Attachment A-NTPS 2026-28 Draft PWS.pdf

Attachment A - Draft Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Contract Title: Support for the 2026-27 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), 2027-28 Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS), and Teacher Follow-up Survey(TFS) Contract Type: Firm-Fixed Price

Performance Work Statement

I. Background & Purpose This project addresses the need to understand the condition of education in the United States. This project supports the collection of descriptive data on the context of elementary and secondary education in the United States via a nationally representative survey of teachers and principals through the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) and the Principal Follow-up Survey (PFS) collectively known as the NTPS Survey Program. The NTPS began in the 2015-16 school year following a redesign of its predecessor, the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS).

NTPS samples schools and then surveys the teachers and principals within those schools, while the TFS and PFS re- contact teachers and principals who responded to NTPS to collectively report on the state of K-12 public and private education in the US. The result is both a cross-sectional and longitudinal picture of the experience of teachers and principals over the two school years that NTPS, TFS and PFS are collected. All three studies are inextricably linked and build on one another.

The procurement is to support the NTPS program conducted by the Cross-sectional Surveys Branch (CSB) within the Sample Surveys Division of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) A significant amount of work in this Performance Work Statement (PWS) involves assisting NCES with review of materials produced by the third-party contractors who conduct the study data collections. This review is critical to the production of high-quality materials that adhere to standards and best practices for survey research, data dissemination and reporting. Assistance with review is needed to provide technical expertise and support involved in major data collections. Reviews shall be submitted to NCES staff, not the third-party contractors. Contractor staff shall not direct the third-party contractors. The contractor shall also support coordination between the CSB studies as well as with other NCES studies. Examples of this coordination include proposing research or sharing findings that would benefit response rates on multiple studies or alerting a Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) when wording on an item that is shared between studies might be changed on one of those studies.

II. Legislative Authority The Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA – 20 U.S. Code § 9543), and the yearly appropriations Congress makes supporting ESRA provides funding to NCES within the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) to collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to education in the United States, including data on the condition and progress of education, at the preschool, elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult levels throughout the country.

III. Period of Performance The period of performance for this task order is one base period from November 4, 2024 through December 31, 2029.

IV. Scope of Work The Government requires the following:

a. Review of specifications, plans, and documentation which are developed by the data collector (the U.S. Census Bureau), and which are necessary for collecting and releasing data from the 2026-2027 NTPS and the 2027-2028 TFS and PFS collection.

b. Support in planning, designing, and developing specifications for the data collection which are necessary for collecting and releasing data from the 2026-2027 NTPS and the 2027-2028 TFS and PFS collection but which are not developed by the U.S. Census Bureau for this collection.

c. Support for the publication of documentation materials and reports using the data for the 2026-2027 NTPS and the 2027-2028 TFS and PFS collection.

Tasks may include quality assurance; preparing documentation; drafting, reviewing, and revising publications. Tasks are organized by phases:

• Task 1 covers work to plan for the data collection;

• Task 2 comprises work to review and provide quality assurance support on specifications written by the U.S. Census Bureau;

• Task 3 provides support for review and publication of datafiles and documentation following data collection; and

• Task 4 provides support to manage the project.

These tasks together will allow for the successful support of the NTPS 2026-2027 and the 2027- 2028 TFS and PFS from planning for the data collection through publication of the data files.

Task 1: Planning for NTPS 2026-2027 and PFS/TFS 2027-2028 The following subtasks are to support planning, designing, and developing specifications for the data collection for the 2026-2027 NTPS and the 2027-2028 TFS and PFS.

Subtask 1.1 – Meetings for Data Collection Planning The contractor shall assist NCES and the U.S. Census Bureau in planning for the data collection for NTPS during the 2026-2027 school year and the data collection for TFS and PFS during the 2027-2028 school year. These activities include several remote meetings and up to two days of planning meetings before both school years when data will be collected. Both sets of these meetings will cover lessons learned from the previous data collection cycle, new technology or approaches to data collection and other aspects of the planning process. The contractor shall be expected to participate in these meetings and provide feedback on proposed approaches. The contractor shall also implement follow-up tasks from meetings as needed. Follow-up tasks could include tasks such as researching a methodological issue or providing an expert opinion on topics such as collection methodology.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.2 - Technical Review Panel The contractor shall identify potential members for the NTPS technical review panel (TRP) and consult with the COR about the panel’s composition. The panel shall be composed of approximately 10-15 researchers who focus on the role of school staff in elementary and secondary education. Researchers who have published using NTPS data and educators familiar with NTPS data shall also be included in the panel. The panel will focus on the substantive content of surveys of teachers and principals and on technical issues associated with obtaining the desired data.

The contractor shall share lists of proposed members and qualifications with the COR within 15 business days after exercise of this task. The contractor shall recruit panel members, provide panel members with relevant documentation and background to participate in the panel, and organize a two-day panel meeting where members can discuss their suggestions. The contractor shall compile and evaluate the opinions and recommendations of the panel and provide summary recommendations to NCES. The contractor shall work with the review panel to improve plans, products, and user-friendliness of study materials.

The contractor shall develop and share draft meeting agendas with NCES within fifteen business days of the scheduled meeting. The contractor shall provide panel members with materials, including the agenda and NTPS materials for their review (such as draft survey questions) five business days in advance of the meeting to allow panel members sufficient time to evaluate the materials prior to meeting. The contractor shall prepare all materials needed for the panel meeting, and the contractor shall attend and direct the panel meeting. The contractor shall provide meeting summaries that include recommendations for instrument development or modification based on discussions during the meetings. The contractor shall share the summaries with NCES and seek NCES comment on the summaries before modifying or developing instruments in response.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.3 – Cognitive Laboratory Studies for Item Development The contractor shall design and implement a cognitive laboratory research study to support development of NTPS, TFS and PFS items and/or usability testing. The cognitive laboratory research shall be directed towards an understanding of 1) the extent to which the items are understood by respondents and how their answers might be interpreted, 2) validity of the items, and/or 3) the extent to which the formatting and flow of the items is usable and understood by respondents. It may focus on items that have not been fielded before within the context of a larger questionnaire or may focus modifications to previously fielded items. This research will seek to identify any areas of ambiguity and confusion on the part of respondents.

The number and content of cognitive laboratory interviews will necessitate approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under NCES generic OMB clearance to conduct them. The contractor shall prepare an OMB clearance package and provide to NCES for review before the package is submitted. The package shall include protocols, questionnaires/web instruments, recruitment materials and all scripts and materials necessary for conducting the interviews. The contractor shall be responsible for the recruiting and scheduling of up to 20 total cognitive interviews that are up to one hour in length each and any proposed incentives.

Cognitive interviews should be conducted over the five weeks following OMB clearance.

After completion of the cognitive laboratory tests, the contractor shall complete and deliver a report summarizing the results of the tests and detailing how the final instruments were ultimately derived. The contractor shall first submit a draft of the report to NCES, and then prepare a final report following comments from NCES. The contractor shall work with NCES to agree on a format for the report that meets both schedule and NCES needs.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.3.1 – Cognitive Laboratory Study for the NTPS The contractor shall conduct a cognitive laboratory study to aid in developing the NTPS questionnaire according to the responsibilities and deliverables described above in Subtask 1.3.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.3.2 – Cognitive Laboratory Study for the TFS/PFS

The contractor shall conduct a cognitive laboratory study to aid in developing the TFS and/or PFS questionnaires according to the responsibilities and deliverables described above in Subtask 1.3.

Subtask 1.4 – NTPS Sampling Plan The contractor shall develop a sampling plan and specification for the NTPS collection. The plan shall cover all aspects of sampling and include a power analysis that shows necessary sample sizes to find detectable differences for key reporting subgroups as identified by NCES. The contractor shall then develop and implement specifications that operationalize the sampling plan and summarize the plan for the OMB package for the NTPS.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.4.1 – TFS Sampling Plan The contractor shall develop a sampling plan and specification for the TFS collection. This plan would build upon the NTPS sampling plan given that the TFS samples from NTPS respondents. As with the NTPS sampling plan, deliverables for a TFS sampling plan shall cover all aspects of the sampling and include a power analysis that shows necessary sample sizes in order to find detectable differences for key reporting subgroups as identified by NCES. The contractor shall then develop and implement specifications that operationalize the sampling plan and summarize the TFS sampling plan for the OMB package for the TFS.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.5– Assistance with Special Contact District Recruitment The contractor shall develop and submit up to 300 research applications prior to data collection in school districts which require NCES to submit a research application to conduct research in their schools as identified by the U.S. Census. The contractor shall pay required fees (up to $250 per district, paid electronically or by checks sent to the U.S. Census) with each submitted application in school districts as specified by NCES, for reimbursement. The government requests unit pricing for the cost to develop and submit four applications at a time with application fees for all four of these schools estimated to total $1000, to allow the Department to select one or all 75 groups of applications to be completed.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.6 – Purchase of Vendor Data The contractor shall identify a suitable external commercial data vendor that maintains databases of contact information for public and private schools, principals, and teachers, and purchase a list or lists containing up to 15,000 contacts from that external commercial data vendor. The U.S. Census Bureau, will provide specifications as needed, which have previously included criteria such as: schools that should be excluded or included and the variables to be included for each school (e.g., teacher name, teaching area, and e-mail address; principal name and e-mail address), or job titles that should be excluded or included. The contractor shall repeat this purchase up to five times to purchase vendor lists that follow the U.S. Census Bureau specifications for delivery to NCES. The government requests unit pricing to allow the Department to select the purchase of one or up to five vendor lists.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.7 – Purchase of Incentives The contractor shall purchase up to 60,000 total incentives to be used for data collection, for delivery to the U.S. Census Bureau National Processing Center (NPC) in Jeffersonville, IN. Incentives used may be monetary (such as cash or gift cards up to $20 in value; and it may be a physical card or an electronic code) or nonmonetary (small tokens, such as tote bags or school supplies). For nonmonetary incentives, NCES will provide product specifications and the contractor shall secure a vendor. NCES will provide information about the quantity needed and the dates by which they must be secured and delivered to the

NPC. Unit pricing is requested for a total of up to 60,000 incentives to allow the Department to select a suitable mix of incentive purchases to be exercised.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 1.8 – As-Needed Experimental Plan and Analysis NTPS and the follow-up surveys may seek to improve data quality or representativeness with randomized experiments to be carried out during data collection that would modify or compare data collection procedures, the presentation or wording of contact materials, web survey design, questionnaire wording, or other data collection features. For an experiment proposed by NCES, the contractor shall participate in planning discussions with NCES and the U.S. Census Bureau, including discussions of experimental design and implementation. The contractor shall write a research plan summarizing the reasons for the experiments, planned design, and proposed analyses. Following the experiments, the contractor shall analyze findings (as discussed in the research plan) and deliver a memo presenting background information about the experiments, the findings, and their significance.

Task 2: Review for NTPS 2026-2027 and PFS/TFS 2027-2028 The following subtasks are to review specifications, plans and documentation which are developed by the U.S. Census Bureau, and which are necessary for collecting and releasing data from the 2026-2027 NTPS and the 2027-2028 TFS and PFS collection.

Subtask 2.1 – OMB Package Review NCES will submit three packages for approval of the NTPS, TFS and PFS data collection activities to

OMB:

1. The first package aims to gain clearance to contact school districts and recruit schools for participation in NTPS and the TFS and PFS. This package will be submitted in the summer of 2025 so that districts can be recruited to participate starting in January 2026;

2. The second package aims to gain clearance to carry out data collection for the NTPS. This package will be submitted in December 2025 to obtain approval to carry out data collection for the NTPS; and

3. The third package will be submitted in January 2026 to obtain approval to carry out data collection for PFS and TFS.

The contractor shall review each of these three OMB packages as prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The contractor shall ensure that the package is properly formatted in accordance with OMB package guidelines as stipulated by the NCES OMB liaison. Each drafted and COR- reviewed OMB package shall be submitted to the NCES OMB liaison to allow 10 business days for review and revision before the final submission date.

Subtask 2.2 – Review Contact Materials and Instruments To prepare for the NTPS, PFS, and TFS, the U.S. Census Bureau creates formatted and final versions of contact materials. These materials will require thorough review and comment before approval and use in data collection. Such materials include:

• Advance letters or mailers

• Letters

• Postcards

• Pressure-sealed mailers

• Envelopes

The volume of materials is expected to be similar to previous materials, which can be found by browsing appendix A available here:

https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202301-1850-002

The contractor shall plan to assist in the development and perform up to six separate rounds of review of all contact materials for each survey (e.g., NTPS, TFS, PFS) and provide comments to NCES and the U.S. Census Bureau at each review. The materials will be received in batches for review based on the respondent type (i.e., school, principal, teacher). Early rounds of review should include substantive recommendations to improve the quality of materials. The contractor shall adhere to OMB standards when preparing materials.

The contractor shall assist NCES in the review of each questionnaire for the NTPS, TFS and PFS. The NTPS has four questionnaires: public school principal, private school principal, public school teacher, and private school teacher surveys. The TFS has two questionnaires: one each for teachers who have left their school and teachers who have stayed at their school. The PFS has two questionnaires: principals at private schools and principals at public schools. The contractor shall review each questionnaire and instrument for quality and completeness. Depending on the survey, this review may include comparing web and paper instruments for consistency, verifying internal consistency, verifying consistency (or differences, where appropriate) between public and private school instruments, and comparing final versions to OMB approved versions.

The contractor shall conduct testing of draft web instruments to ensure that they are ready for use for the NTPS and TFS collections. To prepare for testing, the contractor shall develop testing protocols to ensure that all items and functionality within the instruments are adequately tested. Following each round of testing, the contractor shall prepare a comment memo for the data collection contractor. Testing will include the screener, portal, teacher listing form (TLF), teacher questionnaire (TQ), principal questionnaire (PQ), and TFS current and former teacher questionnaires. The contractor shall review for:

• Item wording and grammar

• Visual layout

• Functionality

• Proper skip pattern navigation

• Autofills

Following each of the reviews of the instrument the contractor shall ensure that comments were addressed thoroughly and completely. Instruments shall adhere to details that are approved by OMB.

The contractor shall review paper versions of the NTPS, PFS, and TFS questionnaires to ensure that they are ready for collection. The contractor shall review for:

• Visual appearance and proper layout

• Grammatical errors and adherence to question wording as intended

• Appropriate confidentiality language, per OMB approved versions of the instruments https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202301-1850-002

The contractor shall review each instrument up to four times during the period leading up to data collection. The contractor shall adhere to details that are OMB approved and ensure consistency across all modes of collection. The contractor shall propose a method for documenting the findings of their reviews and comments for each reviewed instrument, questionnaire, and contact material.

Subtask 2.3 – Quality Assurance Review of Study Specifications The U.S. Census Bureau will have primary responsibility for planning and creating NTPS, TFS, and PFS specifications which include but are not limited to:

• Sampling plans (except those developed under this contract) and control number specifications;

• Sampling procedures and specifications;

• Printing mailing specifications including the Package Assembly Document (PAD);

• Rules for establishing complete interviews;

• Editing specifications to trigger follow-up calls to respondents;

• Detailed editing specifications, including but not limited to blanking and consistency edits;

• Nonresponse bias analysis plans for unit nonresponse;

• Nonresponse bias analysis plans for item nonresponse;

• Imputation plans and specifications;

• Weighting plans and specifications;

• Derived variable specifications; and

• Plans concerning the content of the data files.

The contractor shall provide quality assurance (QA) reviews of all plans and specifications which will be provided to the contractor as they are each prepared by the Census Bureau throughout each of the 4 years of the period of performance. Reviews will be conducted as materials become available from Census, with reviews occurring most frequently during years 2 and 3 of the contract. Reviews will then be submitted to NCES on a flow basis no later than 10 business days after receipt of materials.

The contractor shall be prepared to provide both an initial review and no fewer than one compliance review. An initial review should check for the soundness of the approach and requires (but is not limited

to) an evaluation of any methodological or conceptual errors or any other potential issues with the suggested approach; inconsistencies or inaccuracies with the study design and/or NCES standards; and typographic, logic, or mathematical errors. A compliance review should determine if the requested changes and potential issues surfaced by the initial review were addressed without introducing new issues. These reviews shall be thorough and ensure that the plans and specifications meet the goals of the study and are complete and free from errors. The reviews may involve developing and running analyses to identify issues or make recommendations for improvement. The contractor shall propose a method for documenting the findings of their reviews and comments.

Task 2.4 – IRB Approval The contractor shall prepare all documentation and secure Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for the 2026-2027 NTPS and 2027-2028 TFS and PFS. The contractor may use its own internal IRB if appropriate.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 2.5 – Monitor Training for Collection Staff

The contractor shall monitor training of telephone and/or field staff if NCES is unable to attend. The U.S.

Census Bureau will have primary responsibility for planning and conducting the following NTPS/TFS/PFS training operations:

• Telephone Questionnaire Assistance (TQA);

• Reminder telephone operations to remind schools, principals, and teachers to complete their questionnaires;

• Telephone training operations for field staff who will make phone calls; and

• In-person visits to school to remind them to complete their questionnaires.

The contractor shall review these training protocols and the materials that will be used to train the staff for the TQA operation. Training materials for TQA staff shall include a guide to the NTPS, in-training practice exercises, and PowerPoint slides for a presentation.

Additionally, contractor staff shall plan to attend 2-day trainings for TQA interviewers in 2026.

Contractor staff shall attend training sessions for each aspect of training. The contractor shall submit a draft plan for what shall be considered and evaluated during training monitoring. The plan will be reviewed by the COR within five business days of receipt. The contractor shall take notes at each training session. The trainings may occur at one of the Census Bureau’s facilities in Tucson, AZ; Jeffersonville, IN; Suitland, MD, or another regional office. Designated contractor employees shall secure and maintain Special Sworn Status through the U.S. Census Bureau in order to attend these trainings. The contractor shall propose a method for documenting the findings and comments from their reviews of training materials and training sessions.

Task 3: Publication for NTPS 2026-2027 and PFS/TFS 2027-2028 The following subtasks are to support the production and review of documentation materials and reports using the data for the 2026-2027 NTPS and the 2027-2028 TFS and PFS collection.

Subtask 3.1 – Disclosure Avoidance and Production of Restricted-Use Data Files The contractor shall plan, review, and produce the final restricted-use data files. The U.S. Census Bureau will have primary responsibility for developing the unweighted imputed and edited (I/E) file for each data file in these collections. The contractor shall review each of the files and conduct a series of quality control checks. The contractor shall review iterative drafts as they are delivered by the U.S. Census Bureau. The contractor shall assume at least two reviews of each file. The reviews of the preliminary files will focus on major issues such as variable output, sampling, missing data, and range violations for categorical items.

The Census Bureau will have primary responsibility for developing the weighted documentation (DOC) file for each of the public school principal, private school principal, public school teacher, and private school teacher surveys. The contractor shall review each of the files and conduct a series of quality control checks on an iterative basis.

The contractor shall develop a disclosure avoidance plan (DAP) for each collection that meets industry and NCES standards. The DAP will be submitted to NCES’ Disclosure Review Board (DRB) for review.

Once approved by the board, the contractor shall implement the plan on the final, approved documentation files and provide final, perturbed data files.

The contractor shall check the data files for completeness, accuracy and expected counts of case IDs on the data file. Successive reviews of the data files will occur each time a revised file is delivered by the U.S. Census Bureau to address comments. Each review should describe the completeness and accuracy of the data file, including but not limited to the variable names, the number of variables on the file, the values for each variable, and the variable labels.

The contractor shall also perform the sampling checks on the teacher data files that are specified in the sampling plan, to include eligibility determination and domain eligibility distribution.

The contractor shall assume four reviews of the complete restricted-use files by the end of the period of performance. Reviews of the complete restricted-use files will include evaluations of skip pattern errors for web and paper respondents and comparisons of base-weighted percentage distributions to those of the prior NTPS administrations.

The contractor shall propose a method for documenting the findings of their reviews and comments for each round of review for each datafile described in this task.

Subtask 3.1.1 – Disclosure Avoidance and Production of Restricted-Use Data Files for the NTPS The contractor shall be responsible for creating 4 data files from the NTPS, with one data file for each questionnaire: public school principal, private school principal, public school teacher, and private school teacher. The contractor shall plan, review and produce the final restricted-use data files for the NTPS according to the responsibilities and deliverables described above in task 3.1.

Subtask 3.1.2 – Disclosure Avoidance and Production of Restricted-Use Data Files for the TFS and

PFS

The contractor shall be responsible for creating 2 data files from the TFS with one data file for current teachers and one data file for former teachers. The contractor shall plan, review and produce the final restricted-use data files for the TFS according to the responsibilities and deliverables described above in task 3.1.

The contractor shall also be responsible for creating two data files from the PFS – one for PFS datasets for private schools and for public schools. These datasets will ultimately be appended to the NTPS principal datasets. The contractor shall plan, review and produce the final restricted- used data files for the TFS according to the responsibilities and deliverables described above in task 3.1.

Subtask 3.2 – Data File Release – Restricted-Use Only The contractor shall take all inputs for the NTPS and PFS/TFS restricted-use data products and prepare the release DVD Master Copy for distribution to restricted-use licensees. The release DVD shall have the following materials: restricted-use data files in ASCII and SAS formats; syntax files for SPSS and Stata for the restricted-use data files; data dictionaries for Stata users; the User’s Manual (UM) for each data file; Access databases; Excel versions of crosswalks and codebooks, and readme text file. The release DVD with supporting materials shall be revised as often as necessary to achieve sign-off at these levels of review:

1. Program Review

2. Branch Review

3. Division Review

4. Technical Review

5. Chief Statistician Review

All restricted-use products shall comply with NCES Statistical Standards and IES publication standards in effect during the period of performance. The readme text file shall specify the minimum computer requirements necessary for using the restricted-use data files and other data release products, as well as the contents of the entire DVD and file sizes. The restricted-use data shall be provided in the following formats:

• ASCII

• SAS

• SPSS

• Stata

• R

• CSV

Additionally, the delivery must contain Data Inventory Group (DIG) database files and Codebook(s).

The syntax files (or “file build” code) for each of the restricted-use data files shall be produced to allow the conversion of ASCII format versions into SPSS or Stata. The SAS version will have format libraries attached. Data dictionaries (.do files) shall be provided for Stata users.

The contractor shall create a schedule for delivery of all data files and review stages for government review. The contractor shall assume that the data files will be released by NCES on August 1st in the year following NTPS data collection (for example, data from the 2026-2027 NTPS would be released by September 1, 2028). Note that PFS data will be appended to the NTPS principal data files, and TFS status data will be appended to the NTPS teacher data files. The data files shall be merged by school sector (public or private) once all data files are available in Spring 2029, with final TFS and PFS files to be released by September 1, 2029.

After release of the data files, the contractor shall request the restricted-use files from the IES Data Security Office. This request will be used to determine the response time from the IES Data Security Office and the materials that are provided to researchers. The contractor shall review these files to ensure:

1. The files were submitted timely and without confusion

2. The files provided were complete and accurate

The contractor shall provide a summary of this review to the COR as an output of this task.

Subtask 3.3 – User’s Manuals (UM) NCES provides extensive documentation of the studies conducted. The contractor shall be responsible for the development and publication of the UM for NTPS, TFS and PFS. The contractor shall create a schedule for delivery of all draft chapters and review stages for government review upon contract award.

Note that while the UM contains similar information to the Survey Documentation (SD) described in task 3.5, the UM’s are produced before the SD and are less detailed.

The UMs shall provide an overview of the data collection and information that a data user needs to utilize the files. It shall contain background on each study, including (but not limited to) information about the variables in each data file, information about the nonresponse bias analysis, and which data have been imputed and how. The contractor shall also provide information in the UM about any changes from previous versions of the survey. Sample UMs can be found on the NCES website here:

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020321.

The contractor shall draft a NewsFlash announcing the release of each survey’s data files and their accompanying UM(s). The NewsFlash must be submitted with the Program Review-level UM and will accompany the UM as it goes through review.

Once in the Review Tracking System (RTS), the contractor shall respond to review comments and create revised drafts of the UM and NewsFlash in response to each review phase. The contractor shall respond to:

3. Division Review

4. Technical Review

5. Chief Statistician Review

The contractor shall do a final check of the document for formatting errors before delivering to the Government.

Subtask 3.3.1 – User’s Manuals for NTPS The contractor shall develop three separate UMs for the NTPS (one for the overall NTPS study, one for the NTPS principal surveys, and one for the NTPS teacher surveys). The contractor shall plan and produce these three User’s Manuals for the NTPS according to the responsibilities and deliverables described above in task 3.3.

Subtask 3.3.2 – User’s Manuals for TFS and PFS The contractor shall develop one UM each for the PFS and TFS. The contractor shall plan and produce these two UMs for the TFS and PFS according to the responsibilities and deliverables described above in task 3.3.

Subtask 3.4 – Production of First Look Reports Data from the NTPS are presented in two First Look reports, presenting findings about s principals (both public and private) and teachers (both public and private). The contractor shall first prepare table shells during data collection and drafts based on preliminary data files so that the reports can be finalized immediately with the final data files.

After final NCES approval of each First Look report, the contractor shall have the document formatted for 508 compliance for publication on the NCES website. Each of the three First Look reports from NTPS data shall be published by July 2028, within 12 months of the end of data collection. The contractor shall allow adequate time for review and comment from IES and notification to the Secretary (generally 3-4 months of review time). Data from the PFS and TFS are presented in two First Look reports, each of which shall be published by the spring and fall of 2029, respectively, within 12 months of the end of data collection.

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020321

First Look reports require the following levels of review:

3. Division Review

4. Senior Technical Advisor Review

5. Chief Statistician Review

6. NCES Commissioner Review

7. IES Review

Subtask 3.5 – Review of the Survey Documentation The U.S. Census Bureau is responsible for writing survey documentation for the NTPS, TFS and PFS.

The contractor shall review the Survey Documentation for the 2026-27 NTPS, 2027-28 PFS, and 2027-28 TFS. Samples can be found on the NCES website here:

https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2016817.

At a minimum the contents will include:

• Introduction

• Sampling Chapter

• Data Collection Chapter

• Editing/Data Processing Chapter

• Response Rate Chapter

• Imputation Chapter

• Weighting and Variance Estimation Chapter

• Data Considerations and Anomalies

• Guide to the Data File and Codebook Chapter

• Nonresponse Bias Analysis Chapter

• Appendices

• Restricted-Use Record Layout in Position Order Appendix

• Comparison of Estimates to Past Cycles and Outside Sources (such as ACS, Census, CPS)

• Nonresponse Interview Adjustment Cells

• Summary of Weighting and Sample Variance and Estimation Variables

• SAS Code for all Derived Variables

• Coding Taxonomies as Applicable

The contractor shall review the document for accuracy, consistency, and editorial issues. Chapters may be received on a flow basis. The contractor shall propose a method for documenting the findings of their reviews and comments.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 3.6 Publication of NTPS Working Papers The contractor shall provide support for planning and producing up to three working papers based on the NTPS, PFS, or TFS. Potential topics could include how the NTPS overlaps with other NCES data collections, expanding PFS or TFS collections to additional data collection modes, allowing states or districts to integrate topics or data collection procedures into the NTPS collection, or other research and https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2016817 development areas. The contractor shall prepare a draft for a working paper to be submitted to the COR.

The contractor shall also allow adequate time for review and comment from IES and notification to the Secretary (generally 4-5 months of review time) for any working paper, including the potential for an external IES Review. After final NCES approval of each Working Paper, the contractor shall have the document formatted for 508 compliance for publication on the NCES website Unit pricing is to be provided to allow the Department to select up to three of these papers to be published.

Subtask 3.7 – Support for Uploading NTPS into DataLab The contractor shall review the DataLab Data Dissemination Plan, which involves topics such as:

metadata development, proposed variables to include, and baseline tables to use for comparison. Further, the contractor shall review the NTPS codebook created for DataLab as well as the variable documentation. These files contain information about the NTPS dataset, such as variable names, variable labels, text descriptions of the source of the variables, value labels, and an indication of the population to which the variable applies. The initial reviews of these files will be extensive. Later reviews shall be compliance reviews—or reviews done to ensure that errors found in earlier reviews have been corrected and/or that questions have been answered.

Once the initial files are cleared and in DataLab on the developmental server, the contractor shall review the information as it appears in DataLab to ensure the data have been populated correctly. Further, a final form of technical review shall involve production of tables using DataLab and comparison of those tables with extant tables or tables produced using the public-use data file.

The contractor shall produce and review five tables using DataLab and compare them to NCES published tables. Any discrepancies in estimates or standard errors shall be described in writing. For each set of estimates and standard errors compared, the contractor shall provide the code used to produce the estimates and a copy of the output compared. This task includes review of each of the four NTPS data files and the two TFS data files for the 2026-27 NTPS and 2027-28 TFS collections. The contractor shall propose a method for documenting the findings of their reviews and comments.

Subtask 3.8 – NTPS State Level Tables and As-needed analysis The contractor shall replicate each of the NTPS First Look tables by state (public school files) and 11 level private school affiliation (private school files) for release on the NCES website, and develop up to 75 additional web tables from the NTPS datafiles. These tables will be similar to tables on the NTPS web site. The contractor shall replicate PFS and TFS attrition tables by state (public school files) and 11 level private school affiliation (private school files). After final NCES approval of each set of tables, the contractor shall have the tables formatted for 508 compliance for publication on the NCES website. The additional web tables will be specified by NCES based on data of interest or government need, and could be requested at any point throughout the period of performance. For 25 of these tables, the contractor will also produce accompanying graphics that adhere to NCES statistical standards.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 3.9 – Propose and Produce Data Points The contractor shall develop 10 potential topics for Data Point reports based on the NTPS, SASS, PFS, and/or TFS results. These may be suggested by trends in reported data apparent over time; current research topics in the literature concerning public or private schools and their staff; or by information in tables developed for ad hoc requests for the table library.

The recommended potential topics for Data Point reports will include the topic being addressed; a justification for the topic; the data source for the analysis (either an existing table or a newly developed table); a design template for the graphics proposed; and one or more suggested approaches to evaluate the data presented. The contractor shall submit these proposals to the COR for review. The COR will select five of the 10 proposed topics to produce. The contractor shall complete Data Point reports, ensuring that all new estimates (not taken from existing tables) and any statistical analyses are independently generated using a quality control process set by the contractor.

The initial draft will be delivered in a format agreed to by the COR, with separate graphics to maintain ease of editing. Review documents shall have line numbers to foster comments. As applicable, the contractor shall respond to comments and will provide a revised manuscript within 10 business days of receipt of the comments. The contractor shall maintain the more easily edited format of the draft through the review by the Chief Statistician and will then combine text and graphics into single PDF document that accurately display the Data Point format for further review. After final NCES approval of each Data Point, the contractor shall have the document formatted for 508 compliance for publication on the NCES website.

NCES may choose to exercise up to 20 Data Point reports under this contract, in groups of five. Unit pricing is to be provided to allow the Department to select one group or all 20 of these Data Point publications to be exercised.

(OPTIONAL) Subtask 3.10 – Propose and Produce Statistics in Brief reports In collaboration with the COR, the contractor shall develop three topic proposals for a Statistics in Brief (SIB) report based on the NTPS, SASS, PFS, and/or TFS results. These may be suggested by trends in reported data apparent over time; current research topics in the literature concerning public or private schools and their staff; or by information in tables developed for ad hoc requests for the table library.

The proposal for the SIB reports will include the topic being addressed; a justification for the topic; the data source for the analysis (either existing tables or a newly developed table of developed); a design template for the graphics proposed; and one or more suggested approaches to evaluate the data presented.

The contractor shall submit these to the COR for review, and the COR will select one proposal to be developed into a SIB.

The contractor shall draft a SIB, ensuring that all new estimates, excluding existing tables, and any statistical analyses are independently generated using a quality control process set by the contractor.

Further, the contractor’s communications and other appropriate staff will review the explanatory text to identify and correct areas of potential misunderstanding by the general public. The initial draft will be delivered in a format agreed to by the COR, with separate graphics to maintain ease of editing. Review documents shall have line numbers to foster comments. If necessary, the contractor shall respond to comments and pose any follow up questions using the NCES reviewer template within five business days and will provide a revised manuscript within 10 business days of receipt of comments. The contractor shall maintain the more easily edited format of the draft through the review by the Associate Commissioner and will combine text and graphics into a single PDF document that accurately displays the SIB format for further review. After final NCES approval of each SIB, the contractor shall have the document formatted for 508 compliance for publication on the NCES website.

CES may choose to exercise up to two SIB reports. Unit pricing is to be provided to allow the Department to select one or both of these SIB reports to be exercised.

Task 4: Management Tasks for NTPS 2026-2027 and PFS/TFS 2027-2028 These tasks are necessary for the successful project management and administration of the NTPS 2026- 2027 collection and 2027-2028 TFS and PFS.

Subtask 4.1 – Kickoff Meeting and Schedule Within three business days following award, the contractor shall schedule a 2-hour kickoff meeting with the COR and all required Department stakeholders. The kickoff meeting shall take place within 10 business days following contract award. At least one representative of any and each subcontracting company that will work on NTPS tasks should be included in the kickoff meeting.

The contractor shall provide an agenda for the Kickoff meeting three days prior to the meeting. Meeting minutes from the Kickoff meeting shall be provided within 10 business days following the conclusion of the meeting. The meeting minutes will include a section with outstanding questions that surfaced during the meeting and action items, with each action item assigned to a person with a deadline.

The contractor shall develop a schedule for the NTPS, PFS and TFS work, for NCES review, within 20 business days after award. In the schedule, the contractor shall allow at least 10 business days for NCES review of deliverables unless otherwise negotiated with NCES during the development of the detailed schedule. The contractor shall maintain and share the schedule with NCES throughout the period of performance.

Subtask 4.2 – Bi-weekly Progress Meetings, NTPS/TFS/PFS The contractor shall meet with NCES project staff bi-weekly to provide updates regarding progress of ongoing work. The contractor shall provide an agenda for each meeting one day prior to the meeting and meeting minutes within two days after each meeting. The meeting minutes will include a section with outstanding questions that surfaced during the meeting. The meeting minutes will also include a section for action items, with each action item assigned to a person with a deadline.

Subtask 4.3 – Monthly Reports on Contract Progress and Staff Security Compliance The contractor shall submit monthly reports on or before the 10th of each month which provide information on the progress of the work and on security requirements for the staff. The contractor shall use the IES Public Trust Application Manager (IPAM), email, and monthly progress reports to keep the government informed about the individuals working on NTPS within a given month throughout the contract period. The contractor shall provide the requisite security materials related to staff. The monthly reports are to be submitted via electronic transmission.

The monthly report shall be submitted to the COR, with a copy to the Contract Specialist.

The monthly report shall include the following:

a. The progress on each task and activity relative to the schedule and a discussion of discrepancies;

b. Accomplishments associated with each task and activity for the month;

c. Problems that have been resolved or are in need of resolution;

d. A detailed description of the work to be performed during the next monthly reporting period;

e. Brief description of the work performed by any and each subcontractor during the month;

f. Anticipated and foreseeable project risks and proposed mitigation strategies;

g. Detailed description of staff security clearance that includes (a) new staff added and staff removed from the contract noting dates of staffing addition or separation, (b) clearance level required and date application was submitted for each staff, (c) description of clearance levels and roles of any staff previously holding clearances; and

h. Where small business subcontractors are used, the amount of costs incurred shall be indicated in the report.

Subtask 4.4 – Participation in Weekly Meetings with the NTPS/TFS/PFS Data Collector The contractor shall attend weekly one-hour meetings with NCES and the U.S. Census Bureau. The meetings will be organized and facilitated by the U.S. Census Bureau. During active data collection for NTPS/TFS/PFS, the contractor shall review each week’s NTPS/TFS/PFS data collection metrics, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, in advance of the weekly meeting and be prepared to discuss key takeaways from the report during the meeting. Reviews shall focus on the relationship between the week’s sample performance, previous reports, the overall sampling targets of the study, performance of any methodological experiments, and web paradata. The reviews shall be done by contractor staff working on tasks related to sampling and planning tasks to ensure there are no issues with performance of the sampling. The contractor shall consult on schedules and decisions relevant to planning, data collection, processing and reporting throughout the period of performance on an ongoing basis as they arise. The contractor shall provide input during the meetings as needed.

The contractor shall also implement follow-up tasks from meetings as needed. Follow-up tasks may include but are not limited to: sharing files, using data files to conduct specific analysis in response to questions or concerns, researching a methodological issue for about 1 hour, adjusting project schedules and/or providing expert opinion on topics such as:

• data collection issues and recommendations for changes,

• recommendations for further analysis in the weekly reports that may could illuminate our understanding of sample performance, performance of contact procedures, response propensity, experiment performance, or future design decisions,

• sampling methodology,

• weighting, and/or

• non-response bias analysis.

(OPTION…