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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF JULY 24, 2015 FBO #4991
SOLICITATION NOTICE

R -- Develop Achievement Levels for the 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Technology and Engineering Literacy Assessment Grade 8

Notice Date

7/22/2015
 

Notice Type

Justification and Approval (J&A)
 

NAICS

541611 — Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
 

Contracting Office

Department of Education, National Assessment Governing Board, Executive Office, Suite 825, 800 N. Capitol Street, NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20002-4233
 

ZIP Code

20002-4233
 

Solicitation Number

ED-NAG-14-R-0002
 

Point of Contact

Munira Mwalimu, Phone: (202) 357 6906
 

E-Mail Address

Munira.Mwalimu@ed.gov
(Munira.Mwalimu@ed.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Award Number

ED-NAG-14-C-0002
 

Award Date

7/2/2014
 

Description

Nature and Description of Action: This justification and approval authorizes and approves a supplemental extension of time for Contract # ED-NAG-14-C-0002 from November 28, 2015 to March 31, 2016, and provides funding in the projected amount of $747,158.12 in order to make changes to the scope of work as it relates to the process of setting achievement levels in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) Assessment at Grade 8. The technical adjustments needed are based on preliminary findings from a March 2015 pilot study. The contract deliverables also need to be adjusted with revised submission dates. The contract funded value will increase from $1,441,091.31 to $2,188,249.43. Results from the pilot study and a follow up meeting are being utilized to make process adjustments in setting achievement levels, which will now be operationalized at the Achievement Levels Setting (ALS) meeting, scheduled to take place in September 2015. This change also requires providing for additional webinars, and scheduling another meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee on Standard Setting (TACSS). Contract Modification Rationale and Objectives: The TEL assessment is very innovative; this standard setting activity represents the first time that achievement levels will be set on scenario-based tasks. Given the ground-breaking features of this project, there are some issues that could not be anticipated in advance. There were several challenges encountered during the March 2015 pilot study, including technical issues with the functionality of the software that was being used to conduct the ALS process. As a result of this experience, a decision was made to discontinue use of the ALS software for future meetings. During a webinar on April 9th, TACSS unanimously recommended that the June 2015 ALS meeting serve as an additional pilot study, and that a new ALS meeting be added. Given the ground-breaking nature of the TEL assessment, ALS activities, and the Governing Board policy that the pilot study serve as a replication of the operational ALS procedures, TACSS members noted that changes from the March to June meetings were too vast to achieve the project goal. The additional ALS meeting shall take place from September 28 - October 2, 2015. Since the final ALS meeting will now take place four months later than planned, the project schedule will need to be extended accordingly. Results from the operational meeting shall be presented to the Governing Board's Committee on Standards, Design and Methodology during a webinar in early November 2015, and for expected action during the November 19 - 21 Governing Board meeting. In addition, a TACSS meeting is needed to discuss the operational ALS results, to occur after the September 28 - October 2 meeting but prior to the early November webinar. An additional TACSS webinar is requested to discuss the technical and process reports, to take place during December 2015 (after the November Board meeting but prior to final submission of these reports to the Governing Board). The interim process report shall be delivered to Governing Board staff no later than November 9, 2015; the final process report (incorporating feedback from the COR and the TACSS) shall be delivered no later than January 31, 2016. The draft technical report shall be sent to the TACSS in advance of the December 2015 meeting; the final technical report (incorporating feedback from the COR and the TACSS) shall be delivered no later than February 26, 2016, with final revisions (if needed) no later than March 31, 2016. Statutory Authority: This contract modification action is being pursued on a sole source basis under the statutory authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c) (1), as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, based on the fact that only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency requirement for continued services using data already collected, avoid transition delays, and incur additional costs if the requirements are recompeted, all of which will result in a negative impact on the agency mission to include revisions that would need to be made to the NAEP Schedule of Assessments.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ED/NAGB/NAGB/ED-NAG-14-R-0002/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: 800 North Capitol Street N.W., Suite 825, Washington DC, District of Columbia, 20001, United States

Zip Code: 20001
 

Record

SN03805678-W 20150724/150722235028-b5187428677018593ab920afb6ed7914 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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