DRAFT SOO - DATALAB.pdf

Attachment 1 – Statement of Objectives – NCES DataLab Recompete

U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences

DRAFT Statement of Objectives (SOO)

National Center for Education Statistics DataLab Recompete

1. Introduction

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The goal of IES is to provide national leadership in expanding fundamental knowledge and understanding of education from early childhood through postsecondary study, in order to provide parents, educators, students, researchers, policymakers, and the general public with reliable information about the condition and progress of education in the United States, from early childhood through postsecondary education; educational practices that support learning and improve academic achievement and access to educational opportunities for all students; and the effectiveness of federal and other education programs.

The Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA, Title I of P.L. 107-279) established IES as an independent research arm of ED. Title I, Part A, of ESRA establishes IES as a research institute within ED, intended to provide “national leadership in expanding fundamental knowledge and understanding of education from early childhood through postsecondary study.” IES is authorized to carry out these objectives by compiling statistics, conducting research and evaluations, and disseminating information.

IES executes its mission through four national education centers and an Office of the Director:

• The National Center for Education Research (NCER) sponsors research leading to the accumulation of knowledge and understanding of education.

• The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects and analyzes education information and statistics in a manner that meets the highest methodological standards.

• The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) supports evaluation, technical assistance, development, and dissemination activities.

• The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) sponsors research to expand knowledge and understanding of the needs of infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities.

• The Office of the Director carries out specific duties, such as proposing research priorities and establishing procedures for technical and peer review.

The Standards and Review Office (SRO) carries out rigorous peer review of all research, statistics, and evaluation reports conducted by, or supported through, the Institute and falls under the Office of the Director.

2. Legislative Authority

Legislative authority for the activities detailed in this work statement is granted under 20 U. S. C. § 9543.

3. Requirement Context

The United States Department of Education’s (the Department) National Center for

Education Statistics (NCES) within the Institute of Education Science (IES) has a requirement to provide web-based data analysis tools that allow users to search NCES data, create tables and graphics representing education data, examine trends over time, and analyze data using bi-variate and multivariate statistical tests and models. These data tools use data from several large and complex data collections including national longitudinal surveys, linked cross-sectional surveys, census data, and administrative record data.

Existing data sets span decades and are stored in many forms (i.e. SAS, excel, html, pdf, etc.) across multiple systems and websites. NCES maintains numerous antiquated and redundant online data analytics tools to store, manage, analyze, manipulate and report off-the-shelf and customer-selected data outputs. The following is a representative sample of various NCES websites and corresponding data analytics tools:

o DataLab https://nces.ed.gov/datalab o ELSi https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/elsi/ o International Data Explorer https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/ide/ o EDGE o MapED – https://nces.ed.gov/programs/mapED/Home o IPEDS Data Explorer o IPEDS Trend Generator o College Navigator https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ o Bibliography Search Tool https://nces.ed.gov/bibliography/ o NTPS State Dashboard https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/ntpsdashboard/map/2 o Education Finance Statistics Center EDFIN https://nces.ed.gov/edfin/longitudinal/

NCES has the need for expert technical support in the day-to-day operation and maintenance (O&M) of the DataLab databases and tools. The DataLab O&M contract expires in February 2027 and NCES requires an experienced contractor to assume day-to-day operations and maintenance of this system over the next three years.

Concurrent with that effort and under the Data Modernization contract, NCES continues to assess its current state data storage, analytics and dissemination environment and consolidate IES websites into a single, unified IES information portal.

It is expected that in late 2027/early 2028, NCES will release an RFP to pursue the next phase of this effort to further develop a modern technology solution leveraging artificial intelligence that consolidates data tools and provides stakeholders with an easy, intuitive, secure and accurate set of data analytics tools for the library of NCES data. As part of this effort, it is expected the contractor will consolidate the Data Lab and the IES data portal (www.ies.ed.gov).

The scope of this engagement will include day-to-day management of the DataLab, and recommendations to eliminate functional redundancy and any functional gaps in the current landscape of IES data analytics tools, consolidate tools and websites and develop flexible, state-of-the-art technology (e.g. Artificial Intelligence) to ensure data security, https://nces.ed.gov/datalab https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/elsi/ https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/ide/ https://nces.ed.gov/programs/mapED/Home https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ https://nces.ed.gov/bibliography/ https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/ntpsdashboard/map/2 https://nces.ed.gov/edfin/longitudinal/ output accuracy, and an optimal, intuitive user experience.

Many of the datasets housed in these analysis systems are derived from complex surveys, and advanced statistical computations are needed in order to yield accurate estimates and standard errors from the data collected. The requirements outlined in this work statement necessitate close and continuing collaboration with NCES staff and contractors working across all Divisions in NCES. It also requires the coordination of staff with different sets of expertise including IT programmers, graphic designers, survey statisticians, educational researchers, and topical subject matter experts.

Technical specifications for the DataLab, staging and development environments, and the data structures are located in Appendix A.

Contractor personnel supporting this effort must possess sufficient technical certifications, educational degrees, and experience to support the contract's unique requirements. Representative software technologies implemented at the unit's include:

Hypertext Markup and Extensible Markup Languages; Cascading Style Sheets; Active Server Pages; Java and JavaScript; Microsoft Visual Basic, .Net, SQL Server, ASP, PHP and C#. Software engineering processes and tools include: build management and automation tools, continuous deployment strategies, test-driven and/or behavior-driven development, performance testing strategies, and security testing policies. Contractors must also have personnel with expertise in complex surveys, especially in using replicate weights and Taylor Series linearization to adjust variances.

Contractor personnel supporting this effort must also have extensive experience in leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence to ensure data accuracy, consistency and security and optimize system architecture, analytics functionality, and customer engagement and experience.

NCES reserves the right to conduct market research sessions with potential vendors in association with this RFI. NCES also reserves the right to use modular contracting to perform discrete tasks as part of the final procurement.

4. Performance Objectives

The contractor shall meet the following core objectives:

Technical objective 1: Assume day-to-day maintenance of the DataLab (https://nces.ed.gov/datalab) website and functionality. See Appendix A for DataLab Technical Specifications.

Technical objective 2: Recommendations for the design, development, implementation and maintenance of NCES future state online data analysis and dissemination environment.

To accomplish these technical objectives, the bidder shall also meet all of the contract objectives listed below:

Contract Objective 1: Documentation required for the COR to monitor deliverables and assess the validity of contractor charges on a quarterly basis.

Contract Objective 2: Processes and systems are developed to protect respondent information and NCES data. All work with Department of Education data shall occur in approved systems with an Authority to Operate (ATO) Issued by the Department of Education (note whether this should be a Department of Education hosted system or if the bidder has access to a contractor hosted system with a current Department of Education ATO). All controls and policies at the contractor shall comply with IT and Security requirements outlined in this agreement and:

• IES and NCES policies,

• NCES Statistical Standards,

• 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (referred to as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act [FERPA]),

• 20 U.S.C. § 9573 (referred to as the Education Sciences Reform Act

[ESRA]),

• 44 U.S.C. § 3572 (referred to as the Evidence Act),

• 5 U.S.C. § 552a (referred to as the Privacy Act),

• 44 U.S.C. § 3551 et. seq. (referred to as the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014),

• the Federal regulations pertaining to these laws as well as 32 C.F.R. Part 2002 (referred to as the NARA CUI Rule), and

• any guidance, revision or amendment to these laws and regulations that occurs after the effective date of this Agreement.

Contract Objective 3: All interim deliverables and clearances required for NCES and statistical agencies to release data products, including but not limited to:

• Security screening documents and forms;

• All interim documents mentioned in the NCES Statistical Standards (e.g., required documentation listed in Standards 3-3 and 3-4); and

• OMB Forms Clearance Package(s).

Contract Objective 4: An allowance for ad hoc requests for information in support of inquiries needed to inform the COR, the program office, or management in managing risk.

5. General Information

5.1 Period of Performance

The task order is expected to have a base year plus four option years. Vendors should include in their technical quote what specific deliverables they envision accomplishing each year of performance. While the work is needed, it is unknown at this time if option years will be funded.

Optional tasks can be funded/exercised at any time; the Government shall provide the required notice IAW FAR 52.217-9.

5.2 Place of Performance

Work will be performed at the contractor’s location.

5.3 Contract Type

This will be a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) task order. The contractor shall invoice in accordance with the payment schedule for the FP CLINs.