SOURCES SOUGHT
U -- Online assessments of reading and math
- Notice Date
- 4/20/2012
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Labor, Employment Training Administration, Office of Contracts Management, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, N-4649, Washington, District of Columbia, 20210, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20210
- Solicitation Number
- DOL121R120499
- Point of Contact
- Crystal Brown, Phone: 202-693-3613, Marissa G. Dela Cerna, Phone: 202 693-3661
- E-Mail Address
-
brown.crystal@dol.gov, delacerna.marissa@dol.gov
(brown.crystal@dol.gov, delacerna.marissa@dol.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is conducting market research for an upcoming procurement requirement. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to provide DOL, Office of Job Corps (OJC) with products and services to deliver online assessments of reading and math to students at each of its 125 centers and satellite centers. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this request is 541611 Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services. The small business size is $14 million. SMALL BUSINESSES ARE ENCOURAGED TO RESPOND. Include whether or not you are a small business; HUBZone small business; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small business; women-owned small business; or small disadvantaged business in order to assist the government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. Background Job Corps is a national residential and non-residential training program for disadvantaged youth between the ages of 16 and 24, serving approximately 70,000 youth annually. The program is administered by the Department of Labor, Office of Job Corps. The Job Corps National Office is seeking to provide delivery of online reading and math assessments to all students in each of its 125 centers and satellite centers and to develop a comprehensive basic skills assessment system. The assessments will be delivered online from the vendor to the Job Corps centers or hosted internally at the Job Corps Data Center in an existing Student Testing System (STS) application of Job Corps' Center Information System (CIS). Currently, Job Corps uses the reading and math (computation and applied mathematics) sub-tests of the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) to place students in basic skills training and measure students' skills proficiency and growth. Job Corps' policy requires students to take reading and math assessments within the first 21 days after they arrive on Job Corps centers. The results of these basic academic skills assessments are used to place students in Job Corps' training programs on the centers, including industry foundation courses, remedial reading and math classes, GED or high school programs, and career technical training programs. Additionally, students who don't reach threshold score levels must take follow-up assessments until they attain these levels. The content of the TABE reading and math assessments is provided to students online through Job Corps' internal Student Testing System (STS), an application of Job Corps' Center Information System (CIS). The STS schedules the student tests, identifies student accommodations, administers and scores the tests, enables teachers to monitor students as they take the tests, and generates reports on scheduling tests and the test outcomes. The reports from the STS are a part of the Job Corps CIS, and student test outcomes are incorporated into the CIS database of student and center information. The test content is approved by the National Reporting System (NRS). Information on NRS can be obtained through its website: http://www.nrsweb.org. General Requirements Job Corps plans to enhance and expand its basic skills assessment system to support student career training from the time students are accepted into the program to the time they transition to jobs, the military or post-secondary education. Therefore, Job Corps seeks to understand the number of qualified business vendors that are experienced in delivering and adapting online reading and math assessment systems for education and training organizations with the following requirements. The reading and math (computation and applied math) assessments must incorporate randomized test questions, drawn from test item pools, which automatically adjust to become increasingly difficult depending on test-takers' responses as they progress through the test. This eliminates the need for locator tests to place students in the initial tests and eliminates the need for multiple forms and levels of the tests. The test objectives must align with Job Corps' applied academic standards and associated basic skills and support Job Corps standards-based career training system. The assessments must be web-based to provide immediate feedback for students and instructors in using the results to shape students' training experiences. The testing program must have the capability to produce customized test tickets for students, electronically register students for tests and produce rosters of test-takers. Additionally, Job Corps seeks online assessments that will incorporate and track testing accommodation requirements for students with disabilities, based on students' accommodation plans. Job Corps also requires the online assessment program to incorporate test scheduling and monitoring capabilities; generate reports on the testing status of individual students and groups of students; generate reports on test outcomes; and export test outcome data electronically to the Job Corps CIS. Interested respondents must provide information on test validity with populations of young adults 12-24 years of age, alignment of test outcomes with the GED test series, and the status of test content approval by the federal government's National Reporting System (NRS). The vendor must demonstrate capability to meet the government's requirements for ensuring the privacy of individuals taking online tests and all laws and regulations regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information about students that access the testing services. The current minimum information system requirements for Job Corps centers to access and deliver the existing TABE online through Job Corps center information system is as follows: Windows XP Pentium 133 Processor or faster 32 MB RAM or more At least 100 MB free disk space Internet connection Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher Adobe Acrobat Reader Instructions and Response Guidelines Please list all federal agencies that are currently using services provided by you as described above. Responses to this (RFI) shall not exceed 15 pages, must be viewable with Microsoft Word 2003, and printable on "8.5 x 11" paper. Responses must use 12 point font, the margins of each page should be at least ½ inch, and each page should contain a page number. This (RFI) is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Government to issue a Request for Proposal or award a contract. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted, for the vendor-sponsored demonstration or the Government's use of such information. Sources responding to this Sources Sought should submit the minimum information necessary for the government to make a determination that the source is capable of satisfying the requirements. Acknowledgment of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the Government's evaluation of the information received. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Request For Information or the Government's use of such information as either part of our evaluation process or in developing specifications for any subsequent requirement. Responses should be identified with DOL121R120499, and are due no later than 3:00 P.M. (EST) on May 08, 2012. All interested parties must submit their responses via email to brown.crystal@dol.gov delacerna.marissa@dol.gov. Questions regarding this RFI will NOT be entertained at this time. Telephone calls regarding this RFI will not be accepted. The government reserves the right to compete any acquisition resulting from this survey among small businesses or to make an award to an 8(a) firm, based on the responses received. This sources sought notice is for planning purposes only and does not commit the government to pay for the information requested, issue a solicitation, or award a contract. No solicitation document exists at this time.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOL/ETA/OJC/DOL121R120499/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: U. S. Department of Labor, Office of Contracts Management, Educational and Training Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N4643, Washington, District of Columbia, 20210, United States
- Zip Code: 20210
- Zip Code: 20210
- Record
- SN02727419-W 20120422/120420234959-d1f8bb4ee6a6b4e58b2d176735f51ba0 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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