U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences

Request for Information (RFI) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is conducting market research to determine if sufficient interest and capability exists in the marketplace for the Program for International Student Assessment 2029 (PISA 2029).

This does not constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Quotations (RFQ), Invitation for Bids (IFB), or a commitment on the part of the Government to conduct a solicitation in the future. All information provided is strictly voluntary and no reimbursement will be made by the Government for any costs associated with providing a response to this notice or otherwise participating in market research activities. Further, the U.S. Department of Education offers no assurance that a solicitation will result from this notice.

1. Overview The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) intends to award a contract including a 12-month base period and three additional optional periods of 12 months, to a qualified entity for the purpose of conducting PISA 2029 in the U.S.

PISA is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy. The U.S. participated in PISA in 2025, 2022, 2018, 2015, 2012, 2009, 2006, 2003 and 2000. The proposed Performance Work Statement (PWS) continues the cycle with PISA 2029 scheduled for the 2028-29 academic year. It includes the base contract to conduct the PISA 2029 in the U.S. that includes student assessments and questionnaire as well as an optional task to collect teacher questionnaire data.

2. Questions for RFI Response NCES is interested in offerors responses to some or all of the questions below for the purposes of strengthening the proposed requirement. Specifically:

1. Is the draft PWS clear in communicating the goals of the requirement?

2. What changes might be made to the requirement that would maintain NCES quality standards while reducing its cost?

3. What changes might be made to the requirement, or what information might the Department need to make available to offerors, to improve offerors’ ability to accurately price this requirement within the context of a fixed price contract?

4. What other changes would you make to the existing requirement to better achieve the program’s purpose?

3. Submission Instructions In response to the attached DRAFT Performance Work Statement (PWS) the Department hereby solicits capability statements from eligible, interested parties.

Capability Statements shall be no longer than 10 pages (single-spaced, with a minimum of one-inch margins and 12-point font). Interested Parties shall provide responses for all content areas noted below.

(a) Please state your entity name and address. Include contact information such as an Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), entity email address, and website URL.

(b) Please state your entity size status (i.e., large or small) in the stated NAICS code of 541720. Provide all socioeconomic categories for your company and the corresponding NAICS code, and a statement as to whether NAICS code of 541720 is the most appropriate code.

(c) State if your entity believes that the DRAFT PWS contains any unduly restrictive language or content and, if so, why. Please cite specific examples and provide feedback.

(d) State if your entity has questions about the contents of the DRAFT PWS and what they are.

(e) State if the DRAFT PWS content provides opportunities for small business subcontracting (or not). Why (or why not)?

(f) State if your entity has any questions about the proposed Firm Fixed Price nature of this contract and what they are.

(g) Please identify if you have a Government-wide contract that these services could be ordered against. Please provide the contract number(s).

Please email responses to this RFI to Alyson Allman, Alyson.allman@ed.gov by May 21, 2026, 12pm ET.

mailto:Alyson.allman@ed.gov