies and processes for performance assessment and evaluation information collections.

6) Grantee/Awardee Evaluation Capacity Building

a) The Contractor shall provide evaluation expertise and assistance to NASA STEM Engagement leadership, Mission Directorates, and grantees/awardees.

b) The Contractor shall implement evidence-based practices, develop performance and evaluation processes, and training support tools to build grant/award evaluation capacity.

VII. CONTRACT MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

A. Contract Management and Administration

1) The Contractor shall continually evaluate and implement fiscally responsible, cost effective, innovative, and efficient processes or disciplines in execution of the requirements outlined in this PWS.

2) The Contractor shall provide the management and administrative functions to satisfy the requirements of this Contract (Data Requirements Document [DRD]-MA-01, Contract Management Plan).

3) The Contractor shall comply with all policies and procedures included in Attachment 15, References.

4) The Contractor shall follow the most current approved version of policies, procedures, directives, work instructions, and other NASA or Government documents that are referenced in this PWS and in task orders.

5) The Contractor shall maintain the ability to obtain security clearances as appropriate for work on this Contract. Where required, specific employee security clearance requirements will be defined along with the technical content in Task Orders.

6) For employees who no longer require access, the Contractor shall provide verification that these employees have properly cleared all accounts.

7) The Contractor shall provide all resources (e.g., labor, materials, and property) required to perform this Contract. The exceptions to this are the items (materials and property) listed in:

a) Attachment 05, List of Government Furnished Property (GFP).

8) The Contractor shall provide to the Government all deliverables listed in the Attachment 03, Data Requirements Deliverables (DRDs) in electronic form as specified in the individual DRD, unless otherwise directed.

9) The Contractor shall, at least once per contract year, conduct a “kick-off” meeting with its Contractor team to communicate the following:

a) NASA STEM Engagement mission, vision, goals, and objectives and the STEM Engagement Council priorities.

b) Business ethics and conduct in accordance with FAR 52.203-13, Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.203-13#FAR_52_203_13

c) Responsibilities of the NASA Ombudsman’s role in resolving Contractor/Civil Servant issues in accordance with NPD 2025.1.

d) Contract-specific policies on telework and duty station; environmental continencies; and emergency operations.

e) Other topics as defined by the Contracting Officer (CO) and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).

B. Safety and Health

1) The Contractor shall submit a detailed safety and occupational health plan in accordance with DRD-SA-01, Safety and Health Plan as part of its proposal. The plan shall include a detailed discussion of the policies, procedures, and techniques that will be used to ensure the safety and occupational health of Contractor and sub-Contractor employees and to ensure safe working conditions.

C. Resource Management

1) The Contractor shall provide accurate and timely financial reports in accordance with NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 9501.1, NASA Contractor Financial Management Reporting System, NASA Program Requirement (NPR) 9501.2, NASA Contractor Financial Management Reporting, and NPR 9060.1, Cost Accruals including delivery of DRD-MA-02 Financial Management Reporting

2) The Contractor shall provide ongoing business analysis and respond to Government requests for financial information. In performing these functions, the Contractor shall:

a) Maintain detailed records that support Government-performed services and allow Government-performed reconciliation.

b) Maintain Enterprise ordering information as directed by the Government.

c) Provide financial information maintained by the Contractor for use by the Government for budgeting purposes and business case analyses.

d) Provide financial planning data to support the Government budget process including: Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution [PPBE] budget calls, operating plan budget calls, and special requests for budget impacts.

3) The Contractor shall support Contract-wide requirements/budget review meetings with the Government as defined in DRD-MA-03, Contract Management Review.

D. Operations, Projects and Functional Management

1) The Contractor shall coordinate and operate designated and new STEM engagement activities, products and services in accordance with the DRD-MA-01, Contract Management Plan.

2) The Contractor shall be responsible for maintaining communication with the supported organization and alert the COR and CO immediately of any problems that would prevent meeting established objectives. Report this information monthly to the Government to assist with project or functional report requirements.

E. Management Integration

1) The Contractor shall perform management and technical integration across the activities, products and services required within this PWS. While this Contract is specifically awarded by OSTEM as the Government Requiring Office, the activities, services and products provided will extend to Mission Directorates, NASA centers and facilities.

2) The Contractor shall execute a management integration approach that ensures all elements (i.e., technical, programmatic, business, information and data analysis) of the Contract, including subcontracts, are well-integrated and focused on overall mission success.

3) The Contractor’s integration approach shall be transparent to the Government, in terms of the integration between the prime Contractor and its subcontractors.

F. Technology, Innovations and Process Improvements

1) The Contractor shall take the initiative, seek creative solutions, and infuse technology and innovations from other industries consistent with NPR 2810.1, Security of Information Technology.

2) The Contractor shall define overall strategies for approaching innovation, its plan for implementing those strategies, and shall incorporate them as outlined by DRD-MA-01, Contract Management Plan.

3) The Contractor shall report proposed individual innovations accepted by the Government, as well as internal innovations implemented by the Contractor and any cost reduction realized, per DRD-MA-01, Contract Management Plan

G. Risk Management

1) The Contractor shall comply with Government-defined requirements for property management (RFP Sections G and H), to include the use of Government specified applications, and perform property custodian functions for GFP (Attachment J-1, List of Government Furnished Property including Pursuant to FAR 52.245-2) in accordance with NPR 4200.1, NASA Equipment Management Procedural…