Sources_Sought_Notice_12.22.14_Final.doc

U.S. Department of Education Office of Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE)

Title of Project: Migrant Interstate Coordination Website General Information:

This SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE and REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) is for market research and planning purposes only and shall not be considered to be an obligation by the Government to acquire any products or services. Responses to this RFI will be accepted via e-mail to the address listed below. This is not a solicitation announcement for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this Notice. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this evaluation. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date.

This Notice is to determine the availability of potential nonprofit entities (e.g., State education agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other public and private nonprofit entities), in accordance with the following legislative authority:

SEC. 1308. COORDINATION OF MIGRANT EDUCATION ACTIVITIES.

(a) IMPROVEMENT OF COORDINATION-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary, in consultation with the States, may make grants to, or enter into contracts with, State educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other public and private nonprofit entities to improve the interstate and intrastate coordination among such agencies' educational programs, including the establishment or improvement of programs for credit accrual and exchange, available to migratory students.

The Department anticipates using NAICS Code 541512, Computer Systems Design Services.

Pursuant to 48 C.F.R. Part 10, the Government is conducting market research to:

· Determine what sources exist that are capable of satisfying the Government’s requirements listed below,

· Determine the capabilities of potential contractors,

· Determine the size and status of potential sources, and

· Determine the level of competition The Department contemplating a firm fixed-price award and intends to issue the solicitation in the third or fourth week of February 2015. The anticipated award date is no later than 6/30/2015.

Draft Performance Work Statement (DPWS): Attached for your review is a Draft Performance Work Statement, which includes background, purpose of contract, legislative authority, scope of work, and tasks and deliverables.

Request for Comments:

Interested parties are requested to submit comments to the DPWS and identify competition barriers. We are particularly interested in your feedback on the following questions:

· Based upon your experience with development/maintenance of government website content, gathering website user feedback, and obtaining program subject matter experts, does the DPWS, as written, present any barriers to your participation? If so, how?

· Based upon your experience with development/maintenance of government website content, gathering website user feedback, and obtaining program subject matter experts as outlined in the DPWS, does the DPWS, as written, present any barriers to your participation if all tasks are firm-fixed priced? If so, how? What do you recommend in order to remove these barriers?

Request for Capabilities:

Interested parties are invited to submit a capability statement. You will need to demonstrate the ability to provide the services stated below:

· Update and re-design the previous migrant website (results.ed.gov) to include new materials and revising existing materials, as needed;

· Enhance accessibility to existing materials and resources on the website to support the grantees’ efforts for migrant children;

· Disseminate materials and activities that support grantee efforts to collaborate with one another;

· Provide user support regarding the website to users such as, but not limited to, State Education Agencies, local education agencies, and nonprofits.

· Provide administrative support and technical expertise to OESE/OME staff;

In order to successfully perform the work, a contractor must have ALL of the following competencies or the ability to provide all of these competencies: (Contractor must respond to all the following points by indicating your experience or the ability to provide the experience.)

· Strong Content knowledge and expertise in all of the following areas:

· Designing website interfaces

· User interface/user experience

· Live and virtual feedback practices for continuous improvement of websites

· Federal cloud-server requirements

· Project management

· Abilities and security clearances necessary to maintain a web site on the ED.Gov system

· Research capabilities necessary to identify subject matter experts in Migrant Education Program for updating existing resources or creating new resources on the website

PAGE LIMIT FOR CAPABILITY STATEMENTS IS 15 PAGES. THE CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE REQUIREMENTS OR THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED ABOVE. Please address each in order listed above.

Business Information: Please provide the following Business Information (if applicable):

1. Company Name

2. Company Address

3. Company Point of Contact, phone number and email address

4. Duns Number

5. Type of company under NAICS, as validated via the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Additional information on NAICS codes can be found at www.sba.gov. Any potential government contracter must be registered on the CCR located at http://www.ccr.gov/index.asp

6. Identify all applicable classifications for your organization, such as:

a. Small Business

b. Woman-owned business

c. 8(a) business

d. Large business

e. Small disadvantaged business

f. HUBZone business

g. SDVOB business

h. Non-profit

7. Current GSA Schedules, if any, appropriate to this Sources Sought

8. Point of Contact, phone number and email address of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses.

9. Responders should also include a statement about whether or not they have an approved Federal audited accounting system. If the responder has an approved accounting system, please provide the certification in which the accounting system was deemed adequate (e.g. the name of the audit agency and audit number). You may submit as an attachment, which will not count towards the overall page limit.

Teaming Arrangements: All teaming arrangements or Joint Ventures shall include the above-cited information and for each entity on the proposed team. Teaming arrangements are encouraged.

Due Date for Capability Submission: Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to Alan.Elder@ed.gov and carbon copy Brigid.Lochary@ed.gov and Gabriella.McDonald@ed.gov. Responses must be submitted no later than 12 PM, Eastern Time Thursday January 22, 2015. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date.

Due Date for Capability Questions: Interested may submit questions regarding this sources sought via email to Alan.Elder@ed.gov and carbon copy Brigid.Lochary@ed.gov and Gabriella.McDonald@ed.gov. Questions must be submitted no later than 12 PM, Eastern Time Thursday January 8, 2015. Questions received after this time may not be answered.

DISCLAIMER:

PARTICIPATION IN THE MARKET RESEARCH IN NO WAY INFLUENCES THE SOURCE SELECTION FOR THESE SERVICES. This is not an invitation for bid, request for proposal or other solicitation. The sole purpose of this Notice is to obtain capabilities for procurement planning purposes. This Notice is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract nor does the Government intend to directly pay for any information or responses submitted as the result of this Notice. Any contract that might be awarded based on information received or derived from this Notice will be the outcome of the competitive process.