Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015

THE PURPOSE OF THIS AMENDMENT IS TO EXTEND THE RESPONSE DUE DATE FOR THIS RFP FROM NOVEMBER 9, 2012 AT 11AM EST, TO NOVEMBER 15,2012 @ 11 AM EST.

THIS EXTENSION IS HEREBY GRANTED, AS A RESULT OF INCLEMENT WEATHER/HURRICANE SANDY.

ALL OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS WITHIN THE RFP REMAIN UNCHANGED.

Responses to questions submitted by the response time on Wednesday October 17, 2012 will be posted by COB on Tuesday October 23, 2012.

This announcement releases Request for Proposals (RFP) ED-IES-12-R-0081

All proposals must be submitted no later than the due date and time stated in the RFP to the attention of Joseph Gibbs. The reference number to be used for the solicitation is ED-IES-12-R-0081. All correspondence and proposals must cite the Solicitation number and Title as provided for the procurement. In addition, include the Solicitation Number and Title in the subject line of all e-mails.

Questions may be directed by e-mail to joseph.gibbs@ed.gov, Contract Specialist, with concurrent copy to sylvia.reid@ed.gov, Contracting Officer.

The RFP is Full and Open Competition. The North American Industry classification System (NAICS) Code used to define this acquisition is 541720 Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities. All responsible sources may submit a proposal, which will be considered by the agency.

The Department of Education (Department) intends to award two contracts in FY 2013 to manage U.S. participation in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015. PISA is an international assessment that focuses on 15-year-olds' performance in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy every three years. PISA also assesses other subjects, although less frequently, such as general problem-solving and financial literacy. PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of mandatory schooling. The overall goal for the procurement is data collection in the United States for PISA 2015 that meets all international and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) guidelines and that makes available on a timely basis high-quality internationally comparative assessment data. Furthermore, the study shall result in a report presenting U.S. data and the international comparisons from the perspective of an American constituency. The procurement will also include a validity study to examine the relationship between performance on PISA and educational and workforce outcomes by recruiting students that participate in PISA 2012 and administering a questionnaire in 2015, when those students are 18-years-old.

Solicitation ED-IES-12-R-0081, will be conducted through full and open competition. There are 10 tasks in total under this solicitation (5 core and 5 optional). Solicitation ED-IES-12-R-0107 will be conducted as a small business set-aside. The task conducted under this contract is Task 6 - PISA Validation Study which is a cost-reimbursement task. Task 6 correlates with 10 other tasks under a larger contract through solicitation ED-IES-12-R-0081. In total, there are 11 tasks (6 core and 5 optional).

It is anticipated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education will award one contract, with a period of performance of 60 months.

The contract type is anticipated to be a hybrid which include both cost reimbursement tasks and fixed price tasks.

Potential offerors may submit clarification questions no later than October 17, 2012 by 11:00 A.M. Eastern Time (ET). Please review the RFP which includes Section L, Instructions to Offerors and Additional Instructions to Offerors for further information.

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) requires a contract to implement U.S. Participation in International Student Assessment (PISA 2015). PISA is an international assessment that focuses on 15-year-olds' performance in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy every three years. PISA also assesses other subjects, although less frequently, such as general problem-solving and financial literacy. PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of mandatory schooling. PISA is organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries. PISA was first administered in 2000. PISA was implemented in 43 countries in 2000, in 41 countries in 2003, 57 countries in 2006, 65 countries in 2009, and 67 countries in 2012. More information on PISA can be found at http://www.pisa.oecd.org and http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa.

PISA is steered by the PISA Governing Board (PGB), comprising representatives from the OECD member countries, and implemented internationally by organizations contracted by the OECD. The OECD Secretariat serves as the secretariat for the PGB and has overall managerial responsible for PISA internationally, including overseeing contractors that implement the international activities. The OECD has contracted with multiple organizations (hereafter referred to as the "international consortium" or "international contractors") to carry out PISA 2015 development, implementation, analysis, and overall coordination across countries. In this PWS, all mention of relevant international contractors, organizations, or sponsors refer to these institutions. Each country appoints a National Project Manager (in the United States this is a representative from NCES) to manage the study in the country. The OECD and international contractors provide countries with a series of manuals and technical standards that document the procedures and requirements of the study.

PISA 2015 will include assessments of science, reading and mathematics literacy. The science assessment will be based on a new framework and will include some new item development, although it is expected that it will still be possible to report trends in performance. There may also be additional optional subject-matter assessments, such as environmental literacy, financial literacy and/or collaborative problem-solving. Students will complete a questionnaire and schools will complete a questionnaire.

PISA has been moving from using only paper-and-pencil assessments to including more computer-based assessments. PISA 2006 included an optional computer-based science assessment, although the United States did not participate in that component. In PISA 2009, PISA administered an optional reading assessment on computer; again, the United States did not participate. In 2012, reading and mathematics were primarily assessed via paper-and-pencil assessment but there were optional computer-based assessments as well and the United States did participate. In 2012, problem-solving was also assessed, only on computer. For PISA 2015, the goal is for computer-based assessments to have an even greater role. It is expected that science, mathematics, and reading will all be available in a computer-based format. Science, mathematics and reading may be administered in some countries in a paper-and-pencil format. However, the United States intends to administer only the computer-based mathematics, reading and science assessments and not the paper-based. Additional optional assessments (see Optional Task 9) may be computer-based or paper-based. To support the transition from paper-based to computer-based format, the PISA 2015 field test will include a study to establish the comparability between the two assessment modes. PISA 2015 may also incorporate some form of computer-adaptive testing.
 
The shift to greater use of computer-based assessments in PISA 2015 has accelerated the international development schedule as well as within-country operations. The first National Project Managers meeting is being held earlier than normal (tentatively scheduled for November 2012); at this meeting, countries will begin to make decisions about sampling plans and receive training in item development and other procedures. The assessment instruments (to which countries are invited to contribute) will be developed and finalized earlier in the cycle than usual in order to ensure that national test delivery systems can be created and finalized in time for the spring 2014 field test; countries are slated to begin adapting field test instruments in June 2013 so national versions of the test delivery system can be finalized in September 2013.