H9821019R0011_3-26.docx

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

CultureReady Basics

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Defense Language and National Security Education Office (DLNSEO) requires development and maintenance of the web-based culture and language training tool, CultureReady Basics in a number of languages in support of the Defense Language Regional Expertise and Culture Program.

2.0 BACKGROUND

CultureReady Basics, was initially developed as an online training tool to support the improvement of culture education and training in the Total Force as well as support the development of culture competency in the Federal workforce. The development and evolution of the CultureReady Basics tool, featured lessons learned based on the culture competencies included in the Department of Defense Instruction 5160.70, dated December 2016. The current iteration of CultureReady Basics, incorporates a language learning component at a 2+/3 ILR proficiency level. CultureReady Basics provides online culture and language training focusing on the basic concepts of cross-cultural interactions to users in the Department of Defense and associated stakeholders. The CultureReady Basics product is embedded and accessible on the CultureReady.org website, http://www.cultureready.org/culture-language/culture-101/cultureready-basics. Historically, as part of the CultureReady basics online portal, the Government has required lesson content and associated service support for approximately two primary languages as well as government required regional language dialects support (as needed) per contract year.

3.0 SCOPE

The Contractor shall provide all personnel, management and materials necessary to develop and maintain the web-based culture and language training tool CultureReady Basics.

4.0 REQUIREMENTS The Contractor shall:

4.1 Develop lesson content for the culture and language learning tool accessible from the www.cultureReady.org website.

4.1.1. Develop product using target language script and narration at the ILR 2+ /3 levels in listening and reading on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale.

4.1.2. Include capability that gives learners the ability to request translation assistance, this will will give hints in English for the text.

4.1.3. Develop a method to monitor the amount of times that a user relies on the translation assistance. This function will be used to track how reliant the user is on the translation assistance function.

4.1.3. Incorporate images of the target area into the product. Each frame must feature at least one image.

4.1.3.1. Include moving images with voice overs (off camera commentary).

4.1.3.2. Incorporate a feature that highlights important images during narration.

4.2 Collect scenarios based on interactions of at least 10 individuals who have experience living, working, or studying in areas that speak the target language.

4.2.1. Analyze the scenarios to be able to identify the culture competencies within the interactions, then map them to the competencies found in the Adaptive Readiness for Culture model, in accordance with DoDI 5160.70 Management of the Defense Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture (LREC) Program.

4.2.2. Translate all scenarios into target language.

4.3 Develop lesson content based on a learning strategy that includes exploratory learning, direct instruction, and deliberate practice. This strategy allows learners to be familiarized with the necessary information then reinforce and practice what they have learned.

4.3.1. Determine preliminary user reactions to the scenarios to see if they would react similarly in the provided interactions.

4.4 Develop a product users’ guide in Adobe .pdf . The users’ guide will be embedded within the training tool accessible from a drop down menu or icon.

4.4.1. The users’ guide will be in English.

4.5 Provide a tailored user feedback mechanism subject to approval of the government that specifically reflects the answers of the user upon course completion. Feedback will be accessible simultaneously by contractor and COR.

4.5.1. Include questions in a Likert Scale format as well as several open ended questions for narrative feedback for product improvement.

4.6 Add the ability that allows users to save and print completion certificates.

4.7 Prepare and submit a test plan that shall details testing procedures for the training tool via MS Word. The COR will identify a small user group to participate in testing.

4.7.1. Provide test release notes within 10 calendar days following the completion of the testing phase, via MS Word document. The release notes will identify known bugs in the test build and provide a plan to correct the bugs before the next testing phase or product release.

4.8 Present Interim Program Reviews (IPRs) to the COR that detail progress, activities, and any other project associated issues. For each IPR, email a power point presentation in advance of the scheduled IPR.

4.8.1 Provide summary notes of each IPR via MS Word document no later than three days after the meeting. The notes will detail an overview of the meeting, all actions for any issues, and the responsible entities for those actions.

4.9 Upload the completed trainer on www.cultureReady.org by working with the website content managers.

4.9.1. Provide a means to manage usage that can be tracked by website content managers.

4.9.2. Provide quarterly usage reports to COR that shows:

4.9.2.1. Referral links (where are they coming from to get to the course?)

4.9.2.2. ISP locations (what cities are most frequent for site visitors? - does it correspond with certain base locations?)

4.9.2.3. Number of users accessing the course monthly

4.9.2.4. Number of users completing the course (via reaching an end page or filling out a certificate)

4.9.2.5. Indicate time spent on course for each user.

4.10 Conduct a Design Review at a location determined by the COR. The Design Review will outline the overall project design process, determine a more accurate timeline of development, and provide an opportunity to verify probability outcomes for the product. The meeting will allow the COR and other stakeholders, to preview and make changes to the design plan and any other course content before the production process begins. The Design Review will be presented using a Power Point slide presentation.

4.10.1 Provide a summary report of the design review to the COR.

4.10.1.1. Contained in the design review report will be a list of the participants and their contact information, agenda items, a summary, and action items. The summary will provide the action item discussions, and the list of action items will incorporate a list of the responsible individuals for each item and a suspense date.

4.11 Provide Transition In and Out of Contract Services

The transition would require the incumbent to provide the new contractor with the source code for the existing Culture Ready Basics lessons. Since the period of performance is ended and all of the deliverables were received, there will be a limited transition (up to 10 days), if any at all.

4.12 Participate in a Post-Award Conference.

This meeting shall provide an introduction between the Contractor personnel and Government personnel who will be involved with the contract. The meeting shall provide the opportunity to discuss technical, management and security issues. The Post Award Conference will aid both the Government and Contractor in achieving a clear and mutual understanding of all requirements, and identify and resolve any potential issues. The Contractor shall be prepared to discuss operational plans for how they will successfully perform contract terms and conditions including all deliverable requirements.

5.0 DELIVERABLES

6.0 CONTRACTOR MANPOWER REPORTING

The contractor shall report ALL contractor labor hours (including subcontractor labor hours) required for performance of services provided under this contract for the Defense Language and National Security Education Office via a secure data collection site. The contractor is required to completely fill in all required data fields using the following web address: http://www.ecmra.mil/. Reporting inputs will be for the labor executed during the period of performance during each Government fiscal year (FY), which runs October 1 through September 30. While inputs may be reported any time during the FY, all data shall be reported no later than October 31 of each calendar year, unless a later date is otherwise authorized by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness). Contractors may direct questions to the help desk at help desk at: http://www.ecmra.mil

7.0 CONTRACTOR TRAVEL

The Government anticipates that the contractor will have to travel to support the Culture Ready Basics product. The contractor will travel to at least six conferences during the period of performance to discuss the merits of developing a culture trainer integrated with a language component. They will explain why CultrueReady Basics products are among the best culture and language training products available to organizations and stakeholders like the Department of Defense, Foreign Area Officers, language students, study abroad programs, and various anthropological and psychology organizations. The contractor will participate in the annual LREC Symposium, hosted by the Air Force Culture and Language Center in Montgomery, AL, as well as the annual conferences for American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, the International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics, and the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research. Contractor costs for Government authorized travel are included in this contract. All travel shall be in accordance with FAR 31.205-46 and applicable travel regulations (Joint, Federal or Standardized). Contractor payment claims shall include applicable documentation to support actual costs incurred (e.g. airfare and hotel/lodging receipts) as well as any receipts valued at or above $75.00. Failure to provide appropriate documentation may result in loss of reimbursement of travel expenses.

8.1.1 Comply with:

DoD Instruction (DoDI) 8500.1, Cybersecurity The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) DoD 5400.11-R, and DoD Directive 5400.11, DoD Privacy Program DoD 6025.18-R, DoD Health Information Privacy Regulation DoD 5200.2-R, Personnel Security Program HSPD-12, Homeland Security Presidential Directive.

8.1.2 Comply with HSPD-12 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) issuance requirements, known as the Common Access Card (CAC) and:

8.1.2.1 Be responsible for obtaining CAC or PIV ready status prior to reporting for work. At a minimum, all Contractor personnel must obtain/maintain a favorable FBI National Criminal History Check (fingerprint check), two forms of identity proofed identification (I-9 document), and submit a National Agency Check and Law Credit (NACLAC) vetting package for processing.

8.1.2.2 Be citizens of the United States.

8.1.2.3 Maintain favorable FBI National Criminal History checks and ensure completion and successful adjudication of a NACLAC as required for Federal employment.

8.2 If at any time, any Contractor personnel requiring a CAC is unable to obtain/maintain an adjudicated NACLAC, immediately notify the Requiring Activity’s Information Systems Security Group (ISSG) and remove such person from work under this contract.

8.3 Immediately report the discovery of any Privacy breach first to the Requiring Activity’s CIO/Privacy Office and secondly to the COR.

8.4 All Information Systems (IS), Platform Information Technology (PIT) and Information Technology (IT) Services or Products under this requirement, that receive, transmit, store, or process nonpublic government data must be accredited in accordance with Department of Defense (DOD) Instruction (DoDI) 8510.01 "Risk Management Framework (RMF) for DoD Information Technology (DIT)” issued March 12, 2014 (formerly the DOD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP)). IS and PIT systems must be categorized in accordance with Committee on National Security Systems Instruction (CNSSI) 1253, implement a corresponding set of security controls from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-53, and use assessment procedures from NIST SP 800-53A with additional DoD-specific assignment values, overlays, implementation guidance, and assessment procedures as required.

8.5 DoD-Controlled IS and PIT Systems operated by a Contractor or other entity on behalf of the DOD; to include contractor owned IS and PIT systems that are dedicated to DoD processing, must be authorized as DoD IS or PIT systems. The Requiring Activity’s Authorizing Official (AO) must render an authorization decision for this type of a DoD system prior to DoD use of the capability.

8.6 IT services provided by a commercial or other non-federal government entity under this requirement must ensure the security protections of the IS delivering the service is appropriate to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability needs of the Requiring Activity’s information and mission in order to be approved for acceptable use. The Government will assess the adequacy of security proposed by potential service providers, and accept the proposed approach, negotiate changes to the approach to meet DoD needs, or reject the offer. The accepted security approach will be documented and included as attachments to the resulting contract.

9.0 Mandatory Training Requirements for Contractors. Contractor employees shall complete the following mandatory trainings within 30 days of contract award and option is exercised.

1. DoD Training on Unauthorized Disclosures IAW OSD Memorandum dated September 19, 2017 and the training is available at https://securityawareness.usalearning.gov/disclosure/index.html.

1. Privacy Act and Personally Identifiable Information IAW DoDD 5400.11 dated September 1, 2011 and the training is available at https://iatraining.disa.mil/eta/piiv2/launchPage.htm.

1. IT Security Awareness IAW 5 CFR 930.301 and the training is available at https://iatraining.disa.mil/eta/disa_cac2018/launchPage.htm.

1. National Insider Threat IAW Executive Order 13587 and the training is available at https://securityawareness.usalearning.gov/itawareness/index.htm.

1. Counterintelligence Awareness and Reporting Training IAW DoDD 5240.06 and the training available at https://securityawareness.usalearning.gov/cidod.

Contractor employees shall provide a copy of each training certificate to Contracting Officer Representative (COR) to meet the mandatory training requirements. COR keeps the certificates in the COR file or CORT.

10.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY/EQUIPMENT/INFORMATION (GFP/GFE/GFI)

The Government will provide the Source Code for the existing CultureReady Basics products.

11.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The contractors will be working at the contractor’s facilities.

12.0 QUALITY CONTROL

The contractor shall implement and maintain a Quality Control Plan (QCP) to ensure work performed conforms to the scope of work and meets the requirements under this PWS. The QCP shall, at a minimum provide a method for performing inspections; identifying, correcting and preventing problems/defective service; addressing customer complaints, and improving the quality of services over the life of the contract.

13.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE

13.1. The Government reserves the right to perform random inspections and surveillance to evaluate the Contractor’s compliance to the contract terms and performance of the requirements in the PWS.

13.2. Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR). In the event of unsatisfactory contractor performance, the Contracting Officer (CO) in coordination with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will issue a CDR that will explain the circumstances and findings concerning the incomplete or unsatisfactory service. The contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR and respond in writing as to how he/she shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid a recurrence. The Government will review the contractor's corrective action response to determine acceptability and will use any completed CDR as part of an overall Contractor past performance evaluation.

14.0 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Contractor acknowledges that it is familiar with FAR Subpart 9.5, Organizational and Consultant Conflicts of Interest, and agrees to avoid, neutralize or mitigate such conflicts of interest in accordance with the principles set forth in the FAR. If the performance requires the Contractor (to include subcontractors) to supply technical support related to systems or projects with which the Contractor is already directly concerned, either by prime or subcontract, the Contractor shall immediately inform the Contracting Officer. The PWS may be withdrawn if a conflict is found. The Contractor shall not undertake performance of any PWS requirements which requires it to supply technical support regarding such systems until the notice is given, and written consent to proceed is issued by the Contracting Officer.

15.0 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

DoD Instruction (DoDI) 8500.1, Cybersecurity http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/850001_2014.pdf

DoD 5200.2-R, Personnel Security Program http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/520002r.pdf

16.0 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT SUMMARY (PRS)

16.1 Purpose. The PRS lists performance objectives for the required services the Government will surveil. The absence of any contract requirement from the PRS shall not detract from its enforceability nor limit the rights or remedies of the Government under any other provision of the contract including the clauses listed in the SF1449.

16.2 Components. The PRS states the performance objective (required service), and threshold (performance standard, accept and reject points (if applicable)) in either a qualitative or quantitative fashion for each critical success factor.

Performance Objective

PWS paragraph

Performance Standard/Acceptable Quality Level

Incentive/ Disinsentive

· all narration and script are in the target language

· meet the requirements listed on the ILR scale, http://www.govtilr.org/skills/ilrscale1.htm.

Document past performance, paying particular attention to performance that meets the standard/ when performance is identified below standard for any reporting period, increase surveillance or contractor reporting.

· individuals provide verification of working, studying, or living in an area that speaks the target language.

· The interviewer is able to record a story of an interaction that caused the individual to make a decision.

Document past performance, paying particular attention to performance that meets the standard/ when performance is identified below standard for any reporting period, increase surveillance or contractor reporting.

· 100% of narration and script are in the target language

· 100% of translations meet the proficiency requirements listed on the ILR scale, http://www.govtilr.org/skills/ilrscale1.htm.

Document past performance, paying particular attention to performance that meets the standard/ when performance is identified below standard for any reporting period, increase surveillance or contractor reporting.

· Lesson content includes background of the importance of intercultural learning

· Lesson content includes learning objectives for each lesson

· Lesson content clearly focuses on the DoDI 5160.70 Section 8 Document past performance, paying particular attention to performance that meets the standard/ when performance is identified below standard for any reporting period, increase surveillance or contractor reporting.

· Users’ guide has step by step instructions for using the CultureReady Basics trainer

· Users’ guide is embedded and accessible in the trainer

· Users’ guide is able to be downloaded from the trainer into .pdf Document past performance, paying particular attention to performance that meets the standard/ when performance is identified below standard for any reporting period, increase surveillance or contractor reporting.

· testers are identified

· Plan provides a feedback methodology that allows the person being tested to record any issues that occur during the testing period and make comments.

Document past performance, paying particular attention to performance that meets the standard/ when performance is identified below standard for any reporting period, increase surveillance or contractor reporting.

Provide quarterly usage reports to COR.

· The reports indicate amount of times the CultureReady Basics site http://www.cultureready.org/culture-language/culture-101/cultureready-basics, was accessed

· the reports shows which courses were accessed

· the reports shows which courses were completed Document past performance, paying particular attention to performance that meets the standard/ when performance is identified below standard for any reporting period, increase surveillance or contractor reporting.

Develop and submit all required deliverables

· 99% of deliverable requirements are met and received on time

· critical information is accurate Document past performance, paying particular attention to performance that meets the standard/ when performance is identified below standard for any reporting period, increase surveillance or contractor reporting.