Notice via SAM (SPP-VLT Follow-On Services) - Published 03FEB2025.pdf

Notice of Intent (Not a Solicitation)

The National Guard Bureau (NGB), State Partnerships Program (SPP) has a new requirement for omnibus turnkey language training services via a Virtual School Platform (VSP). At present, NGB is planning for a future firm-fixed-price (FFP), Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to meet this requirement. Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25), both Army National Guard (ARNG), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) funds (Treasury Symbol 2065) and Air National Guard (ANG), O&M funds (Treasury Symbol 3840) are planned for use to support the initial period of performance. ARNG and ANG O&M funds are planned for use to support any orders placed throughout the life of the future contract.

At present, the Government contemplates meeting omnibus turnkey language training services via a Virtual School Platform (VSP) by awarding a single award, IDIQ type contract (with anticipated ordering period of five years) to Progressive Expert Consulting, Inc. To this end, this notice is being issue pursuant to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Procedures, Guidance, and Information (PGI) 206.302-1.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is presently 611630 – Language Schools. The Small Business Size Standards for this NAICS code is $20.5 MIL (i.e., size standard in millions of dollars is applicable measurement for this NAICS code).

REQUIREMENTS

(1) NGB SPP requires omnibus turnkey language training services via a VSP that integrates the infrastructure, technology, hardware, software, technical support, registration management, student management, instructor management, Government administrator management, security, and administration services that are necessary to conduct and monitor synchronous and asynchronous language training over the internet 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, from any location in the world with sufficient bandwidth.

(2) NGB SPP requires omnibus turnkey language training services that support the teaching of any languages spoken in countries where the NGB SPP has a partnership in place (see attachment). Dovetailing into this requirement, these language services must be provided at any level of proficiency as designated per the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale (e.g., providing training to students with “no proficiency” to providing training to students with “functionally native proficiency” and everything in between; reference https://www.govtilr.org/Skills/IRL%20Scale%20History.htm ; etc.). Moreover, NGB requires language instruction to be primarily synchronous in nature (i.e., in person instruction and interaction in a virtual environment, instructor-to-student). While hybrid instruction (i.e., synchronous instruction combined with asynchronous instruction – with asynchronous instruction representing “non-personal interaction” instruction) is allowed, the predominate nature of instruction is to be synchronous in nature (e.g., with asynchronous instruction used to bolster / aid in the synchronous training), therefore requiring a VSP that is connected to a vast network of qualified native language instructors.

(3) Dovetailing into the above, NGB SPP requires customization and tailoring of instruction to a given student body. NGB SPP’s requirement is for a contractor to ascertain from the students [or the student’s National Guard (NG) unit] the goals for the class and adjust their https://www.govtilr.org/Skills/IRL%20Scale%20History.htm curriculum to meet those goals [e.g., a given NG unit may want a language class that focuses the training on language relevant to the topic of economics, politics, military, etc.

tied to given partnered country; a given NG unit may want a language class that emphasizes a particular foundational lingual category (i.e., more listening centric, more speaking centric, more reading centric, or more writing centric); etc.]. The curriculum should stay within the designated ILR level, but enough flexibility should be given so that student and/or unit goals can be met. In addition, NGB SPP requires that customization and tailoring of instruction result in ex post facto instructional material that is asynchronous in nature, after a given course. As such, upon completion of a language class, students should be able to access, via the VSP, these customized and tailored asynchronous training materials (e.g., via a VSP electronic library) at any time to allow for continued reference and practice, helping to solidify the pre-cursor, synchronous instruction (i.e., in person instruction and interaction in a virtual environment, instructor-to-student). In addition, the subject VSP library should be pre-populated with various language instruction materials, allowing for recommendation for use by an instructor to a student for follow-on use, thereby allowing for self-paced, continued student language proficiency development. Essentially, NGB SPP’s requirement is for a living, dynamic language training curriculum via a VSP platform, with this curriculum being continuously updated and managed, with “in person” synchronous training being the pre-dominate feature and bolstered accordingly by various asynchronous training materials.

(4) NGB SPP requires omnibus turnkey language training services via individual “person (i.e., instructor) to person (i.e., student)” classes through a VSP that are efficient and realistic in terms of duration, but, at the same time, targeted, maximizing efficiency, to allow for top quality, pointed instruction while maximizing student learning and accomplishment.

Stated another way, the goal of NGB SPP is not to provide a yearlong language course of instruction (e.g., 8 hours a day, five days a week), as this is not practical (e.g., due to NGB SPP personnel time constraints; NGB SPP monetary constraints; etc.). Rather, NGB SPP requires language training that: (a) is proficiency-based by student for a given student body prior to execution of a respective class; (b) is customized and tailored (see above); (c) results in increased language proficiency, post training, for a given student as measured by quantitative metrics; (d) results in a student, post training, that has this new proficiency baseline historically recorded for future student / NGB SPP organizational reference; (e) is flexible to accommodate NGP SPP personnel training and operational schedules. As such, given these dynamics, individual “person-to-person” language classes for NGB SPP presumably need to be executed via a modular pedagogical framework / methodology.

Given the aforementioned respective “real world” constraints, classes shall be no more than 48 hours in total duration. Classes can be broken up over a series of weeks but should be structured and executed to meet NGB SPP lingual proficiency goals vis-à-vis maximizing student lingual proficiency end state. Moreover, NGB SPP’s requirement is that students can access future, follow-on “in person” synchronous training classes at any given time, targeted to a given student’s lingual requirements / goals, thereby continuing to enhance and build upon an ever-changing language baseline ability vis-à-vis the foundational lingual categories of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

(5) NGB SPP requires that omnibus turnkey language training services via a VSP support a historical database, recording instruction received by a student, determining “real time” student proficiency for a given language and topic taught, and using this information to facilitate future targeted, synchronous instruction for a student, subject to funding, individual student interest, etc.

(6) Given the NGB SPP operational footprint (see attached), NGB SPP requires that omnibus turnkey language training services via a VSP be available 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, from any location in the world with sufficient bandwidth (see attached NPP operational footprint). Beyond the aforementioned language training and curriculum required, ancillary services via the VSP shall include standard services required to enable an operational school environment. These services shall include, but are not limited to:

student participant registration, class management (e.g., scheduling, student grouping and placement, training and enabling infrastructure support, class tracking, etc.); assignments and online grading; lesson plan and syllabus; learning tool repository; document depository (via instructors to students or students to instructors); Help Desk support; etc. Given the operational footprint (see attached), time-zones involved, NGB SPP student availability and need for “on time” quality language training, etc. - the VSP platform needs to be perpetually reliable, having a network uptime of 99.99% network availability for a given year (i.e., percentage relative to the total hours of instruction provided in a given year over the VSP platform). Moreover, individual classes for students, during the physical execution of a given class, shall have a 99.99% “pure lingual instruction received rate,” free from “in class” technical issues (i.e., whatever these may be) impacting “real time” course access and “real time” execution (e.g., sometimes, over a Microsoft TEAMS platform for example, it is not uncommon to experience microphone feedback when two or more individuals are speaking, thereby degrading speech clarity, often times making speech unintelligible, thereby negatively impacting and potentially halting lingual instruction productivity). Resultant “downtime due to technical classroom issues” for an individual student during an individual course count negatively against the NGB SPP requirement of the 99.99% “pure lingual instruction received” rate.

(7) NGB SPP has a mobilization requirement for language instruction, with a VSP capability that can support any number of student classes (i.e., however, no more than 6 students per class given NGB SPP’s need for personalized, quality instruction) for any required language instruction (see attached NGB SPP operational footprint) at any level of proficiency, with the required class being stood up and beginning no later than 14 days from NGB SPP request.

(8) Dovetailing into the mobilization requirement, NGB SPP has a present-day backlog of 332 students requiring language services. NGB SPP requires this backlog of students to be addressed with classes stood up and scheduled (e.g., inclusive of student grouping and placement; customization to meet student / NG unit unique needs, as requested; etc.), no later than 14 days from prospective contract award.

(9) NGB SPP has an annual student throughput requirement of 800 students per year. NGB SPP requires that, regardless of the situation, that VSP network capability not limit the scheduling for a given language instruction class for a student(s). For example, VSP network capability needs to accommodate whatever permutation exist with regards to “quantity and volume of language classes” required (e.g., number of classes per year;

simultaneous number of classes required over a given time period; number of classes being conducted daily; etc.). Again, as previously mentioned, class sizes for individual classes need to be no more than 6 students per instructor, given NGB SPP’s need for personalized, quality instruction.

MARKET INQUIRY

Any interested party should provide a capability statement (no more than 35 pages in length) that describes their off-the-shelf solution which meets the above NGB omnibus turnkey language training services requirements. Respondents shall provide contract numbers, complete with requirements (e.g., Performance Work Statements; etc.), demonstrating comparable and realized capabilities that can meet above NGB requirements. This addendum contract information will NOT be counted against the 35-page count response limit.

In addition, responses from interested parties shall provide their business size (e.g., Small Business, etc.) as well as their Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) via Systems for Award Management.

-BREAK-

While responses from potential respondents need to, as listed above, address NGB requirements relative to respective company capabilities and commercial services, some questions of emphasis, while not all inclusive, are hereby provided to help guide and shape the presentation of marketplace capabilities, as and if available, to better inform the National Guard Bureau:

(a) Explain your company’s VSP capability providing the required omnibus language services (e.g., reference paragraph 1 in the above, etc.)?

(b) Explain your company’s network of language instructors and discuss how and why these language instructors are of sufficient caliber and quality to support the potential “variety of languages requiring synchronous training” (as derived from the NGB SPP operational footprint - see attachment), at any ILR level, at any time (e.g., given the NGB SPP operational footprint – see attachment)? What do you presently have in terms of “instructors on hand?” Based on the NBG SPP operational footprint (attached), what instructors would you potentially have to recruit to support request language instruction, keeping in mind the NGB 14-day mobilization requirement? Reference paragraphs 2 and 7 above, etc.

(c) Explain your company’s ability to perform as well as experience with - customization and tailoring of language instruction to a given student body? Reference paragraph 3 above, etc.

(d) Explain how your company uses asynchronous language learning materials to bolster synchronous training, if these are available to users on an “as desired basis,” how these are accessed by a user, and whether or not these asynchronous language learning materials are customized / able to be customized to support and bolster user language training proficiency and personalized user objectives (e.g., the “living, dynamic language training curriculum” requirement as referenced in paragraph 3 above, etc.).

(e) Does your company employ a “modular pedagogical framework / methodology” to deliver language instruction? How long are courses (i.e., in terms of duration of hours) and over what timeframe (e.g., how many hours in a given week for how many weeks)? How does your model best support, in your estimation, increased proficiency among students following the end of a class? How is student proficiency measured at the end of a respective class? How do you measure student proficiency prior to the start of a respective class to help determine a baseline capability as well as determine nature of instruction to-be-provided? Do you and are you able to track student baseline proficiency in a database for historical reference? What is your personnel and technological structure to support aforesaid proficiency measuring and recording objectives? Considering NGB customization and tailoring requirements, how is proficiency measured, codified, and historically archived, relative to the customization and tailoring requirements of customers? Reference paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 above, etc.

(f) Regarding the “uptime” requirements for the VSP platform, does the company own the holistic technical solution? If so, what is the holistic technical solution provided to support the VSP platform? If pieces of the VSP platform are subcontracted out to external entities, what are these pieces (e.g., software licenses to access the VSP platform; cloud computing support; Help Desk support; etc.)? Traditionally, ownership of the holistic solution lends itself to less dependencies on external subcontractors thereby allowing for greater control and better management of, in this case, the VSP platform capability in terms of functionality, timeliness in addressing ad hoc VSP platform technical issues, etc., resulting in a company’s ability to meet NGB SPP operational “uptime” requirements. If pieces of your company’s VSP platform are subcontracted, what are these pieces? The NGB presently assumes that employment of such a subcontracting business model to support the VSP platform capability, either in whole or in part, creates substantial risk to critical NGB “uptime” requirements (however, if this assumption is unfounded, please explain). As such, your response needs to identify subcontracted components to your VSP platform, identify vulnerabilities to NGB’s “uptime” requirement, quantify this risk in terms of vulnerabilities identified, and discuss risk mitigation actions thereby explaining how your company can meet NGB SPP VSP platform “uptime” requirements while supporting the entirety of the NGP SSP operational and training requirement footprint [i.e., language training; supporting the NGB SPP operational footprint (see attached); at any IRL level; at any time (i.e., given aforesaid NGB SPP operational footprint and different time zones); regardless of a given student’s physical location (i.e., again, given aforesaid NGB SPP operational footprint and all the locations where a student might physically be but still needs to access the language training via the VSP platform)]. Reference paragraphs 1, 2, and 6 above, etc.

(g) Dovetailing into question (f), regarding the 99.99% “pure lingual instruction received rate,” how does your company address “real time technical issues,” in whatever form these occur, during a respective class for a student – from both a technical and personnel perspective – to maximize lingual instruction by preventing / addressing / eliminating “downtime,” thereby meeting the aforementioned NGB requirement? Is your solution a totally owned, totally operated, in-house solution? Or is subcontracting involved? If subcontracting is involved, please address this issue by answering the same questions posed in previous paragraph (f). Reference paragraphs 1, 2, and 6 above, etc.

(h) Regarding the NGB SPP’s 14-day mobilization requirement (i.e., as tied to the stand up and execution of future classes as well as those classes which will need to be stood up right away to support a present-day 332 NGB SPP student backlog), please discuss your company’s ability to meet this requirement. For example, is the VSP presently fully operational and capable of meeting this requirement? Are language instructors that can meet all NGB SPP requirements readily available? What is the instructor footprint of your company, for what languages, at what proficiency level of speaking, and how are these instructors credentialed to ensure NGB SPP receives the quality instruction in the desired language at the given ILR level with the desired customization? Does your company employ these instructor personnel directly (i.e., company employed; directly managed by your company, etc.)? Or are these instructors subcontracted? The NGB presently assumes that employment of such a subcontracting business model to support the NGB SPP mobilization requirement, either in whole or in part, creates substantial risk to “short turnaround,” critical NGB mobilization / language class stand up requirements (e.g., maybe a subcontractor arrangement through which language instructors are being fed to your company allows the subcontractor a 30 day fielding period, with this fielding clock starting the day your company makes a request for support; if so, such a model will NOT be able to meet the NGB SPP 14 day mobilization requirement). As such, your response needs to identify vulnerabilities, as applicable, quantify this risk in terms of vulnerabilities identified, and discuss risk mitigation actions thereby explaining how your company can meet NGB SPP “mobilization” requirements. If a company believes NGB’s assumption of risk is unfounded vis-à-vis a subcontracting model, please explain. Reference paragraphs 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8 above, etc.

(i) Regarding annual throughput, please discuss your ability to meet this NGB requirement.

While answers to previous questions in the above will likely greatly inform this answer, NGB also requests that your answer indicate the “class volume” capability of your VSP solution.

For example, 800 annual student throughput at a class size of no more than “6 students per instructor” is NGB’s requirement. However, this “6 students per instructor” may be, and often is less in terms of “number of students” based on customization needs, varying proficiency level among students, type of language required to be taught, student availability, etc. Point being, to support the annual 800 throughput student requirement, the number of classes, when these classes are conducted, etc. can result in the need for a VSP that can support a large volume of classes at any given time. As such, please explain your VSP’s capability in terms of “number of classes that can be supported annually,”; “number of classes that can support daily”; “number of classes that can be supported simultaneously”; etc., so that NGB can understand how your company is poised to meet the 800 annual throughput requirement, given the myriad factors that determine class volume (i.e., in terms of quantity of classes; “time of execution” of these classes; etc.). Reference paragraphs 1, 2, and 9 above, etc.

(j) As so stated previously, “respondents shall provide contract numbers, complete with requirements (e.g., Performance Work Statements; etc.), demonstrating comparable and realized capabilities that can meet above NGB requirements.” NGB requires this information to help determine true marketplace capabilities, helping to validate responses.