Regional Educational Laboratory (REL)

Added: Jan 27, 2016 4:00 pm The purpose of this RFI addendum 4 is to address additional competition questions and to provide information for prospective offerors and States that wish to collaborate for the purpose of preparing a proposal. Please consider the following important notes:

(1) Several States have requested information and guidance about communicating with the prospective offerors - including a request to see a list of offerors in a specific region. We are unable to provide this information because we consider it Source Selection Information that is confidential and not subject to disclosure.

The Department has drafted a letter that will be sent via email to all Chief State School Officers. We are also publishing the letter in this posting on FBO so that all offerors understand that States are aware of the competition.

(2) In addition to general questions about the procurement this addendum also addresses concerns that some offerors have raised regarding information security and privacy.

Please be advised that the terms and conditions of the final solicitation control.

Added: Jan 06, 2016 8:37 am The purpose of Addendum 3 is to address competition questions submitted in response to the Department's Request for Information (RFI) issued on August 7, 2015, as well as questions that potential offerors have submitted in the interim.  This addendum builds on earlier addenda posted to FBO and provides updated draft competition information including but not limited to the following documents: (1) Performance Work Statement; (2) Instructions to Offerors; and (3) Evaluation Scale.

To the extent that the contents of these documents raise any additional questions, please submit questions directly to Jonathan Bettis (Jonathan.Bettis@ed.gov) no later than January 11, 2016 by 3:00 PM EST.  This will be the final opportunity to ask questions prior to the release of the solicitation.

Please note that the terms and conditions of the final solicitation will control.  The Department remains committed to a January 30, 2016, release of the final solicitation.

Added: Oct 28, 2015 2:19 pm The purpose of this addendum is to notify potential offerors that the Department is removing WWC certification as a requirement from this competition.  When the solicitation is released, WWC certification will not be included in the evaluation criteria.  The Department is unable to provide comprehensive WWC certification training to all potential vendors.  Therefore, WWC certification will not give an offeror a competitive advantage.  Please see the attached addendum for more information.

Added: Sep 04, 2015 10:31 am The purpose of this addendum is as follows: (1) to address questions submitted in response to the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) Request for Information (RFI) and Vendor Engagement announcement; (2) to clarify the Department's instructions on the format of capability statements;
(3) to provide supplemental evaluation rating information as described in the August 25, 2015 webinar; and (4) to attached the audio recording and Power Point slides from the webinar.

Please note that capability statements are still due September 10, 2015 at 2:00PM EDT.  The information contained in this addendum provides additional information regarding the capability statements. Please carefully review all documents attached to this RFI.  

Added: Aug 07, 2015 9:25 am The U.S. Department of Education (Department) will issue a solicitation in FY16 from which nine of the ten Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) contracts will issue.  In order to support the FY16 competition, the Department announces this extensive Request for Information and Vendor Engagement effort. 

The Vendor Engagement Webinar will be held on August 25, 2015 at 2:30PM EDT.  Interested parties are encouraged to submit questions regarding the attached documents no later than 11:00AM EDT on August 19, 2015.  There is no pre-registration required to attend the webinar.

The Department also requests capability statements in order to evaluate what, if any, set aside determinations are appropriate for each region.  The Department will NOT review generic capability statements because generic capability statements do not address the ability to execute a REL contract.  Please be sure to address the specifications listed in the attached request for capability statements. Capability statements are due September 10, 2015 at 2:00PM EDT. 

For further details and instructions on this Request for Information and Vendor Engagement effort, please read all of the attached documents.