Draft Performance Work Statement.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Department of Defense Education Activity 4800 Mark Center Drive

Alexandria, VA 22350

11 Jan 22 1

Enterprise Antiplagiarism Software

1. General Information and Scope of Work

1.1 Agency

For school year (SY) 2022-23, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) will provide PK- 12 instruction to approximately 67,000 dependents of active-duty military and DoD civilians. In the Americas, DoDEA operates 50 schools located in seven states, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. In Europe and the Middle East, DoDEA operates 64 schools located in Germany, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Bahrain. In the Pacific, DoDEA operates 45 schools located in Korea, Japan (mainland and Okinawa), and Guam. DoDEA also operates a full time K-12 virtual school option with teaching hubs in each DoDEA region: Americas, Europe, and Pacific. DoDEA's curriculum, resources and student achievement scores on standardized assessments compare favorably to those of high-performing US public school systems.

There are 75 schools serving students in grades 6-12, but they vary greatly in their configurations. Some elementary and intermediate schools include a grade 6; some schools include grades 6-12. The smallest school site has ten students in grades 6-8; the largest school site has 859 students in grades 9-12.

DoDEA currently serves approximately 14,038 students in grades 6-8 and 12,802 students in grades 9- 12—a total of 26,840.

1.2 Background: DoDEA initially awarded a sole source contract, HE125415D0017, for antiplagiarism software;

that contract was extended via HE125420P0006 to the end of the 2021-22 school year.

1.3 Scope of Work: DoDEA requires antiplagiarism software that integrates with our learning management system (LMS, Schoology) and that includes related support for our approximately 78 middle and high schools, serving approximately 26,840 students and approximately 5,000 teachers. DoDEA expects to make one award for a base year and four option years.

2 Requirements (Objectives)

2.1 (Objective 1) Antiplagiarism Support: The objective is to provide antiplagiarism software and related support for DoDEA schools serving students in grades 6-12—an estimated 26,840 students and 5,000 teachers located at approximately 78 school sites. Related support consists of maintenance, upgrades, helpdesk support, and product training. The latter includes a general overview of the software and guidance on its use and navigation for users—usually provided by asynchronous webinars or digital modules. The tasks below are to help the Contractor gain a better understanding of the requirements to successfully meet the objective. The tasks are not all inclusive. The Contractor is expected to develop the total solution to meet all the requirements in accordance with a performance-based approach.

Supporting Tasks (Objective 1)

Task 1, Antiplagiarism Software—The Contractor shall provide cloud-based, software as a service (SaaS) antiplagiarism software that is powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It shall possess—at a minimum—the following features/characteristics:

1) Peer-reviewed statistical and machine learning standards.

2) High standards of privacy protection and data ownership.

3) Identifying advanced forms of plagiarism such as contract cheating, word spinning, and bot writing.

4) Continuously growing coverage for all of the secondary level subject areas covering the internet, scholarly articles, and student papers to include at a minimum the following:

a. Billions of documents in its English language database.

b. Billions of documents in its non-English language database that includes—at a minimum—

Spanish, German, Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, Italian, and Arabic.

5) Allow students to check for plagiarism, paraphrasing, citations, and grammar prior to submitting assignments to teachers.

6) Provide age-appropriate guidance for teachers to use to help students avoid plagiarism.

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7) Accessible three business days after initial delivery order and available 24/7/365, except for scheduled downtimes.

Task 2, Product Training: The Contractor shall provide asynchronous webinars or digital modules which give users a general overview the software’s features, including navigation and clear demonstration of its use.

Note: DoDEA expects that the software will be easy to use and intuitive so that virtual professional learning will not be required.

Task 3, Technical Support: The Contractor shall provide industry-standard technical support for its digital resources for the life of the contract via telephone or email within one business day from the initial contact to include but not limited to assisting with service problems, product setup, upgrades, and troubleshooting

Task 4, Meetings: The Contractor shall (1) attend virtual meetings at no additional cost to the Government and (2) provide the medium through which each meeting occurs, record each meeting’s minutes. The Contractor shall submit the draft minutes to the COR within two business days of the event and finalize the minutes two business days after receipt of written feedback from the COR. Note: Costs associated with attendance at face-to-face meetings, if any, shall be handled/paid for as stated in the contract.

1) Post-Award Conference: Participate in a video- or teleconference with the COR five business days after award IAW FAR Subpart 42.5.

2) IT Meeting: Convene a video- or teleconference with DoDEA Information Technology staff ten business days after award, per Technical Exhibit #1.

3) Other Post-Award Meetings: Meet with the Contracting Officer (KO), COR, and/or other Agency personnel, as appropriate, to review Contractor performance, as required by DoDEA. The KO may discuss the Agency’s view of Contractor performance, and the Contractor shall apprise the Agency of any problems being experienced. The Contractor shall take appropriate action to resolve any outstanding issues the Agency raises.

2.2 Performance Standards and Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)

2.2.1 Performance Standard: Tasks shall be completed per the AQL (below).

2.2.2 AQL: Ninety-five percent of tasks shall be completed by the required completion date. The remaining five percent shall be completed within ten business days of their due date.

3 Constraints

3.1 Place of Performance: Work shall be performed at the Contractor’s facilities.

3.2 Liaison and Alternate Liaison—The Contractor shall:

1) Provide a liaison and alternate liaison to be responsible for the performance of work. Their names shall be designated in writing to the Contracting Officer. They shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all contract matters relating to the daily operation of this contract. Each shall have at least one year of experience working in a similar role.

2) Notify the COR in writing regarding any change in either liaison’s role ten business days in advance of the change. If the liaison or liaison alternate is changed post-award, the replacement shall meet or exceed the qualifications and experience of the person assigned upon contract award.

3.3 Holidays and Hours of Operation: The liaison or alternate liaison shall be available during the hours of 9AM to 3PM Eastern Standard Time (EST), except for Federal holidays and Federal government closures/ shutdowns. The following list shows recognized Federal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

3.4 Availability: The Contractor shall make all resources available for the life of the contract.

3.5 Anti-Bias, Diversity, and Inclusion—The Contractor shall provide resources free of age, racial, color, national origin, disabling conditions, sexual, gender, religious, and ethnic bias and present balanced coverage of multi-cultural contributions and representation, where appropriate.

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3.6 Privacy—The Contractor shall:

1) User Accounts: Require, wherever applicable, that individual accounts possess unique usernames and passwords that do not require personally identifiable information (PII) to access online content, i.e., first & last name and any other unique personal information.

2) Contractor Personnel: Ensure personnel assigned to this contract take proper precautions to protect information from disclosure. Collect and/or store all agency-owned or agency-controlled PII in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C, which may be found at the following URL: http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/privacy-act-1974.html.

3) Privacy Training: Ensure Contractor staff who have access to DoDEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information successfully complete the DoD Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information (PA/PII) training before gaining access to the data and yearly thereafter. Provide copies of the certificates of completion to the COR which can be audited at any time by the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or his/her designee.

3.7 Section 508 Compliance—Ensure Contractor resources, wherever applicable, meet the following requirements:

1) IT Requirement: Ensure all electronic hardware and software that is procured under this contract/ purchase order comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (29 U.S.C. 794d) and the Architectural & Transportation Barriers Compliance Board Electronic Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Standards (36 CFR part 1194). See http://www.section508.gov for more information.

2) Deliverable Requirement: Ensure the following occur:

Outputs/deliverables do not adversely affect accessibility features of existing EIT technologies.

EIT related to the requirements of the contract are accessible to people with disabilities, per 29

U.S.C 794(d).

Outputs/deliverables including functional performance, information, documentation, and support requirements are considered. Standards from 36 CFR Part 1194 Subpart B, C and D apply to this acquisition.

3.8 Data: All data developed as a result of any work awarded under this contract is and shall remain the property of the Government.

3.9 Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI): The Contractor (including any subcontractor) personnel performing work under this contract may receive, have access to, or participate in the development of, proprietary or Privacy Act information (e.g., personal information, education, etc.) may create a current or subsequent OCI as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5. Whenever the Contractor becomes aware that such access or participation may result in actual or potential OCI, the Contractor shall (1) immediately notify the Contracting Officer (KO) in writing and (2) promptly submit a plan to the KO to avoid or mitigate any such OCI. Note: The KO will unilaterally determine if the Contractor’s plan is acceptable. If the KO determines the plan cannot satisfactorily avoid or mitigate an OCI, s/he may implement other remedies to include prohibiting the Contractor’s further participation in contracted requirements.

4 Government-Furnished Information / Resources:

None

5 Contract Deliverables

Milestone/Deliverable Word /

Excel/PDF Digital Copies

Task /

PWS

Planned Frequency

Antiplagiarism Software Yes Yes Task 1 Ongoing, three business days after receipt of initial delivery order

Product Training Yes Yes Task 2

Technical Support Yes Yes Task 3

Meetings Yes Yes Task 4 Post-award conference: Five business day after award

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IT Meeting: Ten business days after award.

Other Meetings: Scheduled post-award

6 Acronyms and Definitions

CCRS College and Career Ready Standards DoD/DOD Department of Defense DFARS Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement EIT Electronic Information Technology FAR Federal Acquisition Regulations PA/PII Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information QASP Quality Assessment Surveillance Plan

Contract Line-Item Number (CLIN)–Basic structural element in a procurement instrument describing and organizing the required product or service for pricing, delivery, inspection, acceptance, invoicing, and payment.

The use of the term “line item” includes “subcontract line number”, (SLIN), as applicable.

Contracting Officer (KO) –The only individual with expressed authority to obligate (bind) the Government by means of entering, administering, and terminating contracts within the limits of the authority delegated via a Contracting Officer’s warrant.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)–Qualified and trained Government employee, nominated by the requiring activity (RA) and appointed in writing by a KO primarily to perform specific technical or administrative functions on a specific contract(s); serves as the ‘eyes and ears’ of a KO to assure the Government’s best interests are protected via the terms and conditions of the contract(s) appointed. COR’s do not have authority to obligate (i.e., bind) the Government.

Contractor– Supplier or vendor having a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the Government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

Deliverable–Usually physically delivered items but may include such items as digital documents/reports.

Performance Requirements Summary (PRS)–Tabular listing of performance objectives and standards that provides the basis for a meaningful QASP.

7 Performance Requirement Summary (PRS) and Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)

7.1 Performance Requirement Summary (PRS)

Performance Objective

Performance Standard

AQL

Inspection

Method Task 1, Antiplagiarism Software

100% compliance with the PWS

No more than one day of unscheduled downtime per year.

COR inspection & stakeholder feedback

Task 2, Product Training

100% compliance with the PWS

No more than one day of unscheduled downtime per year.

Task 3, Technical Support

100% compliance with the PWS

Responses to all inquiries within one business day. Ninety percent of issues resolved in one business day and the remaining ten percent resolved within five business days.

Task 4, Meetings

100% compliance with the PWS

Not more than one meeting will be rescheduled due to Contractor’s inability to meet.

COR inspection

7.2 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP): The Government will utilize a QASP to monitor the contractor’s performance on the contract. The QASP is a living document and can change at any time during the life of the contract. As such, the Government reserves the right to unilaterally edit the QASP at the Government’s discretion.

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Technical Exhibit #1 - TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall comply with the applicable technical requirements detailed below.

1.1 Software and Cloud Security Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.1.1 Ensure all online resources, cloud-based services and instructional software meet the Department of Defense (DoD) and DoDEA Cybersecurity requirements as defined below. Note: Software, cloud services and associated websites are rigorously tested to ensure no security risks are posed to DoDEA infrastructure and its users.

1.1.2 Complete the Cloud Services questionnaire that was submitted as part of the proposal submission and provide copies of and/or access to any software listed in the proposed solution.

1.1.3 Ensure on-premises software support post-installation integration of the necessary Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIG) for applicable systems and applications, including Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Microsoft Windows IIS, Apache, Oracle databases, and Microsoft SQL Server databases. Note: The application to obtain the STIG Viewer is found at https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/srg-stig-tools/, and the STIGs themselves may be downloaded from https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/downloads/.

1.1.4 Ensure its content accessible from the web is compatible with the following browser platforms: Internet Explorer 11, Google Chrome, and Edge. Ensure that any applicable STIGs are implemented.

1.1.5 Ensure on-premises software, which is subject to static and dynamic analysis testing, imposes no risk to DoDEA systems, users and/or data. Note: DoDEA assesses software products to ensure compatibility with existing system configurations and software, testing may also include reverse engineering analysis.

1.1.6 Provide a plan of actions and milestones (POA&M) to mitigate any cybersecurity findings resulting from non-compliant and/or vulnerable components within 30 calendar days of written notification from DoDEA.

1.1.7 Participate, as needed, in interviews and deep system architecture inspections. Note: Per DoD policy for cloud-based services, DoDEA conducts a supplemental series of validations, which closely mirror the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Internet Cloud vetting processes.

Contractor participation/cooperation is normally required to complete this process.

1.2 System Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.2.1 Provide, per Section 1.1 (above), any software installed and/or accessed in or by a DoDEA system, network whether stand-alone or web-based, is compatible with the standards cited herein.

1.2.2 Provide minimum desktop/server system technical specifications, available reference architectures, networking specifications and diagrams, and applicable systems configuration documentation for the proposed product solution.

1.2.3 Provide software that is compatible with the following minimum baseline:

Specifications Minimum

Memory 4 GB Hard Drive 100 GB

Processor Intel® Core™ i5-8365U Processor 8th Generation (up to 4.1GHz, 6MB cache) equivalent or better (Must show benchmark/pass mark scores)

Video Graphics Integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 (1920x1080) equivalent or better Operating System Windows 10

Browser Environment Chrome; Edge; Edge Chromium, IE 11 or higher

1.2.4 Provide software that is completely functional on a standard DoDEA desktop without the need or requirement for administrative-level user rights and/or permissions or the requirement to use or insert external media to execute the software.

1.2.5 Provide software that does not require modifications to folder permissions while executing.

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1.2.6 Provide, if applicable, software packages that support unattended installation methods used by enterprise software packaging and deployment systems. Note: DoDEA currently distributes software packages via Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). Older 16-bit software are automatically denied.

1.3 Data Management Requirements—The Contractor shall:

1.3.1 Provide a mechanism for batch administration and automation of routine data management tasks via flat file import, or representational state transfer (REST) based web service application programming interfaces (APIs). The mechanism shall provision and manage data objects within the Contractor’s system, including but not limited to organizational structures, student accounts, staff accounts, courses, and class rosters.

1.3.2 Provide all necessary documentation and assets to facilitate batch administration and automation of routine data management tasks, including but not limited to roster template files (i.e., comma separated value templates); data element/field definitions documentation; data interchange formats and schemas (XML/JSON); and/or data dictionaries for the purpose of mapping organizational student information system (SIS) data to the Contractor’s required input formats.

1.3.3 Provide a single point of contact to support DoDEA in performing the required data integration activities within the Contractor’s system.

1.3.4 Configure DoDEA enterprise within its system and/or databases as the appropriate organizational entity (i.e., region, district, school) upon a request in writing from the contracting officer’s representative (COR). Note: DoDEA’s organization hierarchy consists of the following: one system, three regions, eight districts, 62 communities, and 160 schools, including the K-12 virtual school programs.

1.3.5 Participate in a technical meeting with DoDEA within ten business days after award for the purposes of preparing for onboarding of new services and initial configuration of administrator-level accounts.

1.3.6 Ensure the transfer of any Sensitive, Confidential data including but not limited to PII data be transferred in a secure means meeting any requirements set by DoDEA’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).

1.4 DoDEA Software License Keys: The Contractor shall provide (1) license keys and electronic downloads for software required under this Contract to the COR and (2) software directly to DoDEA schools, districts, or regions only if explicitly required to do so in the contract or in writing by the COR.

1.5 Cybersecurity Supporting Elements/Requirements and Scalability—The Contractor shall:

1.5.1 Comply with the same Federal law and DoD policies and guidance to which DoDEA is subject. These requirements include but are not limited to the cybersecurity requirements defined in the following documentation:

DoD Directive (DoDD) 8500.01E, Information Assurance, be found at the following URL:

https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/850001_2014.pdf.

DoD Security Technical Implementation Guidance (STIG), found at the following URL:

https://public.cyber.mil/stigs/downloads/.

DoD Risk Management Framework (DODRMF) per DoD Instruction 8510.01 found at https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/851001p.pdf?ver=2019-02- 26-101520-3004.5.2.

1.5.2 Provide security patches/upgrades to include third-party applications in response to public-released security vulnerabilities associated with its software solution. Provide a POA&M for any security vulnerabilities within five business days of discovery. Software upgrades/patches shall be included in the licensing cost and be performed at the least disruptive times as determined by DoDEA in writing.

Note: Any exception to this requirement must be approved in advance and in writing by DoDEA’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) or designated official.

1.5.3 Ensure any portion of its solution that involves Internet access by DoDEA students complies with the relevant requirements of the Children's Internet Protection Act, Public Law 106-554, § 1(a)(4) [Div. B, Title XVII, § 1701], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-335.

1.5.4 Provide a solution robust enough to serve the needs of a large community of learners dispersed across the world using a variety of bandwidths and scalable to meet future growth, both in terms of instruction and the number of users.

1.5.5 Ensure Contractor staff who have access to DoDEA’s student, teacher and/or staff personally identifiable information take the DoD Privacy Act/Personally Identifiable Information (PA and PPI/PII) training

11 Jan 22 7 before gaining access to the data and yearly thereafter. Provide copies of the certificates of completion to the COR which can be audited at any time by the CISO or his/her designee.