JOFOC 6.27.2024 (#609) Final -Redacted.pdf

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of Acquisition and Grants Administration Contracts and Acquisitions Management

Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) Authority: FAR 6.302, 41 U.S.C.

(a) “Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by FAR

6.3 and in accordance with the requirements by FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

(b) JUSTIFICATION

(1) IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

This justification was prepared by Contracts and Acquisitions Management (CAM) in the U.S.

Department of Education (Department).

(2) NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED:

The purpose of this action is to negotiate and award Modification P00010 to the Department’s Contract Number 91990019C0059, Evaluation of Title I Pilots That Provide Flexibility Under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Under this contract, Westat, is conducting a Congressionally mandated evaluation of the Innovative Assessment and Accountability Demonstration Authority (IADA). IADA allows up to seven states to pilot new assessment systems, with the goal of refining and ultimately scaling up the system to the entire state in five years. The study will chart the progress of pilot states and identify lessons learned for developing and implementing new assessments for states interested in developing new assessments.

The modification is necessary to extend the period of performance of the Base Period, Option Period 1, Option Period 2 and Option Period 3. Originally, the contract contained an implementation study that surveyed districts, principals, and teachers. The study’s state data collection revealed that implementation of the innovative assessments progressed much more slowly than anticipated, in part due to COVID. As a result, sticking to the original plan to survey districts, schools, and teachers about assessment implementation at the local level would not likely yield fruitful information. Instead, the research team pivoted to collect additional information at the state level, by collecting and analyzing additional rounds of extant data and augmenting the type of data gathered from the state interviews. Since then, it has become clear that the new instruments needed to be built from scratch, a process that will take a year (including the OMB review process) and will shift subsequent analysis and drafting steps later by a year, requiring the extension of the overall timeline by 12 months (from 60 to 72 months).

Second, the current timeline does not take into account EVAL’s new reporting guidelines for reports, TWG slides, appendices, and other deliverables. Publication cannot occur until IES leadership approves these deliverables, which has taken longer than originally expected. The most recent project timeline said that the time from contract to first report publication would be 27 months. Based on recent experiences, the contract requires an additional twelve months for this review and report development. Therefore, the contract needs to be extended from 72 months to 84 months. This extension is necessary to ensure successful completion of the scope of work.

Affected Tasks and Deliverables:

Extend the period of performance of the Base, which includes Tasks 2 and 5, from 60 to 84 months due to the above changes:

o Current period of performance is September 5, 2019, through September 4, 2024 (60 months) o Modified period of performance is September 5, 2019, through September 4, 2026 (84 months)

Extend the period of performance of Option period 1, which includes Tasks 7 and 10, from 60 to 84 months due to the above changes:

o Current period of performance is September 5, 2019, through September 4, 2024 (60 months) o Modified period of performance is September 5, 2019, through September 4, 2026 (84

Extend the period of performance of the Option Period 2, which includes Tasks 11 and 14, from 60 to 84 months due to the above changes:

o Current period of performance is September 9, 2019, through September 4, 2024 (60 months) o Modified period of performance is September 9, 2019, through September 4, 2026 (84

Extend the period of performance of the Option Period 3, which includes Tasks 16 and 19., from 60 to 84 months due to the above changes:

o Current period of performance is September 9, 2019, through September 4, 2024 (60 months) o Modified period of performance is September 9, 2019, through September 4, 2026 (84

(3) DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’S NEEDS

Project Title: Evaluation of Title I Pilots That Provide Flexibility Under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

The primary goals of this project are to summarize pilot states’ progress in implementing IADA and the extent to which they are meeting federal requirements and to share actionable policy-relevant lessons learned from the development and implementation of IADA.

(4) STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION:

The FAR authority permitting acquisition of these services is FAR 6.302-2 - Unusual and Compelling Urgency.

(5) DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE

OF THE AUTHORITY CITED:

The current contractor is the only responsible source capable of meeting the Department’s needs. The contractor began executing the study during the 2019-2020 school year and published the first Congressionally mandated report in Spring 2023, a Progress Report primarily using pilot states’ extant documents to summarize their progress in implementing IADA and the extent to which they are meeting federal requirements for the program.

The contractor has since designed the surveys and interview protocols for second report which will focus on the Dissemination of Best Practices. In accordance with the requirements of ESSA (Section 1204m), this report shall focus on actionable, policy-relevant lessons learned for the development and implementation of IADA. The contractor has built relationships with State Assessment Directors, Assessment Vendors, Technical Advisory Committee members, and they are actively engaged with developments in the field.

It is imperative that the period of performance for the Base, Option Period 1, Option Period 2, and Option Period 3 be extended by 24 months. The contract would then be revised as follows:

Current Period of Performance:

Base Period: September 5, 2019 – September 4, 2024 Optional Task Period I: September 5, 2019 – September 4, 2024 Optional Task Period II: September 9, 2019 – September 4, 2024 Optional Task Period III: September 9, 2019 – September 4, 2024 Optional Task Period IV: December 2, 2019 – February 28, 2024 Total contract (inclusive of all options): September 5, 2019 – September 4, 2024

Proposed Period of Performance:

Base Period: September 5, 2019 – September 4, 2026 Optional Task Period I: September 5, 2019 – September 4, 2026 Optional Task Period II: September 9, 2019 – September 4, 2026 Optional Task Period III: September 9, 2019 – September 4, 2026 Optional Task Period IV: December 2, 2019 – February 28, 2024 Total contract (inclusive of all options): September 5, 2019 – September 4, 2026

To summarize, competing and making a new award would require a substantial duplication of efforts, resulting in additional costs to the Government.

(6) DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE OFFERS ARE SOLICITED FROM

AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE:

In accordance with FAR 6.305(a), the Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) (a redacted version) will be published on the Business Opportunities (Sam.gov) within 14 calendar days after of the Modification’s execution. Interested parties may provide comment at that time.

This contract was awarded through a full and open competition under authority set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 15 (Contracting by Negotiation) on behalf of the Department’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), as Cost Plus Fixed Fee contract.

(7) DETERMINATION BY CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO

THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE:

There are no added costs associated with this action.

(8) DESCRIPTION OF MARKET SURVEY AND RESULTS, OR STATEMENT WHY MARKET

SURVEY WAS NOT CONDUCTED:

The Department conducted market research at time of award. This work is to be performed under Modification P00010 to the current contract. As stated previously, this modification builds on work already being conducted by the current contractor and procuring this work from a different contractor would create significant duplication of work, both in time as well as cost to the Government and cannot be separated from that current work. These option periods have already been exercised and funded, and thus if the work were to be procured from a different contractor, the government would pay for the same work twice.

(9) OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION:

Re-procurement of this contract also would unduly delay the work currently being performed, and the government paying twice for the same work would otherwise be avoided by continuing performance with the existing contractor. The government’s investment in this contract is substantial, and the government’s return on investment would be minimized if the work required a recompete and if Westat does not complete the work.

(10) SOURCES, IF ANY, WHICH HAVE EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN INTEREST IN THE

ACQUISITION:

The Government plans to provide timely responses to inquiries from interested parties regarding this contract through email responses as appropriate. Please reference Section 6 above for additional information regarding this response.

(11) STATEMENT OF ACTIONS, IF ANY, TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME BARRIERS TO

COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE SUPPLIES

OR SERVICES:

There are no current actions required at this time. The Department will continue to monitor the market to foster competition on future requirements.

Any future actions for similar contractual services will be advertised through appropriate mediums (e.g., Inclusion in the Department’s annual Forecast of Contracting Opportunities and through posting on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO.gov) website), as appropriate.

(12) CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION THAT THE JUSTIFICATION IS

ACCURATE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF THE CO'S KNOWLEDGE:

I hereby recommend that this justification be approved, and that the Department proceed with the award of Modification P00010, in order to extend the Base Period, Option Period 1, Option Period 2, and Option Period 3 of the Evaluation of Title I Pilots That Provide Flexibility Under the Every Student Succeeds Act. This award will allow the Department to receive a return on its initial investment and obtain critical, time-sensitive information. I certify that this justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge.

This is to certify that the data supporting this justification is the responsibility of the undersigned