Notice of Intent TIMMS.pdf

NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD

A SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT

TO

International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)

The Department intends to enter into a firm-fixed-price (FFP), sole source contract with the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) (also known as:

Stichting I.E.A. Secretariaat Nederland) to develop instruments for the national data collection and create the survey assessment items and questions for the development and implementation of the next round of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2027 conducted by the IEA. This requirement will be conducted using FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE

OF THE AUTHORITY CITED:

The U.S has worked with the IEA on the development and implementation of its international education studies, including TIMSS, since inception. The Department has had several sole source contracts (ED-02- CO-0025 (TIMSS), ED-04-CO-0145 (PIRLS) with the IEA since at least 2002, including the previous contracts ED-08-CO-0117, ED-IES-17-C-0060 and current contract 91990023C0002. The IEA’s performance on these past contracts has always met or exceeded the expectations of NCES’ International Activities Branch, as evidenced by the past performance reports. The successful operation of the IEA’s international education studies such as TIMSS will draw heavily on the experiences of previous data collections.

The IEA is uniquely qualified to perform and continue important cross-national education studies that have been used by a wide variety of audiences, including but not limited to school leaders, teachers, teacher trainers, parents, and policy makers. It has conducted international assessments, including TIMSS, on a regular basis and provided high quality, internationally comparable data and results (https://www.iea.nl/studies/ieastudies). Each assessment (offered by IEA) is a unique instrument which has been solely developed and whose administrations are coordinated by IEA only. That is, IEA maintains sole copyright of TIMSS assessment items, survey questionnaires, and the computer-based delivery platforms. In order for the US to participate in TIMSS, we must be in agreement with IEA.

The IEA’s TIMSS assessment is needed to assist NCES in fulfilling its mission to “collect, and analyze and disseminate statistics and other information related to education in the United States and in other nations” [as stated in section 406 of the General Education Provisions Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1221e-1) and in the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (HR 3801, Part C, Sec. 153]. Participating in TIMSS, gives the US the opportunity to compare the performance of US students to the performance of students in other countries. To make these comparisons, countries must use the same instrument or assessment with standardized administrations. Over seventy countries and education systems (https://www.iea.nl/studies/iea/timss) participate in TIMSS and all rely on the IEA for study design, instrument development, standards for administration, data processing, and release https://www.iea.nl/studies/ieastudies https://www.iea.nl/studies/iea/timss support.

In addition to international comparisons, TIMSS can also measure score changes over time or “trend”. TIMSS is administered every four years, and the data is used to calculate average scores for the participating countries. For example, the US has participated in TIMSS since 1995 so we can compare the average US 2019 score to the average scores of students from 1995 (or 2003, 2007, 2011, or 2015). Not only can we look at the “trend” data for the US over time, but we can compare the US trends to the trends for other countries. This is an extremely informative exercise as we look at results pre- and post- COVID.

Responses to this notice must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that 1. competition would be advantageous to the Government, 2. would not be cost or time prohibitive, 3. would not pose unreasonable risk to the Government, and 4. would not hinder the mission objectives of the Agency. This response would carefully be evaluated against all known information to ascertain if the Government’s current decision should be changed.

The determination not to compete this proposed action is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered for the purposes of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. The Government has already determined that the work cannot be subdivided or otherwise broken down into smaller tasks or deliverables. The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by responding to this notice. This is NOT a request for quotes or Respondent’s submissions. Questions or comments to this Notice of Intent should be directed to the Contract Specialist Alyson Allman at alyson.allman@ed.gov no later than December 4, 2024.

mailto:alyson.allman@ed.gov

DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF THE AUTHORITY CITED: