Attachment 2 - Science SOW 4.19.21.docx

SCIENCE ASSESSMENTS FOR BIE SCHOOLS

Statement of Work (SOW)

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)’s mission, as described in 25 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 32.3, is to provide quality education opportunities from early childhood through life in accordance with a tribe’s needs for cultural and economic well-being, in keeping with the wide diversity of Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages as distinct cultural and governmental entities. Further, the BIE is to manifest consideration of the whole person by taking into account the spiritual, mental, physical, and cultural aspects of the individual within his or her family and tribal or village context. The BIE’s mission is to offer assessments to the students we serve.

These assessments will be used for accountability purposes in accordance with 25 CFR 30.100- 125.

2.0 PURPOSE

BIE requires student assessments aligned to BIE’s standards in Science, which are Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for grades 5, 8, and 11. These standards can be found at the following link: https://www.nextgenscience.org. These assessments are intended for students attending BIE-funded schools. For the base year, BIE requests a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) student assessment proposed by the Contractor that has been peer reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Education to use for Accountability; however, for potential option years, BIE reserves the right to require customization of the COTS student assessment or development of a new student assessment which meets the needs of the BIE (see Component 8 below). The COTS student assessment proposed by the Contractor must be fully operational with completed standards setting and not be in a pilot status. The Contractor shall manage required licenses and memoranda of understanding for COTS assessments. In addition, the Contractor shall be responsible to identify and pay all costs associated to the assessments. BIE requires alignment studies and/or technical reports or other similar evidence that the COTS is aligned to the NGSS. BIE also requires the assessment to be printed or displayed with the DOI logo and BIE in the name.

3.0 SCOPE

BIE requires the Contractor to provide and deliver operational student assessments and professional services in the following Component Areas: (1) Assessment Administration and Scoring; (2) Student Registration Portal; (3) Reporting (paper and electronic); (4) Test Administration and Data Integration Training; (5) Project Management Services; and (6) Helpdesk Services. These services are required for BIE schools and students beginning in the 2021-2022 school year through the 2025-2026 school year. During the option years, BIE may require two additional components which are (7) Optional Services and (8) Optional Test Item Development.

The following are estimated number of students who will need assessments per year.

Component Activity Component No.

Requirements

Government COR.

Education Agency (SEA) and aggregate student data reports to regional divisions.

Option Years 1-4, Optional Services, Test Item Development

Science. This may include facilitating item development sessions including teachers, piloting, and standard setting. (Option Years)

140A2321R0010 – Attachment 2

Option Years 1-4, Optional Services

- Interim Assessments

Option Years 1-4, Optional Services

- Interactive Dashboard

Option Years 1-4, Optional Services

- Research Paper

4.0 SPECIFIC TASKS

(1) Component 1 – Assessment Administration

A. Assessment Delivery. Contractor will provide the Assessments under the Contract to BIE schools in both paper and on-line formats in the required quantity and in time for annual spring administration, beginning with Spring 2022. Assessments and assessment format should align to support a high population of English Language Learners. BIE schools will select test administration dates within the annual testing windows set by the BIE.

B. Contractor will provide assistance to BIE schools regarding the assessment administration activities (e.g., help desk support, reconciliation of test quantity issues).

(2) Component 2 - Student Registration Portal. Contractor will be responsible for providing the BIE schools with access to the Contractor’s registration portal. BIE will be responsible for working with the Contractor to enter student information and registration data as described below. The Student Registration Portal should be dedicated to BIE use only and not shared with another SEA.

A. Uploading Student Information. Contractor is required to collaborate with BIE’s SIS vendor to ensure the correct student data/demographic files are seamlessly extracted from SIS and uploaded into the assessment registration portal.

i. Contractor shall provide BIE with the capability to interface with BIE’s student information system to upload student information data, as required, for the timely and accurate registration of the assessments.

ii. Contractor shall provide BIE with access to Contractor’s online administrative portal to upload student information data. Contractor will create a user role for BIE to enter BIE student information data.

iii. The online portal shall have functionality for the import and management of assessment registration data of BIE students (including student accessibility needs and preferences).

iv. The online portal shall allow authorized users to schedule testing sessions for the Contractor assessments within the Contractor Test Administration Window and allow administrative users to manage test assignment to students, based on the business rules to be defined by the BIE and Contractor policies for scheduling across states and the testing window.

B. Registering Students. Contractor is required to collaborate with BIE’s SIS vendor to ensure the correct student data/demographic files are seamlessly extracted from SIS and uploaded into the assessment registration portal.

i. BIE will be responsible for uploading into the online portal the initial organization information, participation counts, and student registration information by a January date each year. The Contractor will review the data and addresses provided and notify BIE of any concerns with data quality issues. BIE will have an opportunity to amend the information. Additional organizations and students entered after this time will be processed as additional orders. After the initial upload of data into the portal, BIE- funded schools may also access the portal to change, add, or subtract students from the assessment regime. Personalized materials will not be provided.

ii. Security Plan. Contractor shall follow the same data privacy and security safeguards for BIE, as a federal agency, as it follows for other participating states, and as described in the Contractor Operational Security Plan. Contractor will provide a copy of the Security Plan to BIE.

C. Quality of Work Products. Contractor is responsible for correcting any errors in work products at the Contractor's expense, arising from activities that are the responsibility of the Contractor. Contractor shall not be financially responsible for errors that result from the actions of BIE. In the event of errors introduced or caused solely by a third party, Contractor will notify the Government of the request for reimbursement for the costs associated with correction of such third party errors. Such corrections may involve activities that include, but are not limited to:

i. Conduct analyses to identify the cause and extent of errors

ii. Edit, revise, and/or reprogram computer-based applications

iii. Reprint and/or reproduce products or other materials

iv. Replace and/or correct data files

v. Reproduce reports

vi. Ship replacement products or reports to the school/district/state/BIE using expedited shipping services

(3) Component 3 – Reporting. Contractor shall be responsible for all necessary work to provide BIE schools the hard-copy results of the Contractor assessments, as described below. Assessment reports will be determined by mutual agreement between the BIE and the test vendors with the assistance of the Contractor.

A. Reports. Contractor shall print and deliver “machine readable” paper copies of student proficiency level reports. Each school will be provided: (1) two copies of individual student proficiency report, and (2) one copy of a grade level report with aggregate student proficiency data. The Contractor will make available through the Data Warehouse and user access roles, electronic copies of student reports and school level reports and rosters. Under its contract with BIE, Contractor will conduct standard setting and establish cut scores for the Contractor assessment in July-September. Electronic results from the spring administration will be available in November and December of that same year. A more detailed reporting schedule for electronic and paper copy reports will be determined by the kick-off meeting.

1. Contractor will provide student-level and aggregate-level information that is written in language that is easily understood for parents, guardians, or educators to use to evaluate the student’s level of academic achievement in all assessed academic areas.

2. The Contractor and the BIE will work together to confirm the quality of the data exchanged.

3. The BIE, with Contractor’s assistance, will reconcile lists of students provided to the vendor with test results to determine the actual numbers of students taking the assessment.

4. The Contractor will conduct statistical analyses of BIE students’ assessment results and alert the BIE if issues relevant to the interpretation of the assessment results arise. For example, Contractor will identify patterns in which an unusually large number of BIE students missed a particular test item.

5. For the assessments used for accountability and federal reporting purposes, based on EdFacts file specifications, reporting should identify the student’s present level of academic achievement, academic growth and any other indicators specified by BIE.

6. All reports generated for publication for public consumption should comply with the guidelines of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and be approved for publication by the BIE.

7. Reporting of assessment results to the BIE should be in a machine-readable format: Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx), comma separated values (.csv), tab delimited or other columnar text file (.txt) format, or as an SPSS data file. Another version of any assessment results file further needs to be formatted to meet the requirements of the BIE’s student information system (SIS). The contractor will need to work with the BIE and the BIE’s SIS vendor to import the scores after every test window.

8. Reporting of student and aggregate level results for educator, parent, or public consumption shall be in an Adobe Acrobat format, in a Microsoft Word format, or other easily readable format.

9. Transmission of student-level electronic data to or from the BIE and the contractor will be by secure File Transmission Protocol, Secure Shell Protocol (SSH), or other secure means that will be mutually agreed upon by the BIE and the contractor.

B. Quality Control. Contractor shall follow the same quality control processes for BIE as it follows for other SEAs, and as described in the Contractor Operational Quality Plan. Contractor will provide a copy of the Quality Control plan to BIE.

C. Data Integrity. Contractor’s portal and platform shall provide end-to-end data protections to verify data integrity while such data is in Contractor's possession during processing, storage, and transportation between applications and interfaces and meet federal data integrity requirements.

D. System Access Security. Contractor's portal and platform shall provide auditable access controls throughout the entire data management life cycle, including access control, confidentiality, monitoring, and threat detection and meet federal system access security requirements.

E. Data Regulatory Compliance. Contractor shall comply with all relevant state and Federal laws including FERPA, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) regulations, to the extent applicable to the services provided by Contactor hereunder.

F. Version of Assessment Registration Portal and Assessment Delivery Platform. Contractor shall provide the BIE with access to the latest version of online portal during the term of the Contract. "Latest version" as used in this Paragraph is defined as the most currently released version of online portal that is available at the point in time necessary to meet all deliverable dates required for an Annual Assessment Administration. Throughout the life of the Contract, online portal will be upgraded to address known issues and other enhancements agreed to by the parties. "Known issues" are based on performance issues from previous administrations and feedback from users. "Known issues" does not necessarily include all Contractor requests for enhancements.

(4) Component 4. Overview of the Assessment Program Training, Test Administration and Data Integration Training

A. The Contractor shall provide multiple test administration training opportunities per year based on levels of knowledge of test administration to BIE schools to include web- based and on-site offerings (up to 10).

B. An online learning platform designed to help staff administer the assessments must be provided. There should be a collection of varied multi-media resources (from brief tutorials and demonstrations to multi-part courses) available to all schools utilizing the assessments.

C. The Government COR will determine what schools would benefit from the on-site workshops and/or web-based workshops, with the COR having the final approval of all workshops. A proposed offering of web-based and on-site training sessions should be included with the bid for this contract.

D. A Test Administration Manual shall be developed for BIE and used a reference for training.

(5) Component 5. Project Management Services

A. The Contractor shall be responsible for all work necessary to implement the invoicing, reporting, tracking, and monitoring of services rendered under the Contract, including:

1. Contractor shall provide financial and tracking reports in a format approved by the BIE.

2. In the event the BIE has a required preference for a specific type of report that is provided pursuant to the Contract, the BIE shall notify the Contractor of such preference and provide the format/template to Contractor.

B. Delayed Dependent Deliverables. In the event of any delays by Contractor or in furnishing materials, its approval of services, and return of required documents or information, the time for performance by the Contractor shall be extended by an amount of time equal to the delay created by such occurrences or a new due date shall be negotiated.

(6) Component 6. Helpdesk Services. BIE will need Helpdesk services for its schools, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM local time during the registration period (approximately 5 weeks), test administration period (approximately 6 weeks) and post administration period (approximately 3 weeks). The Contractor’s Helpdesk may be located in Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern Time Zones and include both telephone and online chat support. Federal holidays are excluded. Hold time for Helpdesk Services shall not exceed 15 minutes.

(7) Component 7. Optional Test Item Development. BIE will own any customized items developed as part of this contract. The Contractor will add culturally relevant prompts, narratives and materials over the course of the contract options year, specifically after the base year. Review and analysis of vendor’s test item blueprint.

a. Analysis of BIE needs of development of test items for customization for student population

b. Identify potential options of developing test items for BIE

c. Facilitate BIE educator workgroup(s) for item writing

d. Pilot test items

e. Add to test item bank

f. Manage documentation of processes and procedure

(8) Component 8. Optional Services Subject to the availability of funds, optional services may be added to the contract as “Option” line items and may include the following:

a. Fall Testing Window – Contractor will provide options for potential Fall testing that may include the following assessments aligned to the academic content standards, NGSS: Summative, Abbreviated version of the Summative, and/or Interim

b. Interim Assessments – Contractor will provide interim assessments aligned to the summative assessment and academic content standards

c. Dashboard – Contractor will provide a dashboard that displays aggregate assessment scores and indicators identified by BIE

d. Research Paper – Contractor produces a research paper on issues/research questions identified by BIE. Three possible guiding questions around correlations of growth and interventions.

5.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

6.0 COMMUNICATION VENUES

A. The Contractor will hold weekly meetings via webinars or conference calls with the BIE COR and other BIE staff on an as needed basis, such as the Assessment and Accountability Program Manager and Student Information System Manager, to ensure that assessment administration is on-track and to address any issues that may interfere in the administration of the assessment, the delivery of assessment results, or other technical issues that may arise.

B. The Contractor will establish a help desk or similar support system for BIE schools and other personnel to call into in order to receive support with the assessments offered in this contract.

C. The Contractor will meet in person with the COR at either the COR’s physical location or at the vendor’s location no more than twice per contract year. The contractor should submit a proposed schedule in their bid to accomplish this task.

7.0 DELIVERABLES/DELIVERABLE SCHEDULE

To fulfill this effort, the Contractor shall complete the following deliverables. Unless otherwise specified, the BIE will have a maximum of fifteen (15) calendar days from the day the draft deliverable is received to review the document, provide comments back to the Contractor, and approve or disapprove the deliverable(s). The Contractor will also have a maximum of fifteen

(15) calendar days from the day comments are received to incorporate all changes and submit the final deliverable to the government. All days identified below are intended to be workdays unless otherwise specified.

Deliverables Schedule

days after start date

start date

all BIE Schools

start date

start date

start date

after award

Meetings and Weekly Report*

testing period

* Example of Weekly Reports include meeting notes, agendas, status of deliverables, tracking of progress, items for discussion, decisions made, next steps, important dates and deadlines. The content of Training materials and any messages sent to the BIE schools and staff by the contractor will be approved by the Government prior to publishing or sending.

8.0 SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall comply with all of the security and compliance requirements summarized in this section, or any additional federal requirements, for any data stored on the vendor’s servers.

Security Requirements:

1. The system shall protect and maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the data at all times.

2. The system shall allow only authorized users with valid credentials to access the system.

3. The system shall authorize access levels by user type.

4. The system shall be capable of supporting a Data Leakage Tool.

5. The system shall encrypt all sensitive data in accordance with FIPS 140-2.

6. The system shall employ all of the security controls required for a system with a FIPS 199 categorization of Moderate.

Compliance Requirements:

1. The vendor shall comply with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publications (SP), in particular, SP 800-53, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and SP 800-53A, Guide for Assessing the Security Controls in Federal Information Systems, and Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) publication 200, Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems.

2. The vendor shall comply with NIST Special Publication 800-27A, Engineering Principles for Information Technology Security (A Baseline for Achieving Security) Revision A.

3. The vendor shall comply with the all current DOI IT Security Policies.

4. The vendor’s access to BIE systems, if needed, will be dependent upon completion of a background investigation.

5. The vendor shall ensure system components are in compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d).

6. The vendor shall ensure their system is in compliance with OMB Circular A-123 standards.

7. The vendor shall ensure system is in compliance with DOI policies and guidance.

8. The vendor shall ensure system is in compliance with the Privacy Act as amended, 552a and Section 208 of the E-Government Act of 2002, 43 in addition to 25 CFR Part 20 and 25 U.S.C. that authorize collection of data.

The contractor shall comply with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, Section 508, Information Technology Accessibility Requirements – Electronic and Information Technology. The contractor shall identify the standards that are applicable to specific products shown in your catalog and/or to the on-line web-application, which must meet Section 508 requirements.

In the event that an identified product, service, or the on-line website is not fully compliant with the applicable standards, the contractor shall provide an explanation as to how the product or service does not comply with the identified standard(s). In addition, information on Section 508, including the complete listing of all the standards, is accessible at: http://www.section508.gov

9.0 SUBCONTRACTORS

The Contractor must obtain the permission of the BIE to approve any Subcontractor for performance under the resultant contract.

The Prime Contractor is responsible for subcontract award, technical performance of the subcontractor and deliverables in terms of quality and timeliness, monitoring progress, and timely payment to the subcontractor for the work accomplished under subcontract terms.

10.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT

A. The BIE will provide the vendor with a list of students with their unique ID identified for taking the assessments at each assessment window.

B. The BIE funded school will provide computers upon which the assessment may be administered.

C. The BIE funded school will provide an Internet connection to support the administration of the assessment or a server at the school from which the assessment may be delivered on the school’s local network.

11.0 ACCEPTANCE

The COR will review, for completeness, preliminary or draft documentation and final documentation that the Contractor submits within fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of documents and may return it to the contractor for correction. Absence of any comments by the COR will not relieve the contractor of the responsibility for complying with the requirements of this work statement. Final approval and acceptance of documentation required herein shall be in writing. The contractor shall not construe any letter of acknowledgment of receipt material as a waiver of review, or as an acknowledgment that the material is in conformance with this work statement. Any approval given during preparation of the documentation, or approval for shipment shall not guarantee the final acceptance of the completed documentation.

General quality measures, as set forth below, will be applied to each deliverable received from the contractor under this SOW.

· Accuracy - work products shall be accurate in presentation, technical content, and adherence to accepted elements of style.

· Clarity - work products shall be clear and concise. Any/all diagrams shall be easy to understand and be relevant to the supporting narrative.

· Consistency to requirements - all work products must satisfy the requirements of this SOW.

· File editing - all text and diagrammatic files shall be editable by the BIE.

· Format - work products shall be submitted in hard copy (where applicable) and in media mutually agreed upon prior to submission. Hard copy formats shall follow any specified Directives or Manuals.

· Timeliness - work products shall be submitted on or before the due date specified in this SOW or submitted in accordance with a later scheduled date determined by the government.

12.0 LIMITED DISTRIBUTION OR USE OF CERTAIN DATA AND INFORMATION

a. Performance of this contract may require the contractor to have access to and use of data and information which may be considered proprietary by other customers, or which may otherwise be of such a nature that its dissemination or use, other than in performance of this contract, would be adverse to the interests of the government and others.

b. The contractor agrees that contractor personnel will not divulge or release data or information developed or obtained in connection with the performance of this contract until made public by the BIE, except to authorized BIE personnel, or upon written approval of the COR. To the extent of the work under this contract requires access to business confidential or financial data of other companies, the contractor shall protect data so acquired from unauthorized use and disclosure and agrees not to use it for any purpose other than the performance of this contract. This data may be in various forms, such as documents, raw photographic prints, computer printouts or it may be interpretative results derived from analysis, investigation or study efforts. Further, the contractor shall not use nor copy any of this data or derivations thereof, for the purpose other than as may be necessary in the performance of this contract.

The contractor shall establish policies and procedures to implement the substance of this clause at the individual employee level that will ensure that affected employees are made aware of the contract provisions and the contractor’s implementing policies and procedures. Particular attention will be given to keeping employees advised of the statues and regulations applicable to the handling of other contractor business confidential of financial data.

c. Except as may be otherwise agreed to with a data owner, the contractor further agrees it will not use, disclose or reproduce proprietary data belonging to customers and which bears a restrictive legend, other than as required in the performance of this contract; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed as:

1. Precluding the use of any such data independently acquired by the contractor without such limitation; or

2. Prohibiting an agreement at no cost to the government between the contractor and the data owner that provides for greater rights to the contractor.

d. The contractor shall include the above clause (paragraphs a, b, and c) in all subcontracts.

13.0 RESTRICTION AGAINST DISCLOSURE

The contractor agrees in the performance of this contract to keep all information supplied by the government and all information obtained in conducting the research in the strictest confidence, said information being the sole property of the government. The contractor agrees not to publish, reproduce, or otherwise divulge such information in whole or in part, in any manner or form, nor authorize others to do so, taking such reasonable measures as are necessary to restrict the information to those employees who must have the information to perform the work provided herein. Contractor employees shall sign a Restriction Against Disclosure Statement. The contractor shall establish policies and procedures to implement the substance of this clause at the individual employee level which will assure that affected employees are made aware of the contract provisions and the contractor’s implementing policies and procedures. Particular attention will be given to keeping employees advised of the statutes and regulations applicable to the handling of other contractor confidential financial data.

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Microsoft_Excel_Worksheet.xlsx Sheet1

Grade Levels

5 8 11

2,973 2,824 2,184