MTSSR_Instructions_to_Offerors.docx

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

Impact Evaluation of Training in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support For Reading In Early Elementary School

RFP #TBD

The outside of the proposal packaging, the cover of each proposal, and the header of each proposal page should contain the title "An Impact Evaluation to Inform Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program.” The Government will evaluate proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the Technical Evaluation Criteria of this request for proposals. Technical Factors and Past Performance, when combined, is more important than price. It is understood that the proposal will become a part of the official contract file. The Government reserves the right to award the contract without discussions, per FAR 15.306(a)(3). The Government also reserves the right to conduct discussions, to include oral discussions, if deemed to be in the best interest of the Government. Should the Government conduct oral discussions, interested vendors must not include any other personnel except for the following during the meeting: Program Director/Manager, Contractor’s Contracts Manager, Business Proposal expert, and a Subject Matter Expert. Additions/exceptions to this must be justified to the Contracting Officer. The Government also reserves the right to make award to other than the lowest priced vendor, should the lowest priced vendor not offer the best value to the Government, all evaluation and cost/price factors considered.

This Request for Proposal (RFP) does not commit the Government to pay any cost for the preparation and submission of a proposal. 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.

Offerors should prepare separate technical and business/cost proposals for the project. Each proposal should be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently of the other. Cost information should be restricted to the business proposal, and the technical proposal must not contain reference to specific costs (although resource information may be included so that the offeror’s understanding of the scope of the work may be evaluated). Past performance information should be included in the technical proposal.

An official authorized to bind your organization must sign the proposal. Offerors must submit the technical proposal electronically in WORD and PDF format and the cost proposal (including a narrative description of costs) electronically in WORD and PDF format. The offeror must also electronically submit an EXCEL WORKBOOK version of the cost proposal. In addition, offerors must submit 3 hard copies of the technical proposal and 1 hard copy of the business proposal. The hard copy proposals should be bound and double-sided.

Proposals are due, via email, by 12:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) on July 26, 2018. Proposals shall be emailed to the primary and secondary contacts listed below:

Primary Point of Contact:

Joseph Gibbs Contract Specialist Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov

Secondary Point of Contact:

Ryan Battad Contracting Officer Ryan.Battad@ed.gov

NOTE: If an email’s attachment size exceeds 20MB, it is recommended that the offeror break up the proposal into smaller attachments in separate emails. If the submission exceeds 20MB, the Department may not receive the proposal.

Hard copy proposals shall be delivered to:

Hand-carried proposals must be delivered by entering through the building and stopping at the Guard's Desk. Offerors are directed to call the Lauren Angelo at 202-245-7474. Offerors should indicate for which RFP they are submitting a proposal and should have proper identification. Offerors will be required to sign in and be escorted to Contracts and Acquisitions Management or wait for someone to come down to the guards’ desk, at which point the proposal will be officially received. Offerors should consider this delay in meeting the time specified for proposal receipt.

Clarification Questions

The Department will accept clarification questions from potential offerors. Clarification questions must be submitted, via email, to: Joseph.Gibbs@ed.gov with a cc to Ryan.Battad@ed.gov, no later than 12:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) on June 29, 2018. The Department does not guarantee that a response will be given to clarification questions submitted after the due date. Offerors will not receive a response until all questions have been received by the due date.

Oral explanations or instructions given by the Government before the award of the contract(s) shall not be binding. Any information given to a prospective offeror concerning a solicitation will be furnished promptly to all other prospective offerors if that information is necessary in submitting offers or if a lack of information would be prejudicial to any other prospective offerors. This information will be sent to all offerors that respond to the RFP.

General Instructions for the Technical Proposal (Volume I)

Through the technical proposal, the offeror must show a thorough understanding of the goals and activities of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) and demonstrate that proposed staff have the necessary experience and expertise to meet task objectives. While the intent of each task is spelled out in the PWS, this should be considered a starting point, and technical proposals must include detailed work plans and illustrative examples to fully describe the offeror’s plans to accomplish each task and the relevant deliverables. A proposal that simply repeats the language of the PWS without providing details about how the offeror will carry out the activities will not be considered eligible for award.

Offerors are encouraged to suggest improvements to the approaches detailed in the PWS, along with a justification of the merits of these alternative approaches. Offerors may find it necessary to make adjustments to the schedule provided in the PWS, in accordance with the newly proposed strategies and/or procedures. In this case, offerors shall clearly identify any changes in the schedule and explain their rationale, keeping in mind the Department’s objective of completing the requirement within the stated time frame.

Technical proposals must not exceed 75 double-spaced pages with a 12-point font size and margins of at least 1 inch. The page limit includes the narrative and corresponding tables/graphics, abstracts of selected relevant corporate work, and lists of the current contractual commitments of proposed staff. The page limit does not include the appendix containing any relevant letters of commitment and résumés for key project staff. However, résumés must be no more than 3 pages each. The Department will not review any pages that exceed the maximum page limit.

All pages should be numbered consecutively, including appendices. Offerors shall use the format and content requirements detailed below in preparing their technical proposals.

Bulleted and numbered lists within the regular text of the proposal shall be double-spaced. They are not required to be indented, however. Footnotes may be single spaced and 10-point font. However, inserting frequent and/or lengthy footnotes that contain substantive information as a strategy to convey more content in the same number of pages is strongly discouraged. Overuse of footnotes is distracting to a reader and can make the proposal more disjointed or disorganized. Figures, tables, and graphics may be single spaced and 10-point font. However, offerors are strongly discouraged from converting substantial blocks of text into tables, figures, or graphics as a strategy to convey more content in the same number of pages. For example, offerors shall not convert a bulleted or numbered list into a table simply to save space. Figures, tables, and graphics shall only be used if they substantially improve the organization and presentation of material. Figures, tables, and graphics with a large amount of text are typically ineffective ways to present information.

Technical Proposal Format and Contents

Proposals must include, but are not limited to, each of the following sections:

· A cover sheet with the name and address of the firm and signed by an officer of the firm. (Does not count toward the page limit.)

· 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 justified in the text. (Does not count toward the page limit.)

· Table of Contents. The Table of Contents must provide a means of quickly accessing important points of discussion in the proposal. The table of contents must also provide the name of the senior author (and coauthors, if applicable) of each section. (Does not count toward the page limit.)

· Introduction. The offeror must provide an overview that demonstrates knowledge of: (a) issues relevant to the purpose of the procurement; and (b) design and analysis issues relevant to the study as described within the performance work statement. In addition, the introduction shall also briefly describe the proposal, provide a rationale for why the proposed approach will best meet the intent and requirements of the contract, and describe the ways in which the proposed approach is unique, insightful, or particularly comprehensive.

· Technical Approach (Task Descriptions). This section shall completely and concisely explain the strategies, operations, and procedures the offeror proposes to achieve the contract’s objectives, addressing each subtask, in the order presented in the PWS. This section should include a discussion of any potential issues that might arise and the proposed solutions to address them. Offerors are encouraged to suggest technical improvements to the work, so long as the suggestions are justified and feasible.

· Proposed Personnel. This section shall provide the names of the proposed project director, other key personnel, subcontractors, and consultants. Offerors should indicate the total number of proposed hours for each staff person (including subcontractors and consultants), and proposed hours by task. This section should describe the specific responsibilities of each proposed staff person. A narrative description that clearly describes how staff qualifications relate to the requirements of the performance work statement and proposed task assignments must be included.

To indicate the availability of staff persons to work on this contract, offerors should also indicate the proportion of each staff person’s time (including subcontractors and consultants) that is committed to current and pending federal and non-federal projects from September 2018 through July 2023. The offeror shall also indicate the proposed proportion of each staff person’s time that would be committed to the current contract during this time frame (by year and total).

Any sub-contractual arrangements shall be described thoroughly, and it must be clear which tasks will be completed by subcontractors and the role that they will play. The offeror shall assure that proposed subcontractors/consultants are free of conflicts of interest that might bias their approach to this work. Letter(s) by proposed subcontractors/consultants indicating willingness to serve, if the offeror is selected, shall be included with the offeror's proposal as an appendix.

The offeror shall present a proposed timeline that includes start and end dates for each project task and activity. It should be clear when work related to each subtask, deliverable, and data collection activity will be accomplished, the key staff responsible for the work, and how time for Department approval of deliverables has been budgeted. This section should also discuss how the offeror will assign staff and oversee their work (including subcontractors and consultants), resolve problems, and ensure work quality, timeliness, and cost control. This section shall include an organizational chart that shows task leaders, key staff, and lines of communication and supporting narrative describing authority for project management along with mechanisms for cost and quality control.

This section should be accompanied by an appendix that includes résumés of no more than 3 pages each for key staff members. The resumes should include educational and professional background and should only highlight experience relevant to the contract. The narrative and/or resumes should provide sufficient detail about prior projects for reviewers to assess relevance to the performance work statement.

· Relevant Corporate Experience. This section shall discuss prior corporate experience similar to the current project. For all projects cited in the proposal as relevant corporate or staff experience, offerors shall list identifying information including the title, contract number, award date, end date, project director, key personnel, subcontractors, dollar amount, and client contact information. Offerors must also include a list of all contracts (including contract number and client contact information) with the National Center for Education Evaluation in the Institute of Education Sciences for which the offeror or its proposed subcontractors served as prime contractor (currently active as well as active at any time during the past five years). This information shall be provided for any proposed subcontractors and consultants as well as for the proposed prime contractor. Offerors should provide sufficient detail about these projects for reviewers to assess their relevance to the current project in terms of the specific tasks to be performed, content, methodology, complexity, scope, sample size, and data collection modes.

· Past Performance. To support the review of past performance, the Source Selection Official/Contracting Officer will obtain past performance information from services such as CPARS and FAPIIS for all projects identified in the Relevant Corporate Experience section of the technical proposal. The Government also reserves the right to obtain past performance information from other sources, such as contacting identified clients. 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, offerors may submit information about three contracts, completed/ongoing provided it started within 3 years of the Solicitation release date which are of similar content, methodology, complexity, scope, sample size, and data collection modes to this solicitation. The three contracts may include those entered into with the Federal Government, agencies of State and local governments, and commercial customers. Contracts with the parent or an affiliate of the offeror may not be used.

· Small Business Participation and Plan. The Department values an approach where substantive work in a meaningful capacity is performed by capable small businesses more highly than an approach where only menial work is performed by small businesses. A meaningful capacity for substantive work includes work other than courier services, office supplies, or travel services. Therefore, a valued approach for the anticipated contract will be one where technical, analytical, data collection, or other significant services are performed by a small business that is capable of doing this work.

· Offerors shall state the work to be performed by a small business(es), the name of the small business(es), the socioeconomic status of each small business concern, and the percentage of work proposed to be performed by each small business concern (by and for each performance period, inclusive of optional task periods), but NO COST INFORMATION SHALL BE PROVIDED. To the extent that the Plan fails to meet any of the Department’s Fiscal Year 2018 small business subcontracting goals, the offeror shall include a statement in its business proposal describing the efforts the offeror will make to identify subcontracting opportunities in the future. If the Large Business offeror provides a small business subcontracting plan that does not or cannot meet the Department’s stated goals in the solicitation, the plan should provide enough information detailing the rationale to not do so.

All offerors who are not designated as a small business in the stated NAICS Code for this requirement must submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan for review, to satisfy the applicable requirements of 48 CFR 52.219-9 II. A template (Attachment B) has been provided to facilitate this process. Offerors must submit complete a small business subcontracting plan that contains all information and elements required by FAR 19.7.

The subcontracting agreements that shall be included in the appendix of the technical proposal are distinct from Attachment B. The agreements are typically letters from the proposed subcontractor to the prime contractor indicating agreement to serve as a subcontractor and a brief description of the services to be provided by the subcontractor. No cost information shall be included in these letters, and these letters shall not count toward the 75-page limit for the technical proposal. The small business information that shall be included in the body of the technical proposal are: the work to be performed by the small business(es), the name of the small business(es), the socioeconomic status of each small business concern, and the percentage of work proposed to be performed by each small business concern. Other than the percentage of work proposed, no cost information on these small businesses shall be provided in this section or in any other part of the technical proposal. All cost information shall be included in the business proposal only.

In accordance with the Government-wide Procurement Preference Goaling Program, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) negotiates with the U.S. Small Business Administration to develop annual small business procurement goals for both prime contracts and subcontracts.

The Department’s small business goals for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY2018) are shown below. All subcontracting small business goal figures are Percentage of Total Subcontract Dollars.

Prime Contract Small Business Goals All prime contract small business goal figures are Percentage of Total Prime Contract Dollars.

FY 2018 Prime Contract Small Business Goals (The Department FY18 Goals are still being negotiated)

Subcontract Small Business Goals All subcontracting small business goal figures are Percentage of Total Subcontract Dollars.

FY 2018 Subcontract Small Business Goals Small Business Category Goal

Small Business 31.00%

Small Disadvantaged Business 5%

Women-Owned Small Business 5%

HUBZone Small Business 3%

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business 3%

· Protection of Human Subjects. Since the anticipated contract involves the collection of data, offerors must be cognizant of the requirements of the Department’s regulation on protection of human subjects of research. This regulation was published in The Federal Register on June 18, 1991, as The Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects: Notices and Rules. The regulation is under Title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 97, 350 and 356. Include in the proposal a statement that your company is cognizant of this requirement and shall comply with it as necessary.

Business Proposal (Volume II)

The Department anticipates awarding a Cost Reimbursement Plus Fixed Fee contract following a full and open competitive process. There is no page limit to the business proposal. The offeror shall submit proposed costs for each task and subtask and for the project overall. The proposed budget for each task and subtask (total, by contract period, and by contract year) shall include the number of hours each staff person is expected to commit, the labor category, and the hourly labor rate.

It is required that business proposals contain sufficient information for a fair and reasonable cost analysis and a cost realism determination to be made. The offeror is expected to use their best business judgment in submitting the necessary information. 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 data other than certified cost or pricing data, and an explanation of the estimating process, as required by FAR 15.403-3. When applicable, the following items must be specifically identified; e.g., Other Administrative Data (Refer to FAR 15.408, Table 15-2 I.C.). Please verify that the contents of the business proposal are mathematically accurate and the supporting data reconcile in the proposal.

Where applicable, Offerors must ensure that its company, and its proposed sub-contractor and consultants follow the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). Please provide a statement saying that the offeror will comply with the FTR.

For budgeting purposes, the contractor shall assume that teachers will receive an additional $10,000 during the 2020-21 school year if they are selected and perform duties as a teacher leader. The Department expects that the teachers will also be paid their daily rate for training associated with the role if conducted during hours outside their normal district contract responsibilities.

Business Proposal Contents

The Business Proposal must include each of the following:

· A cover sheet with the name, address, and DUNS number of the firm and signed by an officer of the firm.

· 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 offeror or assumptions justified. A summary chart showing the proposed Cost Reimbursement costs for the full performance period shall be included.

· Cost Accounting, Estimating, and Purchasing System Information. The offeror shall include information on the status of your accounting system, estimating system, and purchasing system. If these systems have been reviewed and approved by a Government Agency, include a copy of the approval letter.

· Labor Rates. Offerors shall submit their labor rates broken out, not fully loaded. Offerors are encouraged to propose discounted rates to improve the competitiveness of their proposal. The labor mix and labor categories proposed should be consistent with the personnel proposed in the technical proposal. Any rate higher than $800 per day for any proposed consultant requires justification.

· Breakdowns for Other Direct Costs and Other Resources. Offerors shall submit proposed costs itemized for each task/subtask, as well as a total proposed cost for the entire work to be performed under the contract. The proposed budget for each task and subtask should indicate the number of hours being proposed for each staff person and breakdowns of direct charges for materials, supplies, consultants, equipment, telephone, copying, travel, and any other major budget items, as well as indirect cost rates used in preparing the cost estimate. Indirect rates shall be in accordance with your current provisional billing rate agreements. A copy of current indirect rate agreements shall be included with the business proposal.

The business proposal shall also include costs itemized by project year.

· Subcontractor Cost(s). Offerors must submit its price/cost analyses of all subcontractors proposed whose costs exceeds the threshold for certified cost or pricing data (as applicable). The following information must be addressed (as applicable):

· If a subcontract 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 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 proposal must be provided.

· 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) and (ii) a description of the added value provided by the offeror as related to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s).

The Offeror’s business proposal must also contain the following information:

· Authorized Negotiators. The Business Proposal shall list the names and telephones numbers of persons authorized to conduct negotiations and a statement to the effect that the proposal submitted is firm for a period of at least 90 business days from the due date for proposals specified by the Government.

· Contract Administrator. The Business Proposal shall list the name, email, and the telephone number of the offerors proposed Contract Administrator if the award is made to the contractor.

· Conflict of Interest Plan and Certificate. The offeror shall submit a Conflict of Interest Plan, providing details on its policies and procedures to identify and avoid potential actual or apparent organizational or personnel conflicts 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 a 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.

· Small Business Subcontracting Plan. The Department's goal for small business subcontracting is that 31% of all subcontracting be subcontracted to small businesses. Below are the Department’s individual subcontracting goals for the following categories:

· Women-owned small business concerns (5%);

· Small disadvantaged business concerns (5%);

· HUB Zone small business concerns (3%); and

· Service Disabled, Veteran-Owned small business concerns (3%)

Note: the categories listed above imply no order of preference.

If the Large Business offeror provides a small business subcontracting plan that does not or cannot meet the Department’s stated goals, the plan should provide enough information detailing the rationale to not do so. Other than small businesses shall submit a plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9 (Alternate II). Consultants’ agreements should be included in the subcontracting plan. Small business prime contractors are not required to submit a subcontracting plan.