U.S. Department of Education, OCFO, Contracts & Purchasing Operations, Support Services Group, 7th & D Street, SW, Room 3616, ROB-3, Washington, DC 20202-4443

B -- THIRD INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE STUDY DUE 092297 POC Virginia Bowen, 202-708-8222 Sources Sought -- The Department of Education anticipates that one sole source contract will be awarded to the International Association of the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) to replicate the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In order to provide international benchmarks against which to measure the mathematics performance of American students as a part of the President's new Voluntary Test in Mathematics and measure progress toward our national goal of being first in mathematics and science in the year 2000, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) needs TIMSS to be repeated in a number of countries as well as the U.S. The data will be collected in 1999 and reported in the year 2000. The TIMSS replication (TIMSS-R) will include 1) coordination of the activities of countries participating in TIMSS-R; 2) development of new math and science test items; 3) materials and training for a field test of items in the spring of 1998; 4) a report on the field test which informs decisions on items to be included in the full scale data collection and addresses problems encountered in the field test; 5) materials and training for full scale data collection in participating countries(materials include international test booklets, test administration manuals, quality assurance manuals, and questionnaires for students, teachers, and schools); 6) implementation of quality control procedures for full scale data collection; 7) production of weighted data and analysis reports on test results and 8) production of a documented international TIMSS-R database for dissemination. To ensure reliability of comparisons between TIMSS studies, the TIMSS-R must use similar questionnaires and the same procedures and technical standards as the first. IEA has proprietary rights to these materials used in the first study. The IEA is a non-governmental organization with over 40 participating member countries or educational systems around the world. Since its inception in 1959, the IEA has conducted a series of international comparative studies designed to provide policy makers, educators, researchers, and practitioners with information about educational achievement and learning contexts systems around the world. Since its inception in 1959, the IEA has conducted a series of international comparative studies signed to provide policy makers, educators, researchers, and practitioners with information about educational achievement and learning contexts. TIMSS was the largest and most ambitious of these studies ever undertaken. The success of TIMSS depended on the collaborative effort between the research centers in each participating country and the IEA TIMSS International Coordinating Center. Because the subset of countries which participated in the first TIMSS will participate in the TIMSS-R, it is important to keep the collaboration between IEA and national research coordinators intact. It is highly unlikely that another organization could gain the cooperation of the countries involved in the firstTIMSS or build the international infrastructure already developed by IEA in 1999. In addition, no other organization has the broad range of experience the IEA has gained in conducting international research and evaluation studies over the past 30 years. The Department feels that IEA is the only source who can satisfy the requirements for the TIMSS-R. However, any business or firm who feels they are qualified and able to perform this procurement should submit a written capability statement by COB September 22, 1997 outlining their qualifications. Notices should be submitted to the above address, Attn: Virginia Bowen, Contract Specialist. (0225)

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