ABE_LEARN_Amendment_02_(SOL-OAA-12-000068).pdf

A. As a result of this Amendment, the specific changes to the solicitation are as follows:

1. Page 12. Section B.12 Minimum Qualifications, DELETE “Section B.11” and REPLACE with “Section

B.12”

2. Page 31. Section C.4 IDIQ CENTRAL MANAGEMENT, DELETE “The IDIQ Manager must have experience working with basic education programs, preferably early grade reading programs in developing countries, and a minimum of four years of demonstrated management experience in basic education programs in developing countries, preferably with experience in Africa. Her/his technical training and/or experience must include work in policy dialogue around learning, early grade reading, teacher professional development, curriculum/materials design, and quantitative and qualitative research and/or assessment.

Educational background must be, at a minimum, a Master’s degree in education or a related area (e.g.

sociology, economics, etc., with an education emphasis) from an accredited college or university.

Experience in dealing with gender concerns related to education is valued.”

And REPLACE with “The IDIQ Manager must have experience working with basic education programs, preferably early grade reading programs in developing countries. This management experience can be either from residing in a developed country or in developing countries. Her/his technical training and/or experience must include work in policy dialogue around learning and early grade reading. Training and experience in teacher professional development, curriculum/materials design, quantitative and qualitative research and/or assessment is a plus. Educational background must be, at a minimum, a Master’s degree in education or a related area (e.g. sociology, economics, etc., with an education emphasis) from an accredited college or university. Experience in dealing with gender concerns related to education is valued.”

3. Page 36. Section 5.1 DELETE “ACKNOWLEDGEMENT USAID AND THE USAID EQUATE

FUNDING MECHANISM” and REPLACE with “ACKNOWLEDGEMENT USAID AND THE ABE

LEARN FUNDING MECHANISM”

4. Page 94. DELETE “ATTACHMENT J.5- CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE REPORT-SHORT FORM”

5. Page 122. L.6(d)(i). DELETE “ …( text accessible )..” and REPLACE with “ …( text accessible and compatible with Microsoft Office 2010 suite of products)…”.

6. Page 122. L.6(d)(ii). DELETE “ …( text accessible )..” and REPLACE with “ …( text accessible and compatible with Microsoft Office 2010 suite of products)…”.

7. Page 125. DELETE “Contractor Performance Report- Short-Form (Attachment J.5)”

8. Page 125. Past Performance information using small business concerns, DELETE “L.8.c.2.B” and

REPLACE with “L.8.c.2.D”

9. Page 125. DELETE “Labor Distribution Chart (Attachment J.4)”

10. Page 128. DELETE Section L.8(2)(d)(3)(B) in its entirety and REPLACE with “(B) to supplement the narrative summary in (A) USAID is requesting Offerors to provide a list of the 10 most recent and relevant contracts within the past 3 years submitted to eSRS (FAR 52.219-9(d)(10)) and a copy of any similarly recent subcontracting reports if they were not submitted to eSRS.”

11. Page 129. DELETE Section L.8(3)(iv) in its entirety.

12. Page 131. L.9(b)1(a) DELTE “groupings”.

13. Page 131. L.9(b)1(a) DELTE all “Section B.11” and REPLACE with “Section B.12”

14. Page 133. L.9(e). DELETE “Individual subcontracting plans will also be included in each task order over

$650,000 for other than small businesses. See Section H.”

15. Page 161. DELETE “ATTACHMENT J.5- CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE REPORT” in its entirety.

B. Questions and Responses

The below questions were received in the ABE2012@usaid.gov mailbox, only those questions, without attribution to the organization, have been included if considered necessary in submitting proposals or if the lack of such information would be prejudicial to any other prospective proposal.

GENERAL

1. Can you update me on whether or not the RFP will commence in 6/2013 with the same competition type

(i.e., Undermined) and/or without any Small Business Set-Aside?

Answer: Task orders under this IDIQ contract will be issued in accordance with Section F.

2. What is the anticipated start date of the contracts resulting from this RFP?

Answer: There is no anticipated start dates for this contract. Please see response to Question 1.

3. Does USAID have a target time frame for this contract to be awarded?

Answer: No.

4. Can you please confirm whether Solicitation No. SOL-OAA-12-000068 “Assistance to Basic Education

Learn to Read Now (ABE LEARN) is an active RFP for which proposals are due April 15?

Answer: Yes. Solicitation No. SOL-OAA-12-000068 is an active RFP. The closing date has been extended to April 23, 2013 - Noon EST.

5. Is there a way to find out who the contracting entities are who are responding to this RFP in order to form partnerships or offer to subcontract with potential contractors?

Answer: USAID does not provide this information; however, please refer to fedbizopps.gov for the interested vendors list for this requirement.

6. What is the CFDA number for this program?

Answer: This is not a domestic assistance program, thus there is no CFDA.

7. Will USAID offer sub-contracts directly to the recipient or will this be done through the lead contractor?

Answer: USAID does not issue subcontracts.

SECTION A - SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM

NONE

mailto:ABE2012@usaid.gov

SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS

8. Can you explain the minimum order guarantee (page 2, B4)? It is not clear whether that is something the contractor is expected to pay or USAID?

Answer: The minimum order guarantee is the basic initial obligation of funds USAID may pay a contractor to cover the minimum service guarantee when ordered by the Agency.

9. Regarding B.6 on page 3, are bidders expected to provide ceiling rates for each of the five years, or only one rate for the entire contract?

Answer: Please see Section L.9(b). Offerors must propose one ceiling rate per labor category for the life of the contract.

10. In the discussion of indirect cost rates (page 3) will the (description and rate currently reflected as TBD) be determined and reflected before the April 15, deadline?

Answer: No. Please refer to Section L.9 - Instructions for the Preparation of the Cost/Price/Business

Proposal.

11. On page 4, section B.7 Ceilings on Fixed Fee – CPFF Task Orders, item (c) Grants under contracts, you request that contractors propose ceiling percentage fee if a letter of credit is or is not issued. However, Section A, Note 1 states fee shall not be applied to sub-grant costs. Please clarify what the ceiling percentage fee is and how it will be applied.

Answer: Please refer to FAR 15.504-4.

12. Regarding B.7 on page 4, would USAID like Major Subcontractors to also propose a fixed fee percentage and include the Ceilings on fixed fee information (Section B.7)? If so, do major subcontractors also need to provide a narrative detailing how they arrived at the fixed fee proposed?

Answer: Subcontractors are not required to propose a fixed fee rate.

13. What are the minimum and maximum numbers of task orders to be issued /awarded each year?

Answer: Per the RFP cover letter, “There is no guarantee on the number of task orders that the successful Contractors will receive or the amount of money beyond the minimum order guarantee set forth in the RFP.”

14. In Section B.12, Labor Categories--Unburdened Ceiling Daily Rates, the RFP states that "The CDRs set forth below are fixed for the term of the IDIQ contract award and are for an eight hour day and apply to all

Subcontractors." Are prime Offerors allowed to show a 5 year rate schedule with escalation consistent with the prime Offeror's personnel policies, or should one rate be proposed for the entire 5-year term?

Answer: Please see response to Question 9.

15. Regarding B.12 on pages 7-13, are bidders allowed to propose other labor categories, in addition to those provided in the RFP?

16. With regards to the Labor Category requirements, there appears to be a discrepancy between requirements for mid and senior level personnel and the years of experience and education. Please clarify.

Answer: No discrepancy was noted.

17. On page 12, the RFP states, “for all positions listed in Section B.11, the minimum qualifications for mid-level and senior personnel are as follows…” Please confirm the reference is to B.12. Do these qualifications apply to the positions of 1002. Project Coordinator, 1003. Project Associate, and 1004. Administrative

Support, which appear to be more junior positions?

Answer: Yes, the reference should be B.12. Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

18. Please confirm that “unburdened ceiling rate,” as used in Section B.12 of the RFP, means an individual’s annual salary divided by 260 days.

Answer: Please refer to Section B.12(a).

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECS./WORK STATEMENT

19. I have looked for previous work done by other organizations regarding education. There are so many countries. Can you give more information regarding the countries or areas.

Answer: The FY 13 Congressional Budget Justification provides a list of countries where missions have requested basic education funding. It is likely that some of these missions will be buying into this IDIQ. You can also visit www.usaid.gov to see in more detail the countries where USAID has implemented basic education programs.

20. Is the assumption that a contractor will participate in more than one country or can/should the contractor specify the country or countries where the contractor already has presence, partnerships, and operational expertise?

Answer: USAID cannot make a determination at this point as this is a worldwide IDIQ contract.

21. Section C.2 (page 15) discusses reading competency critical for continued reading retention. How is reading on grade level defined in terms of the variables in each country?

Answer: Please refer to the 2011 USAID Education Strategy as cited in the solicitation.

22. On page 18, the RFP states, “this contract may require the Contractor to produce the outputs below:

a) Short-term technical assistance and training for assessment, project design, implementation, data collection, sampling, monitoring, and evaluation;

b) Provision of content for training courseware for development professionals.

To whom would the contractor provide this short-term technical assistance and content for training courseware (e.g., USAID missions, host governments, local NGOs, other)?

Answer: USAID cannot make a determination at this point. Task orders will detail specific work required and provide direction as appropriate.

23. The EGRA used by Contractor X defined fluency as the reading rate; however, the research indicates that it is prosody (rhythm, stress, and intonation) that makes the difference in reading ability, not just rate. What measures will be used to determine reading ability, rate, or fluency as defined by research?

Answer: Please refer to the 2011 USAID Education Strategy and Education Strategy Implementation

Guidance as cited in the Solicitation.

24. Is the IDIQ Manager synonymous with the Project Manager Position listed in Section B.12, Labor

Categories--Unburdened Ceiling Daily Rates or are these separate positions?

http://www.usaid.gov/

Answer: No. The IDIQ Manager is not synonymous with the Project Manager labor category listed in Section B.12.

25. The requirements for the IDIQ Manager also state that “her/his technical training and/or experience must include work in policy dialogue around learning, early grade reading, teacher professional development, curriculum/materials design, and quantitative and qualitative research and/or assessment.” Does USAID require that the candidate experience in all of these areas plus quantitative and qualitative research and/or assessment OR at least one of these areas? In other words, how should we interpret the “and/or?”

Answer: This requirement has been updated. Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

26. On page 31, the requirements for the IDIQ Manager include “a minimum of four years of demonstrated management experience in basic education programs in developing countries.” Would USAID please clarify whether “in developing countries” refers to the basic education programs or does USAID require the candidate to have lived in developing countries while managing basic education projects for at least four years?

Answer: This requirement has been updated. Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

27. Section C.5 Management of Sub-Grants (Grants under contract); page 32 states that the contractor will be responsible for working with local groups to develop grant proposals. Does “local groups” also include government entities (e.g., Ministries of Education)? If “local groups” do in fact include government entities there appears to be a conflict between Section C.5 and Page 73, Section H.20,item (e) which states in part that contractors shall only award grants to non-U.S., or U.S. non-governmental organizations. Please clarify.

Answer: USAID cannot make a determination at this point. Task orders will detail specific work required and provide direction as appropriate.

SECTION D - PACKAGING AND MARKING

28. On p. 36, for the Branding Implementation Plan section 5.1, it mentions the EQUATE Funding Mechanism

- are we to assume that this is supposed to say ABE LEARN instead?

Answer: Yes, the language should read as “ABE LEARN”. Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

29. Would USAID confirm that the required Branding Implementation and Marking Plans will not be evaluated?

Answer: Branding Implementation and Marking Plans are not part of the evaluation factors for award listed in Section M of Solicitation No. SOL-OAA-12-000068; however, they are required submissions per Section L.8.

SECTION E - INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

SECTION F - DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

SECTION G - CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

SECTION H - SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

30. Section H. 9, page 69, states that the authorized geographic code for this solicitation is 937 or as specified in

Task orders. To promote efficiency in the use of US foreign assistance, we respectfully request consideration of changing the geographic code from 937 to 935 in accordance with 22CFR228.30 (a) (3). A geographic code of 935 would allow access to an existing network of international organizations from advanced developing countries that will provide their own significant resources, local Ministry contacts and leveraging opportunities with Fortune 100 companies and other donors. In many countries these partnerships will significantly increase the number of beneficiaries in the target population at no additional cost to the US Government. Excluding these organizations diminishes the potential that can be reached in maximizing the full impact of improving the reading skills of millions of primary school children around the world.

Answer: The authorized geographical code is 937.

31. In section H.9, USAID notes that the authorized geographic code will be 937. Would USAID change this to

935?

Answer: The authorized geographical code is 937.

SECTION I - CONTRACT CLAUSES

32. With respect to conflicts of interest, would USAID confirm that participation of a consortium member/subcontractor in an evaluation or design will not preclude the prime and other consortium members from bidding on a project as long as that subcontractor is not involved in the proposal process and vice versa? For example, if Team Y’s Subcontractor X designs a project under a separate contracting mechanism, can Team Y still bid on the project as long as Subcontractor X is not part of the proposal process or project team? Similarly, if Team Y implements a project, can Subcontractor X bid on the project evaluation if Subcontractor X is not working on the task order?

Answer: Please review below for USAID policies and requirements regarding Organization Conflicts of Interest:

USAID Contract Information Bulletin (CIB) 99-17 and

AIDAR 48 CFR 752.209.71 Organization Conflicts of Interest Discovered after Award.

SECTION J - LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

Attachment J.3 – Small Business Subcontracting Plan Template

33. With regards to Attachment J-3, please clarify whether or not goals should be for option periods and, if so, what the dates will be for the option periods.

Answer: The period of performance for Solicitation No. SOL-OAA-12-000068 is 5 years without option periods.

34. With regards to Attachment J-3, as it is not possible to know the amount of funding that will be provided to a contractor under a resultant IQIC contract, we request that the requirement for dollar goals values be removed.

Answer: Per FAR 19.704, each subcontracting plan must include the total dollars planned to be subcontracted to small business. As there is no guarantee on the number of task orders that successful Contractors will receive or the amount of money beyond the minimum order guarantee, it is up to the Offeror’s discretion how to estimate anticipated total contract funding and subcontracting dollar goals.

Attachment J.6 – Price Evaluation Matrix

35. In the sample budget in Attachment J.6., there are references to both Long-Term and Short-Term Field-based personnel. Would USAID confirm that the short-term and long-term field-based staff are intended to be expatriate positions? This will allow us to properly apply our fringe rates.

Answer: The Price Evaluation Matrix does not go into this detail. The Matrix requires a Ceiling

Daily Rate per labor category.

36. Page 164 of the RFP includes a sample budget format which uses the term "Short-Term field based" - is this intended to be a local hire or an international STTA?

Answer: The Price Evaluation Matrix does not go into this detail. The Matrix requires a Ceiling

Daily Rate per labor category.

37. With regards to Attachment J-6, please confirm that “Sub Travel and Transportation,” “Sub Allowances,” and “Sub ODCs” refer to subcontractor (not subgrantee) costs.

Answer: “Sub Travel and Transportation,” “Sub Allowances,” and “Sub ODCs” are all subcontractor related costs.

38. Should Offerors propose specific people in the price evaluation matrix (Attachment J-6) or use rates that are illustrative of the staff that have been identified or use the proposed ceiling rates?

Answer: Offerors are not to propose specific personnel in the Price Evaluation Matrix (Attachment

J.6). Per Section L.9(b), Offerors are to propose a ceiling daily rate per labor category for the life of the contract.

39. With regards to Attachment J-6, Note 1 and Note 5 are contradictory. Please clarify whether the Offeror should use the figures that are bolded and in quotes (e.g. "260 person-days less paid absence days" for

Category 1001 (senior)) or whether the Offeror should use the prime Offeror’s methodology for recovery of paid absences. Is the intent to show the total number of workdays for a position and the total amount of paid absence days, the sum of which would result in an individual’s total annual salary? Or is the intent to show the total cost for 260 work days (which might span a time period of more than one year) and the associated number of paid absence days, resulting in a total cost that might exceed an individual’s total annual salary?

Answer: The Offeror should use the bolded figures for person days and their associated methodology for recovery of paid absences.

40. Page 165 of the sample budget has $749,000 as the total labor cost. Is this figure illustrative or should

Offerors plan on not exceeding this figure?

Answer: The budget figure of $749,000 is illustrative.

41. In order to present USAID with the most competitive and realistic ceiling daily rates, offerors may choose to propose an escalation of ceiling daily rates to account for COLA, inflation, and salary increases over the life of the IDIQ. Would USAID please confirm that offerors should use Year 1 ceiling daily rates in the price evaluation matrix in Attachment J.6?

Answer: Offerors are to propose one ceiling daily rate per labor category for the life of the contract.

Please refer to Section B.12.

42. We respectfully request that USAID amend the methodology for preparing cost proposals in Attachment J.6 of the RFP to allow offerors to prepare cost proposals based on their cost accounting standards rather than plug figures for level of effort (LOE) and other direct costs (ODCs). An evaluation based on plug figures for

LOE and ODCs does not take into account differences in cost allocation practices across organizations therefore does not allow the Contracting Officer to conduct a fair cost realism analysis and take into consideration “the overall price the government will actually pay,” as required by FAR 15.405(b). The methodology set forth for completing the price evaluation matrix in Attachment J.6 could cause organizations that charge most costs directly to the contract to appear less expensive than organizations that recover certain costs indirectly for the following reasons:

a) Labor. There is a considerable disparity in the indirect cost rate structures and methods that different offerors use to bill for labor. Requiring offerors to budget for labor using LOE plug figures could artificially cause those that bill certain types of labor indirectly to appear more expensive in the IDIQ evaluation when, in fact, they may bill the government the same or less on actual task orders. For example, some organizations bill certain types of labor, such as home-office backstopping directly, while others recover these costs through their indirect rates. Offerors that bill home-office backstopping directly would require more LOE to provide the same package of technical assistance as an offeror that bills indirectly. The use of plug figures for LOE does not take this into account.

Accordingly, the completed price evaluation matrix (Attachment J.6) that offerors submit will not reflect the actual overall price that the government will pay during implementation.

b) Other direct costs. Similar to labor, there is considerable disparity in the methods that offerors use to bill for ODCs. Some organizations charge most of their non-labor costs directly to the contract. The price evaluation methodology in the RFP could cause organizations that do so to appear less expensive because they do not have to account for such costs due to the plug figures provided for

ODCs. Based on these differences in cost allocation practices, USAID might consider requesting offerors to budget for the nonlabor costs they would normally directly bill on task orders based on certain parameters or labor assumptions. We suggest that USAID also require offerors to describe in their cost notes what types of costs they bill directly under what conditions, to facilitate the

c) Contracting Officer’s cost realism analysis. With this information, USAID can fairly determine the evaluated price based on clearly defined parameters set forth in the RFP.

Answer: No

Attachment J.7 – Case Study

43. In Attachment J.7., Case Study, we have the following questions regarding the fourth bullet on page 168:

a) Please clarify what is meant by monolingual classroom. Do you mean that all students are speaking the same local language, and is that the language of instruction or another local language?

Answer: In a monolingual classroom, students share a common language. The language of instruction may be the same language or another.

b) Please clarify what is meant by multilingual classroom. Do you mean that students are speaking multiple local languages?

Answer: In a multilingual classroom, students do not share a common first language (mother tongue).

c) Please clarify what is meant by metropolitan language. Is this reference to the colonial language?

Answer: For the purposes of this Solicitation, a metropolitan language is defined as a

European language, as used in Africa as a language of instruction in primary schools.

44. Should Offerors include a budget for the case study (Attachment J.7)?

SECTION K - REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS OF OFFERORS

45. Because of the technical difficulties in the SAM.GOV web site, offerors’ Certifications and representations may not be updated at the time of the proposal submission. Please advise what course of action offerors should take if this situation with sam.gov persists.

Answer: USAID does not have responsibility for operating the www.sam.gov website. Offerors are responsible for addressing any service issues with sam.gov.

SECTION L - INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

46. On P. 123, the instructions for Hand Carried Deliveries include the following note: 24 hour advance notice via email to ABE2012@usaid.gov must be given for all hand deliveries to State Department Annex 44 at

Federal Center Plaza. As the due date, April 15, is a Monday, would USAID confirm that we should provide advance notice via email on Friday, April 12?

Answer: Yes. The closing date has been extended to April 23, 2013 - Noon EST. Notification requirements for hand carried deliveries remain the same.

47. Please confirm that documents in Microsoft version 2010 are acceptable for submission of electronic documents.

Answer: Offerors must submit the Technical Proposal and the Cost/Price/Business proposal as directed in Section L.6, on CD-ROMs compatible with the Microsoft Office 2010 suite of products.

Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

48. Section L.8 on page 125 notes that information regarding past performance in using small business concerns

(per L.8.c.3.b) is not subject to the technical volume page limitation. Would USAID please confirm that the information specified Sections L.8.c.3.b through L.8.c.3.d is excluded from the page limitation and may be placed in an annex?

Answer: “Past Performance information in using small business concerns”, RFP Section L.8.c.2.d, is not included in the technical proposal page limitation.

49. Is the Contractor expected to have demonstrated expertise in every area represented in Section C? Or should the technical proposal only reflect the areas for which there is a proven track record by the responder?

Answer: This is a worldwide IDIQ contract and it is expected that the Contractor has demonstrated expertise as specified in the solicitation.

50. On pgs. 2 and 125, the RPP states, “ ‘major Subcontractors’ are the Offeror’s best estimate of those

Subcontractors expected to perform at least 20% of the technical effort under the contract under this RFP.”

Does “20% of the technical effort” refer to the full technical assistance project, including management and related costs, participant training costs, grants administration, communications, office rent and related expenses, etc. or to the level of effort a subcontractor would provide through personnel and related expenses to technical activities, such as materials and curriculum development, teacher professional development program design and facilitation, monitoring and evaluation, research, policy and advocacy technical assistance, etc.?

Answer: Technical effort is defined as the contract value awarded to the prime.

51. At the top of P. 125, USAID states “In the following proposal preparation instructions “major

Subcontractors” are the Offeror’s best estimate of those Subcontractors expected to perform at least 20% of the technical effort under the contract under this RFP.” Would USAID confirm that the RFP is requesting that the Offeror name as a major subcontractor each consortium member that is expected to provide at least

20% of the technical effort as a proportion of the total task orders that the Offeror receives?

Answer: Note 1 on Page 125 describes how “major Subcontractors” are being defined for instruction purposes within the RFP. For specific instructions on subcontracting targets and labor distribution, please see RFP Section L.8.c.3

52. On P. 125, the RFP states “Offerors shall … number each page consecutively.” Would USAID confirm that this requirement pertains to the Technical Proposal itself and that annexes may be numbered separately?

Answer: This is a technical proposal requirement. Annexes can be numbered separately.

53. Would USAID clarify if additional annexes may be provided?

Answer: Annexes must be included as directed by the RFP. Annexes can also be included for the following:

Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan

Small Disadvantaged Business participation program targets information (per L.8.c.3)

Case Study [10 pages maximum]

54. Can USAID clarify whether the Management Structure Organizational Chart referenced on page 126, under

NOTE 2, should depict our proposed management structure for managing multiple awards or a typical, single task order?

Answer: The Management Structure Organization Chart must align with the specifications outlined in the Management Plan found in Section L.8(c)(i)(v) above the NOTE 2 which states “...through which the multiple task orders will be managed.”

55. On P. 127, in Past Performance, the RFP requires (1) a list of recent and relevant contracts and (2) information about each contract. Would USAID please confirm that these two requirements can be met by submitting the Contractor Performance Report – Short Form (Attachment J.5) for appropriate projects?

Answer: Attachment J.5 has been removed entirely from the RFP. Past performance must be submitted as indicated in Section L.8(c)(2) Please see Section B of Amendment 02.

56. On page 127, under Past Performance, in addition to contracts may we include recent and relevant grants/cooperative agreements in our list of 5 past performance references?

57. In Section L.8(c)(2)(a)(1), the solicitation requests past performance information for “up to 5 of the most recent and relevant contracts. . .” May Offerors provide information for assistance awards as well as contracts?

Answer: Please see response to Question 56.

58. Also in Past Performance, would USAID confirm that Contractor Performance Reports – Short Form

(Attachment J.5) may be submitted for both contracts and cooperative agreements?

Answer: The Contractor Performance Report – Short Form (Attachment J.5) has been deleted per

Amendment 02. Please see response to Questions 55 and 56.

59. Also on page 127, can USAID please clarify, are we able to submit 5 past performance references for the

Prime and each major subcontractor, or are we only able to submit 5 PPRs total for the entire consortium?

Answer: Offerors must provide performance information for 5 of the most recent and relevant contracts for itself and 5 of the most recent and relevant contracts for each major Subcontractor, as defined in the RFP.

60. Past Performance information: Are we to submit up to 5 references for EACH subcontractor in the consortium, or up to 5 references total for the consortium as a whole?

Answer: Please see response to Question 59.

61. On page 128, under Past Performance, can USAID clarify what is meant by quality awards or certifications?

Should we only be describing awards or certifications received by our organization, or can we also include narrative on awards or certifications received by our staff?

Answer: Offerors are only to describe awards or certifications received by the prime Offeror and its major Subcontractors.

62. Section L.8(2)(d) on page 128 instructs offerors to provide a list of contracts from the past three years for which subcontract reports were submitted to eSRS. May we provide a list of submitted SF 294s from this period, since many of our projects reports have yet to be submitted to eSRS by their contracting officers? If so, may we provide our SF 294 reports on a CD-ROM attached to the hard copy of our original technical proposal? Providing these records in hard copy would add a 500-page annex to our original technical proposal. Alternatively, we respectfully request the option of selecting 10 relevant SF 294 forms for

USAID’s review.

Answer: A list of submitted SF 294s will not be accepted. Alternatively, USAID requests offerors to provide a list of the 10 most recent and relevant contracts within the past 3 years for which you submitted subcontract reports to eSRS and a copy of any similarly recent subcontracting reports if they were not submitted to eSRS. The most relevant indicators are contracts of similar scope of work and similar required skills/expertise. Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

63. Section L.8 indicates that the labor distribution chart (Attachment J) does not count toward the technical volume page limitation. Section L.9(b)2 on page 132 requires offerors to provide a labor distribution chart as an annex in the cost volume. Would USAID please clarify whether the labor distribution chart should be submitted in the technical volume, the cost volume, or both?

Answer: The Labor Distribution Chart (Attachment J.4) must be included within the Cost Proposal as indicated in Section L.9.b.2. Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

64. Is the Labor Distribution Chart to be included in both the technical (page 125) and the cost (page 130) proposals? Or just the cost proposal?

Answer: Please see response to Question 63.

65. The Labor Distribution Chart (Attachment J.4) is referenced in both the instructions for the technical proposal (page 125 and page 129) and the instructions for the cost proposal (page 132). Can USAID clarify in which proposal, technical or cost, this chart should be included?

66. Would USAID confirm that the Labor Distribution Chart should only be included in the Cost Proposal?

67. On P. 130, the RFP calls for a logical framework. Please confirm that USAID is not asking for the conventional five-column LogFrame template/table to be completed.

Answer: USAID is not providing a specific template for the logical framework.

68. On P. 130, the RFP also asks that the logical framework include targets. Typically, a target is the quantitative value associated with an indicator used to measure change over time. Both indicators and targets will be included in the Case Study PMEP. Please clarify what is meant by “target” and whether numerical targets can uniquely be presented in the PMEP.

Answer: No further specification will be provided beyond that which is stated in the solicitation.

69. Please confirm that the logframe graphic is not included in the 10-page limit for the case study.

Answer: The logical framework graphic will be included within the case study’s 10-page limitation.

70. For the Case Study, the solicitation requests a technical approach narrative including a log frame, a management plan including job descriptions, and a workplan. Are the logframe, the management plan and the workplan excluded from the 10 page limit?

Answer: The logical framework, management plan, and work plan are included in the case study’s

10-page limitation.

71. On P. 130, point 3, the instructions for the case study work plan state that it must address four items: (1) approach to addressing required tasks, (2) coordination and working relationship with USAID and other stakeholders, (3) roles and responsibilities of contract staff, and (4) benchmarks for measuring results. Items

2 – 4 could be understood to overlap with the requirements for the earlier section of the case study

(narrative, PMP, management plan). Given the strict page limitation, would USAID confirm that it is sufficient to address items 2 – 4 in the earlier sections of the case study?

Answer: It is at the Offeror’s discretion as to how they present this portion of the proposal.

However, all required information must be clearly presented as Offerors will be evaluated as indicated in Section M.2.d.

72. On P. 130, the RFP calls for a PMEP and a work plan. Would USAID consider allowing the PMEP and work plan to be attached as annexes to the case study and not subject to the 10-page limitation?

Answer: No

73. Does USAID expect to see a Gantt chart with a detailed timeline as part of the work plan for the case study, or is a narrative work plan sufficient?

Answer: It is at the Offeror’s discretion as to how they present this portion of the proposal.

74. On P. 130, the RFP requires a narrative, logical framework, and PMEP “to achieve improvement in reading grade level text … after two years of schooling and by the end of the primary cycle.” On P. 168, the case study scenario states that “USAID is soliciting technical assistance … to implement an effective, scalable, and sustainable reading program focused on the early primary grades.” Typically, “the end of the primary cycle” is after grade 6, while “while early primary grades” would be no more than grades 1 – 3. Would

USAID confirm that the case study is intended to address the early grades of the primary cycle?

Answer: The case study must reflect that which is specified in Attachment J.7 in the solicitation.

75. On P. 130, point 3, the RFP calls for benchmarks. Would USAID provide a definition for benchmark as used here? Is the RFP referring to a specific action or an indicator of a significant milestone output, or a target for an indicator?

Answer: No specification will be provided beyond that which is stated in the solicitation.

76. On page 130, under Case Study, may we include the performance monitoring and evaluation plan as an annex?

Answer: No. The response to the case study is limited to 10 pages maximum.

77. Would it be possible to only include the Narrative in the 10 page limit for the case study? (e.g., organizational charts, project management and evaluation plan, Log Frame and Management Plan and Work

Plan, would then appear in an appendix).

Answer: No. The response to the case study is limited to 10 pages maximum.

78. Is the contractor expected to identify someone in each labor category (Section B.12)? Should the organizational chart requested include only people that are currently employed by or currently available to the contractor?

Answer: Offerors are not required to submit personnel for labor categories in Section B.12.

79. Section L.9(b)(1)(a) states “Offerors must propose unburdened ceiling daily rates for all labor categories/groupings set forth in Section B.11.” As there are no labor categories/groupings in Section B.11, please confirm that the labor categories/groupings in Section B.12 should be used.

Answer: There are no labor category groupings. Offerors must propose unburdened ceiling daily rates for all labor categories set forth in Section B.12. Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

80. Section L.9 (b) on page 131 states that the CDR budget narrative shall not exceed nine pages. The two subsequent paragraphs on page 131 state that the indirect ceiling rate narrative and fixed fee narrative shall not exceed one page each. Would USAID please confirm that the indirect ceiling rate and fixed fee narratives are not included in the nine pages for the CDR budget narrative, and that the total page allocation for Section L.9 (b) shall not exceed 11 pages?

Answer: The indirect ceiling rate and fixed fee narratives must be included within the 9 page CDR

Budget Narrative.

81. Page 131: (b) Part 2. The Section referred to B.11 should be B.12. Please confirm.

Answer: Correct. Please see Section A of Amendment 02.

82. Page 132: 3. Indirect Cost Information: Government Audit Agency’s information: Is this required also from the Major Subcontractors?

Answer: Yes

83. Section L.9(e) states “Individual subcontracting plans will also be included in each task order over $650,000 for other than small businesses.”. Attachment J.3 states “NOTE: Federal Acquisition Regulations do not require Subcontracting Plans for Task Orders against IDIQ contracts. Subcontracting utilization for Task

Orders is reported against the base contract for IDIQ contracts.” Please clarify as these two statements conflict.

Answer: Subcontracting plans will not be required for task orders against this contract. Please see

Section A of Amendment 02.

84. Section L.9(e) states “Subcontracting plans need to provide both dollar goals and percentage goals.” As it is not possible to know the amount of funding that will be provided to a contractor under a resultant IQIC contract, we request that the requirement for “dollar goals” be removed.

Answer: Per FAR 19.704, each subcontracting plan must include the total dollars planned to be subcontracted to small business. As there is no guarantee on the number of task orders that successful Contractors will receive or the amount of money beyond the minimum order guarantee, it is up to the Offeror’s discretion how to estimate anticipated total contract funding and subcontracting dollar goals.

85. Section L.10(b) states “In order to receive credit under the source selection factor or subfactor, the Offeror must provide, with its offer, targets, expressed as dollars and percentages of total contract value, for SDB participation in any of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Industry Subsectors as determined by the Department of Commerce.” As it is not possible to know the amount of funding that will be provided to a contractor under a resultant IQIC contract, we request that the requirement for “targets, expressed as dollars” be removed.

Answer: Per FAR 19.1202-4, solicitations shall require Offerors to provide targets, expressed as dollars and percentages of total contract value, in each of the applicable, authorized NAICS Industry

Subsector, and a total target for SDB participation by the contractor. As there is no guarantee on the number of task orders that successful Contractors will receive or the amount of money beyond the minimum order guarantee, it is up to the Offeror’s discretion how to estimate anticipated total contract funding and the total dollar target for SDB participation.

86. Section L.9(h) states “The Cost/Price/Business Proposal must include a letter, on Subcontractor letterhead, and signed by an authorized representative of each major Subcontractor, which specifically indicates the major Subcontractor's agreement to be included in the Offeror's proposed teaming arrangement.” Please confirm that “teaming arrangement” in this Section is intended to reference a Prime-Sub relationship, rather than a relationship in which multiple organizations would work together but each have a direct relationship with USAID.

Answer: “Teaming arrangement” in this instance is intended to reference a prime-sub relationship.

87. Please confirm that for the Subcontracting Plan on page 133, we may use our own template so long as it includes all the essential information per FAR 52.219-9?

Answer: No. The template provided must be used.

88. Are subcontractors and SDBs that may be used be identified by name in the proposal response?

Answer: Yes. Please see Attachment J.4 – Labor Distribution Chart

89. Would USAID confirm that the Small Disadvantaged Business Participation Targets should be included in both the Technical and Cost Proposals?

Answer: Small Disadvantaged Business participation program targets information must only be included within the Technical Proposal, as indicated in Section L.8.c.3.

90. Since there is consideration for doing business with disadvantaged minority businesses is there any special consideration for small minority institutions?

Answer: No, however the use of minority serving institutions is encouraged.

91. What kind of evidence would USAID like to see to determine an Offeror is Responsible (Part 7 – Evidence of Responsibility, page 134)

Answer: Please review FAR 9.104-1 and subparts referenced therein.

92. On P. 135, (h) Part 8, the RFP requires letters of commitment from major subcontractors. Would USAID accept letters of commitment from all subcontractors?

Answer: The RFP only requires letters of commitment from each major Subcontractor.

93. The page limit for the budget notes for the prime Offeror is 9 pages. Does this include the subcontractor’s budget notes as well or may the prime Offeror and each subcontractor each individually have 9 pages for budget notes?

Answer: A budget narrative is only required for the prime Offeror.