Attachment_A_-_NPSAS-16_Performance_Work_Statement_040113.docx

ATTACHMENT A

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

2015-16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS 2016) & Postsecondary Longitudinal Studies

(ED-IES-13-R-0011)

I. INTRODUCTION

The United States Department of Education (the Department) has a requirement for a series of studies, based largely on administrative data collections and some student interviews, to comply with the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. These studies are designed to describe (1) how students and their families finance postsecondary education and (2) students’ persistence, attainment, and workforce outcomes. They include:

· National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (http://nces.ed.gov/npsas);

· Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/b&b); and

· Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps).

The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) is a cross-sectional survey study and provides information about the costs of postsecondary education and how students and their families meet these costs, and is based on a nationally-representative sample of undergraduate and graduate students attending all types of postsecondary institutions. Historically, NPSAS has served as the base year data collection for the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) and the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) in alternating administrations. The purpose of the B&B is to collect data on students’ education and work experiences after they complete a bachelor’s degree. In contrast, BPS tracks first-time beginning college students’ paths through postsecondary education, and helps answer questions related to persistence and degree completion.

To better keep pace with evolving demands, this performance work statement (PWS) outlines a NPSAS family of studies—and a contractual structure—that varies substantially from prior years. Specifically:

(1) The base contract includes plans to conduct a NPSAS study in 2015-16 that is based exclusively on administrative data sources (i.e., the Department of Education’s databases, data from postsecondary institutions, and data from other administrative data sources) that is:

a. Nationally-representative of graduate and undergraduate students at the sector level and,

b. State-representative of undergraduate students for the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.

(2) A series of optional tasks, summarized in Table 3 on page 38, have been designed to repeat administrative NPSAS studies, add a student interview to a NPSAS study, begin one or more longitudinal studies, conduct follow-up student interviews in longitudinal studies begun in this or past contracts, and collect and code postsecondary transcripts.

This study will culminate in documented data files, codebooks, web-based data analysis systems (see http://nces.ed.gov/datalab), and tabulations/descriptive reports for the base contract and optional task(s).

Scheduling of Studies

This PWS is designed to anticipate three contingencies and will allow the government to adapt to the future demands for postsecondary data:

Contingency 1:

At minimum, NCES intends to maintain the current schedule of its postsecondary sample surveys by launching a NPSAS study in 2016 with an interview and include interview questions for potential baccalaureate recipients. This will launch a B&B study with anticipated follow-ups in 2017 and 2020.

Contingency 2:

Depending on the availability of funding and cost-efficiency related to administrative data collections, it is likely that NCES will launch a NPSAS study in 2015-2016 and include interview questions for graduating senior undergraduates which will launch a B&B study with follow-ups in 2017 and 2020. The government plans to launch administrative-only NPSAS data collections to occur in 2017-2018 so data are available in 2-year increments. An administrative NPSAS study in the 2013-14 academic year is also a possibility.

Contingency 3:

Because the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is anticipated during this contract’s period of performance, NCES anticipates increased demand for data like that collected via NPSAS. As a result, optional tasks in the contract allow the government to exercise additional administrative data collections and/or additional longitudinal follow-up studies as Congress and policymakers may demand.

Offerors should be prepared for all of these contingencies.

II. BACKGROUND

NCES conducts a series of postsecondary sample survey studies, all anchored by the NPSAS study. NPSAS is a congressionally mandated comprehensive study, historically completed every four years, that examines how students and their families pay for postsecondary education. It includes nationally-representative samples of undergraduates and graduate students attending all types of colleges, universities, and other postsecondary education institutions. Data from comprehensive student interviews and administrative records, with exceptional detail concerning student financial aid, are available for select academic years between 1986–87 and 2011–12. The study includes students receiving federal financial aid, students receiving only other forms of financial aid, and those that do not receive financial aid. All sampled institutions participate in the Department’s Title IV financial aid programs.

Overview of Postsecondary Longitudinal Studies

Historically, NPSAS has served as the base year data collection for NCES's postsecondary longitudinal studies (the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) and the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS) in alternating administrations).

1. Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B)

The purpose of B&B is to collect data on students’ education and work experiences after they complete a bachelor’s degree. To do so, B&B follows baccalaureate recipients identified in NPSAS over time, with interviews occurring one year, four years, and ten years after graduation. Past B&B studies oversampled populations of interest including new elementary and secondary teachers and STEM graduates. B&B includes information on bachelor’s degree recipients’:

· workforce participation,

· career pathways and employment outcomes,

· income and debt repayment,

· entry into and persistence through graduate school programs,

· teacher preparation,

· entry into and persistence in the teaching profession, and

· teacher career paths.

B&B also gathers extensive information on bachelor’s degree recipients’ undergraduate experience, demographic backgrounds, and expectations regarding graduate study and work.

2. Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS)

The purpose of BPS is to track students’ pathways through postsecondary education, helping to answer questions related to undergraduates’ persistence and attainment outcomes. Following a cohort of students who are enrolling in postsecondary education for the first time regardless of age, the study collects data on:

· student persistence in, and completion of, postsecondary education programs,

· academic performance and other transcript information,

· transition to employment,

· demographic characteristics, and

· changes over time in their goals, marital status, income, and debt.

Prior Iterations of the NPSAS Family of Studies

For more information on the NPSAS sample design, questionnaire development, survey methodology, response rates, weight calculations, and data quality for prior studies, see the methodology reports at the following website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=013#012.

An example of a contract deliverable (methodology report for the 2007–08 NPSAS) is available at the following website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011188. While the structure of the report will remain the same, the name of the report for future studies will be called a Data File Documentation Manual.

For the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) study, see the methodology reports for more information on the sample design, questionnaire development, survey methodology, response rates, weight calculations, and data quality, found at the following website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=015.

For the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS) longitudinal studies, see the methodology reports for more information on the sample design, questionnaire development, survey methodology, response rates, weight calculations, and data quality, found at the following website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/getpubcats.asp?sid=014#012.

Descriptive reports from these studies are also accessible on the websites above. Datasets, table libraries, and codebooks can also be accessed online via NCES's Datalab webpage (http://nces.ed.gov/datalab).

Changes for NPSAS:16 and Postsecondary Longitudinal Studies

A subset of optional tasks included in this PWS, if exercised, would substantially alter the way in which the NPSAS family of studies is executed, including:

1) Optional tasks that increase the frequency of NPSAS studies by alternating administrative collections that include student interview components with those that do not; and

2) Optional tasks that decrease the periodicity between new iterations of longitudinal studies by launching a cohort of BPS and B&B students in the same NPSAS collection.

NOTE: The most substantive change in NPSAS includes a 50-state-representative sample of undergraduate students for an administrative-only collection.

Relationship with Other Postsecondary Statistics Programs

The mission of NCES is to collect and disseminate information related to education in the United States and in other nations. In response to that mandate, the Postsecondary Studies Division (PSD) has developed a major program to measure and analyze the magnitude, content, resources, and outcomes of education. The program consists of a distinct but highly interrelated series of sample, longitudinal, and universe surveys designed to provide accurate and current information on the nation's diverse education activities.

The foundation of the postsecondary data collection program is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). This system is “integrated” in that the surveys, data elements, and definitions are consistent across the three levels of postsecondary institutions (4-year, 2-year, and lessthan2-year) and types of control (public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit). The data from the institutions can be aggregated to provide an accurate measure of the nation's postsecondary activities at institutions participating in the Department’s Title IV financial aid programs.

IPEDS provides a good measure of the magnitude and structure of postsecondary education, but it is limited in that specific data on participants can only be obtained in the aggregate. Some critical issues concerning resources and assessment (student aid and education outcomes) have been addressed through a series of other studies. NPSAS, BPS, and B&B are geared primarily to samples of individuals, not institutions. A linkage with the IPEDS and other postsecondary databases to provide an analytical framework is important to maintain. This linkage is done by using consistent sampling frames, definitions, and terminology, across all postsecondary surveys.

III. LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, conducts this study in compliance with the mandate stated in the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, (Public Law [P.L.] 107-279, Title I, Part C), which requires NCES to:

“collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data related to education in the United States and in other nations, including …

(1) collecting, acquiring, compiling …, and disseminating full and complete statistics on the condition and progress of education at the … postsecondary and adult levels in the United States, including data on-

(E) access to, and opportunity for, postsecondary education, including data on financial aid to postsecondary students;

The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, 20 U.S.C. § 1015, also requires NCES to gather information on postsecondary student financial aid:

(A)(k) Student aid recipient survey

(1) Survey required The Secretary, acting through the Commissioner for Education Statistics, shall conduct, on a State-by-State basis, a survey of recipients of Federal student financial aid under Title IV—

(A) to identify the population of students receiving such Federal student financial aid;

(B) to describe the income distribution and other socioeconomic characteristics of recipients of such Federal student financial aid;

(C) to describe the combinations of aid from Federal, State, and private sources received by such recipients from all income categories;

(D) to describe the—

(i) debt burden of such loan recipients, and their capacity to repay their education debts; and

(ii) the impact of such debt burden on the recipients’ course of study and post-graduation plans;

(E) to describe the impact of the cost of attendance of postsecondary education in the determination by students of what institution of higher education to attend; and

(F) to describe how the costs of textbooks and other instructional materials affect the costs of postsecondary education for students.

(2) Frequency The survey shall be conducted on a regular cycle and not less often than once every four years.

(3) Survey design The survey shall be representative of students from all types of institutions, including full-time and part-time students, undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and current and former students.

(4) Dissemination The Commissioner for Education Statistics shall disseminate to the public, in printed and electronic form, the information resulting from the survey.

Further, NCES assures participating individuals and institutions that any data collected conforms to the NCES standards for protecting the privacy of individuals as required by Section 183 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-279):

“all collection, maintenance, use, and wide dissemination of data by the institute, including each office, board, committee, and Center of the Institute, shall conform with the requirements of section 552A of title 5, United States Code [which protects the confidentiality rights of individual respondents with regard to the data collected, reported, and published under this title].” (Section 183)

Under the law, Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-279), all individually identifiable information about students, their families, and their schools shall remain confidential. To this end, this law requires that no person may:

· Use any individually identifiable information furnished under the provisions of this section for any purpose other than statistical purposes for which it is supplied, except in the case of terrorism (see discussion of the Patriot Act);

· Make any publication whereby the data furnished by any particular person under this section can be identified; or

· Permit anyone other than the individuals authorized by the Commissioner to examine the individual reports.

Further, individually identifiable information is immune from legal process, and shall not, without the consent of the individual concerned, be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial or administrative proceeding, except in the case of terrorism. Employees, including temporary employees, or other persons who have sworn to observe the limitations imposed by this law, who knowingly publish or communicate any individually identifiable information will be subject to fines of up to $250,000, or up to 5 years in prison, or both (Class E felony).

On October 20, 1994, P.L. 103-382 was passed by Congress which was the legislation reauthorizing the data collection authority of NCES. Section 405, Performance of Duties, indicates the following:

IV. SCOPE OF WORK

The requirements:

(1) Develop and implement a plan to field a study of how postsecondary education students finance postsecondary education that is nationally-representative for both graduate and undergraduate students and, for undergraduate students only, state-representative,

(2) Develop and implement a process for collecting data from postsecondary institutions that automates data extractions and reduces burden,

(3) Launches or continues longitudinal postsecondary studies begun in this contract or continued from past contracts, and

(4) Provide data and information as necessary to administer the contract, meet the NCES study requirements, and/or the Department's accountability requirements.

Definitions

Longitudinal follow-up – a cohort derived from a subsample of the NPSAS study with a subsequent interview at a later time period. For the purposes of this PWS, "longitudinal follow-up" refers to first-time beginning students in a BPS OR graduating seniors in a B&B study OR any other longitudinal study where NPSAS serves as the base-year.

Minimum acceptable response rate – the percent of the institutions or students in the sample that participate in the study. It also includes item level response or the percent of respondents that respond to a questionnaire item (or for administrative data, a valid match from an administrative database). The calculation of response rates must be consistent with NCES Statistical Standards (http://nces.ed.gov/statprog/). The response rate is defined as follows and assumes a two-staged sampling design:

· 85 percent participation (in all stages) of postsecondary institutions (with no stratum below 75 percent) for a NPSAS study,

· 70 percent response rate for the student interview of a NPSAS study (if applicable),

· 75 percent response rate for the student interview of a longitudinal follow-up study,

· 95 percent participation (in all stages) of postsecondary institutions (with no stratum below 85 percent) for a NPSAS study if NPSAS becomes compulsory for postsecondary institutions), and

· 90 percent item response rate (or valid match to an administrative database).

Nationally-representative sample – a sample drawn from the U.S. population in the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia such that the individuals sampled are collectively similar to those in the national population and key estimates for each stratum have relative standard errors (RSEs) less than 10 percent. For the purposes of this PWS, the following institutional sectors shall comprise the major stratum for a nationally-representative sample:

· Public 4-year doctorate

· Public 4-year nondoctorate

· Public 2-year

· Public less-than-2-year

· Private nonprofit 4-year doctorate

· Private nonprofit 4-year nondoctorate

· Private nonprofit less-than-4-year

· Private for-profit 4-year

· Private for-profit 2-year

· Private for-profit less-than-2-year

State-representative sample – a sample drawn from each state population of the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia such that the individuals sampled are collectively similar to those in the state population and key estimates for each stratum have relative standard errors (RSEs) less than 10 percent for 90% of the states. For the purposes of this PWS, the following institutional sectors shall comprise the major stratum within each state (provided that the state has all the sectors):

· Public 4-year

· Public 2-year

· Private nonprofit 4-year

· Private for-profit 4-year

· Private for-profit 2-year

· Private for-profit less-than-2-year

Administrative 2015-16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:16) - Base Contract

Independently and not as an agent of the United States Government, the contractor shall provide all personnel, materials, services, and facilities necessary for the project and perform the tasks as described below.

The contractor shall develop and implement a plan to field a study of postsecondary students that is nationally-representative for both graduate and undergraduate students and, for undergraduate students only, state-representative. The study shall be based entirely on data collected from administrative sources, including: the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) National Student Loan Data System, FSA’s Central Processing System, FSA’s Pell Grant Recipients File, ETS/College Board, ACT, National Student Clearinghouse (if necessary), and postsecondary institutions.

The contractor shall use a two-stage sampling design (institution sampling, then students). The contractor shall attain the minimum acceptable response rate for each stage of the sampling design.

The contractor shall propose an institution and student sample size to meet these specifications.

If the contractor believes such specifications are not feasible, either technically or due to cost, they may propose other sampling designs or strata groups after clearly articulating a rationale for doing so.

The contractor shall develop a plan for all phases of the data collection, including:

· contacting institutions to obtain student lists,

· training personnel who will contact institutions,

· sampling students from lists,

· compiling data from multiple administrative data sources (including postsecondary education institutions), and

· develop data products and publications for government/public use.

Although the base contract specifies 50-state representation, NCES may not have the funds to oversample all 50 states, and may choose to oversample some lesser number of states. If this happens, the contractor shall work with NCES to determine the best way to utilize the resources available in designing the sample.

Additional NPSAS and Longitudinal Postsecondary Studies

A series of optional tasks are included and are designed to repeat administrative NPSAS studies, add a student interview to a NPSAS study, begin one or more longitudinal studies, conduct follow-up student interviews in longitudinal studies begun in this or past contracts, and collect and code postsecondary transcripts

V. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The work described in this contract shall be conducted during a base period of 60 months, with a renewal period of an additional 60 months.

VI. REQUIREMENTS

The contract requires six tasks:

1) Project Management

2) Developing Standardized Administrative Data Extractions from Postsecondary Institutions

3) Field Test Data Collections

4) Full-Scale Data Collections

5) Publications and Data Products

6) Information Requests, IT Reporting, and Data Analysis

Each time a NPSAS, BPS, or B&B study is initiated by the base contract or through the exercise of one or more optional tasks (see Table 3 on page 38), the contractor shall repeat the subtasks listed in Table 1. For postsecondary education transcript studies (PETS), a reduced set of subtasks must be repeated.

Table 1. Subtasks that apply to the base contract and are repeated for each study

Task Description

NOTE: This table only contains subtasks that must be repeated every time a new study is conducted under this PWS.

A. Required Tasks

Task 1. Project management

The contractor shall manage the collection of data in an efficient manner that fosters communications with staff, the NCES COR, and potential users of the data.

Subtask 1.1 Initial meeting with NCES (fixed-price)

Within one (1) week after the award of the contract (or the applicable optional task), the contractor's project director and other key project staff as identified in the proposal, shall meet with the NCES Contracting Officer's Representative (COR), and other appropriate Department staff in Washington, D.C. to review the overall contract tasks and to discuss issues relating to the proposed project staffing plan and other management requirements. The purpose of this meeting is to refine the management, staffing, and overall scheduling plan contained in the contractor's technical proposal. These refinements will not alter the specifications or the design of the contract, but will provide management information for use by the contractor and the Department in monitoring the work to be performed. The content and format of the monthly progress reports will be discussed.

The contractor shall submit a summary of the meeting and a revised detailed project management plan, based on the contractor’s proposed management plan and the understandings reached at the meeting, detailing the organization chart, staffing plan, schedule, budget control procedures, personnel and task coordination procedures, quality control procedures, and procedures for protecting survey data.

Subtask 1.2 Schedules (fixed-price)

Due to the uncertainties of large data collection projects, the contractor shall develop and maintain a general schedule for all activities of the project. The schedule(s) for each subtask shall be updated monthly and include a detailed schedule for the upcoming 3-month period.

Recognizing the “dynamic” nature of project activities, the contractor will discuss possible delays and changes in project activities affecting the schedule of deliverables. Changes in the schedule of project activities are approved by the COR and must be subsequently documented in the monthly report.

Subtask 1.3 Monthly reports (fixed-price)

The contractor shall report monthly on the progress made in accomplishing the project tasks, the consumption of funds, problems encountered, and the plans for next month, including work performed by small businesses. As part of the monthly report, the contractor shall add the efforts made in complying with the small business subcontracting plan and the dollars as well as specific work that has been subcontracted to small businesses. The contractor shall include a section specifically titled Small Business Subcontracting Plan and indicate the name of the small business, contact information, type of small business, work that was subcontracted including what task the work falls under and the dollar amount subcontracted for that month. The monthly report shall be due on the 20th day of each month. The monthly report, invoice, and supporting documentation shall cover the previous month’s activities, for both the contractor and subcontractor(s). The monthly report shall be accompanied (within three days) by the invoice (SF No. 1034) and documentation of expenses.

Subtask 1.4 Study monitoring portal (SMP)(fixed-price)

The contractor shall develop and maintain a web-based Study Monitoring Portal (e.g., Microsoft Share point, etc.) at NCES to foster communications with the NCES COR and survey staff, as needed. The contractor shall design and utilize the SMP to routinely produce information about the project (including all optional tasks) and provide access to this information to the survey staff and to the NCES COR on an on-going, as-needed basis. The contractor shall provide examples of reports from the proposed study monitoring portal.

Subtask 1.5 Technical Review Panels

To obtain peer review of project plans and products and to foster communications with potential users of the data, the contractor shall establish Technical Review Panels (TRPs) for the NPSAS, B&B, and BPS studies, if exercised. The meetings shall be held in the Baltimore/Washington DC Metropolitan area at a location convenient to NCES and easily accessible by public transportation.

The contractor shall budget for the following technical review panels:

For the base year contract (NPSAS:16 with or without optional task 9a or 9b):

· panels comprised of 65 members (40 non-federal and up to 25 federal members)

· five (5) 2-day meetings shall be scheduled (two of the NPSAS TRPs shall be scheduled the first year of the contract award).

· The purpose of these TRPs is to discuss the issues and procedures for (1) sampling postsecondary institutions and students for the NPSAS studies exercised in the contract, (2) standardizing administrative data collections and reducing burden at postsecondary education institutions, and (3) logistics for obtaining state-representative samples.

If optional tasks are exercised, the contractor shall also budget for the following technical review panels for each study:

· panels comprised of 35 members (20 non-federal members and up to 15 federal). At least one-half of the non-federal members should be from outside the Washington, DC area;

· two (2) 2-day meetings shall be scheduled for the studies;

· if optional tasks 10 or 11 are exercised to initiate a postsecondary transcript study, the technical review will occur within the TRP allotment for the relevant study.

The TRPs shall work with the contractor to improve plans, products, and user-friendliness of resulting data products; the TRPs, however, do NOT report to or advise NCES. Based on discussions at these meetings, the contractor shall propose a sample design of institutions and another sample design of individual students within institutions. These designs shall yield results to determine strategies for sampling to achieve three goals:

1) Provide reliable estimates on student-level characteristics, including but not limited to: type of student (undergraduate, graduate), age, gender, race/ethnicity, dependency status, type of postsecondary institution attended, attendance intensity, and program of enrollment;

2) Provide efficient sample to adequately represent students in the NPSAS study, the B&B cohort and the BPS cohort if optional task 9a, 9b, 9c, or 9d are exercised; and

3) Provide sample size sufficient to support the longitudinal follow-ups of the B&B and BPS (if exercised), including national-representative results. For the base-year and/or NPSAS studies in optional task 1, these meetings should also discuss the sample size sufficient to support nationally- and state-representative results.

For each TRP that is scheduled, the contractor shall complete subtasks 1.5.1 through 1.5.6:

Subtask 1.5.1 Preparation of Materials (fixed-price)

The contractor's responsibilities for each TRP shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

· Select the federal and nonfederal members for the TRP to provide consultation and coordination for the study (The contractor shall consult with the COR in selecting TRP members);

· Prepare, for NCES approval, letters of invitation to join the TRP;

· Establish a schedule, for NCES COR approval, to inform the TRP of the progress of the project;

· Prepare and disseminate all materials required for TRP consideration and review (i.e., pre-meeting information packets and meeting materials), and secure the Panel's advice; and

· Prepare presentations to facilitate the discussion at the panel.

Subtask 1.5.2 Meeting Logistics (cost reimbursement)

The contractor shall select a meeting location in a federally owned or leased space and provide for all audio-visual, room set-up, and meeting supplies. Note that most federal spaces do not have staff to assist with room set-up, audio visual equipment, or provide table skirting or linens, so offerors should budget for non-federal staff to prepare for the meeting. The contractor may request a waiver from using federal space should no space meet specifications required for the TRP.

The contractor shall comply with all pre-security screening requests to allow panelists to access federal spaces (which may include submitting background information about each panelist for background checks). No food or beverages shall be provided (all food and beverage costs must be incurred by the non-federal participants through the Meals and Expenses per diem).

Past technical review panels have included:

· LCD projector and screens for PowerPoint or similar presentations

· Access to internet for the presenter(s) (pending availability)

· Access to internet for panelists (pending availability)

· Amplified sound for the presenter(s)

· Amplified sound for the panelists with one microphone available for every 2 to 3 panelists.

· Notepads and materials for each participant

Subtask 1.5.3 Staffing at the Technical Review Panel Meeting (fixed price)

The contractor shall provide on-site staff at the TRP meeting to conduct presentations, take minutes, register participants, and manage the logistics of the meeting. Note: This subtask shall not include travel expenses and meals (see subtask 1.5.4) or staff time for the preparation of materials (see subtask 1.5.1).

Subtask 1.5.4 Travel, hotel, meals, and expenses (cost reimbursement)

The contractor shall pay for all associated expenses, including travel and per diem for non-Federal members. Hotel, meal, and expense amounts shall not exceed the per diem amounts published by the General Services Administration for the Baltimore/Washington DC Metropolitan area.

Subtask 1.5.5 Honoraria (fixed-price)

Non-Federal members of the panel may be paid an honorarium (in FY 2012, $400 a day) both for meeting attendance and other work, which they perform on the project. The contractor shall not pay an honorarium to any person who is already paid to work on any tasks in this contract.

Subtask 1.5.6 Post-meeting activities (fixed-price)

The contractor shall prepare meeting minutes and post them to the SMP within 20 working days of the meeting.

Subtask 1.6 Mini-Technical Review Meetings (fixed price)

The contractor shall convene eight (8) mini-technical review meetings including NCES staff, contractors, subcontractors, and a subset of any Technical Review Panel (up to 25 contractors, subcontractors, federal staff, and non-federal members) to allow for more focused discussion of sample design, survey design, instrumentation, state representation, and other survey methodology aspects of the postsecondary data collections in this contract. As needed, experts in a particular area may be invited to participate as well.

The contractor will consult with the COR in selecting members for the mini-meetings. The contractor shall pay for all associated expenses, including travel and per diem for non-Federal members. Non-Federal members of the panel may be paid an honorarium (in FY2009, $400 a day) both for meeting attendance and other work, which they perform on the project. The contractor shall not pay an honorarium to any person who is already paid to work on any tasks in this contract.

All meetings will be held in the Baltimore/Washington, DC metropolitan area, or at a location convenient to NCES and easily accessible by public transportation. Pre-meeting information packets, including agendas and materials to be discussed, will be posted to the SMP for NCES review three (3) weeks before each meeting. The contractor shall compile a list of follow-up activities as well as meeting minutes within three (3) weeks of the meeting.

Task 2. Developing Standardized Administrative Data Extractions from Postsecondary Institutions

In anticipation of more frequent data requests to postsecondary education institutions, and to reduce burden for postsecondary institutions, the contractor shall develop and implement a plan to standardize administrative data extractions from postsecondary education institutions. The contractor shall develop a data collection system to collect administrative data from postsecondary education institutions for all studies in this contract and for ad hoc data extractions if exercised in optional task 17.

Subtask 2.1 – Data Element Comparison Report (cost reimbursement)

Within 90 days of the contract award, the contractor shall prepare a report that compares data elements across different studies and information systems of postsecondary institutions. This report shall be used as a concept document for the technical review panel that focuses on standardizing the administrative data collections.

In consultation with the COR, within 270 days of the contract award and following a NPSAS technical review panel that discussed the topic, the contractor shall prepare a plan to standardize data elements from the data extractions from postsecondary institutions. This plan should list all data elements collected from postsecondary institutions and note differences between the proposed data elements and the variables collected in NPSAS:12. Upon delivery and acceptance of the report, the contractor shall implement any recommendations from the report in the NPSAS:16 field test or NPSAS:14 if exercised in optional task 8a.

Subtask 2.2 – Institution Data Reporting System (cost reimbursement)

The contractor shall develop and maintain a web site on NCES’s website (http://surveys.nces.ed.gov) that would allow institutions to securely upload standardized data extractions from the institution’s data systems. This web site shall comply with the Department’s IT and security policies. The website shall be reused for each study exercised in optional tasks 8, 9, 11 or 17. The website shall be developed so institutions can upload enrollment lists in support of the Department’s two-stage sampling design.

Subtask 2.3 – Enrollment list collection for NCES studies (cost reimbursement) Subtask 2.4 – Institutional Data Extractions for NCES Studies (cost reimbursement)

The contractor shall use the Institution Data Reporting System developed in Task 2.2 to request and collect data. For the standardized administrative data collection, at minimum the contractor shall provide either a social security number OR an institution ID number OR name, birthdate, and address for institutions to match to, depending on the availability of the data. The contractor shall develop a yearly schedule so that data extractions from postsecondary institutions only occur once per year (not including enrollment list collections). Additionally, the contractor shall collect data extractions from multiple NCES studies exercised in this contract concurrently.

Subtask 2.4 applies to the base contract and optional tasks 8a, 8b, 8c, 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d.

Subtask 2.4: Regular deliveries of de-identified standardized data by NCES study during data collection

Task 3. Field Test Data Collections

For each study, the contractor shall develop all systems for data collection, prepare materials for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) forms clearance, train staff in the methods of data collection, test all data collection systems, and report on the quality of the data collection systems as a field test prior to the full-scale collection of data.

The contractor shall explore whether certain types of incentives will significantly reduce bias of key estimates during the field test. The contractor shall offer institutional coordinators reasonable reimbursement if the coordinator provides the information in a timely manner. The costs for these field test incentives shall be included in the base contract.

Subtask 3.1 Field Test sampling (cost reimbursement)

For NPSAS studies:

The contractor shall select an institutional sample from an NCESsupplied postsecondary education institution file of institutions participating in the Department of Education’s Title IV financial aid programs. The contractor shall develop a sample design (for the field test and for the full-scale study) for the selection of institutions that specifies the rationale for the selected approach. The contractor shall select a non-overlapping sample of institutions to the extent possible for the field test and the full-scale study.

The contractor shall propose a method to collect lists of students from sampled institutions in conjunction with subtask 2.3. The contractor shall note that legislation does not require Title IV postsecondary education institutions to participate. The contractor’s technical and cost proposals shall reflect the differences (if any) in fielding a field test when optional task 9 and/or 20 are exercised.

The contractor shall test procedures to ensure the attainment of the minimum acceptable response rate from institutions and student interviews (if applicable). Procedures for identifying, contacting, securing the cooperation of, and obtaining information from institution-level representatives and students have been developed in the previous studies. Recent studies have shown that list collection for the last 15–20 percent of the sample has taken much longer than expected, and response rates have become somewhat lower. The contractor shall propose reimbursement to institutions for participating in the study, i.e., providing student lists and student level data for sampled students. The contractor shall develop a plan for contacting institutions to obtain student lists, in addition to a training plan and materials to train personnel who will contact institutions.

The contractor shall obtain lists of students from sampled institutions. The contractor will then devise and execute a method to sample students from lists supplied by sampled institutions. The institutions are recontacted to obtain administrative (including financial aid data) and enrollment data on sampled students. If applicable to the study exercised in this contract, students are contacted individually and asked to complete a survey over the web or by telephone.

The contractor shall devise a method for sampling students within each sampled institution for reliable estimates for various institutional and student characteristics. The field test sample shall be nationally-representative, but the contractor is not required to meeting the relative standard error requirement for the field test. State-representative samples are not required in field tests.

Student characteristics for which reliable estimates are required include:

1) Baccalaureate recipients in base year (if optional task 9a, 9b, or 9c is exercised)

2) First-time beginning students (if optional task 9a, 9c, or 9d is exercised)

3) Other undergraduates

4) Master’s students

5) Doctoral students

6) Other graduate students

An example of a previous sample design description can be found at the following websites:

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011188 and http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=200801.

For the NPSAS:16 and/or NPSAS:18 (if exercised in optional task 9c or 9d) field-tests, the contractor shall sample about 300 institutions and obtain 3,000 student interviews (including about 800 students who are likely baccalaureate recipients during the school year prior to the full-scale data collection if optional task 9a, 9b, or 9c are exercised and 800 students who are first time beginning students if optional task 9a, 9c, or 9d is exercised). In addition, the contractor shall evaluate pre-collection sampling rates to maximize efficiency, and test procedures for accurate identification of students who are first-time beginning students.

For postsecondary longitudinal studies:

The contractor shall evaluate the sampling design from previous follow-ups and recommend changes or updates to the sampling design. The contractor shall test procedures (including panel maintenance and experiments) to ensure the attainment the minimum acceptable response rate from sample members.

Subtask 3.2 Field Test OMB forms clearance (cost reimbursement)

The contractor shall prepare the OMB Forms Clearance package separately for the cognitive testing, student list collection from institutions (i.e., collecting lists of students enrolled at sampled institutions), and the student data collection from students, institutions, and outside sources such as the federal government (e.g., interviews with students and financial aid data from institutions and the federal government) for NPSAS:16 and NPSAS:18 (if exercised in optional task 9c or 9d). The contractor shall prepare the OMB Forms Clearance Student Packages separately for each longitudinal study, if these optional tasks are exercised. The List Package only applies to the NPSAS:16 or NPSAS:18 (if exercised in optional task 9c or 2d) field test. Each package shall request clearance for both the field test and the full-scale collections (offerors should note that this subtask involves an iterative process and, at minimum, will require three revisions: one after the COR's review, the second after review from the OMB liaison, and a third after OMB review).

Subtask 3.3 Field Test data collection (cost reimbursement)

The contractor shall collect the field test data from each field test sample using responsive/adaptive design with the minimum acceptable response rate as the target response rate. The contractor shall implement the experiment(s) described in the Student OMB package to increase response rates and/or reduce bias. In addition, the contractor shall determine the amount of time associated with each data element (or screen containing multiple items) collected. Finally, for each study, the contractor shall re-collect data from 800 field test sample respondents to determine the quality of the data. The contractor shall develop and execute a plan for locating and tracing difficult-to-reach respondents.

Subtask 3.3.1 Develop and deploy websites for data collection

For studies with web-based interviews:

The contractor shall develop and maintain a website for each study on NCES’s website (http://surveys.nces.ed.gov). The website shall describe the study, including the study’s purpose, frequently asked questions, and the protection of confidentiality of information obtained. The website also will provide links to student data collection instruments. The data collection instruments shall present respondents and CATI interviewers with screens of questions to be completed, with the software guiding the respondent through the interview.