SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Assessment NCAPS computer adaptive program functioning project.
- Notice Date
- 3/14/2006
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Navy, Naval Support Activity Mid South, Naval Support Activity Mid South, Code 091, Bldg S-456 5722 Integrity Drive, Millington, TN, 38054
- ZIP Code
- 38054
- Solicitation Number
- N6883606T0067
- Response Due
- 3/28/2006
- Archive Date
- 4/12/2006
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for the Assessment NCAPS Computer adaptive Program Functioning Project, prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals that are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation Number N68836-06-T-0067 is issued as a Request for Quotation. See attached Statement of Work. This solicitation is 100% set aside for small business; NAICS Code: 541690; Size Standard: $6.5 Mil. Qualified vendor must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) will be considered for award. The following FAR Clauses apply to this acquisition: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial, 52.204-7, Central Contractor Registration, 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions, 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders?Commercial Items, 52.225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (Mar 2005), 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer, 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside, 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities, (FEB 1999), 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (APR 2002), 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and other eligible Veterans (DEC 2001), 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (JUN 1998), 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (DEC 2001). Offerors to include a completed copy of the provision of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items at (www.arnet.gov). Your quote will not be accepted without this clause. The following DFARS Clauses applies to this acquisition: 252.204-7004; Required Central Contractor Registration (Mar 1998), 252.211-7001, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Applicable to Defense Acquisitions of Commercial Items (MAR 2003). Within 252.211-7001, Buy American Act and Balance of Payments Program (JUN 2005), AND 252.232-7003, Electronic Submission of Payment Requests (JAN 2004). STATEMENT OF WORK Assessment NCAPS Computer Adaptive Program Functioning 1.0 INTRODUCTION To enlist in Naval service applicants must meet the minimum basic requirements on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a test battery which assesses performance in reading, mathematics, general science, as well as basic knowledge about electronics, mechanical systems, and automotive-shop. Applicants are required to provide information about their criminal and financial history, and pass a brief physical examination; if there is no disqualifying information, the applicant may enlist into naval service. A classifier uses ASVAB scores and identifies which technical training schools the applicant is likely to pass and compares this list against jobs the Navy identifies as ?critical-to-fill.? The classifier attempts to interest the applicant in one of the critical jobs in a roughly 7 minute interview. At the conclusion of this very brief meeting, the classifier and applicant come to an agreement and a contract is signed guaranteeing the technical training school. This agreement functionally dictates the applicant's entire Navy career path. However, as Borman, et al., (2003) discussed in their review of selection and classification, individuals are more complex and multidimensional than can be measured by the ASVAB alone. The ASVAB predicts cognitive performance ? it was developed to predict learning requirements in training. Beyond the cognitive abilities assessed by the ASVAB, individuals possess a variety of preferences, interests, and personal characteristics that should be useful for identifying who will be best suited for military missions of the future. Currently, the Navy is undergoing tremendous technological and organizational changes influencing Sailors? entire career continuums. At the forefront of these major changes is the understanding that high-technology warfighting systems and platforms will never replace the need for high-quality, highly motivated, and highly committed Sailors. The young people that the Navy needs expect to be assigned to jobs that match their personal interests and competencies. They expect personal growth and advancement, which, along with job satisfaction, become key inducements for long-term service and commitment. Therefore, it is necessary to match people along a multitude of dimensions into the best-fitting Navy job available. ?Best-fitting? will no longer mean the limited outcome of completing technical training. Instead, best-fitting will reflect all of the outcomes important to Sailors and the Navy. It will mean that the applicant will likely perform well in both classroom and laboratory training, will be proficient on the job, be reliable, work well in groups, be satisfied with the job, be promoted, and be likely to reenlist. The development and validation of predictive personality scales is an important step in fulfilling that vision. The ASVAB is a good predictor of performance through training; it predicts only some types of performance in the fleet (McHenry, Hough, Toquam, Hansen & Ashworth, 1990). However, many studies have found that measuring personal variables greatly enhances our ability to predict who will perform successfully across a variety of jobs in civilian and military settings. For instance, conscientiousness is one of the best predictors of performance across a variety of jobs. By adding a measure of conscientiousness, an additional 18% of variation in on-the-job performance can be explained. Another important personality trait that accounts for an additional 10% of variance in performance is Emotional Stability. In fact, an investigation with military participants found that measuring emotional stability accounted for an additional 38% increase in incremental validity (see Ferstl et al., 2003). While assessment of personality seems promising, personality tests are still not used in Navy selection or classification. There are many reasons for this. Most personality tests were designed to detect psychopathology and not to predict performance in the Armed Services. While there have been a few large-scale studies, most are limited to small groups. Most personality tests are too long and cumbersome to be delivered efficiently. Perhaps most importantly, personality tests have not been widely validated against actual on-the-job performance across the many different occupations in the Navy. This project seeks to address each of these difficulties. Navy Computer Adaptive Personality Scales (NCAPS) is an innovative instrument developed with ONR funding to assess non-cognitive attributes for the purpose of classifying recruits into enlisted positions in the US Navy. Personality assessment is part of the whole person assessment approach to improve Sailor classification thereby reducing unwanted attrition and increasing job performance. NCAPS will allow Navy classifiers to create personality profiles of new recruits. These profiles can then be matched to available Navy jobs for an optimal person-job fit. A working version of NCAPS has been developed and is currently being tested. In order for NCAPS to become operational, it is imperative to determine if model utilized for adaptive item presentation is working properly. If the model is working properly it constructs codes for various tests, statement parameters are read into the program from an ACCESS database, and the number of tests to be administered is determined. An ordering of constructs is determined. Test administration begins with the first construct and cycles through all in a predefined order until testing is complete (the posterior standard deviation falls below a value corresponding to the 90% credibility interval, or maximum test length reached.) For a given construct, however, testing can stop early if too few statements are available for administration (and possibly if the available items are not informative enough.) Results are written to ACCESS fields and to text files. The text files show the construct codes, items administered, parameter values for statements, and the examinee?s responses. 2.0 TECHINCAL REQUIREMENTS/TASKS The contractor shall perform the following activities. 2.1 Utilize NCAPS text files (described above) and rescore the item responses by the contractor?s one dimensional Zinnes-Griggs expected posterior estimate (EAP) program. 2.2 The contractor shall verify that a.) the NCAPS software is correctly linking statement parameter values to the statements that are being administered, b.) the examinee?s responses are being correctly linked to the administered statements, and c.) the EAP estimates are being correctly calculated. 2.3 The contractor shall run the NCAPS software on simulation data that have been previously analyzed and examined extensively to determine the fidelity between the programs. 2.4 Upon completion of work in Tasks 2.1-2.3, the contractor shall prepare a final report as documentation of the total project. The report will include the algorithm underlying NCAPS, the various checks and tests that we performed, and all other findings pertinent to the project and necessary for replication. 3.0 LOCATION OF WORK Work will take place at the contractor?s facilities. 4.0 TRAVEL None. 5.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE Three (3) months from the date of award. 6.0 REPORTS, DATA, AND OTHER DELIEVERABLES -Technical report encompassing the entire project. 7.0 REVIEWS, INSPECTIONS, AND ACCEPTANCE All reviews, inspection, and acceptance will be performed by NPRST, Code 13. 8.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES NPRST will provide the contactor with NCAPS code and supporting software for evaluation purposes only. The NCAPS item pool is proprietary and solely owned by the Navy, therefore the contractor does not have permission to duplicate and/or use any NCAPS items in any form or forum. Offers are due back March 28, 2006 at 4:00P.M. to FISC Jacksonville, Millington Detachment, 5722 Integrity Drive, Bldg 456, 3rd Floor, ATTN: Jackie Appleton, (901-874-5274. Please Note: Faxed copies will not be accepted.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Contractor's Facility
- Record
- SN01006088-W 20060316/060314212542 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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