Sources Sought Standards In Action.pdf

Using Standards-in-Action Resources and Professional

Development 2.0

Sources Sought Announcement

U.S. Department of Education Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education

Division of Adult Education and Literacy

Purpose:

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is seeking qualified businesses to support adult educators through technical assistance and training to 1) implement and sustain standards in the classroom and improve learner outcomes; and 2) help to ensure all adult learners can obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for post-secondary education and training and economic self-sufficiency.

This is a Sources Sought Announcement being released pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10 - Market Research. This Sources Sought Announcement’s purpose is to conduct market research and determine the availability and technical capability of all sources to provide the required services.

The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this procurement is 611710 Educational Support Services.

There is no solicitation at this time. This request for capability information does not constitute a request for proposals; submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred.

Background:

Standards-based education (SBE) is rooted in teaching to challenging academic standards— written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do. Through these standards, content expectations are evident to all: 1) educators understand how they must organize their curriculum, instruction, assessment, and reporting, and 2) students understand the expectations and can be assured of what they will learn. By teaching through standards, all students can acquire the knowledge and skills deemed essential for postsecondary education and training, employment and self-sufficiency, and citizenship. The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) has long supported the implementation of challenging academic content standards for adult education.

Objective:

The Department is seeking industry feedback regarding the Draft Performance Statement of Work that is attached to this announcement. The Department is seeking capability statements addressing the following areas:

Vendor to demonstrate its ability to meet the objectives of the requirement to include the effort’s size and scope. The requirements objectives include:

1. Manage the contract to ensure accountability and successful outcomes.

2. Establish and manage a group of SIA trainers to support project activities.

3. Refine the SIA Mathematics Classroom Observation Training by replacing older materials with new materials.

4. Develop materials required to complete the SIA EL Classroom Observation Training.

5. Train the SIA trainers on the SIA Mathematics Classroom Observation Training.

6. Train the SIA trainers on the SIA EL Classroom Observation Training.

7. Train the SIA trainers on the ELA/literacy Classroom Observation Training.

8. Update the SIA Foundational-Level PD Units for ELA/Literacy, based on SIA lessons learned.

9. Update the SIA Foundational-Level PD Units for Mathematics, based on SIA lessons learned.

10. Train the SIA trainers on the SIA Foundational-Level PD Units for ELA/literacy.

11. Train the SIA trainers on the SIA Foundational-Level PD Units for Mathematics.

12. Create a guide to assist new implementers of SIA resources and PD.

13. Offer the SIA ELA/Literacy Classroom Observation Training to teach instructional leaders how to observe effective teaching/learning practices and to identify the training needs of instructors.

14. Offer the SIA EL Classroom Observation Training to teach instructional leaders how to observe effective teaching/learning practices and identify the training needs of instructors.

15. Offer the SIA Math Classroom Observation Training to teach instructional leaders how to observe effective teaching and learning practices and identify the training needs of instructors.

16. Publicize SIA PD offerings to raise awareness, recruit participants, and increase participation.

Vendor to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and experience in all the following areas:

Title II Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) Management of similarly-focused federal contracts Adult education core academic standards for English language arts/literacy, English language acquisition, and mathematics Implementing and sustaining standards in the adult education classroom and improving learner outcomes Standards-based adult education curriculum and instruction Design, development, and implementation of training and technical assistance resources and PD for adult educators Transition to postsecondary education and training and preparation for the workforce Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in adult education

This document consists of three major information request components to be submitted in three parts:

1. Request for capability statements.

2. Targeted vendor outreach questions and responses.

3. Request for comment and feedback relating to the PWS

Detailed information for each request is located in the appropriate subsection below. Please review this document carefully as it is designed to streamline the acquisition process and avoid an extensive question-answer period during the active solicitation phase. Please feel free to submit additional questions as part of your document response so that the Department may address your questions prior to release of the solicitation.

Please note that all solicitation-related documents in this Sources Sought Announcement are draft versions. The content of each document may change substantially between release of this notice and release of the final solicitation. The final solicitation will be governed by the terms, conditions, instructions, and criteria in that document. Offerors should not rely on the contents of this Source Sought Announcement for preparing final proposals. To the extent that information provided in this document is inconsistent with or contradicts information contained in the final Solicitation, the Solicitation controls.

Submission Instructions Detailed information for the required submission is provided below. Offerors should submit, via email, the following documents to Matthew.Lucas@ed.gov with a cc to Pamela.Bone@ed.gov no later than February 16, 2024 at 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. The subject line shall read: Sources Sought: Using Standards-in-Action.

I. One PDF document that contains your Capability Statement.

II. One PDF document that contains your response to vendor questions.

III. One WORD document that contains any comments, track change revisions, or edits to the PWS. Narrative justifications for changes are also welcome if appropriate. If offerors have additional questions regarding any of the three documents, please feel free to include this information in a separate heading in your WORD document that contains these questions in addition to any narrative information.

Offerors should submit all three documents in one email. Please note there is a 15MB file size limitation.

Capability Statements The Department requests capability statements in order to evaluate what, if any, set aside determinations are appropriate. The Department will make a small business set aside determination for the requirement. We reserve the right to use other resources and information to inform our acquisition strategy.

The Department will not review generic capability statements. Vendors are to provide a capability statement that demonstrates the vendor’s corporate capability, capacity, and knowledge to successfully complete the work of the PWS.

Format and Instructions for Capability Statements The capability statements must contain sufficient detail; however, statements are limited to 8 pages (not including the cover page) and must be submitted in PDF format. Font size must be 12-point, minimum 10-point for any tables or figures. The Department will not consider material more than 8 pages.

Cover Page containing the following information:

Name of Company Address Primary Point of Contact (phone and email) Unique Entity Identifier (UEID) Socioeconomic Status under the NAICS code 611710 Educational Support

Services

Vendor Questions

(1) What, if any, additional information should the Department provide in the PWS to enable you to accurately estimate the price/cost of each task?

(2) Can you identify any barriers to competition? If so, please identify and describe how the Department could reduce or eliminate those barriers.

(3) Is there any other information that you wish to convey to the Department?

Information provided will be used solely by the Department as market research and the Department does not intend to release the information outside of the Requirements Team.

Interested parties are strongly advised that the Department is not seeking proprietary information. All information contained in this announcement is preliminary as well as subject to modification and is in no way binding on the Government. Failure to respond to this notice will not preclude an interested party in participating in a future related or unrelated solicitation.