U.S. Department of Education, Contracts and Purchasing Operations, CPO, 7th & D Streets SW, Room 3616, Washington, DC 20202-4443

B -- SCHOOL SURVEYS ON CRIME AND SAFETY:2002 AND 2004 DUE 120999 POC Lola Bland, (202) 401-3538, E-mail: Lola_Bland@ed.gov, Contract Specialist/Dana Gotfredsen, (202) 708-8569, E-mail: Dana_Gotfredsen@ed.gov, Contract Specialist The Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), This Sources Sought announcement is for planning purposes only. The United States Department of Education (ED) plans to issue a solicitation to conduct the 2002 and 2004 School Surveys on Crime and Safety (SSOCS). The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics will conduct national survey of public elementary, middle school, and high school principals that will provide national data on issues related to school crime and safety to be used to supply trend information on important crime and safety indicators. The SSOCS survey will be conducted for the first time in 2000. It is anticipated that the SSOCS:2002 and SSOCS:2004 surveys will be similar to the SSOCS:2000 survey. In a written questionnaire, principals will be asked about incidents of crime occurring in their schools, disciplinary actions taken as a result of specific events, programs aimed at preventing or reducing violence, and the general environment of their schools. Data will be collected through an initial mailing, followed by extensive telephone follow-up, in the spring/summer of 2002 and 2004 (April through July). A response rate of no less than 90 percent is required to obtain a final sample of about 3,000 schools. It is expected that the SSOCS: 2002 and SSOCS:2004 will differ slightly from SSOCS:2000 survey. For instance, the questionnaire may be somewhat longer. The solicitation is also expected to contain a number of optional tasks. For example, one option calls for a design that will allow for state-level estimates in addition to national estimates, and another option will add private schools to the sample. Both of these options would lead to rather significant increases in the sample sizes of the surveys. Availability of funds will determine whether options are exercised. ED will be looking for a firm or team of firms that can conduct the surveys. The qualified firm(s) would collectively have the following characteristics: 1. Experience in conducting one or more large-scale national surveys using statistically valid sample designs, 2. Experience conducting one or more large-scale mail surveys using telephone follow-up, 3. Demonstrated ability to achieve a 90 percent response rate in a mail survey of a randomly selected sample, 4. Experience in the creation of sampling weights, 5. Experience with imputation of missing values, 6. Experience with datafile preparation, data processing, and the production of electronic codebooks or other data dissemination vehicles, 7. Experience in writing technical reports on survey methodology and procedures, and 8. Experience in writing substantive reports using data from sample surveys. ED is seeking expressions from small businesses to determine if an adequate number of small businesses exist who are capable of performing this survey and are likely to submit a proposal. Qualified businesses, classified as a small business under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 8732 and 8733, are encouraged to submit a capability statement no later than December 9, 1999. The capability statement must describe your organization's qualifications and experience for performing similar services. Statements may be mailed, faxed (202) 708-9817, or e-mailed to Dana_Gotfredsen@ed.gov. This is not a Request for Proposals and should not be construed as a commitment to issue a solicitation or award a contract.***** Posted 11/29/99 (W-SN404118). (0333)

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