Notice of intent to award sole source: trial urban district assessment task force

NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD SOLE SOURCE

See attached for more information.

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB, Governing Board) intends to award a sole source purchase order to the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) that there is only one responsible source that shall satisfy agency requirements.

The Governing Board has a congressional mandate to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) - also known as The Nation's Report Card ­ and to take appropriate actions that improve the form, content, use, and reporting of assessment results. The Governing Board is also responsible for the initial public release of NAEP report cards. Facilitating the Governing Board’s work and disseminating NAEP results rely on expanded outreach activities with target audiences across the nation. Thus, it is critically important to encourage and expand the involvement of district leaders in the Governing Board’s implementation of its congressionally mandated responsibilities. A Task Force member also attends Governing Board meetings to report on ongoing work and promote communication between the Governing Board and Task Force.

The Council of the Great City Schools is the only national organization exclusively representing the needs of urban public schools. Composed of 78 large city school districts, which include most of the 27 large urban districts that voluntarily participate in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA), the Council promotes the causes of urban schools and advocates for urban students by providing a network for school districts to share common challenges and to collaborate on solutions. These efforts improve the NAEP TUDA program as well as help recruit and sustain participation of districts that volunteer to participate in the program. TUDA offers the nation a way to measure progress within – and compare across – large urban districts. Coordination with these CGCS members provides unique and invaluable local perspectives on education matters which are essential for making informed policy decisions related to The Nation’s Report Card and for executing the Board’s congressional mandated responsibilities under the requirements of Public Law 107-279.

Background

Since January 2017, the Governing Board has collaborated with CGCS to convene this task force. The Task Force comprises leaders in TUDA districts, including superintendents, communications officers, and assessment directors. who discuss issues relevant to urban districts and NAEP. This collaboration has meaningfully and invaluably informed the Governing Board’s policy decisions.

Project activities of the Task Force are available to the public via the Board’s website. Topics to be discussed by the Task Force include planning for reporting and communicating TUDA data; input on NAEP’s contextual variable data collected through student, teacher, and school questionnaires; feedback on changes to NAEP’s design and assessment schedule; and districts’ needs for NAEP data and analysis.

Opportunity for Comment and Capability Statements

This notice is not a request for competitive proposals. A formal solicitation will not be issued. The procurement will be awarded on or around March 20, 2026. The period of performance will include a maximum duration of 36 months.

Organizations and persons may identify their interest in and capability to respond to the requirement. Please submit capability statements to tony.white@ed.gov. A determination by the government not to compete this requiement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government.

Awarded contract TBD to unknown vendor for unknown amount on 2026-03-20.