Instructions_to_Offerors_(April_19 _2016).docx

Instructions to Offerors Version Date: April 19, 2016

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

What Works Clearinghouse: Postsecondary Education, Postsecondary Preparation, and Evidence Reporting Contract (WWC-PEPPER)

I. Proposal Submission Instructions The U.S. Department of Education (Department) anticipates the award of one hybrid noncommercial contract (with Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) and Cost-Reimbursement (CR) tasks). This competitive procurement is open to both large and small businesses and will be conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 15 (Contracting by Negotiation). In addition, the Contracting Officer is the only individual who can legally commit the Government to the expenditure of public funds in connection with this acquisition.

Anticipated Period of Performance. The exact start date for the anticipated contract is not known at this time, but for planning purposes offerors should use the following periods when developing their proposals:

· Base Period (September 30, 2016-September 29, 2017)

· Option Period 1 (September 30, 2017-September 29, 2018)

· Option Period 2 (September 30, 2018-September 29, 2019)

· Option Period 3 (September 30, 2019- September 29, 2020)

· Option Period 4 (September 30, 2020-September 29, 2021)

Clarification Questions. All questions regarding this solicitation must be submitted via email no later than DATE TIME. Clarification questions must be submitted with the email subject line “Clarification questions for ED-IES-16-R-0014 ([Name of Offeror])” (e.g., “Clarification questions for ED-IES-16-R-0014 (ABC Co.)”) to Stephen.Madsen@ed.gov with a cc: to Sabrina.Phillips@ed.gov.

Proposal Submission. Offerors shall submit their proposal in three separate volumes: (i) Technical Proposal, (ii) Business Proposal, and (iii) Past Performance Volume. The technical proposal must not contain reference to specific costs/prices, although resource information may be included so that the offeror’s understanding of the scope of the work may be evaluated. Cost/price information is restricted to the business proposal. The technical and business proposal volumes must be separate and complete so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of the other.

Proposals must be submitted electronically by DATE TIME. Each proposal volume must be signed by an official authorized to bind the offerors organization.

· Electronic Submission: Proposals are to be submitted by email as four separate documents with the following file names:

(i) “[Name of Company] Technical Proposal ([Version Date])” (e.g., “ABC Co. Technical Proposal (July 14, 2016)”);

(ii) “[Name of Company] Business Proposal ([Version Date])”;

(iii) “[Name of Company] Business Proposal Spreadsheets ([Version Date])”;

(iv) “[Name of Company] Past Performance Volume ([Version Date]).”

· The technical proposal, business proposal, and past performance volume may be submitted as either a PDF or MSWord documents. The business proposal spreadsheets document must be submitted as an MSExcel document. The Department’s email system cannot handle emails larger than 20mb. Submissions should be broken into separate emails if necessary, for example, “Proposal for ED-IES-16-R-0014 (Email 1 of 3) ([Name of Company]).” With the qualification set forth above, the Department prefers document consolidation. Appendices to the technical proposal should be contained in the technical proposal document, unless there is a problem keeping the file size below 20mb. Likewise, the offeror’s conflict of interest policy (a requirement of the business proposal) must be contained in the business proposal document, not submitted as a separate attached document.

Oral Instructions Given Prior to Solicitation Closing Date. Oral explanations or instructions given by the Government before the award of the anticipated contract shall not be binding. Any information given to a prospective offeror concerning a solicitation will be furnished via a formal solicitation amendment posted on www.FBO.gov to all other prospective offerors if that information will facilitate the submission of proposals or if a lack of information would be prejudicial to any other prospective offerors.

II. General Proposal Instructions While the intent of each task is spelled out in the Performance Work Statement (PWS), it is up to offerors to propose the most effective method for carrying out these tasks. The task specifications contained in the RFP are a starting point; the proposal is expected to build on them, providing examples, where appropriate, not simply repeating the language contained in the RFP. Any proposed changes to the scope of the work or to the deliverable dates shall be justified.

It is important that the offeror completely addresses all of the tasks described in the PWS, and provides enough detail on its approach to executing each task that technical merit can be determined.

The offeror does not need to repeat information within the same volume. Such information should be presented in detail in one area of the volume where it contributes most critically to achieving the program’s objectives. In other areas where discussion of the same information is necessary, the offeror may refer to the detailed discussion and identify its location within the volume. If the offeror determines that the same or similar information is required in separate volumes, that information shall be detailed in each volume.

III. Technical Proposal The technical proposal has a page limit of 75 pages (8.5” x 11” pages). Excluded from this page count are: (i) the technical proposal cover page, (ii) a resume appendix, (iii) letters of commitment appendix, (iv) sample research reports appendix (see “Organizational Capabilities, Experience & Resources” section below). Included in this page limit are, among other things, tables/graphics, corporate references, abstracts of current corporate work, and lists of current contractual commitments of proposals staff. All pages in the technical proposal and appendices shall be numbered. The formatting requirements for the technical proposal are as follows: (i) double-spaced text, (ii) font that is 12-pt, (iii) 1-inch margins. The formatting requirements for the technical proposal do not apply to any graphs or tables included in the technical proposal.

The resume appendix has no formatting requirements or overall page limit. However, no single resume may be longer than four pages. Each resume should clearly demonstrate that individuals have the skills to perform the work for which they are proposed.

The primary author for each section of the Technical Proposal shall be identified by name.

The technical proposal shall contain the following elements:

Cover Page: At a minimum, the cover page shall contain: the words “Technical Proposal”; the solicitation number ED-IES-16-R-0014; the title of the procurement (“What Works Clearinghouse: Postsecondary Education, Postsecondary Preparation, and Evidence Reporting Contract (WWC-PEPPER)”); the version date of the technical proposal (e.g., MONTH DAY, YEAR); the name, website address (if applicable), and DUNS number of the offeror; and a list of primary subcontractors and consultants (name of company, website address (if applicable), and DUNS number) along with one of the following labels for each subcontractor/consultant: “Not Small,” “Small Business,” “Small Disadvantaged Business,” “Woman-Owned Small Business,” “HUBZone Small Business,” or “Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business.”

Abstract: A one-page summary is to be provided abstracting the proposal contents in language understandable to an informed layperson. The abstract shall indicate full acceptance of the solicitation requirements or note any exceptions or assumptions (to be justified in the technical proposal).

Table of Contents: The Table of Contents must provide a means of quickly accessing important points of discussion in the proposal and should contain either 2 or 3 levels of headings.

Introduction: The offeror must briefly summarize and justify their overall approach to achieving the purpose of the procurement, its scope of work, and required deliverables. This section also should describe ways in which the offeror’s proposed approach is unique, insightful, or particularly comprehensive. The offeror must demonstrate an understanding of the project and familiarity with the issues relevant to designing and conducting random assignment impact evaluations in a school setting.

Technical Approach (Task Descriptions): This section shall provide information addressing each task and subtask area, including the offeror’s understanding of the nature and scope of each of the project tasks/subtasks, in the order presented in the PWS, along with a discussion of any potential issues and the means to address them.

Management Plan and Timelines: The offeror shall present a proposed timeline addressing the subtasks, deliverables, and Department approval of deliverables together with the responsible staff. A summary table should be included presenting critical milestones with dates. This table shall include starting and ending dates of each major project task and activity. The offeror shall also delineate any materials or services expected from the Department in the timetable (e.g., data, applications, reports, etc.). As it is of the utmost importance that the anticipated contract meet its timelines, the technical proposal shall describe in detail the offeror’s process for ongoing evaluation of progress on the anticipated contract and methods proposed to manage potential delays or performance problems.

Proposed Personnel: The names of the proposed project director and other key personnel and consultants, a narrative description of staff qualifications and how they will meet the requirements of the contract, and resumes for proposed project staff including dates of work and role in such work for all experience. Include detailed vitae for all proposed professional staff (in the resume appendix) and letters of commitment (in the letters of commitment appendix) from all proposed subcontractors, consultants, professional staff not currently employed by the offeror, or collaborators delineating the nature of their agreement. Offerors are encouraged to suggest specific experts who might be appropriate for the Practice Guide Optional Task.

In the main body of the technical proposal (not an appendix) describe any sub-contractual arrangements including work to be done, responsibilities for tasks, reporting arrangements, and any other terms of the contract pertinent to the technical proposal. Justifications must be provided for the use of subcontractors or consultants on this project, and the offeror shall state that such entities or individuals are free of conflicts of interest that might bias their approach to this study.

Offerors shall demonstrate that the proposed key personnel are not overextended during the first three years of the contract by including a chart showing how the labor hours proposed for ED-IES-16-R-0014 compare to other commitments (including other contracts and projects). At a minimum, offerors shall include a chart with the following data:

The technical proposal must contain, per period and per task, the labor categories and labor hours proposed (but not the labor rate or total labor price/cost). This information should be formatted so that the Department can easily discern which personnel are offeror employees and which personnel are subcontractor/consultant employees (and which subcontractor/consultant). Where an individual can be identified by name, the name should be provided along with that person’s labor category. This information will allow for a determination to be reached as to whether the offeror is proposing labor categories that are appropriate and reasonable to the work set forth in the PWS.

As a general matter, proposals that include plans to subcontract parts of the work (whether to small or large business subcontractors) shall provide evidence that any proposed subcontractor or consultant has agreed to perform the work specified in the proposal, is fully capable of performing the assigned tasks, and that the offeror has effective control of the subcontractor’s/ consultant’s work on the project.

Organizational Capabilities, Experience & Resources: This section shall describe pertinent corporate experience and qualifications in conducting the tasks outlined in the PWS. The technical proposal must contain an organizational chart and a statement relating corporate experience to the subtask areas in this project. The technical proposal must contain an internal quality control plan that addresses accountability in each subtask area. The offeror must include links to materials or provide high quality samples of materials that have been developed to communicate research findings to the public.

Short abstracts of current work shall include the name, current affiliation, current email address, and current telephone number of the study's project officer. This section should briefly identify resources (other than personnel), such as facilities and equipment that is available for use in carrying out the activities of this project. Applicable corporate experience should include evidence of managing large-scale multi-site education studies that involve: challenging large-scale study recruitment; random assignment in an education setting; implementation support; collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data including sophisticated correlational analyses and collection/analyses of classroom observation data; content knowledge of postsecondary education and preparation interventions; prior successful work in conducting evidence reviews and communicating the findings of such reviews to diverse audiences.

Sample Reports. In the “sample reports” appendix, the offeror shall provide exemplars of its prior or current work conducting research and evaluation studies, or systematic evidence reviews and conveying the content of the work and its findings to a policy audience. Specifically, in this appendix, the contractor shall provide two (and no more than two) research/evaluation papers or reports (or parts of papers or reports) that the contractor has conducted within the last three years. The papers or reports provided should demonstrate the contractor’s commitment to quality, rigor, relevance, and usefulness to policy-makers. There is no overall page limit for the sample research reports appendix. However, each report may be no longer than 8 single-spaced pages or 15 double-spaced pages; though, the following pages do not count toward this page limit: (i) table of contents, (ii) title page, (iii) other introductory pages. If an individual report exceeds the page limit, the offeror shall instead provide an excerpt that includes relevance, methodology, and analysis. Neither of the two samples submitted may have been revised to reflect any comments from IES or other federal oversight. Each exemplar shall include the following written assurance on its cover sheet: “This document does not reflect any comments from IES or other federal oversight.” The offeror may choose to develop a product for this proposal if one does not exist.

Value Added Suggestions. In addition to the list of requirements above, offerors are encouraged to suggest technical improvements to the work.

Additional Notes

· All information necessary to judge the technical soundness and management capabilities of the offeror must be contained in the technical proposal. The technical evaluators will review the technical proposal and the past performance volume, but they will not have access to the business proposal. The technical proposal must not contain reference to specific prices/costs, but resource information (e.g., staff hours) should be included so that the technical evaluators may review the offeror’s understanding of the scope of the work.

· The technical proposal shall include a letters of commitment appendix showing commitment of proposed key personnel, subcontractors, and consultants.

IV. Business Proposal The business proposal does not have a page limit or formatting restrictions, except that it should be formatted for printing on 8.5”x11” pages.

The business proposal shall start with a cover page that provides the following information:

· Business Name. The name of the offeror.

· URL. The website address of the offeror (if applicable).

· Socio Economic Status Certification. A statement certifying whether the offeror is a large business or small business under NAIC 541720 ($20,500,000 size standard). If the offeror is small, the cover page should include a statement as to whether the offeror qualifies as any of the following small business categories: small disadvantaged business (SDB); women-owned small business (WOSB); service-disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB); or HUBZone small business (HUBZone).

· Point of Contact Information. The point of contact (name, phone number, email address) of a company representative who can answer any questions that the Department may have.

· Proposal Validity Period. A statement to the effect that the offer is firm for a period of at least 90 calendar days from the due date for proposals specified by the Government.

· DUNS Number. The offeror’s DUNS number.

· Proposal Submission Date. The cover page of each volume should contain a version date. If an offeror is selected for negotiations, and the offeror later updates its business proposal as part of negotiations, the date on the cover page should be updated to reflect the new submission date.

· Subcontractor and Consultant Information. A list of primary subcontractors and consultants (name of company, website address (if applicable), and DUNS number) along with one of the following labels for each: “Not Small,” “Small Business,” “Small Disadvantaged Business,” “Woman-Owned Small Business,” “HUBZone Small Business,” or “Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business.”

See the attached MS Excel document Summary of Proposal Price. The offeror shall fill in the yellow cells (no other cells) of this spreadsheet, and this tab shall be the first tab in the offeror’s “Business Proposal Spreadsheets” submission. In cell C2, the offeror shall insert its “Fee on CR” (i.e., the percentage fixed fee for cost reimbursement work). The offeror shall ensure that the numbers in this Summary of Proposal Price match those elsewhere in the business proposal. For instance, the firm fixed price (FFP) portions of the Summary of Proposal Price shall have the same numbers (down to the penny) as the numbers listed in the Payment Schedule for Fixed Price Deliverables.

Labor Categories and Labor Rates. The business proposal must include a chart with labor categories and labor rates that were used in formulating the proposal (for each performance period), as well as labor rates for an additional 12 months after the scheduled end of the contract (i.e., September 30, 2021 – September 29, 2022). (The labor rates for September 30, 2021 – September 29, 2022 may be used if the anticipated contract is later extended into this period.) If the labor rates for FFP price tasks are different than the labor rates for CR tasks, the offeror may provide a set of rates for FFP price tasks and a set for CR tasks. Labor rates should be shown unloaded with separate columns showing the application of indirect and escalation rates, leading to a loaded labor rate. Either within the chart or in notes below, the percentage indirect rate (e.g., X% for General and Administrative (G&A)) should be disclosed.

Price/Cost Breakdown The business proposal (whether in the main document or in the Excel document) must provide a complete cost/price breakdown by task/subtask and by contract period, so that the Department can determine the total cost per Period per task. The breakdown should differentiate FFP, CR, and fee on CR. The breakdown should include identification of proposed labor categories (including named individuals where possible), level of effort (labor hours), hourly labor rate, and extended labor cost/price (labor hours x labor rate). The breakdown shall distinguish prime contractor costs from subcontractor/consultant costs, so that the Department can easily identify which subcontractors/consultants are involved in which tasks and to what extent. The breakdown shall include any other costs. If costs such as G&A and profit are not already included in a loaded labor rate, those costs should be broken out and their percentage rate should be disclosed. All costs other than labor must be discussed and justified in the business proposal narrative. For instance, if a G&A rate is used, it should be disclosed; if it is based on an indirect rate agreement, this should be stated and a copy of the indirect rate agreement should be provided as an appendix to the business proposal. Where a rate is being applied (e.g., “Technology Fee” at x%), the business proposal narrative should clearly disclose what the rate is being applied against (e.g., against total labor costs). Offerors are encouraged to justify any indirect rate by explaining its purpose and providing evidence of its reasonableness (e.g., an approved indirect cost rate agreement or usage in other competitively procured contracts). The same level of detail is required for subcontractors/consultants.

If subcontractors or consultants are proposed, a separate detailed price/cost breakdown (by task/subtask) should be submitted for each proposed subcontractor/consultant – or the detailed breakdown of subcontractor/consultant costs can be included in the master breakdown if feasible. The detailed subcontractor/consultant cost breakdown(s) may be broken down in separate Excel documents if needed, but their cost should be included in the overall master breakdown of the prime offeror.

The Government will prepare an independent buildup of the offeror’s proposal to ensure that the numbers add up correctly. For instance, the Government will multiply labor hours by labor rates to ensure that the total is correct. And the Government will apply indirect rates. The offeror shall ensure that its proposal does not contain any numerical or summation errors.

Travel Costs As with other costs included in the proposal, the offeror shall provide detailed information regarding travel costs, including a breakdown of meeting room (if provided by a third party such as a hotel), travel, lodging, and per diem costs. For travel in support of CR tasks, after contract award the contractor will be required to invoice on an actual cost basis, in compliance with Federal Travel Regulations. For any travel in support of FFP tasks, the contractor will invoice in accordance with the approved payment schedule for FFP tasks; the contractor will not invoice for actuals for travel, lodging, and per diem associated with FFP tasks.

The offeror’s business proposal shall include a travel estimate including number of trips, number of people, number of days, locations, and rates. Travel shall be broken down in the same manner for subcontractors/consultants. The business proposal must contain travel information substantially similar to the following:

Flight cost, train, etc.

TOTAL COST

Task 1

Task 2

Total

Small Business Subcontracting/Consultants Business proposals submitted by large business offerors must include a small business subcontracting chart (addressing subcontractors and consultants) that includes the following information (see chart below). The chart below should assume that all options are exercised. For instance, cell B2 should include not only Base Period baseline tasks but all the Base Period optional tasks.

For example, if the offeror plans to subcontract a total of $1,000,000 of base period work, B2 = $1,000,000. If, of that $1,000,000 . . .

· $500,000 is going to small business subcontractors (SB), then C3 = 50%.

· $100,000 is going to small disadvantaged businesses (SDB), then D3 = 10%.

· $0 is going to woman-owned small businesses (WOSB), then E3 = 0%.

· $350,000 is going to HUBZone small businesses (HUBZone), then F3 = 35%.

· $50,000 is going to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), then G3 = 5%.

For the purposes of this chart and the proposal generally, the term “subcontractor” includes both subcontractors and consultants.

Subcontracting Offerors must submit a price/cost breakdown for any subcontractor/consultant whose costs exceed the threshold for certified cost or pricing data (as applicable). The following information must be addressed (as applicable):

· If a subcontract/consultant proposal exceeds the threshold for certified cost or pricing data (FAR 15.403-4(a)) and is not otherwise exempt from other exceptions in accordance with FAR 15.403-1(b), please include the prime contractor’s price/cost analyses establishing the reasonableness of each subcontract/consultant price.

· In accordance with the thresholds in FAR 15.404-3(c) and FAR 15.408,Table 15-2 II.A.(2), Cost and Pricing data, a copy of each subcontractor’s/consultant’s proposal must be provided (as an appendix to the business proposal).

· Identify in the proposal the degree of competition and the basis for establishing the source and reasonableness of price for each subcontract priced on a competitive basis (FAR 15.408, Table 15-2 II. A. (1)) exceeding the threshold at FAR 15.403-4(a).

· Additionally, in accordance with FAR 52.215-22 Limitations on Pass-through Charges – Identification of Subcontract Effort, if applicable, if the offeror intends to subcontract more than 70% of the total cost of work to be performed, the proposal must identify (i) the amount of the offeror’s indirect costs and profit applicable to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s)/consultant(s) and (ii) a description of the added value provided by the offeror as related to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s)/consultant(s).

· For each small business subcontractor/consultant, provide a chart with the following information (see below). The chart assumes that all options are exercised. For instance, cell B3 should include not only Base Period baseline tasks but also Base Period optional tasks.

* Small, Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone Small Business, or Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business

The business proposal shall clearly disclose any administration fees or profit that the prime contractor is charging on subcontractor/consultant work. For CR work, the offeror is required to apply its Percentage Fixed Fee on CR (“Fee on CR”) to all subcontractor/consultant work. For instance, if the prime contractor is to be paid 3% Fixed Fee on CR work, the prime shall charge this same fee (i.e., 3%) on any CR subcontractor/consultant work. For CR work done by subcontractors/consultants, the business proposal must also clearly disclose the percentage fee or profit that the subcontractor is earning itself; the fee that the subcontractor is earning for itself may be a different percentage fee than the prime is earning.

Small Business Subcontracting Plan As an appendix to the business proposal, large business offerors must submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan (Plan) that is in accordance with 48 CFR 52.219-9 II. To the extent that the Plan fails to meet any of the Department’s 2015 small business subcontracting goals (i.e., 33% or more of the total subcontract dollars be subcontracted to small businesses, 5% or more of the total subcontract dollars be subcontracted to small disadvantaged business concerns, 5% or more of the total subcontract dollars be subcontracted to women-owned small business concerns, 3% or more of the total subcontract dollars be subcontracted to HUBZone small business concerns, and 3% or more of the total subcontract dollars be subcontracted to service disabled veteran owned small business concerns), the offeror shall include a statement in its business proposal describing the efforts that the offeror will make to identify subcontracting opportunities in the future.

Conflict of Interest Plan and Certificate As an appendix to the business proposal, the offeror shall provide a Conflict of Interest Plan and Certificate (as provided in Section K.). The Plan should provide details on its policies and procedures to identify, report, and avoid potential organizational or personnel conflicts of interest (or apparent conflict of interest). The Plan should also address procedures taken to neutralize or mitigate such conflicts, if they have not been or cannot be avoided. The Plan should indicate that such policies and procedures are operative throughout the period of outside activities, financial interests, or other significant connections or identifications that would establish, or give the appearance of establishing, a conflict of interest. A method for periodically reviewing financial interests of employees, subcontractors and consultants, and their immediate families, in order to assess actual or apparent conflicts of interest should be included in the plan. The term “potential conflict” means reasonably foreseeable conflict of interest. The thoroughness, completeness, and effectiveness of the Plan shall be evaluated as part of the offeror’s overall proposal. The Plan will be incorporated into the contract awarded to the successful offeror.

Additional Requirements

· It is required that each offeror’s business proposal contain enough information for a cost realism determination to be made. Offerors are expected to use their best business judgment in submitting the necessary information. The Contracting Officer (CO) can reject an offeror’s proposal if a negative cost realism determination is made, or if proposed costs/prices are found to NOT be reasonable. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.404-1 states, “cost realism means the costs in an Offeror’s proposal are a) realistic for the work to be performed; b) reflect a clear understanding of the requirements; and c) are consistent with the various elements of the Offeror’s technical proposal.” As such, offerors’ proposals should contain identification of cost or pricing data (i.e., data that are verifiable and factual) and an explanation of the estimating process. When applicable, the Other Administrative Data must be specifically identified. (Refer to FAR 15.408, Table 15-2 I.C.).

· Cost Accounting System. The business proposal shall contain information on the offeror’s accounting system so that the Government can determine whether the system is compliant with the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). If the accounting system has been reviewed and approved by a Government agency, the offeror should state this and include a copy of this approval as an appendix to the business proposal.

· Acceptance of RFP Terms/Offeror Assumptions. The business proposal must contain a statement that the offeror fully accepts the requirements set forth in the solicitation. If the offeror has based its proposal on any assumptions that are not already clearly laid out in the PWS, those assumptions must be listed in the business proposal narrative.

· Honoraria and Consultant Fee. Any loaded labor rate or honorarium higher than $800 per day (or GS 15, Step 10 hourly rate) requires justification, as well as a written statement from the individual that the proposed rate is what he/she has charged another federal, state, or local government customer within the past 12 months.

· Fixed Price Payment Schedule. The offeror shall prepare a Payment Schedule for FFP Work, to be included as an appendix to the business proposal. An Excel version should also be provided, so that the Department can verify summation calculations. This payment schedule should be based on accomplishments (e.g., submission of an approved deliverable), not passage of time (e.g., monthly). The payment schedule should be organized so that the Government can easily verify that the payments for a particular task add up to the proposal price for that task. For example, the payment schedule should include payments for the FFP work in Task 1, and the total of such payments should add up to the proposal price for the FFP work in Task 1. After contract award, the contractor will invoice for FFP task deliverables/accomplishments in accordance with this payment schedule. The offeror is permitted to include intermediate accomplishments as payment points if a specific FFP task has too few deliverables to ensure fair temporal distribution of payments.

· Optional Task 11 is a task that will be completed in the final year of the contract. If no option periods are exercised, Task 11 would be performed at the end of the base period. If four option periods are exercised, Task 11 would be performed at the end of the contract’s fifth year. For pricing purposes, offerors should propose five separate prices for Task 11 (one for the base period and one for each of the option periods). This permits the offeror to escalate the cost to reflect annual inflation, if necessary. For the purposes of a total proposal price, Task 11 will be featured five times, even though the maximum number of instances that the Department would exercise this task is one.

V. Past Performance Volume

There is no page limit and no formatting requirements for the past performance volume. Offerors shall provide evidence of prior successful evaluation work in areas including large-scale educational evaluations that involve: challenging large-scale study recruitment; random assignment in an education setting; implementation support; collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data including sophisticated correlational analyses and collection/analyses of classroom observation data; content knowledge of postsecondary education and preparation interventions; prior successful work in conducting studies of a similar nature. Offerors may also provide evidence of successful past performance in other areas not mentioned in the preceding text but required for successful contract performance. Offerors are only required to submit this information within the past performance volume and do not have to duplicate this information in the technical proposal. Consideration of the offeror’s reputation in terms of quality, problem resolution, cost control, timeliness, business relations, and customer service will be evaluated.

In addition to the above, the offeror shall submit information about its four most recent contracts – either completed in the last three years or currently-in-process (so long as at least 12 months of performance have occurred) – that are of similar size, scope, complexity or are, in any way, relevant to the effort required by this solicitation. The four contracts may include those entered into with the Federal Government, agencies of State and local governments, and commercial customers. Contracts with a parent or an affiliate of the offeror may not be used.

At least one past performance reference must also be submitted for each subcontractor proposed, in addition to the four required for the prime contractor.

For each referenced past performance example, the offeror shall provide the contract title, contract number, customer Contracting Officer contact information, Contracting Officer’s Representative contact information, a brief description of the requirement, the current performance period, the total performance period, and total contract value (base plus all option periods).

The offeror should submit references for any contract discussed in the past performance volume by using the “Contract Performance Information” form that is attached to the solicitation. References may be included as an appendix to the past performance volume. Or they may be submitted directly to the Department from the entity providing the reference by sending an email to Stephen.Madsen@ed.gov, cc: Sabrina.Phillips@ed.gov, with the subject line “Past Performance Reference for [Name of Offeror or Name of Subcontractor/Consultant] (ED-IES-16-R-00x14).” Past performance references should be submitted prior to the due date of proposals, but the Government reserves the right to accept late references so long as it applies the same cut-off date for all offerors. If a reference is being used for a contract with a federal agency and a CPARS evaluation has been completed for that contract, the offeror may submit a copy of the CPARS in lieu of submitting the “Contract Performance Information” form.

The Department reserves the right to obtain past performance information from other sources, including CPARS and FAPIIS, and use this information during the source selection process.